is anyone familiar with the new titling/registration procedure for antiques and custom built vehicles? i have read the website which is vague, and upon calling the dmv today got two different answers from three people (i always call three times because of that).

website: http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/vehicle_services/registrationtitling/AntiqueCustomBuilt.html

basically, my question is about an antique or custom built out of state vehicle being brought into nc and titled/registered. the website indicates you have to have it has to be checked by a dmv inspector first. what i'm wondering though, is if that applies only to vehicles with no prior history or all vehicles? what if you have a current out of state title and current tags/registration (temporary) as proof that it's not some scam? are you still subject to this? it's not like i'm trying to smuggle something through customs at the border.

antiques and customs used to be no different than anything else. i'm so glad the dmv in their infinite wisdom has decided something needs to be MORE of a pain in the ass than everything already is. i'm seriously considering using my easy access of establishing residency in another state. the only upside to this is you're not subject to the indemnity bond process for these vehicles. the inspection process may very well be the same amount of above mentioned ass pain though.


[Edited on April 11, 2008 at 1:09 AM. Reason : also, does nc still offer antique and horseless carriage tags? i didn't see them on the website.]

4/11/2008 12:59:20 AM

in my experience, the best (and i use that term loosely) solution is to keep going to the DMV and asking until you get the answer you want--then making every effort not to leave until that person you found handles everything you need.

nobody on here is gonna know the answer. the fucking DMV probably doesn't know the answer.

4/11/2008 1:19:14 AM

i didn't know if there might be the SMALL chance that someone here has been through the process yet. there's a couple people that mess with old stuff.

yeah, i would normally just go harrass them but not this time for two reasons:

1. i'll be damned if i'm going back and forth, hanging around, etc. on crutches and a leg that currently swells up like a balloon within 15 minutes of standing until it clears up from this last round of hacking.

2. if it's anything like other title related inspections (bonded title, rv conversion, homemade trailer, etc.), you have to schedule a time for it to be done. can't just walk in and do it.

4/11/2008 1:29:31 AM

i've done bonded title on a walk-in before

of course, it took about 5 walk-ins and a lot of harassment and phone calls to finally make it happen

i didn't think about the leg thing, though.

4/11/2008 1:41:52 AM

^ya i do the same thing. was missing notary on few titles and some officers would ask for notarization on titles of bought cars, some wouldn't. i just went in few times until i ran into person who overlooked it and titled the car. fucking bought the car in NY state, i dont plan on flying a person down on a work week to get notarization from the bank. ridiculous.

they are all idiots. all of them.

[Edited on April 11, 2008 at 1:45 AM. Reason : fadf]

4/11/2008 1:44:21 AM

yep. terrible fucking operation, even by government standards. it's bottom of the barrel. in fact, after dealing with DMVs in a few other states, i'm very convinced that NC has the worst, and that's saying a lot.

4/11/2008 1:52:07 AM

^easily. i've had nothing but excellent experiences in other states. at least 5 or 6 others.

4/11/2008 2:24:07 AM

I've dealt with VA, FL (several times), and WA, and find it to be a dry asspain every time, but NC is an order of magnitude worse. Poster child for government agency ineptitude.

Terrible. F

4/11/2008 2:33:39 AM

talk to Waneta down at the newbern office. i give her $10 and she just slaps approval on everything.

[Edited on April 11, 2008 at 10:52 AM. Reason : plus the cost of whatever i need]

4/11/2008 10:52:14 AM

if it is titled in another state, what is the problem? USUALLY NC will honor titles from other states as you know. Is the title for the "donor" vehicle to something entirely different?

If you have a current title from another state, get it signed over to you via that states regulations (concerning whether or not you need a notary) and apply for the NC title.

I realize you probably have something that follows none of the normal rules and this won't apply at all...

4/11/2008 6:01:10 PM

no, it's just a regular running/driving vehicle that's 35+ years old. nothing shady or out of the norm. i've got a current title in my name and temporary registration/tags in my name from another state. my question/concern is since it's already a completely legal and current vehicle in another state, do i still have to go through this bullshit inspection before i can get an nc title? it seems that nc is saying they're not going to honor titles from other states any longer for vehicles that fall into these categories like they have in the past.

or, maybe i'm missing something and this inspection is only needed if you have no title at all. i don't think that's the case though unfortunately.

i guess i'll just have to suck it up and go to the dmv, i can't find anyone that's tried to title an antique or custom from out of state since these new regulations were put into effect.

4/11/2008 6:14:43 PM

just act like little ole innocent Oliver on crutches and play ignorant. How could they ignore you with your puppy eyes?

4/11/2008 6:21:45 PM

Quote :

""Effective January 2, 2008, the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles is changing the procedure for registering an antique or custom-built motor vehicle. Customers who are bringing an antique or custom-built vehicle into North Carolina for first time registration, or who have custom assembled a motor vehicle will be referred to a DMV License and Theft Bureau Inspector. For details on contacting an Inspector in your area click here. Your local Inspector is equipped and ready to assist you with the procedures to properly register your antique or custom-built vehicle. ""

I had NOT heard of this bullshit... so if you bring a vehicle in the state that is made before 1973 it has to be inspected?? That is seriously shitty. I thought we were getting a break when they let us off the hook for safety inspections... they just replaced it with something worse.

Ivan, just walk up to the counter and try to transfer the title like you normally would. I'm sure most people haven't heard of this and the worse thing that'll happen is they'll tell you what you need to do.

4/11/2008 6:33:57 PM

actually, reading that again it sounds like you should be fine... the term "first time registration" I interpret to mean it was previously untitled in that other state. Just try it and let us know

4/11/2008 6:35:50 PM

i just want to add that maryland is a complete pain in the ass when it comes to inspections.

4/11/2008 7:03:39 PM

walk in there and smack a bitch

4/14/2008 12:26:03 PM

or flip a bitch...

4/14/2008 1:10:11 PM

Quote :

"Ivan, just walk up to the counter and try to transfer the title like you normally would. I'm sure most people haven't heard of this and the worse thing that'll happen is they'll tell you what you need to do."

Thats how it works at normal places. At the DMV, you better fucking already know what you need to do. If you ask ANY questions, they roll their eyes, sigh, hand you a form and tell you to take a seat, all without a word of explanation. Or if they can't (see: won't) do something themselves, they simply tell you so. No word from them about who can, when, where or how. And asking them for more specifics is an experience in being silently put down in public.

I went there last week for a simple M endorsement. I was being very nice and friendly, got there before they opened. Was the first person this lady saw, and she was a complete unfriendly bitch. First customer of the day: a smiling, friendly young white boy and she scowled, hissed and spat at me. Fucking low-lifes.

4/14/2008 3:43:34 PM

^ Spot on.

4/14/2008 3:48:11 PM

yeah, they are complete asshats there. I tried to get my M endorsement at the DMV off of gorman and the woman there didn't even know they gave out motorcycle tests there... I had to talk to a 2nd a 3rd person, wait like 30 mins trying see about the test, this was when they opened at 8am, then all of sudden, they came up to me saying "sorry, you can't take the test today because the test started at 8:30 and you're late". It was 8:40 when they came up to me.

I was pretty pissed off, left and went to work.

4/14/2008 4:14:40 PM

I just loooooooves me some DMV. Maybe one day they'll actually give me my license back...good thing I have no state or country of residence at the moment.

[Edited on April 14, 2008 at 4:28 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2008 4:27:10 PM

Last november, they told me my license was suspended apparently for the last 6 months... I was like "oh thanks guys for informing that". There was a mix up with one of my tickets last year of where it said I didn't show up, but I did. The damn clerk at the court office entered my name in wrong. I called up my lawyer who was handling it, he wanted to charge me $150 for his mistake. I just went ahead and paid the $100 fine to get my suspension lifted through the DMV. Took forever.

4/14/2008 4:34:44 PM

the price went down.^? last time i had to pay 115. did you get you motorcycle endosment back?

4/14/2008 4:36:29 PM

this was last year. I currently don't have an M endorsement, just my 3rd permit. lol Them fuckers will never let me take the test. I need take it by may and just be done with it. I never have time anymore.

4/14/2008 4:44:42 PM

What are the requirements of a custom built car???

I would like to build my own car that would be awesome....

4/14/2008 4:45:28 PM

look it up on any kit car site, not too terribly difficult to do

4/14/2008 5:00:51 PM

hmm.... as soon as i move out of the city... i'm getting a pipe bender and a good quality welder and going to work! .

4/14/2008 5:02:30 PM

I think my NCDL is suspended, thanks to that 85 in a 70 in west virginia.

4/15/2008 1:36:58 AM

it is if you didn't pay it and the court date has passed.

4/15/2008 2:57:51 AM

is the DMV cash only or do they take checks? (the plate agency I mean)

4/15/2008 11:37:28 AM

Ivan how about this one?
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/forms/vehicleregistration/download/MVR55_55a.pdf

4/15/2008 3:48:26 PM

they take checks too, just not credit

4/15/2008 8:25:20 PM

^^^^ yes and yes

4/25/2008 3:10:28 AM

bummer and bummer

4/25/2008 3:17:51 AM

^^i'd get up with them asap. the people in raleigh county da's office are pretty nice even though the officers are assholes. i've had two tickets there. they might grant you an extension or hold off on notifying ncdmv. they're not really out to screw anyone, just their version of a toll road.

4/25/2008 3:46:08 AM

DMV is throwing another one that some of you will probably bitch about. No more inspection stickers on ANY vehicles as of October. You have to get your car inspected in order to renew your tag......same inspection process, just no sticker on your windshield. Their way to bust the people who put off getting inspected........

4/25/2008 4:42:04 PM

No, thats actually good. Now I can tint my winshield.

4/25/2008 5:59:14 PM

^^ i really dont care either way

4/25/2008 6:52:53 PM

figured i'd post this in here also. i'm hoping to get these two vehicles taken care of in the same trip.

i know the subject of lost titles and no recourse with the previous owner comes up here from time to time. just figured i'd detail my process of going through obtaining a lost title with an indemnity bond for one of my other pos's.

1. attempt to contact the last person vehicle was titled to. unsuccessful.

2. call insurance (state farm) and request information and quote on the bond. unfortunately, they go by retail value but it's not a big deal for me personally. i barely fall in the $3000 or less category, so my fee is $50 per year. ncdmv requires the bond to be on file for 3 years. if a verifiable claim is made against the vehicle in that time, you are responsible for paying the insurance company the retail amount.

3. take proof of insurance and bond to dmv. obtain bonded title and registration.

that's where i'm at right now, waiting to get the stuff from my insurance company then going to the dreaded dmv. i'm hoping i can knock both of these issues out in one trip. it's either going to save me some time and hassle, or it's going to absolutely fry their brains that i'm trying to do these two vehicles at the same time.

i've did a bonded title years ago, and it was a royal pain in the ass. you had to correspond with some main office in charlotte, then do some crap at the main office here, then have it inspected before a bonded title was issued then again before the normal title was issued. on top of the bond, there were like $250 in dmv fees also. supposedly it's much easier and cheaper now, and they can take care of everything at the office here. we'll see!

5/6/2008 1:06:18 AM

in case anyone cares, i didn't have to do a damn thing extra to register the car. lady just took the title and did the paperwork like any other car. she just told me it had to have a safety inspection done within 10 days (not true, vehicles 35+ years old are exempt). go figure.

6/26/2008 11:32:39 PM

Just an aside, the Cary DMV is the worst office to get stuff done, and the worst person there is this American Indian looking chick with frosted hair who talks like shes black.

Had a classic land rover with a 9 digit VIN and she said I couldnt register it (NJ title) because it didnt have a 17 digit VIN. I said that cars were made before they introduced the 17 digit VIN. She wanted me to go to Vehicle Inspectors and get a report. I went to the DMV on Wake Forest Road and snap, went right through.

She has also given me shit about having someone's signature "not legible enough" on the title (making me drive across Raleigh to get a new reassignment title form), been rude to me because I left my proof of insurance in the car, or because I crossed out and re-signed the date because a buyer backed out. dmidkiff and I today had to deal with her bullshit once again, costing as each an hour or so of driving back and forth and getting meaningless paperwork we had already provided.

She is positively the worst DMV employee I have ever encountered anywhere and seems to derive pleasure in inconveniencing people, perhaps the only power she has to wield on anybody. I recommend that if you have to go to the Cary DMV, let someone go in front of you if it means you can avoid getting this stupid, wretched, miserable excuse of a human being to "serve" you.

6/26/2008 11:51:59 PM

That's because it's Cary.

6/27/2008 7:26:09 AM

that's my hood. you talking about south hill shopping center or whatever it is? i don't ever screw with them either, they always are horrible and that little office is so small and depressing. i always go to wake forest rd. or sometimes downtown if i need an instant title or i'm coming from my office.

pretty much everybody at wake forest is cool, only one lady i can think of that can be a problem. she's actually who helped me on this last car though. downtown is always hit or miss, they don't seem to have any kind of regular staff. one day you get some relic that's 2 days away from their 30 years and knows the code like the back of their hand, next day you get shanaynay straight out of wake tech and been there for 3 weeks. there is a super nice lady that works at the dealership/handicapped window though, i've been able to use her the few times i've been in there on crutches.

6/27/2008 9:29:24 AM

I've never had any problem with the south hills dmv, other than it's a little busy.

Hey BBR, thanks for posting your experience. I've been asking people about lost titles for months and couldn't get a complete answer.

A couple questions:
So you pay your insurance company $50/year or so for the bond. Does that mean you're covered in the event of an ownership claim? Also, if you sell the car, do you have to keep paying $50/year for three years or does the next owner take that on?

When you went to DMV, all you had was your proof of insurance and a bond from the insurance company, right? I guess the VIN would be printed up on the bond.

6/27/2008 2:03:16 PM

oops, sorry i missed this...

Quote :

"So you pay your insurance company $50/year or so for the bond."

correct. that's only for my specific vehicle though, being worth less than $3000. different insurance companies might vary in their fees also, i don't know. i use state farm.

Quote :

"Does that mean you're covered in the event of an ownership claim?"

no! this is where you take a risk, especially if it's something with any value. the bond is ONLY to cover the dmv's ass, not yours. if a legitimate claim is made to the vehicle, you a.) have to give it up or b.) the bond pays out 1.5 times the vehicle value. you then owe this amount, in full, to your insurance company.

Quote :

"Also, if you sell the car, do you have to keep paying $50/year for three years or does the next owner take that on?"

very good question that i don't know the answer to. i'll see if i can find out. i would think it transfers to the new owner like any other title and they assume the responsibility of the bond, but that's just a guess.

also, i know i've detailed before in other threads but i'll do it again here to keep all this info in one place for searches. before anything else, don't forget trying to contact the last owner and meeting up with or having them complete an affadavit of facts form. unless they're well versed in titles and have submitted a form releasing them from ownership, it's in their best interest to get the thing out of their name for liability reasons and a number of others. politely explain that to them if they don't want to help you. like most anything else, being polite gets you the furthest and offering a few bucks for their time doesn't hurt. even if you have to do some driving to another area to get it done, i assure you this is the easiest/cheapest/least risky route 99% of the time.

if you don't have and need the info of the last registration, it's super easy. by law, vehicle records are public info unless requested by the owner not to be. rarely happens. just take the vin, fill out the request for info for on the dmv site, and for $1 ($10 if you need a legal copy for some reason) you get the last known owner's name, their address, insurance company, etc. you still might have to do a little work to get their current address or phone number, but that's easy enough if you have a name. if for nothing else, this can be worth doing just to determine what's up with the last owner so you can gauge the risk of proceeding with a bonded title if you hit a dead end. send any correspondence by certified mail, at least initially and certainly for any forms. provide them the same means of return to you. this gives you records and a paper trail that can legally be entered into evidence and used to your advantage in court if anything should happen. record any phone conversations if you can. it's not required by law in nc and most other states, but if they seem to be cool get consent just to solidify things.

i think that i may have found a loophole to get a title and avoid all this b.s. if your specific situation can meet a couple of requirements, but i'd rather not post it in public just yet since it's a definite gray area legally and i have no idea if it would even work. if it does work, it would only do so for certain cases. if you want to try it at your own risk, drop me a pm and i can explain more. to disclaim it a little more, i wouldn't even think about attempting this unless you're absolutely certain of the vehicle's history, or at least the circumstances surrounding the last legal owner. the dot/dmv gets pretty pissy when they get screwed, and they have a heavy hand and big fines.

lastly, there are the outright illegal ways to get a title like using a vin/title from a parts vehicle, a vin old enough (35+ years) to not require bonded titling, passing it off as a custom built (much harder now), or whatever. i won't even touch this subject though, and don't recommend it. it's just not worth it with all the recent legislation on title fraud. besides that, you also never really have a fully legal vehicle. it's on paper, but that's it. you're asking for some real consequences if it ever turns up as suspicious, you sell it and that person gets busted for it, or otherwise does something stupid with the vehicle.

did i mention yet what a pain in the ass it is to recover a lost title? i'm probably leaving some things out, but that's all i can think of at the moment and should cover most situations fairly well. bring on any questions/comments/rebuttal.

7/4/2008 2:29:37 AM

Quote :

"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE WE ARE EXPERIENCING A HIGHER THAN USUAL VOLUME OF CALLS YOUR WAIT TIME MAY BE EXCESSIVE"

7/4/2008 2:49:03 AM

got an instant title today, was $75 and took all of 10 minutes. and this is with a non notarized FL title.

7/4/2008 3:26:01 AM

^^Thanks. I'm tracking this dude down at the moment.

7/5/2008 12:04:22 PM

Quote :

"got an instant title today, was $75 and took all of 10 minutes. and this is with a non notarized FL title."

still took me a f'in week last time i ordered one. i thought they overnight fedex'd it to you but they just regular mail them.

oh well, guess i'll drive to raleigh next time and get it really "instant"

7/5/2008 12:47:40 PM

set em up

7/5/2008 1:11:31 PM