buying titles?

[41/53dodges]

does anybody know about those guys you see at car shows selling titles for $100 apiece? my 41' has no title, and the PO is long gone. i talked to the DMV a few weeks ago, and apparently they make you trace every owner back to the dealer now, which is impossible for a 70 year old workhorse, so now these titles you buy are looking pretty good. does anybody know about these or their legality? for $100, it does seriously sound too good to be true...

[Dave72dt]

It's a shame they put the burden on the owner to provide proof. They're the ones with access to registration records, not us. Years ago, some states never provided titles

Previous owners deceased, dealerships closed. Puts a higher value on vehicles withtitles, doesn't it. A poorer condition vehicle is worth more to me if it has a good title.

[oldmopar]

Depends how close you state dmv looks at things. if they match title and body serial #'s. VPW sells repro serial plate one of them and a letter/number stamp set and your good to go

[Dan Babb]

It's illegal in most states and you could wind up losing your vehicle if they really wanted take it.

Search google for Titles Unlimited California for some articles about how one company was providing titles to California car owners to get around their emmissions requirements. It's not exactly what you're talking about, but an example of how states freak out over title fraud.

Doesn't mean you can't get away with it...but how do you really search if the title you're getting is really a clean title? If your car had to be inspected, most of those guys can tell a repro tag from the original. Also, isn't a portion of the serial number stamped in the frame near the front wheel?

[_kiotes_]

Here in SD all we have to do is take the vin to the court house pay a small fee, they will run the VIN and give you the address of the last owner. You send a registered letter to that address and if it come back unopened you go to court house they open letter and you get a title. If it does reach the old owner they will (99% of the time) give you the title. Its good to live in South Dakota most people arent out to get you.

[NiftyFifty]

Here in Manitoba we just take the bill of sale to the Public Insurance office of our choice and they will do a search on the vin and just see if it was ever stolen..if not they just re-issue the registration in your name. It might cost like $20, but it was painless...now if it was a write off and someone bought it back..then we can get into some issues...most times you can just get a special inspection done and pass it, but other times they list them as un-insuarble and then your in trouble.

[Lefebvre]

I was told by my insurance company that the reason some states do this with making you track titles - is because the state wants to collect sales tax when the car changes hands - even if you don't register it.