Haven't been around here much lately due to lots of other things happening in my life so if this sort of thread is frowned upon these days I apologize in advance. Got a new job and will be relocating from Minneapolis to the St Louis area and was wondering what sort of car-centric activities are happening in the area. We really will not be fully re-located until the end of summer, I'm just doing some early re-con so I can have an idea of what to expect. I was also wondering what I'm going to have to do to register my 57 Pontiac. In MN I run YOM/collector plates and have no idea what I'm going to do for plates/registration in MO. Obviously I have a clear MN title but I'm not sure if there is some sort of registration or inspection required in MO. Last question is if there are any preferred areas to live? I don't have an office so the location is somewhat flexible. Not looking for anything crazy, just decent schools for the kids and not in the 'hood. Any advice is appreciated! Bryan
MO make it pretty easy to get historic plates. No inspection or renewal required unless you get a vanity plate. YOM plates allowed. I don't know if regional DMV offices do historic plates. I always take mine straight to the Truman Building, because I work in Jefferson City. I've always heard the Easter car show in Forest Park is nice.
I live in the St. Louis area. Missouri is fairly collector car friendly. They do require safety inspections but i don't know what the cutoff year is, if any. As for places to live in the city, avoid anything north of downtown and the arch and you'll be OK. Homicide rate is around 150 per year, most in North city. North of that along I270 is North County Florissant / Ferguson/ Hazelwood area. Ferguson isn't as bad as Trump paints it. West of downtown is forest park / Delmar loop. Lots of great restaurants, theaters, and things to do. Go further west in St. Louis county it gets richer. South is Nice and middle class. Not many speed shops around. The only one that plans to survive is Old Dog street rods in Maryland Heights. Others are folding up. Chuck A Burger has cruises every weekend. Lots of car shows around in the warm months. Gateway raceway is across the river. Drag, circle track, and go carts. There is a heavy street racing scene often on Hall street.
When you bring a car from out of state, the vin number has to be checked to see if it matches the title. How about the St. Charles area, just across the river and a very nice neighborhood.
st.louis native, south county is a comfortable area to live,west county gets pricey,north county is a place to avoid, st. charles county is BIG and growing [congestion], the city of st.louis i couldn`t recommend it to anyone. be prepared for HOT and HUMID weather in the summer. lots of car related activities, once you get here it won`t be hard to find the ones your interested in. tom
We had heard St Charles, St Peters, O'Fallon and Wentzville were ok... It looks like a lot of newer construction and farther away from the city.
We heard that St Charles County taxes were less than St Louis County, does that sound correct? I assume traffic is nothing like in Chicago or on the east coast..
St. Charles County and west is good if you don't have to commute into StLouis County or City. No way I would fight that traffic to cross the bridge everyday. If you're going to be here by Oct. come out and run 100 miles with us.....www.hotrodhundred.com
Bryan: Your list of places is right on. I know a bunch of car guys in those towns and they are great people and lots to see and do.
Vehicles 25 years old an older are eligible for historic plates, and no safety inspection is required for historic vehicles. You are limited to 1,000 miles of personal use. Driving to exhibit or maintain the vehicle is exempted from that mileage limit. You are expected to keep a log in your vehicle of miles driven for personal use. It is a great system for historic vehicles.
In MO out of state cars get ID/OD inspection at any place that can give a car a safety inspection. Your odometer will classify as NA so basically all they will do is a numbers inspection, while they are doing a safety inspection. Vehicle inspection here is a hustle, so I would wait until I made friends and find out who won't rip you off or try to. For YOM plates you first purchase plates then apply for a vanity tag, you will have to send a color photo of the tag and if it is not already in use you are golden. Sometimes they allow out of state plates and sometimes they don't, depends on who is doing the paper work at the state that day.
yom plates You do need to make sure they aren't s number in use and then you send a photo and a form specifically for this, with your OD/ ID inspection recite to Jefferson City and in about two weeks they send you your papers. Rules are similar to collector plates and you don't need a safety inspection just the OD/ID. You can message me if you like and I'll give you info for a guy who sells good condition yom plates that have already been checked to make sure the number is open and sells them with the form you need to send in. I would think your best bang for the buck would be attending the "hot rod 100" that is in STL. I want to say it's October 8 ish? It's a 100 mile reliability run threw the back roads around the area and put on by the crossmembers cc. They have events all over the country but i know the STL one brings in some very cool cars and between gas stops and scheduled stops it would be a great way to meet local people and see local hotrods. There's typically a feed at the end were you'd be able to rub elbows as well. They have Facebook and a website if you google hotrod 100 it should pop up
Thanks for all the responses! So is the ID/OD inspection just a VIN and odometer check or do they have some 'certified mechanic' do a ball buster inspection form from the state?
Hopefully I will be able to make this event, it sounds like it would be a good intro to the scene and an opportunity to meet some folks. Between the move, work travel and baby #3 coming it would probably be just what I need after 2 summer months of no seat time in the Pontiac... I'll be in touch about the YOM plates as we get closer to the date and I sort some things out. Bryan
They just check the odometer and vin, the full inspection is a whole different procedure. When you get to town you'll see signs that say inspection certified or something like that on some shops. They have to have a permit/license to do the state inspections. Most places are pretty chill about it and the price is capped by the state. I think it's $7 for OD/id and $21 for a full inspection they can't legally charge you more. ~ all of this sort of stuff is pretty easy to find online as well if you want the finer details about it
The ID/OD in Missouri is just a numbers check. Costs the same as a safety inspection (usually about $12). Before you buy YOM plates for Missouri, send an email to [email protected]. They can check to make sure the configuration is available before you spend your money.
Hey @bryan6902! I grew up in the St Charles county area, so I am partial to that area. Also, make sure to plan on being at the StL Hot Rod Hundred event. Out of all of the HRH events that we do, that one draws a bunch of outstanding hot rods. @cvstl is the organizer, and I take care of the pre-registrations for that one. A GREAT opportunity to make a bunch of great StL area "old car" contacts. (Hey @Peanut 1959, I'm sending you a private message with a question.)
Back to your question relative to schools. Unless you are going to put your kids in private schools the city will be a problem. You need to stay away from the St. Louis public system. The suburbs have some good schools. Depending on your work travel set up you might also consider across the river in Illinois. Fairview Heights, Collinsville, Edwardsville, etc. We lived in the Tower grove area and it was great but our kids were already grown when we moved there.
Had friends move from KC to the St Louis area recently, they chose the IL side of the river, said overall it was less money for more house etc. I was shocked to hear that, so you might want to check out both states? Good luck on your move.
i'm in south st. louis county, too. i agree. get your registration done at the local license office. i just go online and there's a site for car shows in the vicinity of st. louis and southern illinois--several pages long! i think you'll like it here--cheap cost of living, friendly people and mild winters. but summers can be a real bitch!
Pushing this back to the top... Will be moving to St Peters/O'Fallon, hoping to close on our new place on Friday morning. If all goes as planned I should be back behind the wheel of the '57 in 7-10 days! Looking forward to checking out the new area. Say a prayer that everything goes well in the move in general and the auto transporter doesn't mess up my car! Bryan
Cool deal, Bryan! Hopefully I can catch up with you in October, when I am up there for the StL area Hot Rod Hundred Reliability Run.
@bryan6902 - I am about to move to St. Louis too. And I just about wrote your same question to everyone, but then saw this older post. How are you liking it there? Have you enjoyed the car culture?
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