Hi Becky,
I went through this myself just over a month ago with my Orange Flame Metallic V50. Initially, my dealer said they couldn't do anything to register the car because it was a foreign-titled car (ummm - WRONG!) Then, they claimed that since 9-11 Jersey has been a BEAR to deal with and they COULD do it, but it would take a couple months and a MOUND of paperwork in order for them register the car since everything had to go directly through Trenton - the only way I could register the car "on the spot" would be to go out to Trenton personally - if I tried to register the car at a local MVC facility, I would walk away with nothing and would again have to wait for weeks since THEY would have to send everything out to Trenton (again thinking this was a foreign-titled car).
I finally got sick of the various stories and about a week before the car got to my dealer, I took my MSO to the Freehold MVC facility on a fact-finding mission to get some first-hand information. After consulting with someone "in back" I was told there was absolutely no reason why I couldn't register the car there, and was given all the necessary forms. IIRC, there was an Application for Title, Application for Registration, and a Luxury Tax form.
When I went back to my dealer with this information, the woman who deals with registering the cars on a regular basis challenged what I was told by MVC (basically said they were lying to me, and that I would be lucky if they weren't), and then said that the agency they used COULD take care of registering it for me but because it wasn't titled to them, it would again take WEEKS and the same MOUND of paperwork... basically, I just kept getting the run around. Then she and my sales guy disagreed over whether or not they would be the ones to collect sales tax - she said they HAD to, he said NO. At least my sales guy understood that since THEY weren't going to be registering the car, THEY couldn't collect the sales tax, and I would be paying it when I registered it... She insisted he was wrong, but handed me a sales tax form to fill out just in case...
The one thing my sales guy WAS able to do - and HAD to do so that I could register the car - was complete the Luxury Tax form that MVC gave me. This needs to be completed by your dealer - basically, if the car doesn't meet certain minimum MPG ratings AND costs more than $40k or $45k (I forget which) there is an additional tax you have to pay (I suspect Hummers, et al, fall into this category). This IS needed at the time you register your vehicle, so make sure you have that signed by your dealer.
When the car made it to my local dealer, I promptly headed to Freehold MVC with paperwork in hand. To be on the safe side, the manager there called their help line to verify that the car could be registered there (apparently he was concerned that it would meet US emissions standards - even though it clearly states on the MSO that it is a US-spec'd car and even meets the stricter California emissions standards!) I forget the lady's name with whom he spoke, but I think I still have it at home if you want/need it. After faxing virtually every piece of documentation I had with me - including the Customs Forms that were sent to me, my MSO, my Bill of Sale, my original sales order, and anything else they could shove through the fax machine, about 45 minutes later they finally were told "yes, the car can be registered."
But then I ran into a slight glitch with the paperwork - it turns out ALL paperwork submitted requiring your signature (e.g., application for title, etc.,) MUST be signed by everyone whose name appears on the MSO. In our case, we had intended to register the car only in my name, so I thought I was the only one who needed to sign the paperwork. WRONG - because our MSO had both my name and my husband's name on it, he needed to sign everything as well. SO, I had to wait one more day to register the car - and that night he signed all the forms. SO, make sure EVERYONE listed on the MSO signs the various State forms before you head to MVC.
We went back to MVC the next day and just to be safe, my husband (paulgraz is his handle on here) came with me. We ran into a bit more of a delay when the clerk AGAIN had to call the help desk (the manager from the day before was OFF that day) and told the whole story to them again, told them that everything had been faxed the day before, etc., etc., etc. The clerk we had was great - finally decided to just go ahead and process us then and there - she collected our sales tax, and we then walked out with registration in hand.
Because I registered the car myself, I did have to take it through inspection personally, but at the time it was registered, I was given a form that said this was a new car, that it didn't need to be inspected, and wouldn't need to be inspected for 5 years. All I did was take the car there during normal inspection hours, handed them the form I was given, and they slapped the appropriate sticker on the windshield. The one caveat here is that, at least at the Freehold inspection station, you need to go through the "reinspection" line, NOT the "normal" line. Didn't know this and had to maneuver over to the appropriate line after entering the "normal" bay - fortunately it wasn't busy.
Registering the car took a little longer than usual and took two visits (due to the lack of signatures) to get through it all. Honestly, I cannot think of any reason why your dealer can't handle it other than their not knowing the process/procedure for registering OSD cars in Jersey. I think is the case with my dealer since we appeared to be the first OSD they had done in many, Many, MANY years - I know for a fact that our sales guy hadn't done one in over 12 years, and we had to teach HIM a bunch of stuff about how the program works as we were going though it - he didn't even have access to the correct paperwork when we walked in to place our order, and he KNEW in advance that we were going to be doing OSD...
The good news is if your dealer flat out refuse to do anything for you, you can register the car yourself with very little hassle.
Nancy