Tell Us about SB100 Today

[Paul F]

The SB100 traffic has been somewhat low this season. Let us know how it goes today.
Did everyone get a number?

[Tony Ripepi]

Hello All,

Curious people in California are watching...last year the numbers lasted into May, a reflection of the economy.

Tony R.

[springin]

Well, I walked into my DMV, Oceanside, Ca. and may as well have been chased out with a stick.

My Cobra is titled as a (Yr Model, 1965) (Make, Ford) (Yr 1st Sold, 0000).

I splained to the nice lady that I had been told I needed to file for an SB100 number or some such thing, since my car was made from a kit some time in the mid 90's and I heard I needed to get my registration corrected.

She said "no you don't".

After some very polite "splaining", I asked if she could inquire to her supervisor since my request had something to do with a recent law change and an amnesty program was involved. She returned shortly and said " Your vehicle was and is legally registered, have a nice day".

[Randy Rosenberg]

Originally Posted by springin

Well, I walked into my DMV, Oceanside, Ca. and may as well have been chased out with a stick.

My Cobra is titled as a (Yr Model, 1965) (Make, Ford) (Yr 1st Sold, 0000).

I splained to the nice lady that I had been told I needed to file for an SB100 number or some such thing, since my car was made from a kit some time in the mid 90's and I heard I needed to get my registration corrected.

She said "no you don't".

After some very polite "splaining", I asked if she could inquire to her supervisor since my request had something to do with a recent law change and an amnesty program was involved. She returned shortly and said " Your vehicle was and is legally registered, have a nice day".

Send/call Robert Morgester (CA AG) and/or Steve McDonald (SEMA), splaining that you've been denied access to the amnesty program, then sit back and watch them jump into action...

Robert Morgester
916-445-9330
Robert.Morgester@doj.ca.gov

Steve McDonald
202-783-0864
stevem@sema.org

[springin]

Originally Posted by Randy Rosenberg

Send/call Robert Morgester (CA AG) and/or Steve McDonald (SEMA), splaining that you've been denied access to the amnesty program, then sit back and watch them jump into action...

Robert Morgester
916-445-9330
Robert.Morgester@doj.ca.gov

Steve McDonald
202-783-0864
stevem@sema.org

Thanks so much for referring me to contact Robert Morgester Ca. AG.

After having spent hours at the Oceanside DMV on the morning of Jan. 04 and trying in vain to splain that I was there to apply for the amnesty process to correct my "Cobra Kit Car", and being told numerous times by the clerk and her supervisor that I shouldn't be concerned and all would be fine with my current "title"; I took your advice early this morn and emailed Mr. Morgester.

By early afternoon a DMV Investigator called me and gave me two options:

1. Make an app't at the San Clemente DMV and he would be glad to meet me there and make sure I was taken care of, or

2. Beat feet back to the Oceanside DMV and have their supervisor call him.

Well, when I walked into DMV, Oceanside, this afternoon and "splained" to the counter check-in person why I was there and dropped the name Morgester and a Mr. Kent Nichols (the investigator), I was told to go directly to "Window 4".

This gets better: Yesterday I had my pink and registration. Today all I had on me was a registration from 09. ( Too diff. to splain here )

Bottom line,,,,, 1 hour later, I was outa there with my sequence number.

There really are people in Gov't that know how to make things right and keep the system moving.

Thanks again Randy.

[Randy Rosenberg]

Originally Posted by springin

Thanks so much for referring me to contact Robert Morgester Ca. AG...Thanks again Randy.

Yeah! I helped someone this year!!!

Many years ago, I was helped by someone who knew someone...

Sometimes, it is not what you know, but who you know, even outside of Russia!!!

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by springin

Well, I walked into my DMV, Oceanside, Ca. and may as well have been chased out with a stick.

My Cobra is titled as a (Yr Model, 1965) (Make, Ford) (Yr 1st Sold, 0000).

I splained to the nice lady that I had been told I needed to file for an SB100 number or some such thing, since my car was made from a kit some time in the mid 90's and I heard I needed to get my registration corrected.

She said "no you don't".

After some very polite "splaining", I asked if she could inquire to her supervisor since my request had something to do with a recent law change and an amnesty program was involved. She returned shortly and said " Your vehicle was and is legally registered, have a nice day".

I went to the same DMV office a couple years ago to get a one way pass to take a vehicle from my house in SoCal to my house in Arizona (that was to be registered in AZ, but was not current in SoCal), and they had no idea what I was talking about. I had researched the situation and knew exactly what I needed, but it took a supervisor to get me what I needed. The lady at the counter was an argumentative (sp) idiot.

[Sledge]

I arrived at the Torrance DMV at 05:30. There were two people ahead of me in line--the first had been there since 03:00. I was doing the amnesty thing and had already submitted all the paperwork by November last year (including VIN verification/assignment, Brakes and Lights inspection, etc.). We were initially told that the ocmputer in Sacramento was down, but eventually two of us got our sequence numbers by 10 or so (in the high 100's). Also got a T.O.P thru the end of February. The other fella didn't have the basic paperwork complete, don't know if he got his number or not. Anyway, there were only the three of us at the Torrance DMV--I was expecting quite a few more.

Thanks to the Morgster and Kent Nichols for helping me prepare for this day!

[jhv48]

Originally Posted by springin

Well, I walked into my DMV, Oceanside, Ca. and may as well have been chased out with a stick.

My Cobra is titled as a (Yr Model, 1965) (Make, Ford) (Yr 1st Sold, 0000).

I splained to the nice lady that I had been told I needed to file for an SB100 number or some such thing, since my car was made from a kit some time in the mid 90's and I heard I needed to get my registration corrected.

She said "no you don't".

After some very polite "splaining", I asked if she could inquire to her supervisor since my request had something to do with a recent law change and an amnesty program was involved. She returned shortly and said " Your vehicle was and is legally registered, have a nice day".

FYI, the Oceanside DMV doesn't know their A-- from a hole in the ground. In July of this year I had to go 9 rounds with those incompetents. I knew there were numbers left over. They argued that there weren't any. I finally had to demand a supervisor call Sacramento to make sure. Sure enough, It was now 5:01 PM and Sac was closed for the day. Had to go back the next day and wait for two hours while we did much the same thing. They finally called and I got my number. But, they were about as helpful as another hole in my a--.

Bottom line. Know your stuff and call BS if they try and tell you otherwise. Get a supervisor if you don't get the answer you want. And YES, you will have to re register that 1965 title this year in order to avoid prosecution once the amnesty program expires.

And YES, there are plenty of numbers left over for the rest of you!

[Rick Parker]

Find another office.

[RedBarchetta]

Root canal work has now officially become a more painless alternative to a visit to any non-informed CA DMV office.

[Got the Bug]

Wow! Not much news on the SB100 front so far.

[Gunner]

Thanks for starting this thread. I guess it's as good a place as any to summarize my whole SB-100 experience.

Oh, wait, the important part: I have my number in hand!

707 was delivered to me in mid-October with two years' previous registration in Massachusetts, but no plates. I drove it for 15 days or so on the theory that "foreign" cars are allowed to drive for 20 days on their existing tags. I'm not sure that would have held up but it was my prepared excuse should I have been pulled over. It was never an issue.

On my first visit to the DMV (Carmichael office) I had no problems starting the registration and (despite being told TOPs were not usually given out for these vehicles) getting a 60-day TOP. On later inspection, there were several errors on the registration, but they were corrected by the CHP inspection and it was only a minor bobble.

The next week, based on favorable reports from local owners, I made an appointment at the Folsom DMV office. I went mostly to get the DMV inspection and to make contact with the crew there. It was a disaster. The vehicle inspector was so physically limited she may as well have been in a wheelchair - could not bend to see the VIN plate (or stretch to see the plate on the pickup truck next to me). She filled out the verification with so many errors and misspellings ("Corba") that it was worthless, and the supervisor I spoke with barely seemed to know what SB-100 was.

I got my brake and light checks at Kniesel's Automotive in Citrus Heights, no problems.

I got my CHP inspection at the Date Avenue office (Madison/80). The inspecting officer, J. Craven, was very polite and organized and emphasized that DMV might question some of his data, but he had carefully followed the procedures he had been using for three years and was certain he'd done it correctly.

I had ordered my custom plates (GUMBAAL - ) and they came in, so I had an appointment at the Carmichael DMV on 12/29. I went in - could not get plates with an incomplete registration. Almost as an afterthought, I asked about my SB-100 status. The clerk handed me over to the supervisor, Nancy, who went over my paperwork and found a major error - Officer Craven had entered 2006 as the model year and it HAS to be "0000"! To my absolute astonishment, she called Craven in and he came to the office for reeducation and to rewrite my verification. So I walked out, almost shaking because I was so glad I had decided to raise the issue - it would have been a disaster had I waited until today.

That killed any idea of going to the Folsom office for the certificate number. I went back and forth about how early to get to the Carmichael office and finally went at 6:30. I was alone there for 15 minutes, and then people started trickling in. By 8:00 there were 60-70 people in line. Nancy came out and round up the 5 SB-100 folks and took us to one clerk who took and organized our papers. (The clerk actually reached out to me at the back of the pack - never be TOO polite in these situations, grumble - and said, "Give me yours, I know they're ready to go." Then she fumbled with everyone else's pile of scraps.)

So at 8:15 I was waiting patiently. It was nearly 9:30 before Nancy came back with the packets - two of us had our numbers, the other three had problems ranging from no VIN (on a Porsche replica) to faulty titles. She told me she had gotten through to the desk in Sac right away, and then gotten cut off. 55 minutes of dialing later she was still not reconnected. I think she called a friend downtown and got the SB-100 desk to call her back.

And I have SPCNS 2010-242 in hand - now all I have to do is wait for the original certificate in the mail. That number is scary-high to me, given how prepared I was and how early my processing started. I don't think numbers will be available past this week, this year.

Soooo...

1. Read the SB-100 requirements carefully.
2. Get your registration started early, no later than September/October.
3. Get the brake and light certificates.
4. Get your CHP inspection and VIN issuance (if needed - they used my prior MA VIN tag). You will need to make an appointment and it will likely be 4-6 weeks out.
5. Make an appointment and take all your paperwork to the DMV by early December to get it reviewed and checked by an SB-100 expert. Make sure they say you are ready to go, that they would/will issue you your sequence number based on the packet you are holding.
6. Get to your chosen DMV office as early as you can on the first business day of the year. 2011 will likely be a busy year given that 2010 is an amnesty year - so 6:00 may not be too early. If the office is savvy, they will collect everyone seeking an SB-100 and handle them separately, so your place in line is not too important, just be in line... and towards the head of the line wouldn't hurt. I could have been an hour later but it was worth the time to stand there and admire the clouds.
7. Be polite to everyone - DMV clerks, CHP inspector, etc. - and it will pay dividends. I was prepared and polite and made some humorous remarks about being patient, and the clerk and supervisor went out of their way to do things for me. This, while snarling, full-fanged, at others who tried to be bossy or complain. I walked out with my wonderful, wonderful sequence number... and realized I hadn't asked for a new TOP. So I went back in, waited politely for the same clerk, and asked to see Nancy - who took about three seconds to tell the clerk to give me a TOP, chop-chop!

One important note is that my car's prior registration was neither here nor there - they didn't want the MA title, registration, anything and it was treated as if I'd just built it. So the warnings about mileage (too few miles to qualify as used, etc.) were irrelevant.

Happy to answer any questions. Even happier to recommend Kniesel's for the inspections, the Date Avenue CHP office for the VIN check, and Nancy at the Carmichael DMV for all questions and assistance.

2010-242. What a LOVELY number.

[GTED]

Originally Posted by Gunner

Thanks for starting this thread. I guess it's as good a place as any to summarize my whole SB-100 experience.

Oh, wait, the important part: I have my number in hand!


2010-242. What a LOVELY number.

Gunner,

A big congrats!! You're my hero as I started following your journey, which started in another thread back in 09 when you were about to buyt the car from Mass, thru the registration maze.

Everything you've written is very easy to follow. There is one thing I need mroe information on. That is, if I buy a car used, let's assume it is from outside of CA, do I need to get from the prior owner's records on the built, i.e., his separate receipts? From reading your posts, I know that fortunately such records came with your car. I'm thinking what if the owner from whom I purchase the car no long have them. I wanted to see from your journey having purchased a car used from out of state, would having or not having the separate receipts for the built make a difference, for example, were you asked to produce such records? I wonder what would I need to do if I don't have them. If it is a must-have for a completed used-car, then, I will definately factor into my buying decision.

Thank you in advance!!!

Ed

[Got the Bug]

Congrats Gunner!!

Based on the info that the DMV provided, the numbers that are issued by Sac are somewhat random, so you could get a high number and actually be one of the first numbers issued.

Glad to hear the mileage issue was a not an issue at all. It is an issue if you're trying to register a regular production vehicle or motorcycle in CA that has low miles.

[rodneym]

I wasn't too afraid of not getting a number due to 2009 numbers but the amnesty thing had me worried. I arrived at the Laguna Hills office (Superformance's 'home DMV') at 4:45AM. There was another guy there in his car with 2 chairs chained to the post up front (since 3AM). I asked him if he was there for SB-100 (of course) and said yes. He offered the second chair to me. He was a Beck Spider guy and really on top of his stuff. Believe it or not, by 6 AM there were about 15 people in line, only 3 (for the whole day) for SB-100. Surprised to see people wait hours in advance for other DMV reasons (and I thought we were weird).
Doors open, they take us 3 (one of which had the first SPF Grand Sport) and got to work. Then the clerk says that she can't me and Grand Sport a number because we don't have our B&L or CHP yet. WHAT????!!!! After a little careful explanation, some from Bob at Hillbank, she said she would call Sacramento to find out. Was this call for the numbers or only info? We were freakin. We could hear the busy signals on the PA for over an hour. She gets through and comes back after 15 minutes. She tells the Beck Spider guy, "YOU got a number", emphasis on 'YOU'. I thought I was in trouble. Ended up having numbers for us too and TOP's till end of March! Phew! Well, I still have lots to due but the biggest hurdle is jumped.
Many thanks to 'Got the Bug' and 'Rodknock' for their help. I hope to help others next year.
rodneym

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Surprised to see people wait hours in advance for other DMV reasons (and I thought we were weird).

Ditto, there were about 70 people by 8 and only five were SB-100. The wait times at the DMV are so bad now you only have three choices: Make an appointment that will likely be 2-3 weeks out (very convenient if you can wait that long; it pays to plan ahead) in which case you'll be done in less than an hour; or prepare to wait for 2-4 hours to get to a clerk; or get there an hour before opening and spend maybe an hour and a half total.

Being able to do most routine stuff online helps a lot.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Then the clerk says that she can't me and Grand Sport a number because we don't have our B&L or CHP yet. WHAT????!!!! After a little careful explanation, some from Bob at Hillbank, she said she would call Sacramento to find out. Was this call for the numbers or only info? We were freakin. We could hear the busy signals on the PA for over an hour. She gets through and comes back after 15 minutes. She tells the Beck Spider guy, "YOU got a number", emphasis on 'YOU'. I thought I was in trouble. Ended up having numbers for us too and TOP's till end of March! Phew! Well, I still have lots to due but the biggest hurdle is jumped.
Many thanks to 'Got the Bug' and 'Rodknock' for their help. I hope to help others next year.
rodneym

In the past, I've never heard of any DMV office that required that the CHP and B&L check be completed prior to issuing an SB100 sequence number. That being said, if you can get it done it's probably one less think to worry about.

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

In the past, I've never heard of any DMV office that required that the CHP and B&L check be completed prior to issuing an SB100 sequence number. That being said, if you can get it done it's probably one less think to worry about.

If you do the CHP check and get your VIN there, it's one less thing you have to do at DMV. Even though CHP requires an appointment, they're faster and more efficient than DMV. There are some lists that indicate you have to have the car verified or inspected at both places, but since you have to do the CHP one, you can skip the DMV one. You DO have to have a VIN before they can put in the request for a sequence number.

I think you're correct on B&L, but you may as well get that (and any fixes) taken care of while you're waiting for appointments etc.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Gunner

You DO have to have a VIN before they can put in the request for a sequence number.

You mean TIN? In prior years, we were able to obtain an SB100 # before the actual CHP VIN assignment. I still think that's the case.