I tried to register my 818 in Hawaii, but after several visits to Recon (a division of the local DMV) I was finally told that Hawaii does not have a provision in their law to register a car that is not NTSB certified unless it is a car manufactured before 1968 or resembles/replicates a car made before 1968. A Cobra is fine, an 818 is not, as an example the officer used. As you can imagine I was disappointed and frustrated with myself that I had not done research on this before I made the purchase. So my 818 has sat in the garage since the first of January.

Finally I decided I had to find a way or sell it.

After unsuccessful conversations with well meaning people that said they could help, I found the winning answer through my brother.

As he is an avid camper he mentioned that Montana has a cottage industry of sorts setting up LLC's in which to purchase and register motor homes. Montana has no sales tax, so several businesses have been built around setting up LLC's in Montana and having the LLC's purchase and register motor homes/campers there to save tax dollars. Totally legal as the LLC's residence is Montana.

I was able to register my 818 there today through my newly set up LLC. Plates are in FedEx hands to be delivered tomorrow.

The benefits;

1) No sales tax
2) No receipts or proof of purchase of any components at all
3) No state inspection of any kind
4) No facing, organizing, scheduling or having to talk to any government agency/employee at all
(Worth twice the cost alone!)
5) No time off work
6) No planning your build around passing inspections
7) No time wasted building one way for inspections, then time to revert back to what you want
8) No anxiety during your build to have to deal with all the government crap and knowing it will be
Registered
9) Maybe less cost overall
10) The car is registered as a "2013 Factory Five 818S", the Vin is the one from FFR
11) The whole process can be accomplished in 4 days, from first email to plates in hand.
12) The 818 can be registered before your complete, plates in hand even for go cart stage

The Con's (maybe);

1) It cost me $1085 to set up the LLC so that the 818's ownership's state of residency is Montana
2) It cost me $358 for the registration and FedEx Saturday overnight delivery
3) It cost me $31 for Fedex to send the documents to the Attorney.
4) It cost me dinner to have a friend (badged officer, in my case a security guard) fill out the Vin ID form
5) The car will be registered in a foreign state
6) Insurance may be higher, don't know yet
7) You don't get to stand in line at the DMV and meet/talk to interesting people and government employees

Most 818 builders experience with registering their cars I've read on this forum are like horror stories. So much time, energy, and anxiety for a hobby is crazy!

I'm sure that in other states (probably not Hawaii), that once the 818 is legally registered in Montana, you can then register it in your own state easier without some of the crazy inspections/requirements.

I highly encourage this solution. Very easy, less time, and maybe less money. Plus, if enough people register out of state maybe those states will learn they are loosing revenue by making it so hard to register hobby cars.

Vote with you wallet!