Not Ranked
Daniel,
I read your post and Ron's above, but I am now confused as to what the point is. Help me understand your point - so lets look at what we know (may help clarify it for other readers too)
1. SB100 allows the initial registration of a Specially Constructed Vehicle as either the year it represents, or the year of the engine. There are 500 slots allocated per calendar year for this.
2. As one of the posts above (or somewhere on this site mentioned) there are 270+ of the 500 slots OPEN for 2002. So NEW (read as no prior registration) cars can be registered today, as there are slots available.
3. SB1578 removes the 'initial' wording from the SB100 law, to allow registration or re-registration under SB100. However, SB1578 is not law until January 1, 2003 (when a new allocation of 500 slots will be released) So for those that want to re-register their cars, they need to wait until January 2003 to do it.
Do you agree with that?
From what I am gathering from Ron's post, he is saying not only is DMV unaware of the legislation that controls them, but they are offering erroneous information to their customers. That may not be what he meant, but I have certainly heard it enough times on this site to believe it.
You asked about the legal implications - I counter with the culpable liability that DMV has to correctly advise you on how to register your vehicle. If they don't know what the hell they are doing, how can they tell you what you should be doing? How can you be held liable when you either can't get the facts from DMV, or no one has said it is illegal to do it a certain way. Is there anything, in writing, at DMV that says you cannot get a title from out of state? (If it isn't written down, it doesn't exist). Violators of what?
I agree that there are probably a number of DMV investigators who are working fraud cases, but lets be honest, they aren't too worried about a small numbers of Cobra's being registered through a very gray process. They are after the big fish and are worried about stolen vehicles, lost revenue, and the portal of stolen cars that go through California to Asia or Mexico.
Most people don't post their registration problems here because the area is so gray, there is so much mis-information, and there is no lucid place to turn for the facts. If the paperwork and statistics that come across my desk are correct, I would disagree with you that only a small percentage of the CA Cobra world is on the internet. I would say that a strong majority is on the Internet. Fewer of that number that frequent any kind of a Cobra-related site, fewer still that actively post or discuss things in this forum. We know there are many lurkers out there.
In regards to your statement on insurance, I also have to disagree. As an example: we have two frequent-posting members here, both from California, who both lost their Cobras. In both cases, their insurance companies fully reimbursed them for their losses. Again, the insurance company takes on the liability to insure the car for the agreed upon amount so the onus is on them to understand what they are insuring.
OK, your turn! :-)
Brad
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