Long post. Apologies in advance.
Well, I'm finally legal (plate awarded, awaiting title) and wanted to add my experience to the post for anyone else looking to go through the process. I'm in Fuquay-Varina, a bit southwest of Raleigh.
First, thanks to
@baustin for the documentation posted earlier in the thread (
link). I had done some digging prior and found the same documentation but it was great to have my results pre-validated. Basically followed that guide and it was easy-peasy.
1. A report of inspection by an Inspector with the License and Theft Bureau. (
link)
--> Services & Resources
--> Request a Service
--> Motor Vehicle Examination
+ I had some trouble requesting due to my adblocker (filled in the form completely and submission would fail--form data doesn't save so it has to be re-entered each time).
+ Submitted on a Monday, got a call 2 Mondays later to setup the appointment. 2 visits from them that same week--first, to see the vehicle and understand what it was; second, to get the engine serial to tie it vehicle, print the NCS paperwork, and apply the NCS sticker to my chassis.
+ The "inspection" was mostly telling them the process. They also mentioned the windscreen and wipers thing--I didn't even have the hood on for inspection so no biggie.
+ Helped to have the MCO and copies of the titles together to show the paper trail.
2. Application for title (Form MVR-1) completed in full and signed before a notary. (
link)
+ Pretty straightforward. UPS does notary for $10/signature; the DMV, $7/signature but it's cash only I believe.
+ I left the top-left checkboxes on the form empty as I didn't know how far the request was going that day. Ended up being title and registration so you can probably just check that.
+ Insurance was the tougher part. Progressive said they could do kits/sandrails but only if the vehicle is 10+ years old.
@Batlwagn made a post (
link) about Bob Messig offering insurance via Liberty Mutual so I gave him a call and he was able to get me sorted the same way.
3. MVR-55-Notarized statement explaining how the vehicle was acquired... (
link)
+ Supplied a direct copy/paste of the DFKitCar.com "Build Process" page (
link) with a few extra lines in the bottom describing how I acquired my donor.
+ Notarized at the same time as #2 above.
4. Proof of ownership (Title, MCO, Bill of Sale) must be included.
+
Title: The NCS from the Fraud inspection was used here. Additionally, I kept photocopies of the donor titles and invoices from my auction and broker (IAA via RideSafely) as well as the shipping for each and got a receipt from the tow/scrap yard showing I surrendered the shell and original titles to them.
+
MCO: Email to DF requesting this--received a few days later.
Side note: Big thanks to the guys and gals at DF! Every single interaction with them has been nothing less than stellar.
+
Bill of Sale: Again, all invoices copied to show the trail from both DF and from the donor auction. This also came in handy for getting the value for taxes.
5. If customer has to title vehicle by Indemnity Bond...
+ Not required since I had all the above.
6. All custom built vehicles are branded RECONSTRUCTED.
+ Yep!
7. Title Fee and Highway Use Tax is due at time of titling vehicle.
+ To calculate my value, they ONLY used the kit parts. I told them it took a donor but they didn't include that. I'm fine with it since it made taxes and reg lower. They also said labor was included in the value but since we build them ourselves... All said and done, walked out with a plate and full year reg for ~$525 or so.
I spent maybe an hour at the DMV while they got all the documents together and copied, the data entered and verified, etc. Obviously they don't do this kind of stuff very often so even the boffins in the back had to make calls to double-check requirements.