Kansas Tag Experience Was Slow and Annoying But Successful

[DannyPizdetz]

So I bought my bike new, which means that it didn't have a title and instead had a Certificate of Origin. I was used to titling used vehicles so I first went to the Kansas Highway Patrol to have them verify the VIN on the vehicle matched the VIN on the paperwork. There I was informed that I didn't need to do that since I had a Certificate of Origin.

On to the Department of Revenue I pressed. They installed a new computer system here a few months ago and it caused a huge backlog. Now people show up a half hour before opening thinking they'll be all day. In my experience the renewal line was obliterated by 10am(2 hours after opening) and the new title line was down to 10 people or so. In this case, the early bird just gets annoyed and sleeping in would have made more sense.

Due to the new computer system sucking they've instituted a two tier system that some other states use. One lady up front checks all your paperwork to see if it's correct before you even get assigned a number so you can wait in the second line. In Kansas you also can't get a vehicle registered if you're behind on personal property taxes(not real estate) and that lady can check if you're behind on those taxes. You might ask then just to save later frustration.

In my case she looked over the paperwork and thought it was all correct. She was wrong. My Certificate of Origin had been filled out on the back top section, however the dealer failed to fill out the odometer section on the bottom of the form. After waiting for my number to be called I was informed of this problem. They offered me a fax number where the dealer could send a signed Odometer form instead of me driving all the way back to the dealer. They also said I could go to the front of the line after the fax showed up.

The dealer was still closed for another 22 minutes and it was an hours drive away. So I sat on my butt for a while then called the dealer to find out that the dealer no longer has a fax machine. Dealer claimed that she had emailed pictures of this form in the past. I asked the DOR again and they said, "no, we can't accept emails". Dealer offered to call the manager. Meanwhile I downloaded an app on my phone that would let me send a fax from it(filesanywhere, and it's free, just so you know). Dealer called me back and said she talked to "someone" and that it would all be fixed. I had her email me the image. I faxed it and told the DOR people about the two things we'd done. Within 5 minutes they called me up.

The Certificate of Origin, in my opinion, was sort of put together very poorly. The words were printed out on top of the section headings. For instance, it would say "Model" and then printed over top of that would be my model name, "Massimo". This is despite the fact that there was space below the column heading where the Massimo should have gone. There were also print remnants from other documents that had adhered to the Certificate in several different spots that made it look to be an almost shady document but the watermarks appeared correct. And my insurance company did accept the VIN number the night before. For what it's worth, I didn't have a separate document stating that it had passed emissions testing, instead there was a statement on the bottom left of the Certificate with some sort of stamp over it.

I bring all this up because the DOR lady seemed unhappy with the document and shook her head a few times even after the odometer thing was cleared up. This might be because of the crappy printing or it might be due to having to look up a brand of bike she'd never heard of.

End result, 2 1/2 hours later I had tags and the promise of a title in the mail 3 months later(they're still backlogged from their computer upgrade). So I'm happy but the process was a bit annoying. I'm glad they didn't give me any guff about the EPA or VIN nonsense I've read about from other states. Also, for what it's worth this was at the Wyandotte Annex on 8200 State Ave, Kansas City, KS.

Let me know if you have any questions.

EDIT

Sorry, almost forgot to mention 2 other things. In Kansas you must have a Bill of Sale and proof of insurance. A receipt from a cash register is not a Bill of Sale. I believe a Bill of Sale needs to say who sold what and for how much. I also believe it needs to include the VIN number on it.

[SpudRider]

The wheels of a bureaucracy grind slowly. :roll: Nevertheless, I'm glad your patience was rewarded with a license plate.

Spud