California registration for out of state purchase
 

Hi - yet another new member. I've lurked around the Cobra sites and forums for a long time but never had anything to contribute. Now, I come equipped with a hunting license from my wife (anniversary+birthday gift) and it's time to get serious. :D

It's going to be an ERA, no question, with a traditional big-block driveline (no 4.6L, no EFI, no six-speeds...)

I have some candidates but find myself a little lost in the forest of interstate purchase and registration. I'm hoping someone can hit the major points for me and save me (and probably some confused others) some time in sifting the great mass of information here and elsewhere.

Bottom line, I've never bought a significantly expensive vehicle across a state line. (I've been lucky and found all mine within California!) Now I'm looking at a couple of ERAs on the East Coast, and am not sure what I'm looking at in purchasing one of them.

I understand the SB100 situation and my plan is to acquire my Cobra between now and the end of the year, then celebrate 2010 by standing in line at DMV at the crack of dawn 01/04/10.

What I don't have a handle on is the period in between. Short answers, or links to answers, for these would be greatly appreciated!

• If I buy a car in NY, do I owe sales tax in both states or just CA?
• What's my situation between the day I get keys in hand and the day I finally get my SB100 certificate? Can I insure and drive the beast on interim paperwork? If I go through the normal registration process, what can I do about the smog issue between, say, October and January? In short, is there any way I can insure and drive the car while waiting for the SB100 certificate and registration?

Thanks for all info... looking forward to being a productive contributing member here.

Gunner,

Congrats and good luck with the hunt for your ERA!

- You'll only have to pay sales tax in California. They'll hit you up for that and the registration fees when you first visit the DMV. Don't fudge on the purchase price.

- Once you visit the DMV, tell them that you plan on taking the car through SB100 but need a TOP (temporary operating permit) to go to the DMV to get the VIN verified. And wouldn't you know, business travel will prevent you from getting to the DMV and you'll need to request another TOP. ;) Repeat as necessary until January. :D

- Last but not least (very important). Make sure that the title of the car is legal/correct for the State that you plan to purchase the car from (i.e. Correct for the State of CA would be SPCN with a year of 0000, not something like 1965 Ford Convertible).

Thanks, Doug. I was pretty sure about the sales tax but a quick validation is great.

I do plan on being very careful about the paperwork - no need to try to pull any clever moves as I have what it takes to do it right. I just don't want to have to have a "garage queen" for months or more while I'm playing paperwork games.

I visited ERA's shop a couple of years ago and had to be dragged away by family members impatient to get to our destination. I tried swapping them one of our rental Tauruses for something on the floor but they were strangely uninterested. Darn... :P

To avoid most all of the registration/titling process of an interstate purchase, you might want to search CA for a suitable vehicle. Also, this will possibly eliminate the need for such extended travel to inspect the vehicle prior to purchase - I assume you are adding the cost to transport the vehicle across country...

Just my 2cents...

Gunner, yes you can insure your car based on the "incomplete regsitration" (CA term). Also, there's an excellent post by someone on an SB100 thread, and maybe Doug has the link, where all the steps are explained in fine detail. During the months of October-December, you can certainly visit the CHP for a VIN assignment, but you can't visit the BAR, until you get the SB100 certficate. If you need a brake & light inspection, then that can be taken care of during the final months of 2009.

You may want to think about a PCV system for your purchase, if it doesn't have one already. The rumor has it that the PCV system is now needed for the BAR ref to pass your Cobra for 2009 and beyond registrations, although a puke tank might do too. Unsure.

You might want to check with an SB100-experienced DMV and verfify that all 500 of the SB100 numbers have been given out in 2009. You never know, a few numbers might be left. Best of luck.

Lately unless Bakersville is special, only one 60 day T.O.P. is issued unless your first born is put up. Then single day TOP's are issued if necessary. The days of multiple 90 dayers are gone, unless I've dealt with Bumf**k California. Cliff

I bought my ERA sight unseen. :)

I talked to the guy a few times, at work, at home. Then I had a CC member (Crainbuilder, Allan) take a look. He was local to the car's location. He kicked the tires, drove it (oh yeah, it's FAST he said), took some pics and the deal was done. Worked for me...

Thanks for the comments so far, all.

Randy, I'd prefer a California car, especially one with that golden SB-100 tag already in place. I haven't seen one come up yet that meets my other criteria.

I would be leery of buying some makers, but with some caution I'd have no trouble buying an ERA, Kirkham or Shelby long-distance. It's all in the judgment - and I long ago learned that anything too good to be true almost certainly is.

Gunner, that's what I found as well back in 2007. The cars in CA weren't exactly what I wanted, and I was a little leary about buying across the country with no time to actually see the car. Anyway, even the cars scattered about the country weren't exactly what I wanted. I finally just bought new and went through the SB100 process. Other than wasting time at various points, the SB100 process was fairly simple and painless.

Here's the link to the SB100 thread.

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/show...ighlight=sb100

For 2009 and newer SB100 BAR exams, not only must you have a PCV valve connected to your carb, you must NOT have a vent on the opposite valve cover that vents to the outside air. If you have a vent, it must vent to the INSIDE of the air cleaner in order to pass BAR inspection.

Short of having a current SB100 (IE: finding a car already legally titled in the state of California), you'll need a car that has been legally titled, preferably one that has a state issued VIN and not one made up of bits and pieces from a vintage automobile as those will not be allowed in California ever again. Take your time and look at each and every car for what it has to offer you vs what you want out of the car itself, then go from there.

Enjoy the hunt, as sometimes that is half the fun.


Yours In Fords,

Bill S.

Thanks, Doug. I always have trouble finding that one. :)

I still think this post should become a registration forum sticky.

My modified '68 Mustang engine - 347 stroker - has a PCV valve on one cover and a filler/vent on the other. That was "best practice" when I built the engine a couple of years ago. I could plate over the vent if needed - it's a classic square Edelbrock style fitted to the upper side of the cover.

For a Cobra that needed to pass the BAR, it's easy enough to have, erm, more than one set of valve covers. :D

Update - it looks as if I've found the snake of my dreams - and it is indeed out of state, so I will be dancing the SB100 fandango to start the new year.

So check me on this:

• I buy the beast and have it transported here.
• I get a smog check, which fails.
• I register it and get a 60-day TOP.
• I have 60 days to make the PCV mods, have BAR check it out, etc.
• The TOP runs out, probably before the end of the year.
• I successfully negotiate the SB100 maze.
• I wait some number of days (60-90?) for the certificate to show up, and then can complete the reg and drive like a semi-normal person.

My question is this: if I DON'T get an SB-100 by noon on 01/04/2010, am I doomed to owning a garage queen for the next year?

Failure is not an option! :3DSMILE: Seriously, you won't have any problem getting an SB100 number if you have all of your ducks in a row.

Regarding the Smog check at the BAR. You only need to go to the BAR once to do the smog test and that's AFTER you get your SB100 sequence number in January. You can go before, but you'll be paying to see your car fail. The final visit after you have your SB100 sequence number is free.

The basic order is:

- DMV to pay fees (sales tax/reg fees)
- Inspections required by DMV (CHP, may ask for brake/light)
- Ask for TOP to do inspections
- Ask for more TOPs because inspections are taking longer than you thought
- Get SB100 sequence number in January
- Visit BAR when you have sequence number. They'll print out SB100 exemption sticker. Drive and enjoy!

Don't forget, you also have to bring all the paperwork back to the DMV before you pass go.

Do NOT get a smog check before you're in the SB100 process and already have your sequence # (i.e., golden ticket). I don't know what will happen, but it probably won't be good. You may get your car labeled as a "gross polluter" which may detour you and your car.

Gunner,

You might want to call DMV and check on the 60 day TOP. One of our northern California memebers in the past week was told by the Placerville DMV office and coonfirmed by the Foslom office that they are no longer issuing 30, 60 or 90 day TOP's for kit cars. The best he could do was to get a 2 (yes two) day TOP.

Sorry, FIA Mike

PS: Hopefully I'm wrong.

Thanks, all.

I am glad to find out that SB100s aren't as impossible to get as I'd been led to believe - I have no trouble spending the next two months getting all my cobra-duckies (ain't they cuuute!) in a row. This would seem to be a slow year for such luxuries anyway... I'm just lucky to be able to progress with my plans in this rough time.

One of the things that I had heard "somewhere" was that a... certain maker of Cobra replicas had been hogging the available numbers by lining up many people to stand in line come the first business day of the year. There certainly do seem to be a lot of these trumpeting SB-100 status on the sale forums, often from authorized dealers. Fact or fiction?

My TOP was for 30 days and it was issued in June of this year. And you can renew it every time it expires. They will give you one when you hand over the registration paperwork, and pay all the fees for your new cobra and then when you do get the number and complete the proper paperwork and procedures, you will go back and finalize the reg.

Don't worry about getting your SB100 number. There will be a line and a rush on Jan. 4, 2010 but there will be plenty of numbers left over after the rush is over. All because of the economy.

I actually got my SB100 number on June 6th of this year. There were plenty of these numbers left after the first of the year rush was over.

Relax and go with the flow. It will be a piece of cake!