An introduction, and DMV odyssey

[xerxes5]

Hi all, Just wanted to introduce myself, and to recount my adventures with California DMV!

 

About two months back I became the proud owner of a 1999 Caterham Zetec I purchased from Chris at Sevens and Elans. I've wanted one since about 8th grade, so after 27 years I finally broke down. ;-) The car HAD been registered in New York, and had all smog equipment on it. I spoke with three separate individuals at DMV that all swore up and down that I'd have no trouble re-registering it in CA if it had already been registered.

 

The car showed up after the longest two week wait of my life. 1st visit to DMV provided lots of head scratching. They punched everything into the computer and said... "Ok.. just go get it smogged and you're done!" Great! So went to get it smogged the next day and could not find a place that would touch it. Here's the rub... no emissions sticker. "Go see the referee to get a sticker" Great, off to the referee. Referee curtly tells me I am out of luck, and my ONLY option is SB-100. Back to DMV. DMV does not believe me that a Caterham qualifies for SB-100. Sigh. Two weeks of digging for papers. A HUGE thanks to Chris at Sevens and Elans, and to Jeff at British Auto Specialists, who turned out to be the original importer. Jeff was kind enough to run across town, and dig through a warehouse of old paperwork to come up with the original MSO for my car. Without Jeff's help (or Chris' good memory) I may still be languishing at the DMV.

 

Miraculously, and here is the important part, SB-100 numbers are still available now in mid may! After all the horror stories I'd read, I didn't think it was a possibility, but regardless, I was around #250 for the year.

 

After 15 HOURS standing in the DMV, 3 CHP inspections and 4 Referee inspections, I finally have plates. They Ref up in Santa Rosa was the nicest guy ever. The car is now in the DMV computer as a SPCNS 1960 Lotus Super Seven, and I don't have to worry about smog.

 

If anybody is thinking of buying an out of state car, I'd give the following advice:

 

1) DO NOT fear SB-100. If you have a few important documents, and don't mind waiting for the DMV manager to figure out how SB-100 works, it's not difficult, just time consuming

 

2) DO have the original Manufacturers Statement of Origin. I went so far as to contact Caterham in the UK, and was told my car was in an older accounting system. They could not lookup any information on my car. If the previous owner does not have a copy, you might want to find a car that does. Receipts for engine and transmission help, but probably aren't really necessary for a used (already assembled) car. The sale price will set the value, so they don't need to know component value.

 

3) The paperwork isn't complicated, but DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING. I got as far at the referee before we realized that the CHP had fat-fingered my VIN number, and half the DMV documents were off by one digit.

 

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading. I'm enjoying the seven more than I thought possible. After dreaming of having a seven for so long, I'm surprised it's lived up to every one of my expectations. I've owned several Triumphs. MGs, BMWs and Porsches (including my current daily drive, a C4S) and the Caterham puts them to shame. I now refer to the 911 as "the bus".

 

Lastly, any Seven owners in Northern California? I've only seen one on the road ever. Would LOVE to do some group drives n the weekend if anyone is interested.

 

Cheers!

 

-Mark Flaming

(xerxes5)

[MHKflyer52]

Hello Mark,

 

Great read and some good info for anyone that is considering a 7 and lives in California.

Glad to hear your enjoying your car and hope to see some photos of your seven in future post.

As for 7's here in California they are all over the place and I think you will find that their are other 7 owners all over the state. Here is a link you might also want to look into:

http://www.californiacaterhamclub.com/chat/index.php

[rnr]

Welcome to the Seven experience Mark.

 

Lastly, any Seven owners in Northern California? I've only seen one on the road ever. Would LOVE to do some group drives n the weekend if anyone is interested.

 

 

There are a bunch of Sevens in the Bay Area and you usually see 2-5 of them at Golden Gate Lotus Club track days. The club is having a drive on Memorial Day (http://www.gglotus.org/ggcalend/MemDayRun.pdf) as well as a drive and barbeque lunch on June 11. I dont know if we will have any sevens at the events but you will meet several former and current owners in various Lotus.

[pksurveyor]

Congratulation to making your Caterham legal in California. Jeff Sloan takes good care of his customers.

[Kitcat]

Any se7en is a "smile factory". Congrats on your purchase.

 

Also nice to see some good words abt 7's/Elans. I have had nothing but exemplary service from Chris but know not every one here has had had such a positive experience.

 

In Ohio it was so much simpler to register my Cat: a single 20-30 minute visit to the BMV for combined "inspection"/paperwrk and off I went.

[jimrankin]

Congrats on getting your CA tin plate!! I went through the same thing until I got turned on to going to the Los Gatos DMV instead of the San Mateo. It was like transfering from "short bus" employees to MIT grads. They have it down pat at Los Gatos. As long as the economy stay stagnant SB100 will not be a problem. Biggest reason for the original "long lines and take your chances" for an SB100 was the backlog of "in limbo" cars that had no way to register before SB100 and a booming California economy that had Cobra kits selling like dune buggys used to. Hope to see you and your car at a track day or "7" get together in the future.