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Has anyone tried registering a street rod in Maasachusetts in 2012 yet?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 2many projects, Mar 23, 2012.

  1. Curious to know if anyone on the HAMB has tried to register your new street rod or newly completed custom vehicle in Massachusetts in the current year of 2012?

    I'm in the lengthly process now and it's full of issues you would have never imagined.

    I believe there will be a long list of street rodders leaving the Commonwealth to register them elsewhere.

    How are you doing thru the process?
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2012
  2. Wed. night the 28th, in Foxboro, at the Bass Pro Shop, the Mass. DOT has agreed to field question and answers relating to pending new title and registration rules.

    If you're currently having DMV issues you should attend and bring along your questions.

    You will receive answers you wont like, and other states that you have summer residences within will probably be on-board with express lines for registering our cars in the very near future I predict.

    All Massachusetts rodders should attend this meeting to share input that the registry wishes to share with us.

    Othrwise.......you will be off the road and parked in the garage as I am currently.
     
  3. The DMV did register my car but they failed my state inspection, froze my title and won't let me run my 47 coupe on antique plates any more.
    Other than that my paper work is perfect.
    They want a VIN inspection still, and possible change to an assigned one, although it's on an original 1947 Ford visible VIN and I have to produce paper work showing an engine swap and when all the modifications were done over the past 20 or so years.
    There still more new rules to abide by.
    Time to move out of this state if you love hot rods and customs.
    If you own a kit car, you're totally shafted. You'll probably be forced to scrap it.
    Go figure...

    How did you make out when u registered your new street rod?
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2012
  4. What did they fail it for?
     

  5. T-Faust
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 313

    T-Faust
    Member

    For what it is worth, there is always Broadway Title and a few others. It has been 6-7 years since I used them in Mass (a '72 Charger I bought out of a garage which had never had a title, title law started in '73).

    For about $340, they provide you with an out of state dealer's bill of sale, a letter from a Secretary of State saying no titles in that state, and an out of state prior registration. That should get you a title in Mass. I believe they are now using Maine as the "out of state". They used to use Georgia, or one of the Southern states.

    As I say, I haven't used them in 6-7 years, but I haven't heard any bad reprots since.
     
  6. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    Since I don't live in your State I don't know the specifics of the changes they have made, but it sounds like they are making it nearly impossible to get a hot rod or old car on the road. What are they doing exactly that is new from what they have done in previous years?

    I have been predicting for a while that the days of us being able to freely register and drive our cars are numbered. That might seem like Doomsday talk, but if you look at all the "good reasons" our cars are not good for mankind as a whole, I think it is pretty obvious our cars will one day become museum pieces, or at best, used on a very limited basis (shows, parades, etc). Our cars pollute, are noisy, consume more gas than a Prius, and generally are inefficient and serve no practical purpose.

    That kind of talk always meets with skepicism and "no way it will ever happen", but if you look at history the people we elect have always found ways to pass laws we said would never ever happen. SEMA can only go so far in keeping the Wolves from our door and the clock is ticking. Enjoy them now, guys.


    Don
     
  7. thepolecat
    Joined: Mar 24, 2009
    Posts: 687

    thepolecat
    Member
    1. S.F.C.C.

    Love me some Georgia registration rules. If you pay them money you can have just aout whatever you want on the road.
     
  8. They failed it because I run an antique plate on it.
    They have not produced street rod plates yet and the cant tell me yet how to plate it.
    3 people at the DMV have 3 answers, none agreeing with the other, and also they feel my VIN is too short as their system only now accepts 17 digits like on new cars.
    They have a software problem with a vintage vehicles now and it seems and no one will resolve it.

    I'm the test guinea pig on this test flight.
     
  9. Don's Hot Rods
    Joined: Oct 7, 2005
    Posts: 8,319

    Don's Hot Rods
    Member
    from florida

    I just looked at the vin on my 27 title and it is only 6 digits long. They would love me up there. :rolleyes: I also checked my 65 Olds title and it is only 13 digits long, so not sure what they are thinking.

    Don
     
  10. T-Faust
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 313

    T-Faust
    Member

    Typical bureaucratic response. Their "system" has a glitch, so, they are making their problem your problem. What are we supposed to do? Add a few digits?

    BTW, I have tried to get a replacement title in Mass on cars that I hadn't registered in years. It seems that after ten years of being "inactive" they are purged from the computer.
     
  11. T-Faust
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 313

    T-Faust
    Member

    Here's the deal on why Broadway Title is "legal". You sell them your car on a bill of sale, the car never leaves your possession. In a non title state, the bill of sale makes the car legally theirs. It is no longer a "Massachusetts car". The fact that the car has not been delivered and the sale "completed" is strictly between you and them, for all public purposes the "sale" has been made.

    Then they take it to a state registry where the state does not require insurance. They pay the $50.00 fee (0r whatever amount) and the car is "registered in that state". So, they can give you a prior registration. All laws are comlied with, that makes it "legal".

    Now, here is why I wouldn't bring it up in any discussion with the DMV. They won't like it. So what will they do? They will refuse to recognize it. What can you do? Sue the state? No thank you. I think you would win, but what would be the cost? That is what bureaucrats gamble on, they are on salary, it won't cost them anything. Think they will get fired? I doubt it. Will it ever occur to them to do the simple thing, reduce the "title period" to ten years like most states? I doubt it.
     
  12. well, what about just moving to new hampshire? lol I was thinking about doing that anyways.. anyone have any thoughts on that?
     
  13. and this bureaucratic BS makes me wanna high tail it back to AZ like right now lol
     
  14. That kind of talk always meets with skepicism and "no way it will ever happen", but if you look at history the people we elect have always found ways to pass laws we said would never ever happen. SEMA can only go so far in keeping the Wolves from our door and the clock is ticking. Enjoy them now, guys.


    So True! I fly a 300 Hp airplane that requires leaded fuel, EPA says it has to go and refineries will stop producing leaded fuel for us in the near future. A few private companies are experimenting with alternate fuels but as of yet, nothing on the market. AVGAS is a small percentage of aviation fuel and that's why some of the FBO's, or fueling stations, are charging nearly $7.00 per gallon. Oh yes, anything can happen. Fight regulations and high fuel prices. VOTE!!!
     
  15. T-Faust
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 313

    T-Faust
    Member

    I think you will find, that like Rhode Island, they now require a "prior registration".
     
  16. Roger Walling
    Joined: Sep 26, 2010
    Posts: 1,149

    Roger Walling
    Member

    It is my understanding that the person that customizes his car (radicaly, as to change the look from original) must retitle it before he sells it.

    So if you buy a car to customize it, you must title it before you start working on it (to comply with the 10 day law) then retitle it when you register it.

    After reading the law, it does not seem to me that you must title it as a custom though. It seems to be an option if you want to call it something else other than the original.
    Example, you install 51 chrome ford parts on a 49 to make it look like a 51. Or you put a 32 Ford on an S10 chassis and want to call it a 32. ??? The law is vaigue.

    Unofficial explaination http://www.dmv.org/ma-massachusetts/custom-built-cars.php


    Official law http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2010/Chapter311
     
  17. if you go to a 2 year plate do you still have the same problem
     
  18. el caballo loco
    Joined: Mar 7, 2012
    Posts: 166

    el caballo loco
    Member
    from colorado

    From what i understand, in mass, getting a rod titled is nearly as hard as buying a handgun! I'm glad i don't live back east!
     
  19. .....Sadly I must agree. Usually it's about "money", but now the state legislatures have taken on this "theme" of "save the world" and "social conscience". All of you guys who think just because you live in a state that is lenient now, don't be smug. This kind of repressive lawmaking travels across the country like a wildfire.
     
  20. FivesDaddy
    Joined: Feb 7, 2005
    Posts: 64

    FivesDaddy
    Member

    I never had any issues getting a title here in Mass for any of my old stuff. All the state really wants is the sales tax from the sale of the vehicle. Never go into the DMV in Mass not knowing the requirements, the people at the counter really don't know whats going on half the time, most times you know more than they do. Tell them what you want, never volunteer info about what your doing, that just leads to more questions. A previous registration is good to show the sales tax has been paid somewhere else if out of state, but I can say this, all states are slowly closing the loopholes and it's a good idea to get it done ASAP before you spend money on your project, at best get a title only for it if you don't plan getting plates.
     
  21. Roger Walling
    Joined: Sep 26, 2010
    Posts: 1,149

    Roger Walling
    Member

    To 2Manyprojects

    Why don't you just get "classic car insurance"? Same price as Antique with no legal restrictions. (not to be used as a daily driver per insurance rules)
     
  22. T-Faust
    Joined: May 18, 2007
    Posts: 313

    T-Faust
    Member

    Exactly! If you want to title your '48 Ford "Custom" , just go in and call it a '48 Ford. Don't volunteer custom issues. Once you have got a title, no one is going to challange you. I would sell it to Broadway Title and get a title for a '48 Ford, then take it to our DMV. You don't need to bring the car along.

    Their revision to the law will simply make it more complicated and cinfuse the clerks at the counter. Why not just drop titles on cars over 1 years old? Here is what makes me wonder. You can't scrap a car without turning in the title. Drag in a 15 year old car and see who asks for a title. Why is the legislature not on that one?
     
  23. Roger Walling
    Joined: Sep 26, 2010
    Posts: 1,149

    Roger Walling
    Member

    To: 2manyprojects,

    Why don't you just get classic car insurance?
    Regular plates, no legal restrictions, same price.
    (Not to be used as a daily driver per ins. co. rules)
     
  24. Slick Willy
    Joined: Aug 3, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Slick Willy
    Member

    Im confused...

    SEMA and others got a bill passed to make it easier to title a newly built car. I warned people it didnt make sense but everyone I talked to thought it was gods gift to the commonwealth...oh well...

    I dont get it though... 2MP, Do you have a title for it? or is this a no title build you are trying to get titled?
    a '47 ford is still a '47 ford, I dont understand how you can fail an inspection on a vin if its unassigned/assigned!

    You probably are the guinea pig on this one, just like I feel I was on the "highest(which is actually lowesy) restored value" on sales tax!

    Start getting it all in writing then take the statements that work out best for you and continue with a supervisor at a different RMV location
     
  25. I own 4 other old rods and muscle cars.
    Never had an issue before.

    The rules have changed regarding street rods and kit Cobra style cars.
    I'm unable to still get a reasonable explanation from the Mass. DMV.
    My 47 came from Arizona, thru a dealer, clean history and an Arizona title.
    Cleanest paper work you ever saw.
    Mass. DMV still isn't satisfied.
    Maybe the Wednesday meeting will show some light.
    I'm leaving this state sooner than most would think!
     
  26. Slick Willy
    Joined: Aug 3, 2008
    Posts: 3,053

    Slick Willy
    Member

  27. Wickedhotrod
    Joined: Oct 6, 2007
    Posts: 15

    Wickedhotrod
    Member
    from Hanover MA

    In Quincy Ma. there is an office that deals with titles. We are triing to get a title for a 1954 chevy. The car did not have a title or old reg. that they kept asking for. We told them the old timer that owned the car for years did not ever register it and that he was dead. They told us he would have to produce an avadavid stating where he purchased it.
    LADY he is dead!!! .... Still need that paper work. I CAN'T GET A TITLE OR REG. FROM HIM CAUSE HE IS ( what's the I'm looking for) oh ya DEAD.
    After 4 visits to the Boston RMV she said OH..... then you need to go to the title division in Quincy. WTF I never heard of that place. She said they handle titles and vanity plates. Off to Newport ave. North Quincy . Joe went in sat down explained what he was triing to do. Half way through the explanation of what to do..............THE FIRE ALARM GOES OFF ... They said everyone out of the building. Joe stayed just long enough to collect all his paperwork then out of the building. Stay tuned. He will be going back sometime this week.
     
  28. FivesDaddy
    Joined: Feb 7, 2005
    Posts: 64

    FivesDaddy
    Member

    Yeah...they changed somethings for kit cars...but if are building one and you got it from a dealer...then you should have a certificate of origin...with them being a manufacturer...if you bought it from someone with no paperwork for a title...then your screwed...
     
  29. I already have Grundy for an Insurance agent, had them for almost 15 years.
    They too have no control of the situation.
    Its out of their hands.
     
  30. Fenders
    Joined: Sep 8, 2007
    Posts: 3,921

    Fenders
    Member


    When I went to register an old small boat a few years ago (not with the DMV of course) Mass. told me the VIN didn't have enough numbers. duh? Like old cars, VINs were shorter.....

    Oh here is how the Mass. DMV works with plate issuance... you gotta know or blow someone...
    http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...rt_most_red_sox_tags_went_to_pols_supporters/
     

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