Buying A Car Without Title

So here's the details... found a 911 that a guy got from a family member 15 years ago. The guy had the intent to fix it up for his son, but realized it was a bad idea. Car has been sitting and not driven. Anyways, doesn't have a title, and I don't think he even has a bill of sale from the relative - he died a few years back. Car is from the east coast and now in California. Sooooo - we have pretty crazy DMV laws here. Has anyone been through this situation or know what to do? My thought is to get a bill of sale from the current owner, get it registered in Vermont (no questions asked there) and then transfer it to CA after a while. I've also heard of getting a bonded title, but have never donen that before. Thoughts?

First I would call the DMV for the state it was last registered in and request a title status on the VIN. Then after you buy the car the seller can request a duplicate title with the bill of sale. If the seller is unable to get the title because it was last registered by a relative, then you can look into getting a bonded CA title after you buy the car and are certain it's not stolen. I think they are temporary in all states.

I've done the no title thing once,, if the seller can't get the title ,, it better be for 20 cents on the dollar. I'd never fight it again.. took months,, and ended up costing me a ton of time. Even if the relative is dead, the executor of the will can sign the car over WAY easier than you can fix it.

In DE it can be taken through the theft unit and u can get a title but it takes 6 months to a year. I would call the CA dmv to see what the proceedure is and then call another branch to see if they give u the same info.

These cars don't like sitting for years, are you sure want to buy a can of worms? How long has the old acidic oil been in the motor?

In CA and many other states you can get a bonded title when the original title and owner cannot be found. This will allow you to register the car, but is risky because if the real title and owner become known, they may still have claim to the car. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/de...ms/reg/reg5057 https://www.suretybonds.com/blog/how...ia-in-4-steps/

Make sure it wasn�t stolen - I think they could take your car and you could be taken down to the police station. At least I saw that on YouTube once, lol

Avoid it! If you really want the car, tell the owner to go through the process of applying for a new title. This is not something that you'd want to deal with. I have a colleague who's father passed away. He had an old corvette sitting in the garage. She was hoping to sell it to offset the funeral expenses. But she couldn't find a title and apparently, there was some family dealings associated with the car. It was traded and one of the cousins was wanting it back. No proof of anything. Took along time to settle everything out, but she finally got the car. Therefore, my advice is to stay out of it and let the owner fool with getting you the proper paperwork.

Years ago my brother bought a used Mercedes 450 SL with what appeared to be a clean Illinois title. About 6 months later the Secretary of State police showed up at his house and confiscated the car which had been stolen in California. The story was that the thief/seller had a “friend” at the Secretary of State office that was getting him titles on stolen cars. But that was no help to my brother and the state took no responsibility for having issued the title and the car was gone. The good end of the story was that my brother’s insurance company covered the loss!

can o' worms? check! Pandora's box? check! money pit? check! Best of luck!

Vermont won't issue a title on vehicles more than 15 years old.

You can try some of the online title places that will file for a fee. This car could have a lien, stolen, involved in some crime. I wouldn�t pay more than parts for it, and even then you cant get rid of it unless you cut it up. Regardless you probably will have to do something shady to get the title. I would have to get this car for scrap value to jump through these hoops and try to get a title.

1st step is to log in to the CA DMV website lots of info there I read when buying my Porsche in Oregon. When you bring a car into CA from out of state you have 90 days to register it in CA. Given the high cost in CA that saved me a good bit of money. If you write yourself a new Bill of sale after a few weeks you may be able to extend your "free ride" like I may have.

There are too many cars out there to bother with this. If the family won’t get a duplicate then you need to move on

No problem. I bought a car and I'm not an Earl, Lord, or Duke.

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huh?

If you are confident the car is not stolen, just get the bonded title. If after 3 years (and no claim to the car) their is no risk, the bond drops off. I had to do this on a 2002 986 I bought from e-bay from PA. It had a bad engine (ims), was dirt cheap. But I guy I bought it from had not titled it in his name, (he had a wholesale License and just signed the title over) but when I went to title the car in my name, the DMV noticed the title had been signed by the original owners daughter ( the original owner had died and she was Executive to the estate).. So instead of going through the trouble of tracking down the original owners daughter, and getting her to get a replacement title, along with the documents of death ect. , I just payed $150 bucks and got a bonded title, it has been over 3 years so it's now clear.

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There are companies that can you titles. Or look up your DMV for bonded titles. Or register it in Vermont if it's over the age limit Does this apply to cars as well? Living in Mass, I've registered motorcycles in VT with my MA address that were over 15 years old and had no paperwork. Once registered a gray market Ducati Monster.

CT doesn't issue titles for vehicles over 20 years old.

Why bother?

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It was a dad joke...

Also remember, cars with no Title can be subject to lots of other type Judgements or Divorce Settlements/etc Guy I know bought a nice expensive Airstream Trailer with no Title. Turned out the ex-wife was awarded it in Divorce Settlement and was considered stolen and confiscated by Police.. Out the $$ & no recourse.

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Thanks for the info in this. I hadn't hread that. This was a route I was seriously considering, just not sure if the seller was able to write the Bill of Sale if he didn't have the right to do so. Beacause its a 911 SC with widebody for $17K and worth double that once detailed and tuned up with some period correct wheels!

Yikes 3 years for the bond to disappear! Probably pretty hard to sell a bonded title car until the 3 year waiting period. I wonder what happens if the title owner disputes it, and I wonder if they are contacted through the process?

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They told me that I could sell the car with the bonded title and the buyer would not be at risk, and would get a clean title. But I had no intention of selling and was confident no one was was going to try to claim the car, it was just a title screw-up. I would imagine if there was a claim on the car, the bond company would be directly involved to sort it out. And would defend the bond owner and pay out if there were damages. And would probably press charges if there were an intent to defraud.

The rules vary state to state widely ,, Another scam is sell the car without a title and the car still has a lien from a bank on it.. They wont even talk to you they will just send the repo man. And it nearly impossible to tell if their is a note on the car till after.