Rob,
I have a somewhat more involved story. I bought an M816 Wrecker in Ohio.
Since it came out of GSA, it didn't have a title, just a Form 97. I called
the Minnesota DMV nearly a year before purchasing the wrecker, knowing that
I would eventually be buying one, and wanting to be prepared. I have a
friend who owns an M211 and he has "Collector" plates on it. This is a plate
that, in Minnesota, can be purchased to use on any vehicle that is at least
25 years old. I called the DMV, as I said, about a year ago and was told by
the first person (1) that I spoke to that Collector plates could not be put
on a large truck, and that I would have to buy regular plates for it. They
would cost about $550.00/year. I asked to talk to a supervisor (2) and she
told me "Sure , you can put Collector plates on an Army truck, as long as
it's 25 years old, or more." A year goes by and I end up buying the truck in
Ohio. I stop at the local office of the DMV, just to make sure that I can
get Collector plates there. The guy behind the counter (3) (about 18 years
old) tells me "Don't license it until you have owned it for more than a
year. There is a provision in the law that allows you to do that, and avoid
paying sales tax on the purchase." This sounds good...too good. A couple of
days later, I called the main DMV office (4) to double check on this
information. I was told that the clerk at the local office was in error and
that I should license the truck right away. Later that week, I stop at the
local DMV and tell the girl behind the counter (5) (different clerk from the
first one I spoke to) that I want to get a Collector plate for my truck. I
show her the form 97. She says that a truck that weighs 36,000 pounds can't
use a Collector plate. I politely tell her that I have checked with the main
office and they tell me that it can use a Collector plate. She calls the
main office (6) and comes back and tells me that they say that I can't have
a collector plate. Also, the fee for a Collector plate is $20.00 plus a one
time $90.00 processing fee. She wants $550.00 for a regular plate, plus an
additional $545.00 in Minnesota Sales Tax. I explain that I didn't buy the
vehicle in Minnesota, and she says "That doesn't matter." I said, "Do you
mean to tell me that, if I buy a TV in Wisconsin (which is only about 30
miles from where I live) that I am supposed to pay Minnesota Sales Tax on
it?" She says "Well, yeah." I don't bother to ask her if she would demand to
pay Minnesota Sales Tax to a Wisconsin sales clerk, because I'm sure that
she has no idea of what she is talking about. I ask her where the main DMV
office is. She gives me directions (to the wrong building), but I eventually
find the right one. I walk up to the Receptionist and explain the problems
that I have been having. (7) She sends me to one of the really knowledgeable
clerks (8) that they have at the main office. This woman hears about half of
my story, gets really upset that I was treated so poorly, puts a "rush" on
my paperwork, and sells me a set of Collector plates for the $20.00 fee,
plus the $90.00 processing fee. She can't understand how anybody would
believe that a purchase that occurred in Ohio would be subject to Minnesota
Sales Tax. I have numbered the various people that I spoke to during this
odyssey, simply to try to keep track of them. Including the Receptionist at
the Main DMV Office, I spoke to eight different people, and got seven
different stories. The story illustrates two points. The larger the
organization, the more problems you are likely to experience, and,
politeness and perseverance can straighten out some pretty messy situations.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: aussierob [mailto:aussierob@odyssey.net]
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 3:16 PM
To: mil-veh@mil-veh.org
Subject: [MV] TITLE & REGISTRATION WOES
After the disgusting treatment Ron has just written about (Monday afternoon
posting) while trying to get his vehicle on the road...
Are there any among us that can tell us "from Experience" which states tend
to act "insane" or
Which states seem to be "generally helpful" to us the taxpayers who need to
put an old un-titled vehicle back on the road.
There HAS to be at least ONE friendly state when it comes to all this woeful
bull*** !!!!!
Any happy ending stories out there?
Ol' Jeep Breath
Upstate NY
42MB it is actually registered.
But I have 3 others (CJ2As) whereby I start to tremble in my boots,
regarding Titles and Registration Woes
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue May 01 2001 - 07:42:39 PDT