Post Pandemic Frustrations

[1STMP]

30 years ago I drug an old hunk of
American iron home, with a dream
of building it into something
reminiscent of the hot rods I was
surrounded with as a teenager.
It followed me to three different states,
thru various stages of completion.
Custom design of a chassis, engine/
trans rebuild, fitting sheetmetal to
it's new home. The project has reached
a state where it's roadworthy. Lights,
glass, wiring, suspension, brakes,
all custom designed and installed.
Weight slip in at 3,000 lbs pulled
by a 440.
Yet, it's going to have to hold it's place
in the garage.
I was just informed by DMV today, that
it could be as long as 10-12 months
before my title application is approved.
Their excuse....Covid pandemic
backlog.
But I'm not in the boat, alone. We've
all experienced parts shortages, and
services that before were readily
available, now taking far longer,
and if at all, available.

 

[vance.dykes]

 

[HawkRod]

30 years ago I drug an old hunk of
American iron home, with a dream
of building it into something
reminiscent of the hot rods I was
surrounded with as a teenager.
It followed me to three different states,
thru various stages of completion.
Custom design of a chassis, engine/
trans rebuild, fitting sheetmetal to
it's new home. The project has reached
a state where it's roadworthy. Lights,
glass, wiring, suspension, brakes,
all custom designed and installed.
Weight slip in at 3,000 lbs pulled
by a 440.
Yet, it's going to have to hold it's place
in the garage.
I was just informed by DMV today, that
it could be as long as 10-12 months
before my title application is approved.
Their excuse....Covid pandemic
backlog.
But I'm not in the boat, alone. We've
all experienced parts shortages, and
services that before were readily
available, now taking far longer,
and if at all, available.

My sister-in-law has been married to a British guy for almost 20 years. More than 10 years ago, he got a green card to allow him to immigrate to the US. But then they moved to England for 10 years and he had to let it lapse. When they came back, it took the government 3 years before he got his green card back. During that whole time, he was not allowed to leave the country. He couldn't even attend his mother's funeral in England!

The bureaucracy of our government is ludicrous. Most likely, your application will merely sit on someone's desk for months, or go through mindless and unnecessary "transfers" to other areas as it is being processed. Meanwhile, you will be held hostage without being able to drive the car.

Many times the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I'd suggest you "make up" a reason why you need the car on the road, and then call and regularly (though politely) bug the office that does this processing. It will be a pain for you, but perhaps this will speed it up.

Good luck!

 

[69a100]

Yet, it's going to have to hold it's place
in the garage.
I was just informed by DMV today, that
it could be as long as 10-12 months
before my title application is approved.
Their excuse....Covid pandemic
backlog.

Do you have that in writing? I'd say screw the DMV, take it for a drive and if you get pulled over, flash the letter to the cop. If you have to go to court, tell the judge where's the reasonable & acceptable time frame? I bet if you bought a new, outright, car paid in full, it wouldn't take the DMV that long to get you a title!
They work for you, don't be the victim of their own ineptitude for them to do their job!!

 

[1STMP]

My sister-in-law has been married to a British guy for almost 20 years. More than 10 years ago, he got a green card to allow him to immigrate to the US. But then they moved to England for 10 years and he had to let it lapse. When they came back, it took the government 3 years before he got his green card back. During that whole time, he was not allowed to leave the country. He couldn't even attend his mother's funeral in England!

The bureaucracy of our government is ludicrous. Most likely, your application will merely sit on someone's desk for months, or go through mindless and unnecessary "transfers" to other areas as it is being processed. Meanwhile, you will be held hostage without being able to drive the car.

Many times the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I'd suggest you "make up" a reason why you need the car on the road, and then call and regularly (though politely) bug the office that does this processing. It will be a pain for you, but perhaps this will speed it up.

Good luck!

First off, HawkRod, I'd like to wish you
a belated Happy Birthday!
I've tried calling our main state office
with questions on how to complete
the process for a bonded title, only
to be put on hold for a minimum
of 20 minutes each time. Most of
those calls get disconnected.
I called a title service company
yesterday to ask if they're
experiencing the same delays.
The guy I talked to said that they
were, and that he's got a lot of
unhappy customers.
Our local DMV is worthless. They
refer me back to the state DMV
with my complaints.
I'm wondering now if this isn't
a delay tactic where guys trying to
get their hot rods on the road just
give up.

 

[1STMP]

Do you have that in writing? I'd say screw the DMV, take it for a drive and if you get pulled over, flash the letter to the cop. If you have to go to court, tell the judge where's the reasonable & acceptable time frame? I bet if you bought a new, outright, car paid in full, it wouldn't take the DMV that long to get you a title!
They work for you, don't be the victim of their own ineptitude for them to do their job!!

I've driven it on the road for quick
test trips around the block.
My insurance company won't
insure it without a title or
registration. I could lose
everything I own if something
we're to happen. Local LEO'S
could impound it.

 

[torredcuda]

10-12 months is insane! Be a Karen, push the UP button - try going up the chain in the DMV, call your local and state elected officials offices and find out if it is an actual problem and why, and what is being done about it. They all work for us, make them work!

 

[68BabyBlue]

I used to deal with this stuff on a regular basis when I was a trucking company general counsel. The city and state of New York were the worst. On the front end, securing any kind of operating permit was the same ordeal you describe with New Mexico DMV. With dealing with local authorities on the five NYC boroughs, only designated desks could process fines once they were sent in. Lost in the shuffle, my employer was often hit was penalties for late payment.

The NYC problem was finally solved when my assistant spent half a day playing phone run around, and finally reached a live person who would accept and process our payments. Dealing with the state government in Albany we spent six months trying to secure turnpike double trailer permits with no success. That issue got fixed while I was in town helping set up the new terminal. I talked to the head of the department, and when he found out I was a live person in his vicinity, he asked to meet with me. Within an hour, he had me set up with my own desk, borrowed from a vacationing staffer. He walked me through the paperwork process, literally, introducing me to the multiple people who would process the paperwork, and explaining what each had to sign off on before my application could move ahead.

The supervisor was just as frustrated with the process as I had been, as each application had to be sent back to my company's headquarters in Indiana before being resubmitted, and folks on both ends were at the end of their ropes. Truly a bad system, didn't work well for any of us. But the two of us were able to process 25 applications in two days, enough to keep my company from losing $10,000 a week from having to run solo trailers.

DMVs are a truly nightmarish piece of our system. If you can somehow make contact with a real person, you may have a chance of expediting your ordeal.

 

[69a100]

My insurance company won't
insure it without a title or
registration.

That's the most B.S. answer I've ever heard in my life! You need to find a better insurance company that works for you!! BTW, who's your insurance with anyway that would say such stupid ****?

 

[1STMP]

 

[torredcuda]

In Massachusetts you need insurance BEFORE you can register a vehicle.

 

[1STMP]

That's the most B.S. answer I've ever heard in my life! You need to find a better insurance company that works for you!! BTW, who's your insurance with anyway that would say such stupid ****?

No sense insuring it anyway if it can't
be driven on the road.
Homeowners insurance will cover it
if the house burns down. (their
explanation).
I'm insured with Farmers.

 

[1STMP]

In Massachusetts you need insurance BEFORE you can register a vehicle.

With no title, there's no way to prove
I'm the owner, other than a binder
with 30 years of receipts in it, and
hundreds of build pics.

 

[Detective D]

WI had this type of thing for a while.
Angry farmers with German and Scandinavian background that populate this state everywhere except the two big cities in the south got through to their reps.
You may have to travel a little ways to get to an open DMV office, but once there they do a reasonable job getting customers through.
Yes, customers. You pay their wages, they are offering a service. Angry farmers made sure they understood that.
Nowdays things are electronic. The State has, IMO, taken a while to get things going online but the things they have done work well, all things considered.

The Estate Sale Dakota I just bought, I took the title and whatever the lawyer letter that was proof the person was indeed in charge of the estate to local DMV(bout 35 minute drive) and had title printed, in my hand, in about 45 minutes. They were out of truck plates, but I got those actually this week so not that bad either as they came directly from the State.
Oh I should clarify, in WI outside of the two big cities and maybe Green ? Bay now, you tell people how far it is to get somewhere in minutes or hours. Because the resonable expectation is you will be 95% driving on state highway/county trunk doing 55-60mph. Sorry not sorry urbanites.

Anyway, whatever BS New Mexico is on? PFFFFFT, what a load. I suspect it has something to do with an absence or lack of taxes owed for this.\

Can you title in a different state? I forget which east coast state lets you title basically anything. At that point it turns into getting it titled in home state, insurance shouldn't care about that and you can wave an actual title in po's face. Not sure if local laws allow for you or not down there.

found it

 

[bearman]

take it to az for title if you get it then file for a transfer title to NM. Just a thought. Are they going to register as a 40 pickup or a new title build.

 

[1STMP]

WI had this type of thing for a while.
Angry farmers with German and Scandinavian background that populate this state everywhere except the two big cities in the south got through to their reps.
You may have to travel a little ways to get to an open DMV office, but once there they do a reasonable job getting customers through.
Yes, customers. You pay their wages, they are offering a service. Angry farmers made sure they understood that.
Nowdays things are electronic. The State has, IMO, taken a while to get things going online but the things they have done work well, all things considered.

The Estate Sale Dakota I just bought, I took the title and whatever the lawyer letter that was proof the person was indeed in charge of the estate to local DMV(bout 35 minute drive) and had title printed, in my hand, in about 45 minutes. They were out of truck plates, but I got those actually this week so not that bad either as they came directly from the State.
Oh I should clarify, in WI outside of the two big cities and maybe Green ? Bay now, you tell people how far it is to get somewhere in minutes or hours. Because the resonable expectation is you will be 95% driving on state highway/county trunk doing 55-60mph. Sorry not sorry urbanites.

Anyway, whatever BS New Mexico is on? PFFFFFT, what a load. I suspect it has something to do with an absence or lack of taxes owed for this.\

Can you title in a different state? I forget which east coast state lets you title basically anything. At that point it turns into getting it titled in home state, insurance shouldn't care about that and you can wave an actual title in po's face. Not sure if local laws allow for you or not down there.

found it

Checked into what your vid lays out.
New Mexico is a title for title state.
Vermont does not issue titles on
vehicles older than 15 years, only
a registration. (Though in Vermont
the registration on these older vehicles
is the title). New Mexico will not issue
a title based on a registration from
an out of state vehicle. They cut the
legs off of this loophole.
Now add to this the fact New Mexico
requires the registration be changed
to that of a New Mexico resident
after 30 days, so running around here
with Vermont plates would only net
me a month of driving time unless
I become a Vermont resident.

 

[1STMP]

take it to az for title if you get it then file for a transfer title to NM. Just a thought. Are they going to register as a 40 pickup or a new title build.

NM will title this as a 1940 as there is
a serial number (not a vin), and a
model designation stamped on a tag
mounted on the A pillar.
To get a title in AZ I would need to be
an AZ resident.
I've a sister that lives in NV and
considered getting the truck titled
in her name, but she would be jumping
the same hurdles.

 

[HawkRod]

That's the most B.S. answer I've ever heard in my life! You need to find a better insurance company that works for you!! BTW, who's your insurance with anyway that would say such stupid ****?

BS Answer? You have to PROVE you OWN the vehicle (e.g. a title) before you can do anything. Then, it seems in most states, you can then get insurance and then get registration. Any insurance company I've ever worked with has done the same thing.

In Massachusetts you need insurance BEFORE you can register a vehicle.

Same in PA. First title, then insurance, then registration, in that order.

With no title, there's no way to prove
I'm the owner, other than a binder
with 30 years of receipts in it, and
hundreds of build pics.

Agreed. You need a title first before anything else. John Mellencamp had a song "I fought the law and the law won". Try anything illegal and you are bound to lose.

So your best course of action seems to be to get a live person at the DMV who gives a crap and can help you. Be a squeaky wheel until you get someone.

Good Luck!

 

[1STMP]

It use to be many years back, one could get a title on a bill of sale.
But things change. NM is number 3
of states with the most stolen
vehicles. That, and our states'
political views have greatly changed
the landscape.

 

[bearman]

Going to take a few years to get past this crap and a big change in local state and fed government before we even think things getting back to normal.