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Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:37 am

Starting Jan 2, North Carolina DMV has a new requirement for cars 35 years and older which requires a lot more paperwork and an inspection by a DMV representative in order to get a title.

Has anyone been through the process yet? Any tips?

Thanks.

Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:53 am

As far as I know, that's only necessary if you don't have an NC title. If you buy a vehicle of any age with a clear NC title, the process is the same...this is just if you're bringing back some old vehicle which is coming from out of state. I imagine it will suck and add a lot of time to buying out of state vehicles...

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

Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:05 am

i just heard about this last night from someone who sat at dmv for an hour and a half, only to be told they would not help him because of the new policy. from what i understand, they must send an inspector to your residence to do a vin inspection, they issue you a plate and registration on the spot (provided everything is accurate and clear), and then they mail a title to you. yeah, that sounds like it will make things less of a hassle. makes me look forward to registering my bus in a few weeks.

Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:17 am

Here is the link at NCDMV on this new law
http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/vehicle_services/registrationtitling/AntiqueCustomBuilt.html

Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:01 pm

hazetguy wrote: i just heard about this last night from someone who sat at dmv for an hour and a half, only to be told they would not help him because of the new policy. from what i understand, they must send an inspector to your residence to do a vin inspection, they issue you a plate and registration on the spot (provided everything is accurate and clear), and then they mail a title to you. yeah, that sounds like it will make things less of a hassle. makes me look forward to registering my bus in a few weeks.
Aw man, I thought you could take it to the office and have them look at it there.
Good luck - will you post up how your experience goes?

Tue Jan 08, 2008 4:33 pm

I've got an early beetle but it's in a million pieces. Kind of like the Peter Aschwander drawing of the exploded VW in the Muir idiot book. I bought it years ago and never bothered to get the out of state title register here.

Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:17 pm

My shop foreman and his son just finished restoring a 1965 Falcon Futura. Sharp car btw. Since the car was found on a farm and the "owner" couldn't find the title, he just signed the vehicle over with a bill of sale. Now that the car is finished, DMV came to the dealership to do the title work.

Everything appeared fine. Last Friday, DMV called the foreman up and told him he couldn't get a title. There is a lien listed on the vehicle from 1975.

What a mess that is, since the bank that held the lien merged with a national bank in 1995 and the new bank knows nothing about it.

Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:40 am

JW, what you described is what a lot of folks may be facing here in NC with this new law, not only in our hobby but all antique cars and trucks. We all know that there are a ton of VW body's out there with non-matching floor pans. Which number is the defining one, the number on the pan or the number on the body?

And what happens to the car/truck if it is rejected? Could it go to another state (one that doesn't have this type of law like Georgia) and get titled or is the VIN blocked forever nationwide? Man-of-man, as in the case of nice restored car in JW's post, does the car become parts only?

Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:26 am

ohio's weather may suck but at least we can still get car titles!!! so what happens if you go thru the "get a title for $$$$" companys? if it is still a out of state title from NC do you have to go thru the inspection shit also?
or since it is a "clean" title can you just run it???

Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:06 pm

I just got a '62 last week, and now I hear about this.
BOO!
Not to mention that the NCDMV website is a POS!

Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:43 pm

I know where there is a restorable 1966 Beetle for 700.00 (I think I can get it for 500.00 though) but I'm not touching it until I find out how DMV handles this situation with the shop foreman and his son.

NCDMV sucks....the enforcement officers, I get along with....but not the agents of the franchise offices. When I brought my Dad's Saab up from Alabama, after his death, I had court papers to prove I was the owner. NCDMV told me the only way they would give me a title was to go BACK to Alabama, register and title the car there, then come back to NC and apply for a registration and title for NC.

Maybe I could do that with the '66.

Anyway, a DMV officer came by the dealership a couple of hours after I had shown my butt at the DMV office, made one phone call and thirty minutes later, I had a title.

I know of a whole yard filled with Corvairs and another that has a mid-sixties VW Bus, along with a Renault Dauphine I'd love to get my hands on, but with the law as it is now, they may as well be scrapped.

Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:03 pm

Golly should we keep this as state by state thing or just go with a national thing??

Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:09 am

ok, i just did my license and title transfer from CA to NC. here is the fun i had to go through.
bear in mind that i already had a valid CA driver's license, and a title & registration in my name (at my old CA address).
the bus is a 1959 (over 35 years).

there have been MANY policy changes since the beginning of the year, so i would strongly suggest you CALL the dmv (whichever branch you need to go to) BEFORE you waste a whole bunch of time sitting in a place you do not need to be. make appointments if possible, and get names of the people you spoke to.

last week:
(wednesday) i contacted my insurance agent to get valid north caroilina insurance on my bus. they also filled out a DL-123 form, which apparently the state wants, to verify that insurance is current and all info is accurate. the DL-123 form is valid for 30 days. this was the proper first step, because without proof of insurance in your name, you don't get very far at the offices.

(thursday) i went to the DRIVER'S LICENSE office. they ONLY do driver's licenses there. they do NOT do titles or registration there. i had to present my insurance card but not the DL-123 form. i also had to show my CA driver's license, as well as proof of NC residency (i used a bank statement). then i had to take a vision test which was reading a line of numbers on a screen. then there was a sign test where it was necessary to identify road signs. i had to identify 12 signs and i know i missed 3, so i do not know what the pass/fail mark is. then i has to take a knowledge test on a different computer. 25 questions, and you could miss up to 6. i did not study for the test, guessed at many of the answers, and still only got 1 wrong. after that it was just filling out some minor forms and signing my name on a piece of paper so that they could get it on a license. i got to the office about 7:40am (they open at 8 ), there was a line of about 10 people in front of me. i was out of there by 9am.

so i was feeling good about that, and thought i would give the VEHICLE LICENSE PLATE office a shot, since there was no mention of a year cut-off on the website. i went there to transfer my title and registration from CA to NC. the line to transfer from out of state was non-existent at this office, so i walked right up to the counter. the lady took my CA title, insurance card, and NC driver's license (which i had got earlier that morning). she looked at the date of the vehicle and said she could not help me because the vehicle was older than 35 years, and that i would need to go to the LICENSE AND THEFT BUREAU instead of the Vehicle License Plate office. she gave me the phone number and the address and i went back to the shop to call the License and Theft Bureau. total time wasted: about 1/2 hour.

i called the License and Theft Bureau and was told that they indeed are the ones to do the transfer paperwork on a vehicle that is 35 years or older. i was also told that they only do this Tuesday and Thursday, between 8am and 10am. um, ok, your office is open for 4 hours a week? great. anyway, i was transferred to an officer who told me what paperwork i needed to bring, and was when i asked about coming in to do this, he clearly said "get here as early as possible". ok, fine.

(today) i get to the License and Theft Bureau at 7:40am (they open at 8am). that was getting there early, as there was no line outside. 8am rolls around and i walk in to the office, where i was rudely confronted by the "secretary" who asked if i was on "the list" and did i have an appointment. i said "no", because when i called and spoke to her she did not say that i needed and appointment, nor did the officer i spoke to. she took my NC license, insurance card, and CA title and walked back in to the office. about 20 minutes later a guy came out and said to meet me outside by my bus. two inspectors came over to the bus after inspecting a real austin mini-cooper. "looks like a vehicle a terrorist would use" said one guy, to which i replied "ok". then they discussed amongst themselves where the vin plates "should" be, and when i said there were two plates (various locations) and a number stamped in the engine compartment, i asked which one they wanted to see. they said the one behind the seat, and when i showed the one guy the tag, he said "that's not it". even after he asked the other inspector what the number was on the title, and SAW the number on the tag behind the seat, he was still not convinced. so i said i would have no problem showing him the tag & number in the engine compartment and he kinda shut up after that. all he would say is "that is a nice unit you got there" (say that in a dumbfuck redneck southern accent). the moderately cool inspector also asked to see the engine number. i was a bit surprised by that since the engine number is not on the CA title, nor should it be. i asked if it would be registered to that number since that number is kinda irrelevant, and he said no, it was for records purposes only. he took a few pictures and we went back inside. i could hear the stupid dumbfuck redneck VW jokes from the other room, but whatever.
anyway, after about 10 minutes i went back to the moderately cool inspector's desk to fill out some paperwork. basically it was an application for title (they filled it out, i signed), a proof of insurance form (i signed), and some other forms which i did not have to sign. now get this: they had to FAX about 6 forms and email pics of the vehicle to the dmv headquarters in Raleigh and we had to wait for approval and to find out how much the fees were going to be. numerous times i heard them say to me (or to the other people who were there doing the registration dance) that this could take up to 2 hours! i asked how much it was going to be, and when i heard, i was not sure i could cover it. i asked if i could come back tomorrow, he said yes. so i went outside to call my bank to see if my deposits had been cleared and they had. in the meantime, the guy came out and said the stuff had already come back from raleigh and i could get the temp plate today. i paid the $160.00 in fees, got a 60-day cardboard tag and a handwritten/form temporary registration. the "real" plate and registration will be mailed to me. who knows how long that will take. time at the office today: about 1.5 hours (not including travel time or waiting before they opened).

some other things: yes, you can show up to the License and Theft Bureau to do this. but schedule an appointment! and show up when they open because this process takes a while.
also, apparently you can schedule for an officer to come to your house to inspect your vehicle. since i did not do that, i can not give any details.
the DMV website was somewhat helpful, but not totally. i would not rely on it for much more than general info.
if the vehicle is 1974 or newer, there is an entirely different process, which i can not wait to go through when i register the '74 here.

Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:04 am

I just had my '62 done a few weeks ago. Luckily, I had an NC title.

Day one: Called theft inspectors office and left a message with phone number.
Day two: Left another message.
Day three: ...another.
Day four: Took the morning off from work and showed up at they're office at 8:00am. Talked to bitchy-fat-cranky secretary and explained what I needed (a signature). Waited about ten minutes and was greeted by inspector Perkins. He took the title, my license, and vanised into the back. A few minutes later he comes back and says, "OH, it's a VW!" Apparently, he's a Ghia nut. Sweet. He told me that since I only lived minutes from his office and that it was a VW, that I would be first on his list that very morning. He said it usually takes anwhere from two weeks to two months to schedule an inspection. He was at my place three hours later and he spent more time "shooting the shit" than he took to inspect the car.

Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:44 am

'73spr-DUNG-btl wrote: I just had my '62 done a few weeks ago. Luckily, I had an NC title.

So wait, you had a valid NC title, and still had to wade through all the BS?

Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:49 am

TeamSpatula wrote: '73spr-DUNG-btl wrote: I just had my '62 done a few weeks ago. Luckily, I had an NC title.

So wait, you had a valid NC title, and still had to wade through all the BS?

Any car 35 years or older where a title is changing hands, must be inspected by the LICENSE AND THEFT BUREAU. Remeber last year when a top-dog DMV guy was busted for helping a friend run a chop-shop? You can thank him for this. :evil:

Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:26 pm

I have a question for those of you who may know. I have a '71 Ghia that I bought and titled/transferred ownership but not tagged in NC, it is still a project. When I am finally ready to get plates for it, do I go the Tag office or do I have to go to the License and Theft Bureau? I am hoping to get the car on the road this year.
When I bought the Ghia, it had a pink slip from NJ. The guy I bought it from never transferred title into his name. It was an open, undated pink from NJ. Not thinking, I went to the tag office to transfer title. The woman there, who can be a bitch, said that since the title wasn't dated, she was supposed to confiscate the title and the woman was supposed to come in and date it. I asked if I couldn't just take it to the woman so she could date it and she allowed me to. I took my title and five minutes later I was back with a freshly dated title. I was able to pay the transfer fee and a few weeks later I received my NC title in the mail. Had the woman at the tag office kept the NJ title, I would have been screwed. The guy I got the car from bought the car years before and there was no way I would have been able to get a new, signed and dated NJ title from the NJ seller. Sometimes it does pay to suck up to the toads at the tag office. I believe that if I hadn't always been nice to this tag office clerk in the past, she would have kept the title and made me try to jump through all the hoops.
David

Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:37 pm

house I don't think you'll be registering a pile of parts, you register vehicles.

jw your friend should be able to get proof this bank had a lien on the vehicle since the DMV has it and as long as he contacts the right people with the right attitude he should be able to get a release from them.

hazet did you JUST move to NC? To my knowledge you cannot get a drivers license without proof of insurance.

(thursday) i went to the DRIVER'S LICENSE office. they ONLY do driver's licenses there. they do NOT do titles or registration there.

I hate to speak the obvious but why would you think the Drivers License office would do anything but that? In NC we have offices for specific things, you can't get a deed changed at the Tax Collectors office that you pay the taxes on the land for. :shock:
And you didn't say so but in the day they would have kept your CA license unless they had expired. And one hour with 10 people ahead of you isn't too bad either, considering they probably only had 2 testers working. :D

The OP said that the cutoff was 35 years and 2 posts later you tell of a friend that just went through this and that as of Jan. 8th you know you cannot go to the "VEHICLE LICENSE PLATE " office to achieve what you went there for.??? :?
You seemed to have a pretty good handle on the new process Jan. 8th but when you recently went to go through the process it's as if you didn't have a clue. You knew that the Plate Office couldn't do anything for a vehicle 35 or older because the OP said so Jan. 8th, although she did do what she could which was give you "the phone number and the address and i went back to the shop to call the License and Theft Bureau". The 30 minutes is on you, calling would have been just a couple minutes. :wink:

As far as the hours of the Theft Bureau what can I say it's a govment office. And as far as the attitudes of the state workers I can say I've lived in many and dealt with them enough to know they all have a holes and I usually deal with them. As far as getting a tag or title change for a vehicle less than 35 years I haven't heard of any changes so take the title(notorized) and proof of insurance and they'll hook you up.
Now I'm not trying to dog you or anything but either you were one of those blonde Cali beach bimbos new to the Queen City on Jan. 8th and it all went in one ear and out the other foot or you're suffering from something worse. :cry:

'73spr... :fist: :D

This new law isn't rocket science and for the most part it's for our protection. Regardless of the chop-shop it's also to keep people from putting a fiberglass Cobra body on a 69 irs pan and insuring the hell out of it then shitting the insurance co. and our rates going up. AKA fraud protection. It's just another thing to make you do in life but if you find it a major pain in the arse or a high stress deal then I want your life. :?

Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:41 pm

Plantman as long as you have a NC title in your name and just want a tag then just go to the Tag Office with the title and proof of insurance and $28 later (I think) they'll give you a tag and registration.

I let the tag on my 68 run out last Aug. and in Jan. I took my old reg. with proof of insurance and got a new tag.

Tue Feb 19, 2008 7:55 pm

Behemoth, Thanks. That's what I thought/was hoping.
David