Massachusetts SEMA Bill-Registration Procedure

[oldguy668]

Here is the new Mass registration/inspection procedure.

Step 1. You'll still have to endure the state police inspection since that's a law enforcement issue rather than a title issue. We are trying to get a meeting with the senior officer in charge of the centers so we can get a common set of rules and hours of operation. For now, it's the same as before, no worse. We advise you to have receipts for everything you buy, and be sure to have the VIN of any donor parts.

Step 2. You'll take the VIN that the state police assign and use it to get your insurance and plates. This has not changed. Your registration certificate will state the year of manufacture, the model and an indication that the car is a replica or specially constructed vehicle.

Step 3. Go to your neighborhood inspection station, pay the $29, and just ask the guy for a emissions rejection sticker. He does not even have to do a safety inspection, just get the big red E and move along. You can drive the car with the reject sticker for 60 days, so you are not losing any driving time. Just make sure it is the E rejection and not the safety rejection.

Step 4. Once you have the E sticker, you can visit a MAC and they will do a safety inspection and enter your VIN into the computer as being emissions exempt. You will need basic safety equipment, such as headlights, turn signals, brake lights, horn seat belts and wipers. All lighting has to carry DOT markings. The windshield must be safety plate glass (laminated, not tempered).

Step 5. Return to the inspection station that issued the rejection. You will then get a free re-inspection and your car will show up in the computer as being emissions exempt. You can then drive away smiling. You will have a street-legal, emissions exempt car that will keep its emissions exempt status even when sold to another owner. The car can leave and return to Massachusetts and keep the exemption.

If you currently own a car that is correctly described on the title and registration (i.e. "2009 Factory Five", not "1965 Cobra"), you can start at Step 3. You won't have to get your inspection stickers at "Midnight Walmart" again. Any car registered before April 30, 2012 will follow this procedure, including cars that are purchased from out-of-state, as long as they are properly described.

Here's the bad news: If you have a registration that incorrectly describes the car as a "1965 Cobra", you should consider yourself busted. They know who you are and have told us they know. You can consider the period from now until April 2012 as an amnesty period. You can have the car re-titled to properly describe it and the state will do so at no cost. No inspection fees and no title fees. The downside is that if you get caught after April 2012, your car will not be allowed on the road until it is emissions legal. This topic has come up at every meeting we've had with DEP and RMV, and we have agreed to spread the word among our forum brothers. I know it's cool to have that "1965 Cobra" or something like it on the reg, but we all know it's not and the state has no interest in helping anyone perpetrate fraud.

The procedure for the period starting May 1, 2012 will be different, and we'll keep you abreast of the new rules as they evolve.

[Jon A]

Joe,

For the record, not everyone who has 1965 on their title was trying to perpetrate a fraud. I gave my insurance agent all of my documentation (i.e. 2006 certificate of origin from FFR, 2010 assigned VIN information, etc). He went to the RMV for me. The RMV agent asked him what it was and he said it is a replica of a 1965 ****** Cobra kit car made by Factory Five Racing. The RMV staff person affixed "1965 Factory Five Repli" to my title and registration. I did not ask for that nor did I want that. My insurance agent did not ask for it either, the RMV person did it.

I just hope the RMV understands that not everyone that has 1965 on their title/registration did something wrong. I do not consider it wrong when the RMV customer service representative is the one who made the decision to put 1965 on it.

I have absolutely no problem going to the RMV to change my title/registration to indicate that it is a 2010 Factory Five Replica.

Again, I appreciate all of your help on this issue. I know you have put a ton of time into it.

-Jon A.

[oldguy668]

The point I'm trying to make is the "Year of Manufacture" field in the title and reg MUST be accurate. If it isn't, you have the opportunity to fix it free. They are currently scanning all the titles in their database for "Cobra" and "Factory Five" with old model years. I wasn't implying that anyone was perpetrating a fraud, just reiterating what I was told at the meeting.

[Joe Mush]

Joe, What's a MAC ?

[oldguy668]

Motorist Assistance Center. There should be a list of them on the DEP or RMV websites, and we'll be adding a list here soon.

[John F]

If you currently own a car that is correctly described on the title and registration (i.e. "2009 Factory Five", not "1965 Cobra"), you can start at Step 3. The procedure for the period starting May 1, 2012 will be different, and we'll keep you abreast of the new rules as they evolve.

Joe, my car currently is stickered as safety only. You are saying I will have to go to a MAC center. Is this correct or does this only apply if it changes hands or I take it off the road and then try to re-register it?

[oldguy668]

How is it described on the title?

[John F]

2003 roadster replica

[Jammin]

Joe
Do you have any documentation on getting a car re-titled from the RMV at no cost. I am sure the tellers at the RMV will not know about this change and will have no clue as to what I am talking about. It would be helpfull if I had something in writing to show them

[Jack FFR1846]

So for those of us who did the State Police inspection and handed the stack of paperwork to the registry where they put "65 Cobra Replica" on the title, we take the registration and title to the registry, right? They swap it over at no charge? Do we need any other documentation? They actually handed the pile of receipts with the state police stamps back to me and only kept the MSO (which back then had 65 Cobra as model name) and 2 titles for the cars where I got the engine and tranny out of.

So where's the mac? I'll need to get a glass windshield and put together a wiper to meet all this.

Still considering just selling the car and buying a Porsche.

[oldguy668]

I need your help. Many of the registrations say anything but what the car really is. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to what the registry issued. If several of you could email an image of your reg, with your name, the VIN and the plate blacked out, as well as some basic info such as what happens when you go for a routine inspection, I will try to speak to our contact at the registry and maybe get some guidance for all of us.

[JimmyZ]

Joe - email sent.
Jim

[Jack FFR1846]

I'll try to scan my title. If the inspector gets to the "is this a kit?" screen and he types "no", the inspection continues as if it were an emissions exempt vehicle. My inspector only asked me how long I've owned the car. I truthfully told him 10 years.

[Jack FFR1846]

Ok, so I have my entire ORIGINAL and duplicate stack of stamped-by-state-police receipts, a copy of the spreadsheet that was initially handed in and copies of the MSO and 2 titles, along with my Cobra's title and registration. I had planned to convert the title today, but in reading the MassDot website, here's what is listed under kit cars:




Kit Cars

A kit car is a unique vehicle or a replica of any vehicle of which fewer than 500 are produced annually. Kit cars need to meet the air pollution control requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Kit Car Policy in order to qualify for a Massachusetts inspection sticker. These cars must receive an annual safety inspection at an inspection station. Newly registered kit cars need to undergo visual inspections of their emissions control systems at a Motorist Assistance Center. Once they pass their emissions tests, they can be returned to their initial inspection stations to receive their stickers.

I'm running without an inspection sticker for the moment and will probably place a "for sale" sticker in its place for the upcoming open house. I don't believe that the state will be reasonable and expect that they'll simply confiscate my reg and title.

FFR does not meet the definition of "kit car" under what it's description is on the site. It says under 500 cars a year. They sell more than that a year, I believe.

[Jack FFR1846]

Ok, I have a couple questions...

Has anyone successfully gone through the MAC with this? At the open house, I heard a few second hand accounts of people who went and from what I was told, everyone was failed because the MAC had no idea what to do.

Also, a question that's been in the back of my mind.....are all the 29 Ford T buckets and 32 Fords getting scrutinized? The few guys with cars built from real original cars are few and far between and there are plenty of fiberglas kit ones on the road.

I plan to start the process Monday. I'll report what happens.

[BTTFMK3]

Hi,

I went to the MAC in Shrewsbury a couple days before the open house. They checked the car over, entered something into their computer, and told me I was good to go to any state inspection station to get a safety only sticker. Sure enough. Went to my local garage and drove out with my sticker.

Shawn D.

[osofast]

Long story short here is what the MAC sent me today as to how the title and reg should read, and they say it should say COBRA under make and 1965 in the title under model #.

This totally contradicts what the stickiy here says.

Here is what the MAc sent me in an email today
Motorist Assistance Center
1 of 2
A section of the new law beginning April 30th requires RMV to brand the registration
and title for the following vehicles:
• CUSTOM VEHICLE
• REPLICA VEHICLE
• SPECIALLY_CONSTRUCTED VEHICLE
• STREET ROD
Definitions
Custom Vehicle - A motor vehicle for which the year of manufacture is after 1948, for
which the model year is at least 25 years old and that has been altered from the
manufacturer’s original design or has a body constructed, in whole or in part, from
non-original materials
Replica Vehicle - A motor vehicle constructed or assembled by a non-manufacturer
from new or used parts that, when assembled, replicates an earlier year, make and
model vehicle
Specially-Constructed Vehicle - A motor vehicle reconstructed or assembled by a nonmanufacturer
from new or used parts, the exterior of which does not replicate or
resemble any other manufactured vehicle
Street Rod - A motor vehicle for which the year of manufacture is prior to 1949, and
which has been altered from the manufacturer’s original design or has a body
constructed from non-original materials
The registration fields must correctly identify these four classes of vehicles. The
following represents how each field on the registration must be populated:
• For a custom vehicle:
o Year – The year the vehicle was completed
o Make – CUSTM
o Model – The make of the original body (Ford, VW)
o Model # - The year of the original body (must be later than 1948)
• For a replica vehicle:
o Year – The year the vehicle was completed
o Make – REPLI
o Model – The make of the vehicle that was replicated (Cobra, Mercedes)
o Model # - The year of the vehicle that was replicated
• For a specially-constructed vehicle:
o Year – The year the vehicle was completed
o Make – SPEC
o Model – CONSTR
o Model # - Leave this field blank
• For a street rod:
o Year – The year the vehicle was completed
o Make – STROD
o Model – The make of the original body (Ford, Chevrolet)
o Model # - The year of the original body (must be prior to 1949)