In Florida, modifying a vehicle is not just a trope for those with mid-life crises. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences that you can have. Selecting an old car or building up your new one to handle just the way you like is a fun venture and with our amazing highway system in Florida, it’s seriously worth having a fast-paced ride to take you from more than point A to point B. The average American spends more than 100 minutes a day in the car, according to AAA. A person may as well enjoy those 100 minutes!
If you heavily modify a car, it’s important to make sure that car drives safely. When you’re ready to take that car out for a test drive, you should make sure it’s legal by the State of Florida’s standards to keep yourself and your driving record clean. What are your next steps? Getting your heavily modified car titled appropriately and registered in Florida is the next big hurdle.
Why Do I Need to Register a Heavily Modified Car?
Once your car is road-ready, you have 10 days to get it registered. If you have a car built by a major manufacturer, this is very simple and you’ve probably gone through the process before. However, your street rod or modified new car has not passed the requisite inspections by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, or the NHTSA. These requirements are designed to make sure that it will not pose a threat to other cars, passengers, or drivers in the event of an accident. The rules exist to make sure that everyone is safe on the roads, and for that reason, Florida requires an affidavit of safety and some additional paperwork to approve the car for driving.
What Qualifies as a Heavy Modification?
It’s no secret that registration for special vehicles is more complex than your standard car. What is considered a heavily modified car? There are certain legal and illegal modifications for cars, and the State of Florida has set these standards as well as paperwork and affidavit information to help you demonstrate to the state that your car was modified legally. These restrictions include brake and headlight colors, suspension height minimums and maximums, weight limits, and more.
One important document you will need is an affidavit certifying the weight of your vehicle. You can find this document here>>
Heavily Modified Cars in the State of Florida
Car modifications are a fun and relatively common Florida pastime. We’re lucky that our car culture is very rich, featuring great events like the Miami Auto Show and smaller groups like Ft. Lauderdale’s Cars, Art and Caffeine. The tradeoff is that more paperwork and more fees go to the state. Florida offers you different classifications for registering the vehicle: it can be categorized as a Street Rod (anything before 1949), a Custom Vehicle (anything built after 1948 that is 25 years old or older), a Horseless Carriage, or an Exhibition Vehicle. In the case of a heavily modified vehicle, it would usually be classified as a “Custom Vehicle” or a “Street Rod”.
View the application here: Application for Registration of a Street Rod, Custom Vehicle, Horseless Carriage, or Antique>>
Titling the car, paying the necessary fees and taxes to the state, and getting the registration should all be done around the same time.
Don’t Want to Mess Up These Important Documents?
You could be in trouble if your car is not registered properly. You don’t have to deal with the long DMV lines in most cases. Get the car registered and titled affordably and quickly in the State of Florida. Call or email us at Auto Tags of Florida to get the process completed today!
