Recent registration ???

[vegasmike]

Has anyone recently registered their Cobra with the Nevada DMV? I would be specifically interested in anyone that registered their superformance car.

I should be getting mine in a month or so and need to know of any issues or hints. I am buying this from a dealer in Idaho and will have it titled in Idaho as a 1965 Ford before taking delivery.

Any suggestions to make this process go smoothly?

[mr0077]

Mike, I just got mine registered. It was previously registered in Texas as a 1965 Ford. After eleven trips to all three DMV locations, I would recommend you go get a VIN check (DMV Form RD-15) at Flamingo then go to the Sahara office information desk with a filled out Replica Vehicle Application (DMV Form RD-237) and ask for Ms. Gunter (badge #1967). She was shown how to register replicas under the new law (Assembly Bill 321, effective 07/01/2007). They can also do a VIN check at the Sahara office, at the emissions lab, but they are idiots and will give you an enormous amount of grief, and when you go inside to get it registered, the folks inside will tell you they don't need the "Emissions Exception Vehicle Report" they give you out at the emissions lab. Tell them you only need a VIN check. Also, if your motor is later than 1968, the emissions lab will go nuts and tell you you need to comply with current emissions requirements. Ignore them.

Hopefully your experience will be better than mine.

[vegasmike]

Thanks Ken. It helps to have someone that has been through the "process". I talked with personnel from Registration, emissions and Inspections yesterday on the phone. The Inspection Supervisor gave me the same story, it will be an assembled vehicle on thier form and will need the emissions standards for whatever year the engine is. He seemed pretty arrogant about it and when I asked him about "Replica" status, his answer was "that is up to registration, but we treat all of these Cobras as "Assembled Vehicles" . Sounds pretty consistent with your assessment. He suggested I go to the Sahara Emmissions facility to get my VIN check. I honestly believe they want you to have the worst experience with the DMV. I talked with one guy that basically encouraged me to avoid any/all DMV offices in Las Vegas and get it done in a smaller city. Thanks for the info. Looks like I can get the process done much more smoothly now that I know the ropes; what forms I need and who to talk to.


I have the RD-15 printed already and I think I will get it done up at the Cheyenne Police Station as any police officer can do it, supposedly. If not, I have waisted ten minutes.

As an asside, do you have kids or relatives that go to The Alexander Dawson School? My wife said she saw a nice blue cobra there a couple weeks ago and I saw that a nice blue ERA was sold in LV just recently. My kids go to AD.

[mr0077]

Nope, no young kids (or relatives) and no relation to the car your wife saw, sorry.
Your friend is likely right, doing it in a smaller city may be easier; one of the LV cobra guys got it done fairly smoothly in Henderson. Getting the VIN check done by a peace officer is definitely a good or better option, as they are doing all that is necessary - verifying the VIN. The guys at the lab want to generate red tape and problems. I had a cop friend in Houston do my VIN check about 2 years ago when I first registered the car in Vegas, worked like a charm.
Good luck, and keep us posted, this is of interest to all of us.

[vegasmike]

Where can I get Form RD-237 ?

[mr0077]

Mike, darned if I know! I got my copy online, but I searched all over for it online and can't find it! I guess they decided to take it off the website for some reason. Call DMV at 486-4368 and ask how you can get one. The title of the form is "Replica Vehicle Application (2007 Legislative Session Assembly Bill 321)".

[DougR]

Mike, My car was registered in Arizona as a 65 Ford Cobra. I just printed out a vin inspection form off the DMV website and had a police officer sign it. I took the form along with my AZ title and it was a done deal. No inspection, no special forms, no Replica Vehicle Application. Just walked out with my new registration and waited for my personalized plates in the mail. And because it's registered as a '65, it's automatically smog exempt.

[mr0077]

Mike, Doug is right, since your car is/will be registered as a 65 in another state, you can simply register it that way here. All my discussion and efforts were to get mine registered under the new replica law and sidestep the way Doug did it...but when I sidestepped, I stepped into a pile of stuff :-)

[DougR]

I see it this way: If you have to register a new, previously unregistered car then the new law is ok. But if it's already registered in another state, why go thru the hassle? Get the vin inspection and take your paperwork to the DMV and walk out with your plates.

[vegasmike]

OK, Here is the current "skinny".

First off, Doug, you are LUCKY. Technically, your car is titled and registered as an original '65 Cobra according to NV law. The AZ guys did you a favor titling it that way and going to a police officer helped greatly. The guys at the DMV would have changed your title for NV had they done the inspection.

I am trying to do it under the new "Replica" law as well. The form is no longer available prior to registration so that they control it's distribution and limit it to 100 per year. I talked with a guy in Carson City who was very helpful. He said the car would be titled (most likely) as a "2008 Assembled Vehicle" by any DMV Inspector. I then have to go into Registration and request Form RD-237 to have it registered as a "replica". According to the guy in Carson City, this car meets the definition of Replica, so as long as I get in under the 100 mark, I should be fine. Once it is registered as a "replica", it will be exempt from emissions. If I don't get it in under the 100 limit, the first two years are exempt anyway as a new car. I would then renew registration on a following year early and request RD-237 at that time to get it classified as a "replica".

I plan on going to a police officer to get my VIN Inspection done and trying to get him to list the car on that form as a 1965 Ford Cobra Replica which is what the MSO says. The trick is having the DMV take that MSO and that VIN Inspection Form and titling it the same, not changing it to a 2008 Assembled Vehicle. Even if they do, it is not terrible as long as the RD-237 is filed.

I think the easiest pathway is to try and get a police officer to fill in the VIN Inspection, bypass the DMV Inspection and register it under the RD-237 Form as a "replica". I may not get it titled in Idaho first due to the delay in getting the actual title, which could delay when I can register it in NV, which could cause me to miss the 100 deadline.

[mr0077]

Doug, next time we have breakfast I'll tell you why I did what Mike is doing.

Mike, I was told (and I think this is correct) that although the new law says 100 per year, the legislators later agreed that they'd meant to say 100 total, so when 100 replicas have been registered there will be no others until someone lets their registration lapse or the car is sold out of state or crashes, etc. In the fine print on the RD-237 it says:

"The replica vehicle registration is limited to 100 vehicles. Because of the limitation, if at any time for any reason your vehicle registration status is not ACTIVE you may lose this indicator. If you lose the indicator you will have to reapply when your vehicle registration is returned to active status. The Department does not maintain a waiting list."

My indicator was number 39 on March 28 2008, which was about 10 months after the law went into effect, so they're not going very fast.

Under the replica law, the title WILL say ASVE, but it will list the car as a 1965 (or whatever year) Cobra, so your insurance would be unaffected and it will be smog exempt.

[bigrob]

I got mine done about a month and a half ago. Did it at the North Decatur branch. Went pretty smooth. They did not register the car as a '65. They registered it as an '06, because that is the year it was titled last in Texas & which makes zero sense, the main thing is it gets titled as an "ASVE" this means "assembled vehicle" Had to get a Vin inspection at the DMV AND....had to get a vehicle inspection from a local shop, lights, signals, horn, wipers....that sort of thing. 10 minutes & that was good. I don't know why these guys cannot get on the same page with this law!!!

[vegasmike]

I was told by Carson City that the only inspection required would be a VIN Inspection. I specifically asked about a safety inspection and he said that one was not required. Having a MSO or previous title made a safety inspection unnecessary. If you look on their site for what is required, they never say anything about a safety inspection. I even talked with an Inspector Supervisor from the Sahara Office and he said that no safety inspection was required. He did try to tell me that the car would have to meet the smog requirements of whatever year the engine is. He obviously did not know about the "Replica Law" or how it is applied. There are three things to consider here, VIN Inspection, Emissions and Registration. Two docs come out of this, a title and a registration. The title only requires the VIN Inspection. Registration requires a title/MSO, an invoice/receipt and emissions test (if required). Filing form RD-237 negates the emissions requirement. At the Sahara office, the emissions and VIN Inspection are combined, so those guys seem to be acting as one in the same and assuming that both are required. They do not know and are not required to know about RD-237. The real problem is that many of the Registration people don't know about it either, so you have to keep pushing.

If only 100 total (not per year) is the real deal, this is a problem. I will have to talk to some people to get that corrected after I get mine done. I asked the guy in Carson City about that and he said it was per year, nothing referring to anything other than was was written in Law.

[DougR]

Mike, there wasn't any luck involved. When I originally registered my car Nevada did not have a "Replica" law and the DMV didn't have a clue as to what to do with these vehicles. Horror stories ran wild about endless red tape and multiple trips to the DMV in attempts to register a car here. Over the last 5 years or so most of the builders who had a Arizona address available to them (they owned AZ property or a relative owned AZ Property) simply took the easy road and made the trip to Bull Head City and registered their cars there. I did the same.

Arizona registration is good for 2 years. So when my 2 years were up, I went to the DMV here to register it in Nevada. I handed the lady my title, the VIN inspection form, a check and walked out with my new registration. Although a Nevada title is not required, I did request one. The car was originally titled in my name only and I wanted to add my wife to the title. Outside of that, there was no requirement or reason to change the title.

So I'm sticking with my story: If you have to register a new, previously unregistered car then the new law is the way to go. But if it's already titled in another state, why go through the hassle? Get the VIN inspection and take your paperwork to the DMV and walk out with your plates.

[vegasmike]

I think the pertinent point here is to get the VIN Inspection done anywhere but the DMV. The supervisor I talked with there made it very plain and was very blunt about these cars. They will have them re-titled as an Assembled vehicle, period, no matter what the previous title says. He seemed to have a big chip on his shoulders with respect to these cars. I had guys in Carson City and Emissions guys in LV tell me to avoid LV DMV offices for less hastle and a smoother process.

My car is not titled anywhere as of yet, but it would be easy to get it titled in Idaho as something other than an "assembled Vehicle".

I don't think it makes much difference though as long as I can get it in under the new "replica" law, like you said. But I also think you are dead on, if you can get it titled one way in another state and bring it here and get the VIN Inspection done by a police officer who will list it on that inspection the same way it is on your existing title, that is the way it will most likely stay, with or without the replica form.

[DougR]

Originally Posted by vegasmike

I think the pertinent point here is to get the VIN Inspection done anywhere but the DMV.

But I also think you are dead on, if you can get it titled one way in another state and bring it here and get the VIN Inspection done by a police officer who will list it on that inspection the same way it is on your existing title, that is the way it will most likely stay, with or without the replica form.

We're in agreement. In your first post I thought you said that the car would come with a Idaho title. If so I didn't understand why you'd go through all the hassle of the replica business. But if it comes untitled, you'll have to go the replica route.

As far as the VIN Inspection form goes, I filled it out in advance. The officer that came to my house just verified the information and signed it. He looked at my title, checked the VIN# and signed it. Took about 1 minute. But afterwards he and his partner spent about 15 minutes drooling over it and asking questions.

Which ever route you take you'll soon forget about the process once you get it on the road. These cars have a tendency to make all your problems and worries disappear.

[vegasmike]

The only part of my process that might be undecided at the moment is whether I have it titled in Idaho first. I can have Gear 6 get it titled in Idaho, but I do not know what that title might read or how long it might take, effectively delaying me longer here if I have to wait for Idaho to send them a title. Idaho may not title it the way I want anyway. I think Gear 6 told me that they title it as a 1965 Ford replica.

Anyway, it's clear that getting it inspected prior to going to the DMV is the way to avoid some hastle.

[rnocobra]

If you heard the rumor that Nevada Legislators really meant to only allow 100 replicars total - that is all it is, a rumor. The legislature knew exactly what it was doing when it passed the law and slowly but surely, the DMV offices are starting to be more efficient at registering these automobiles.

[mr0077]

rnocobra, has the law been revised since its passage or effective date in June '07? If not, how do you explain the language on the RD-237? I read the law and talked to people in Carson City and after talking to a high-ranking guy in the DMV I reached the final conclusion that the wording of the bill was in error and would be amended to limit it to 100 total (he DID admit that as currently worded it allowed 100/year).
I hope you're right in the long run, but I would be puckered if I needed that bill and 100 had been issued.
Time will tell.

[vegasmike]

If/when it comes to that, you can register your car using an LLC in Montana and do the whole thing in Montana. Many race/kit cars are done this way. Montana ends up getting the revenue on cars that are not even located in its' state due to it's favorable treatment and no other states can do anything about it as the car is owned/registered by a Montana LLC. Nevada or whatever state giving us the hard time loses out on the revenue. They will catch on eventually and do what is right, but it might take a while. Given that, I think it is time to start writing/calling our representatives and letting them know what our alternatives might be.