Commonwealth Crackdown on Antique Automobiles - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

mgburg · #31 09-30-2007, 01:12 AM

Wisconsin did a rewrite on Transportation Regs a few years ago...and they went after the "collector plates" crowd with a vengence.

The DOT's first write-up on the regs called for the vehicles to be off the road for 3 months a year...

Quite of few car clubs in the state went after that reg...

The new law now says that you pay 2.5 times the normal, yearly, registration fee for that type of vehicle, and you have to keep it off the road for only ONE month...HOWEVER, if you have a need to drive the vehicle during that ONE MONTH TIME PERIOD, you're able to purchase 5-day "passes" at 1/6th the cost of the vehicle's type yearly registration fee...

For example:

A normal registration fee for a 280E would be $60.00/year.
IF I wanted to put "Collector Plates" on it, it would cost me $150.00 for the one-time registration fee, then if I needed to drive it sometime during the month of January, between the 1st and 7th of the month, I'd pay $24.00 for a "temp" sticker for the set time I needed to drive it...

Get caught without the sticker? I haven't heard what the penalty is and I haven't talked with anyone (at least in my area) that has had it happen to them...

Just like some of the earlier postings...this was brought up to go after the non-primary/yearly registered vehicle owners that were registering their daily-beater ride (Mainly in the SE part of Wisconsin...) were getting ticketed and causing problems.

The problem with all of this?

The numbnuts that break the original law don't get punished...the State just makes it more hard and inconvenient for those THAT FOLLOW THE RULES to be able to stay in the game...

All the while, scufflaws continue to be jerks and everyone else has to pay the price to continue to enjoy their property and possessions.

Just take the "posers" and crush their ride when they F*** UP!

After two or so become examples, the rest would/should fall in line and either give up the plates or get another vehicle registered with the State in a timely manner.

But, then again, that would be too simple and practical...time to call in the politician...he'll fix everything really gooder! (mis-spelling intended!)

JimFreeh · #32 09-30-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strife

Around here, if you don't have a basement, you have a no-car garage, because your two-car garage is full of crap. I might have been the only person in my previous neighborhood (no basements due to rocks and water) who could actually put two (albeit small) cars in their garage.

It never ceases to amaze me how someone can keep $50 worth of crap in a garage and leave a multi thousand dollar investment sitting out side.....

I've got a two car attached and a 4 car shop, and I like to fit 7 cars in my garages.

My wife "owns" the attached garage with her E320 wagon and MGB roadster parked close by and ready for action.

And due to the water table here in Tidewater, I do not have a basement, but I do have an attic!

Jim

Mark DiSilvestro · #33 09-30-2007, 09:08 PM

Unfortunately, here in Alexandria my attic is literally a crawlspace and I have no garage, unless I count the 10' x 20' tube & tarp affair I put up this year. Unless I an get a variance, county zoning regulations preclude my building the sort of garage I desire. Right now I'm considering one of those lightweight aluminum carport kits to attach to the side of my house, so I'll at least have some weather protection for a couple vehicles, and shelter for the stuff that's now cluttering my back porch, including one spare furnace, two dishwashers, three lawnmowers, four bundtcake rims, etc....

Happy Motoring, Mark

Ken300D · #34 10-01-2007, 10:13 AM

While we're on the topic of Virginia, somewhere I came across a post that gave me the impression that the state will now (automatically) fine you if you don't renew your license plate decals on time. The presumption is that you are driving on expired tags. It used to be that you had to actually be driving the vehicle on expired tags and an officer spot you.

What this effectively means is that you can't take a vehicle off the road (either temporarily or permanently) by just letting the tags expire. You have to go to DMV and personally surrender the tags - better get a receipt!

And don't even think of letting your insurance expire a few days before the tags expire or are surrendered. Keep the insurance for a week or so after the tags are processed out.

Ken300D

Mike D · #35 10-01-2007, 01:32 PM

Regarding Ken300D's post. Same here in AZ. You actually have to inform the MVD if you plan on letting your registration expire for "non-use".

I had a Lincoln Mark VII my wife drove. She fell ill and couldn't drive for a couple of years so I just let the tags and insurance expire, covered it with a tarp and forgot about it. Got the usual, "blah, blah, blah" notices about it in the mail and ignored them. I should have read them a little more closely rather than just seeing the Mark VII on the headers and tossing them.

I went down to have my driver's license renewed and was informed my license had been suspended from 2 years before for "failure to insure" on the stinkin' Lincoln!

PITA! No big deal, $10 re-instatement fee and I was on my way. Just glad I am a "grandpa" driver and didn't get stopped. Would have been a $400 + fine!!

mgburg · #36 10-05-2007, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike D

Regarding Ken300D's post. Same here in AZ. You actually have to inform the MVD if you plan on letting your registration expire for "non-use".

I had a Lincoln Mark VII my wife drove. She fell ill and couldn't drive for a couple of years so I just let the tags and insurance expire, covered it with a tarp and forgot about it. Got the usual, "blah, blah, blah" notices about it in the mail and ignored them. I should have read them a little more closely rather than just seeing the Mark VII on the headers and tossing them.

I went down to have my driver's license renewed and was informed my license had been suspended from 2 years before for "failure to insure" on the stinkin' Lincoln!

PITA! No big deal, $10 re-instatement fee and I was on my way. Just glad I am a "grandpa" driver and didn't get stopped. Would have been a $400 + fine!!

Somehow, I see this more as an issue to generate income for the state...not a crime...you're being punished for non-use of a vehicle...the state is making you pay to own your property.

Isn't/wasn't the purpose of having "tags" to make it convenient for LEOs to ENFORCE driving LAWS? Not to generate income for the state?

Do we have any attorneys, out there, that see a problem with this?

Are OUR legislators that lazy that all they can do is penalize the populace with hair-ball "rules" for owning your vehicle?

What if I have it in the shop and I KNOW that the car won't be road-ready for a month or two? Why should the state profit because my vehicle isn't able to be on the road?

I wish people would see this type of legislation for the crap it really is...lazy pols NOT DOING THEIR JOBS...

Kick the whole lot out and start over...it might be damn cheaper!

Mike D · #37 10-06-2007, 08:13 AM

Actually, the problem was I allowed the insurance to lapse BEFORE the tags expired. I wasn't happy about the way they did it but I couldn't argue the point as they were legally correct. Had I read the notices I would have known this.

You can actually file "non-use" on the web here in Az.

I'm a big opponent of yearly registration. I see it as a tax on a tax. If you haven't made any changes in the ownership of your vehicle then once you have paid it's sales tax you shouldn't be charged a "use tax". Yearly registration here is based on the "value" of your vehicle. After about 7 years there is no value so tags are about $24 a year apiece for all my rides.

In fact, now that I think of it, my rides are all so old ('67, '72, '73, and a '74) they should be paying ME money!

JonnyL · #38 10-07-2007, 11:29 AM

I am a recovering Virginian, but miss the wonderful state.

Some of the Eastern states are struggling with ozone and other pollution issues. I suspect that they are going after the "antique" vehicles because alot of folks have been using these cars as daily drivers and polluting a bunch. In CA, there is a program to squash these older cars. One crushed, or dismantled, old car is like taking 20 newer cars off the road.

Sadly, you may be seeing the future in states with some pollution issues. If you have another vehicle, I bet you can get away with regular insurance. They will be up to their ears with illegitimate "antiques" from out west and downstate for years.

JMURiz · #39 10-15-2007, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimFreeh

All you need to do here is sign in front of a notary, no inspection is required. This is to put the burden of a safe car on the owner, and release the state from culpability because they have waived the inspection on the antique cars. Anytime i can self inspect my car, I'm happy to do it!

And technically, most inspectors don't have a problem with euros, as long as the the reflectors are good (lumens meet min std). Just ran my 560SEL through state inspection this week, and my inspector dodn't raise an eyebrow at the Bosch euros it wears.

Regards to the garage, how about one of the fabric quonset hut style ones you can buy for a couple of hundred dollars?

Jim

Yeah VA just wants more money for road projects etc, just like the traffic ticket 'civil' fines they are issuing. I just hate that I need to pay an extra $50 for each of my 3 antique vehicles AND pay a notary because someone else is driving their antique registered car to work (when they shouldn't be).

Looks like VA is trying to be a New England state with all the taxes...ah well, only thing I can do is vote accordingly next election...

Mark DiSilvestro · #40 10-15-2007, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMURiz

Yeah VA just wants more money for road projects etc, just like the traffic ticket 'civil' fines they are issuing. I just hate that I need to pay an extra $50 for each of my 3 antique vehicles AND pay a notary because someone else is driving their antique registered car to work (when they shouldn't be).

Looks like VA is trying to be a New England state with all the taxes...ah well, only thing I can do is vote accordingly next election...

And our local Fairfax County board of supervisors, in their ever widening campaign to stomp out unsightlyness, have outlawed temporary storage containers anyplace on residential property for any time longer than 30 days.
So much for my plans to install one permanently in my backyard.
Will fabric quonset huts or tube & tarp shelters be next?
The daughter & son-in-law of an elderly friend left Northern Virginia many years ago, for someplace out west, saying they were "tired of Virginia's colonial mind-set".
I'm feeling the same way!

Happy Motoring, Mark

daw_two · #41 04-22-2010, 03:47 PM

Here is the Tennessee law regarding Antique Plates.

I like the idea of only spending $25 (one time fee) to register the fintail; however, I'm not for sure I can live with the following conditions:

"... For the purpose of this section, "antique motor vechicle" is a motor vehicle over twenty-five (25) years old with a nonmodifies engine and body which is used for participation in club activities; exhibits, tours, parades, and similar uses as a collector's item, and which may be used for general transportation only on Saturday and Sunday"

So, if I'm driving the car to work, so I can then run up to NAPA or AutoZone at lunch and show off my car (exhibit), would I qualify?

I realize getting a regular tag would be so much easier to avoid the hassle of intrepretation.

How many folks on here have REGULAR tags on their antique cars?

JeffreyNMemphis · #42 04-22-2010, 05:09 PM

[QUOTE=daw_two;2453089]Here is the Tennessee law regarding Antique Plates.

"... For the purpose of this section, "antique motor vechicle" is a motor vehicle over twenty-five (25) years old with a nonmodifies engine and body which is used for participation in club activities; exhibits, tours, parades, and similar uses as a collector's item, and which may be used for general transportation only on Saturday and Sunday"

QUOTE]

You are already ineligible because you don't have the original engine! You have that souped up HOT-ROD 2.0 liter engine.

daw_two · #43 04-23-2010, 07:20 AM

[QUOTE=JeffreyNMemphis;2453148]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daw_two

Here is the Tennessee law regarding Antique Plates.

"... For the purpose of this section, "antique motor vechicle" is a motor vehicle over twenty-five (25) years old with a nonmodifies engine and body which is used for participation in club activities; exhibits, tours, parades, and similar uses as a collector's item, and which may be used for general transportation only on Saturday and Sunday"

QUOTE]

You are already ineligible because you don't have the original engine! You have that souped up HOT-ROD 2.0 liter engine.

Once I remove the 200D label on the air intake manifold, I serious doubt anyone will notice.