Any Title Experts? Need Advice/help!!!

[shogun121]

Hey guys, so I finally find a clean 620 at a reasonable price. Needs minor work -tuning the carb,replace the missing tailgate, maybe a new dashboard...and of course theres no title. I live in Illinois. The truck is in Minnesota but bought from a guy in California. He never titled it in his name and now cant get ahold of the PO from Cali. Its a very decent looking truck and a very good platform to start with as opposed to trying to rescue one with alot of rot. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation or can point me in the right direction? I'd love to get this truck but not to part it just because I couldnt get a title for it. Thanks all!

[izzo]

There are title services that can help you with this, be prepared to spend about 3-400 dollars. Google auto title services, etc. i believe there's a place in Idaho that does good work. All is not lost!

 

Just so you know, switching a title from washington, to oregon, costs about 193 dollars (title, plates, tabs for 2 years) so 300 isn't such a bad price for something without a title. I dont think that includes your plate/tab fees tho....

[Dirk Diggler]

If the car hasn't been registered in the last 10 years you should be good, at least that was the case for me. I bought the car with no title, however I was given a paper signed by the original owner saying they sold it to so and so, and then one from so and so saying they sold it to me.

[Dirk Diggler]

Just curious, where is the truck from in California?

[shogun121]

Santa Monica I believe. Hes had it since 2004 but never titled it in Minn.

[Dirk Diggler]

I might be able to help you out. I'm somewhat close to Santa Monica, I can try to get some contact info for him, I also have family in mn that could help

[DanielC]

You need to contact Illinois DMV, or DOT, or whatever the government agency that issues license plates is. The process is different in all 50 states, and if there are any similarities, it is just a coincidence.

[shogun121]

I already did. I went to Ilinois Secretary of State(DMV) yesterday and was told if theres no title to the vehicle then I cant register it in my name. The lady was really helpful and knowledgeable, we even checked in the NADA and NCIC books to see if there was anyway I could bypass the issue seeing as the vehicle is a 73 and some states dont require a title if its older than a certain year. Unfortunately Cali issues titles and replacement titles to ALL its vehicles so in essence there should be no excuse as to why theres no title to this truck. I even tried to read up on obtaining an Abandonment title and spent a better part of the early morning ( 11pm -3am) actually READING all of the ILCS statutes for abandoned/unlicensed/unclaimed vehicles and all of them state that local law enforcement must take possesion of the vehicle the dispose of it as scrap/junk after an investigation is completed.

[shogun121]

Dirk-thank you! I really do want this truck but not if it becomes an expensive lawn ornament. My wife is leery of the idea of buying w/o a title too so she might take a bit of convincing...maybe if she sees it all cleaned up and sitting pretty in our driveway...I might be sleeping in it then!!

 

 

[Dirk Diggler]

If you need any help, send me a pm with the po name and any info you have for him

[DanielC]

Do you have, or can you get a license plate from California? You may have to do a California title search.

 

You may be able to get some help from a Ratsun member that lives in California. Maybe "sell" the truck to them, have them get a California title, and then "sell" you the titled truck. I will let you work out the details.

[bananahamuck]

Sounds like you went to state dmv ,, check with you local county / city ( website ) to see how abandoned vehicles are processed. Sometimes counties have different Revised Code of. Ordinances and statutes governing how to relicense a vehicle that may supersede state rules. But it usually entails having the car on your property ,and in this economy getting county to inspect abandoned vehicle may be next to impossible

good luck..

[blue72]

I got my 510 titled not that long ago, but it was in the state of Utah. All I needed was the bill of sale, contact info for the last known owner, a VIN check from an officer of the peace and to fill out all of the appropriate paperwork. Illinois probably has completely different hoops to jump through. Sounds like you're on the right track though, researching the process and talking with the DMV employees. That's what I did and they led me in the right direction. Best of luck with it.

[yellowdatsun]

My advice, don't buy it. I've been screwed too many times with no-title vehicles, and I will never do it again. It's just not worth the hassle. By the time you get everything straightened out, and spent the extra money to do so, you could have just bought another one for the same total and bypassed the hassle.

[FoxyRoadster]

pretty much if you buy a car with no title plan to go through a title service for a new one, always get a notarized bill of sale on titeless sales

[patra_is_here]

I bought my last car with no title no bill of sale no registration.

 

took all of 10 minutes at the CA DMV. had to fill out a 'statement of facts' stating that to the best of my knowledge I am the legal owner of the vehicle, and that there are no bank liens on the vehicle, and that the title has been lost.

 

 

you need to find a really knowledgeable person at your DMV.

 

the "Title" is technically state property. It's not something that is REQUIRED for a vehicle to exist. Titles do not exist UNTIL the DMV makes it exist. That being said, you can own any car you want, regardless of title. If it's in your possession, and there's not an active title or registration for the vehicle, then the vehicle is technically yours, as basic possession makes you the owner.

 

Titles are the way you lease ownership and license plates through the state DMVs system. it is THEIR method, and not something intrinsically part of a vehicle.

 

I would suggest simply going to your DMV and telling them the following:

 

"I have a car that's been in storage for years, and I would like to register it in my name and have a title issued, here's the VIN"

 

then they'll check it and will know if there's a lien on it, and if it's currently registered somewhere.

 

but, REALLY, the guy you're buying it from should just go down to the DMV and pay $15 for a new print out of the title. takes about 2 weeks to show up in the mail.

 

 

the person who told you that you can't register it without a title is technically incorrect. what if you lost the title after you bought the vehicle? are you somehow doomed to never register it again to anyone ever?

 

to reiterate, Titles and License plates are state/DMV property, when you apply for them, you are contracting yourself and your vehicle in to their system and whatever their contracts are (rules of the road, having insurance, etc). The is no legitimate reason why you can't register it without a title, you just have to find the right form.

 

but moreso, there's no reason why the owner can't go and just get a title reissued.

[Dirk Diggler]

I bought my last car with no title no bill of sale no registration.

 

took all of 10 minutes at the CA DMV. had to fill out a 'statement of facts' stating that to the best of my knowledge I am the legal owner of the vehicle, and that there are no bank liens on the vehicle, and that the title has been lost.

 

 

you need to find a really knowledgeable person at your DMV.

 

the "Title" is technically state property. It's not something that is REQUIRED for a vehicle to exist. Titles do not exist UNTIL the DMV makes it exist. That being said, you can own any car you want, regardless of title. If it's in your possession, and there's not an active title or registration for the vehicle, then the vehicle is technically yours, as basic possession makes you the owner.

 

Titles are the way you lease ownership and license plates through the state DMVs system. it is THEIR method, and not something intrinsically part of a vehicle.

 

I would suggest simply going to your DMV and telling them the following:

 

"I have a car that's been in storage for years, and I would like to register it in my name and have a title issued, here's the VIN"

 

then they'll check it and will know if there's a lien on it, and if it's currently registered somewhere.

 

but, REALLY, the guy you're buying it from should just go down to the DMV and pay $15 for a new print out of the title. takes about 2 weeks to show up in the mail.

 

 

the person who told you that you can't register it without a title is technically incorrect. what if you lost the title after you bought the vehicle? are you somehow doomed to never register it again to anyone ever?

 

to reiterate, Titles and License plates are state/DMV property, when you apply for them, you are contracting yourself and your vehicle in to their system and whatever their contracts are (rules of the road, having insurance, etc). The is no legitimate reason why you can't register it without a title, you just have to find the right form.

 

but moreso, there's no reason why the owner can't go and just get a title reissued.

 

You do need a title to register the car. The title proves you are the legal owner. If you have no title and wish to register it, you need to get a new title for it. You must have a paper trail saying that the car was sold to you to prove that you own it

[patra_is_here]

well I am speaking from experience. I had a vehicle with no title and no registration. All I had to do was pay back registration fees, and fill out a form.

 

the title does not "prove" you are the owner. The title is your contract with the DMV to allow you to drive the car within their system. The title only provides some proof of ownership when the car is currently registered, because at that point the title is valid because the whole thing is still within the DMV system. once the car is out of the DMV, and you don't have plates, the car belongs to whomever is in possession of the vehicle.

 

so unless the CA DMV stopped using the "statement of facts" sheet, my information is still valid.

 

 

but regardless, the easiest method at this point is for the current owner to just fill out a "lost title" form.

[Dirk Diggler]

Ah I thought you were refering to a car that would still be in their system.

 

Off topic, have you heard anything about highway 1 collapsing north of big sur? Im supposed to go camping there in 2 weeks, someone told me you can still get to big sur from the south, is this true?

[patra_is_here]

yeah thats like 30 minutes from me. as of yesterday the road was completely off limits and probably not going to be ready til may 1st.

 

but, you can go south from arroyoseco road / fort hunter liggitt if you want to big sur. it's just a roundabout way.

[sssr20det510]

You have to go through the state that the vehicle title is from If the car was titled out of cali call the dmv in cali they will tell you you will need to fill out forms that can be printed online and mail them in and within a few weeks you will have a title. Had to do it with a car I bought once

[Dirk Diggler]

yeah thats like 30 minutes from me. as of yesterday the road was completely off limits and probably not going to be ready til may 1st.

 

but, you can go south from arroyoseco road / fort hunter liggitt if you want to big sur. it's just a roundabout way.

You I saw you are in Monterey so I figured you would know more than I would. I'm down in Pismo Beach, so I would be taking the 101 to the 1 through Morro Bay and straight up to Big Sur

[steve g]

You I saw you are in Monterey so I figured you would know more than I would. I'm down in Pismo Beach, so I would be taking the 101 to the 1 through Morro Bay and straight up to Big Sur

i had a 720 with screwed up paperwork once....

Easy fix... Pay a Lien Sale attorney/agent to deal with it...Done!

[patra_is_here]

You I saw you are in Monterey so I figured you would know more than I would. I'm down in Pismo Beach, so I would be taking the 101 to the 1 through Morro Bay and straight up to Big Sur

 

if you are coming from the south then you'll be fine. you just can't go more north than big sur . so monterey and carmel is out of the question unless you back track to naciomento road and take the long route to the peninsula.

 

otherwise the roads south of bixby bridge are fine (thats the northern most area of big sur.)