I have moved to Hawaii from Washington State and the DMV here will not allow me to register my bike here due to an incorrect VIN. Apparently the VIN number is out of sequence. The DMV is asking me to have the company issue a letter to NHTSA for a corrected VIN. Anyone else had this problem?
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There has been a thread on that very issue
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/4222-vin-question
I know that occasin was unable to ever get a 2007 Vectrix (with the "S" instead of "7" in the 10th position of the Vin) registered in Alabama. Incidently, I just purchased a used 2007 and registered in the state of Alabama but it already had an out of state title. Had very nice folks at the DMV who had to somehow override the vin in their computer system. I registred 2 weeks ago and don't have the title yet still holding my breath.
You should be getting a phone call anyday now! ;-) My '07 registration went off without a hitch, until it hit the state office, then it got rejected and sent back. I doubt very seriously that Alabama would have cared whether it was pre-registerred somewhere else, because they simply took the attitude "ain't happnin here in Alabama" with me, even when I presented the VIN explanation letter and showed them that other states were registering them.
That really is a shame with Hawaii though. What an EXCELLENT place for this type of vehicle!!
Funny you should mention Washington State as I had a bit of a hiccup both with the local licensing office and my insurance company (Geico). In both cases the person helping me out was able to get things squared away without problems once I double-checked that the VIN I had given them was correct.
Here in California I just go by the dealer every couple of months and ask if the DMV has registered the bike yet. They say "NO, but this time for sure", at least no one has given me grief for riding w/o a plate.
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I also own a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and a 2012 Mitsubishi iMiev
Where did you get the VIN explanation letter? I have the bike registered in Washington, but Hawaii will not even give me a safety inspection sticker. They asked me to get a correction letter from the company and that would be good enough to give me the safety sticker. I may just need to get a lawyer to help me sort this out. Having an incorrect VIN does not make the vehicle unsafe.
JJ
Send me an email to adamcarewe at gmaildotcom. I'll email you the letter I got from Vectrix last year re: the 2007 VIN discrepancy so I could register it in Colorado. It worked fine here, but it was key to find the correct person with DMV to get it through...even with the letter.
Adam
Adam - Denver, CO
2007 Vectrix VX-1 charged with the power of the sun = zero carbon footprint
In Maine, I had trouble registering my electric moped (XB-600) because the serial number did not match their registration software's VIN number format. A call to the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles from the city clerk entering the data provided a quick fix: hold down the computer's "Option" key while entering the number. No problems after that. If the problem in some states is "not enough digits", the solution would be to add "zeros" in front of the number. Insurance was another issue. The insurance agent needed to find my brand of bike on the insurance company's list of insurable vehicles; he couldn't just type it in. When it wasn't there, he called the insurance company providing the policy, they checked to make sure it was a legitimate road vehicle (based on the information provided on the manufacturer's web site), then they added it to their list of insurable motor vehicles. It took a couple of days, but they were happy to help, as well as add to their database.
Buzzer
There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
Its a fault of the Vectrix distributor in the USA, in my opinion, that insurance agents can't locate models on their databases. In order to ensure that prospective customers could check insurance costs before following through with a purchase, here in Ireland, I effectively got a 'birth cert' for each of the 3 mopeds I imported: - Erato (XM-2000), Kasea ZE-2000 and e-max 110s. Only then could they be 'found' on databases by local vehicle registration offices.
Then I also contacted each of the motorcycle insurers (we have only 3 at the moment) and ensured that the vehicles were on their system too. That's all part of marketing / service delivery, in my opinion, and its sloppy of distributors or manufacturers not to get that stuff in place. I understand that each State has different rules but big deal. Get it done or stop trying to crack the States as a market.
I suppose even the DMV has people who learn. I just received a title for my 2007 Vectrix. Whether it having been registered before made the difference, I don't know. What I can say for sure is that I was able to get a 2007 with the Vin error that was previously titled successfully registered and titled in the state of Alabama. Now I have two of these bikes, a red 2008 and a silver 2007 which I bought for parts and a possible LiPo4 conversion.
Well, it's been 10 months. The dealer got a second rejection to their registration application this last week. The DMV wants verification, so the dealer sent me down there with my bike to the Verification window. It's a drive up next to their driving test area. The guy came out and asked for the copy of the registration which I had and he started filling out another form. Checked out the VIN, but apparently (in California anyway) they needed to see the VIN twice on the bike, so I showed him the imprint on the bottom in front of the rear tire, and the sticker under the handlebars behind the front tire.
He then said he needed the "engine" number. Hee hee, so I showed him the word Electric on the side of the bike, but I didn't see a number on the "motor" until I crawled on my belly to see the swing arm that the motor is mounted on has a number on the bottom that seemed to satisfy him.
Cross my fingers I get to register the bike in under a year!
-Randy
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I also own a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and a 2012 Mitsubishi iMiev
Israndy, I hope this time everything goes right! May the (electric) force be with you. ;-)
Old thread, but I'll share my registration process in the USA, Maryland. Got my plates today. A "supervisor" had to get involved for a couple of reasons. First, the title from the seller in PA listed the make as "SP CONSTR" (special project or something like that), not as Vectrix. The supervisor looked-up the Vectrix web site, which is still thankfully up. She had to call someone to figure out how to deal with the "CC" and horsepower ratings. Asked me if it can go faster than 55 mph (or it won't be classified as a motorcycle if it is slower) and if battery is over 2.4KW. I was not sure on the battery, but told her the motor is 16KW and that made her happy enough to approve. Luckily, they did not ask about the engine number as I had none (other than the number on the bottom of the rear swing arm). They wrote PE on the form (plug in electric, I suppose) and that was it. They could not look it up by VIN due to the '07 VIN scheme but the supervisor just waved it off for some reason and they accepted my paperwork, I paid, and got my plates and temp. registration stickers. Now I just need to pass state safety inspection and should be good to go.