i'm buying a 78 hatch and it has no title.. i plan on driving it, so how do i go about gettting a title for it??
How long has it been out of registration. Fred :)
It varies from state to state. In Va. you can apply for a salvage title or you can get a form from DMV and have the seller (or last title holder) fill it out and for 5 bucks you get a replacement title in THEIR name, which they then sign over to you. Basicly they just need to make sure it is not stolen. :police:
from what i was told its been sitting for 16 years.. it was bought as a derby car, and u dont need a title for that, but i'm gonna drive this on..
Motor Vehicle Dep. will not have car on file its been to many years out. So you say I have a $5.00 a day storage charge for last 16 years. They will probably give you abandonment paper work to fill out. Fred :)
Last I heard California was 7 years, but on their web site (a few years ago) it seemed like it was 3 years. Basically whatever the time limit they no longer have a record of it. I was given a 1961 Corvair station wagon that can from Michigan, was promptly parked and never registered here.
It sat for over 20 years. When I went in to register it, I was told it was like I brought it into the state today.
Unfortunately in California an unregistered car (until it falls off the books) is liable for back registration fees and they can get real high because of a penalty. In this case they assume you have been driving the car all that time even if it just sat in your driveway. So, if you are taking a car off the road do yourself a favor. Put it on Non-Op status. That way there are no back fees!
Tom
now i've heard of this being done but if there was a person with a vin plate and title could i switch vin plates so i could have a titled car.. or is that illegeal :police:
I bought a Pinto Cruising Wagon without a title last year. It came with only a bill of sale. In Ohio, that means you're going to have to scrap the car because you can't legally sell it to someone. I went to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Troy Police, the Miami County Sheriffs Department, and the Ohio Highway Patrol, and none of them were of any help at all. Finally, an investigator from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles called me after I had left a message at the County Clerks office at the courthouse. I don't remember how or why I came to call the Clerk of Courts about the car, but I did. The investigator inspected the car, and investigated the history of the vin number in the states where it was previously owned, at least to the best of my knowledge. Then he issued his report to the Clerk of Courts stating that the car was, in all likelihood, not stolen. I then had to file what is termed a friendly lawsuit against the clerk of courts, who intentionally failed to respond, thus granting me victory (!) in the lawsuit. The clerk of courts issued a letter to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Title Branch instructing them to issue me a new title to the car. The title fee was something like six bucks. Not bad. The friendly lawsuit was $600 with an attorney. Maybe you could do all that on your own, but it may not be worth the effort. Hope it helped some.
Wow what a headace Fred :hypno:
Quote from: FlyerPinto on September 24, 2008, 07:54:32 PM
I bought a Pinto Cruising Wagon without a title last year. It came with only a bill of sale. In Ohio, that means you're going to have to scrap the car because you can't legally sell it to someone. I went to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the Troy Police, the Miami County Sheriffs Department, and the Ohio Highway Patrol, and none of them were of any help at all. Finally, an investigator from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles called me after I had left a message at the County Clerks office at the courthouse. I don't remember how or why I came to call the Clerk of Courts about the car, but I did. The investigator inspected the car, and investigated the history of the vin number in the states where it was previously owned, at least to the best of my knowledge. Then he issued his report to the Clerk of Courts stating that the car was, in all likelihood, not stolen. I then had to file what is termed a friendly lawsuit against the clerk of courts, who intentionally failed to respond, thus granting me victory (!) in the lawsuit. The clerk of courts issued a letter to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Title Branch instructing them to issue me a new title to the car. The title fee was something like six bucks. Not bad. The friendly lawsuit was $600 with an attorney. Maybe you could do all that on your own, but it may not be worth the effort. Hope it helped some.
if it comes to that id just sell u a vin and plates lol sound like it would make the hole state happier :lol:
When I bought my '79 Continental Mark V, the seller stated that the title could not be found. He was selling the car as part of his father's estate and no one in the family had any idea where the title was. The car had been registered in Tiskilwa, Illinois until about three years prior to my purchase. I did a little research and found that a new title could be issued for $75 upon proof of ownership, which was possible with the registration. I went to Illinois, paid for the car and drove it home to Virginia with a VA DMV-issued five day transit permit and a Bill of Sale. It took nearly six months to get that title and would you believe, the VIN was recorded incorrectly! A "Y" had apparently been misread as a "4"... everything else was right. The seller went back to the Illinois DMV who said they could only change it after it was inspected by an Illinois State Police officer and he filled out appropriate forms stating that the VIN discrepency was clearly a clerical error and that the car, in all ways, proved to be the vehicle represented by the title. Of course, the problem with all this was that I could not get a title or license plates in VA in order to drive it back to Illinois if I wanted to. I could have purchased another 5 day transit permit but they are only valid if you are headed toward your Virginia destination, not away from it. Decided to see if I could slide it past the DMV without them noticing and they got hung up on another detail instead. They needed proof that the seller had authority to sell the car to settle the estate of the deceased owner. That proved a problem because his estate was so small, they didn't bother to go through probate. The five children (all of whom are in their late fifties to early seventies) are close knit and simply sold everything and divided it all equally. They each had to file an affidavit and have legal papers drawn up to prove that the father was dead and they could legally sell the car. Thankfully, they paid for all that. That satisfied the VA DMV so they started the process, when the computer kept telling them the VIN was "irregular". I held my breath and prayed silently. After about three tries, the clerk said, "Well, I can override that!" She did so, and issued me a title, registration, and plates (and yeah, they have a "4" in the VIN where the "Y" is supposed to be and I DON'T CARE!!!) Her explanation was that, being an older car, the VIN was much shorter than modern cars and that's why the computer kept kicking it back. Regardless, it will probably will never be an issue again unless I sell the car outside of Virginia, which I have no intention of doing. Titling a car (at least in Virginia) can be a pain in the rear unless everything is 100% correct. Good luck!
Dwayne :smile:
Probably the best thing to do is to go to the BMV or Title Bureau and ask them what the procedure is to obtain a title. In Ohio, at least at the title branch here, the response was "just don't buy the car." I explained to them that wasn't terribly helpful but they never changed their stance. Funny thing is, the investigator worked out of that office and they never suggested speaking with him. It might be an easy enough thing to handle out your way, just do a little research and some leg work and you might come out ok, even if it takes a little while. It would almost certainly be better than getting hung up with a pinched vin number somewhere...then you have to explain all kinds of things, and usually in criminal court where you have to pay for an attorney anyway.
Such a great topic - and certainly, varies from state to state....
In Texas, if a car is sold without a title, you can get a bill of sale for it, take it to the DMV, and get what is called a "bonded title". The bonded title, for all intents and purposes, makes you a "custodian" of the car, for a specific period of time (two years, if I am not mistaken).
IN THE MEANTIME, if the previous owner comes up with the title, finds it, whatever, and they want their car back, they can challenge your bonded title, and take their car back - at your expense.
Imagine, you find a nice example of a clean car, but it wiith a bonded title, embark on a year long restoration, pour thousands into it, and then Joe Nobody shows up to "claim" his car. You fight it, spend a few $K more in attorney's fees, and lose it :mad:. That is why it is ALWAYS recommended to read the "fine print".
If I were to buy a car in Texas with no title, I'd park it for two years, and not touch it. That's why I made sure mine had a clean title.
Chris
I once bought a van with no title here in WA. I needed a bill of sale, a release of interest, and the DOL has a special form for the previous owner to fill out that says he/she lost the title. Not a big deal. Just make sure you get all you ducks in a row first. Easiest thing to do would be to call or (better yet) go down to your local DOL office in person and talk to them and see what you need.
And..., after reading all this it reminds me of why I bought a Pinto 400 miles away and spend $425 to tow it home. The "selling" point of the car wasn't it's condition, or it's price, it was the fact that it was "currently registered!"
Sadly a lot of older cars, - even in restorable condition, become parts cars or crushed cars due to lack of paperwork.
A few posts up I told of my 'out of state' '61 Corvair wagon. I recall just having a bill of sale from the owner and his second hand story about it coming from Michigan and never being registered here in California. Well that was 1995, things have likely changed.
Tom
There's a '77 Cruising Wagon, unrestored, in Austin Texas that I have known about for several months (it had been Craigslisted several times). In fact, the plea from the owner, who I spoke with a few times, was "please save it from the crusher". $500 lousy bucks, V6, original, complete but running condition unknown.
Three things kept me from it:
1) No room to store it
2) I wanted something in better shape to restore (which I got by buying my '76), and more importantly...
3) It has no title
Chris
well i just picked up the pinto today and looked it over real good.. i think its going to stay a derby car. i would have liked to save it but there is WAY too much work.. so lots of parts for sale.. i'll post in part classifieds.
Paperwork can make or break a car! I have bought cars without titles before, In new mexico you can get an assigned VIN, but you will need a bill of sale, you have to post a bond on the car and you have to advertise in the paper your intentions of titling it to give previous owners a chance to stake a claim. this can be a real pain. Luckily there is no back registration requirement here, so I bought a car that hadn't been registered in 5 years and there was no penalty to register it. If it has been out of the computer system for more than 3 years and you don't have a title the dmv will give you a form to send to santa fe to do a title search. If it is in the system the previous owner can get a duplicate title for $15 on the spot.
As mentioned, some of the "resolutions" posted in this thread are illegal, and fordpinto.com and its management do not condone or encourage anyone to do illegal acts.
Check local, state and federal laws BEFORE buying a car that has 'paperwork issues'. Its in the buyers best interest to find out all the facts from your local registry or DMV.
Bill