How to fill out South Dakota Form 1016

The only inspection in the whole South Dakota titling system, and the third of three motor-vehicle forms that has to be notarised. It is how a salvage-branded car, a kit car or a vehicle built up out of parts becomes something that can be titled and driven, and it is priced accordingly: all information on this form must be complete and submitted to the county treasurer with a $25 inspection fee. Two pages. The first is a component inventory - thirteen named parts, each wanting the origin and the part number - and the second is the sworn affidavit and the notary block. A Department of Revenue employee then certifies that they have personally examined the vehicle, its major component parts and the ownership documents.

Written against Form 1016 (no revision printed), issued under South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, inspection under SDCL 32-3-53 and 32-3-53.2. Do not start the rebuild by throwing away the paperwork. This form is an audit of provenance as much as of workmanship: thirteen component rows wanting an origin with a complete address, original titles or certificates of origin for major components, and photocopied receipts for parts and labour. A car rebuilt over two winters from parts bought at auctions and from a neighbour is exactly what the form is for, and exactly the case where the documents were never kept. Collect them as you go, keep the salvage title itself, and remember that the affidavit is sworn before a notary or a county treasurer and carries an indemnity to the state.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1016 from the sddor.seamlessdocs.com copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Form 1016 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Applicant details

   Name, address, phone and email for the vehicle's owner, at the head of page one.

   Watch out: Use a phone number that is answered. The inspection is a physical appointment with a division employee, arranged through the county treasurer.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Engine, frame and body - origin and part number

   For each of the three, where the component came from with a complete address, and its part number, which the form marks required.

   Watch out: These three are the ones that need paper behind them. Ownership evidence - a bill of sale, a title, or a manufacturer's certificate of origin - is required if an engine, frame or body is used.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   The other ten component rows

   Transmission, fenders, hood, doors, bumpers, quarter panels, tailgate or deck lid, cargo box, cab and roof or floor pan, with origins and part numbers where available.

   Watch out: Leave a row blank only where the original part is still on the car. A replaced part with no origin recorded is what turns an inspection into a second visit.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Explanation of vehicle construction

   The free-text block: what the vehicle started as, what was replaced and in what order.

   Watch out: Write it for someone who has never seen the car. The inspector reads this before examining the vehicle, and a clear account is what makes the examination short.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   One or more of the four construction boxes

   Parts or material on hand; a manufactured kit; purchased parts with receipts attached; or purchased as is from a rebuilder.

   Watch out: Ticking purchased parts commits you to the receipts. The affidavit says receipts attached in the box label itself, so an unsupported tick is a failed application.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   The vehicle row and the affiant's identity

   Year, make, model, type and weight, then the affiant's full legal name split across first, middle and last, with a licence number or date of birth and a phone number.

   Watch out: The make box reads make if a manufactured kit. A vehicle built from scratch may genuinely have no make, and inventing one creates a record nothing else will match.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Physical address and mailing address

   Two full rows. The physical address is where the vehicle actually is.

   Watch out: They are not the same question. A rural route mailing address will not tell an inspector which yard the car is standing in.

8. 8
   Somebody else fills this in

   The notary block and the department's certification

   Subscribed and sworn before a notary public or county treasurer, then a Department of Revenue employee certifies the personal examination of the vehicle, the components and the ownership documents.

   Watch out: Sign in front of whoever takes the acknowledgement, not before. And leave the certification block entirely alone - it is the department's, and a pre-filled one is the fastest way to have the file returned.

What gets this one rejected

• •An unnotarised affidavit. The instruction is printed at the top of page one: the vehicle owner must sign the affidavit and have his or her signature notarized.
• •Missing component ownership documents. Original titles and manufacturer's statements or certificates of origin for component parts used in the construction of this vehicle must be attached.
• •No receipts. Photocopies of bills of sale and receipts for parts and labor used in the construction of this vehicle must be attached - and one of the four affidavit ticks says receipts attached in terms.
• •An engine, frame or body with no ownership evidence behind it. The note under the first three rows singles them out: a bill of sale or a title is required if any of the three is used.
• •A blank component part number on the first three rows. The form marks the part number required for engine, frame and body, where it is optional further down.
• •Sending it to Pierre. The completed application goes to the local county treasurer's office, with the $25.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The $25 is an inspection fee, not a title fee. It buys the physical examination. The title fee, the technology fee and any excise tax are separate and come later with the title application.
• •A county treasurer can take the acknowledgement. The notary block reads Notary Public or County Treasurer - the same alternative the succession affidavit offers, and the same practical shortcut, since the form is going to a county treasurer anyway.
• •The certification block is not yours. It is completed by a Department of Revenue employee who has personally examined the vehicle. Nothing in it should be pre-filled.
• •Rebuilt tax is computed differently. SDCL 32-5B-4(6) prices a rebuilt motor vehicle at its initial registration and titling on the total consideration for the salvage vehicle plus the total consideration for any assemblies, subassemblies, parts or component parts used.
• •The vehicle row asks for a kit maker. Make (if a manufactured kit) is printed as the label, which is the form telling you that a scratch-built vehicle may have no make at all.

Every line here was read off Form 1016 (no revision printed) itself — the PDF is here — and off the South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

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