in oklahoma you can get a title on an old car with just a bill of sale as long as the car is NOT in their database. best 40.00 you can spend!
I too used I.T.S. and got away with it.... I mean they were very nice folks. I'm not sure what everybody is talking bout , vin check.... the lady at the Aurora office took all the papers that I.T.S. sent me and typed up new papers then went with me to the parking lot and looked at the numbers ( harbor freight stamp set ) and handed me plates. been driving it since. A couple friends thought .. no way... I give them I.T.S. info and waa laa they have new tags on their hot rod. Roach
Thanks Roach...that was the info I was looking for, whether or not someone from DMV came out and actually looked at the VIN numbers. Mine are legible except for one number, which in my eyes looks like a 5, but may not appear to be a 5 to someone else, so I think the idea of re-stamping the #'s is a good one.
Best bet is to do your homework first and find out what your state wants for paperwork and inspections before you do anything else. Some states make it pretty easy, that's how these companies work, other states make it really hard. I hear from people now and then that tell me Ohio doesn't like NY registrations, for instance.
Just apply for a "Lost Title" in California. I think it's opening up a HUGE "can o' worms" by having an out-of-state title and trying to register a car in your home state. I know it's been done,I know SOME guys have had good luck...do YOU want to be the "example" the DMV uses??? The following is for the California guys only... One thing that REALLY pisses me off is taking a "current" plate and painting it to look like an older plate. If you can't afford the "real deal",then save your allowance and buy the REAL thing!! What you have to remember is...the YOM program can be EASILY taken away. With this state being $16BILLION in debt,the state is going to look for ANY funds from ANY source.
I have an assigned title on my Lakester showing that it is a 2000 homebuilt. There were no smog requirements, safety stuff, turn signals etc. The Durango office will not take Alabama titles at all. However, they are very helpful when it comes to bonded and/or assigned titles. A couple of years ago Colorado adopted the SEMA laws on kit car registrations.
If you live in Illinois do not try any out of state title service. The Illinois Secretary of state police are cracking down as of October 2008 and the first people they are looking at are the ones who used ITS and Broadway Title service. It is a felony charge now and you will lose your car. SEMA and Illinois changed a bunch of titling laws here and it is easy to get a title if you have the origin of the Drivetrain. The vehicle will then be titled and receive a vin # of the year the car was originally built by the factory. The other option is to have it bonded if you do not have the origin of the drivetrain. The drawback of this is it is 3 years before you can sell a bonded vehicle. If you have any questions you can get a hold of a SEMA rep or a NSRA safety rep.
I've never used the ITS- in Colorado too I think it can cause more problems than it's worth. A detective friend of mine said that they just cracked down on a group that was using Alabama titles to launder stolen cars, so they (again I am only speaking for Colorado) see these documents as a potential red flag. Not to say "don't do this", but that taking this route may not be as smooth sailing as you think.
My '36 Dodge Coupe got a title as a 1936 Rebuilt. I had no VIN tag or number. The hardest part was getting someone who can clearly describe the process to you down at the DMV. It was some hassle, but it all worked out. They did not like the location of the VIN I "found" on the frame. (My source about location did not match thiers I guess.) Eventually required a security bond, State Patrol inspection installing my new assigned VIN number. They did not inspect the car for anything (other than their curiosity). The CSP did want to look at a box of receipts for major components and stamped them so I could not use the same recipts for a next project. My undersanding is that if you pick up a car with a VIN tag, get a State Patrol VIN inspection and present a notorized Bill of Sale that is not voer 90 days old, you can get a title as long is their is no claim when they do a title search. I will be trying this with a sedan delivery I have soon. Rodshop
Anybody know about Missouri laws? I have a 79 Camaro project for my son. I bought it with the understanding that it had a title but after 2yrs and no title I know I have to go another route. I thought about ITS. The car came from Texas and I had a friend in Texas who is a trooper run the vin and plate. It was clean and last registered to the original owner in 1989. Somehow it ended up in Missouri and I have it now. I would like to do all the paperwork through the local DMV but I can't get two people to agree on the steps needed. One told me that there's no way possible to title it.
Sorry to bump such an old thread but I thought I'd shed some light on this comment. ITS actually "buys" the car from you. What you fill out and send to them is a bill of sale stating that you're selling your car to ITS. They're setup in a number of states including Alabama and essentially sell that car back to you with a notice saying that the state where the vehicle was purchased from does not use titles. You take this to your local DMV and viola, you have a title.
"You take this to your local DMV and viola, you have a title." Been there, done that. However, it's a real red flag in Colorado when you walk into the DMV with an Alabama bill of sale. I even called ITS and they refused to refund my money when I pointed out that CO wouldn't except the title.
As it turns out a Good Title is almost as valuable as the steel itself. I am in the process of titleing a no-title vehicle in Colorado. Nothing short of a nightmare. It is truley the most difficult part of rebuilding a junk yard find. It's a revenue source paid by the good people who choose to live within the confines of the law.
So Colorado is refusing to title out of state vehicles that come from states that don't use title now? I find that hard to believe considering that the guy who started the thread is from Colorado. Sounds like you talked to someone who was having a bad day.
First off, if you show up at the DMV with a licensed vehicle from a "title" state you have no problem if said vehicle has a current plate(s) from that state. Because of the fraud and sales tax avoidance, local Colorado DMV offices can refuse an Alabama title. I have found over the years of rod building in Colorado, it's just as easy to do a bonded title. We actually have two CHP inspectors that are hot rodders and they are very easy to deal with here in Durango. Since you're from California, you might be interested that "back in the day" when Dragmaster was building roadsters in Carlsbad from scratch, they were licensed and titled at the Oceanside DMV office where everybody knew everybody else. Guys from LA were coming to Oceanside to get fresh builds licensed as the O'Side staff were clued into hot rods. They also handled a lot of the Manx-type VW buggies built from scrap. I suspect that if you went into that office today, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who spoke passable English
yea "the jerks in power" look what they got us into now. For cryin out loud some of our junk isnt wanted by anybody but us car nuts. And if we turn it into somethin worthwhile they wanna tax it! Back in the 80,s I had an 4 year old caprice wagon that i got out of a impound yard and tried to register it. I stated the purchase price was $200, which it was. They said its worth more [$3000]. I said it hit a telephone pole head on! they didnt care. Then I asked if I could deduct the cost of fixing it, they hesitated, then said no. I finally got it registered by the guy that found it for me he,s a county sheriff.
Interestingly enough I recently relocated back to So Cal from Colorado (I was stationed at Ft. Carson) and this was the first I heard of anyone having problems registering out of state title-less cars. Might want to try another DMV office.
Just to add to this I am in so cal and have gotten titles for a few vehicles with bill of sale and vin number verified there are probably 20 registration services in every city in cantaffordya just go there normal cost is $30 to $50 more than DMV but it is painless and works got a 28 RPU gonna due next $10 if I bring it to them $25 if they come to my house for vin verifying I also use auto club but they cant do YOM plates to complicated for themmy 2 cents worth avoid DMV any way you can, they make up the rules as they go been there n done that Ken
I have used ITS at least a dozen times over the years and have never had a problem in my home state of Pa.I do know friends in Jersey who have had trouble in their state recently with bill of sale cars trying to get titles.
When I lived in NC, I tried to register an out of state car, with no title, and ran head on into a major clusterfuxk. Never got it done, so i sold the car to my brother-in-law who lived in the state I had moved from. Learned something from the experience! Next time it came up, was on a '50 Merc with no title. I drilled out the rivets on the VIN plate, tossed it. Next time the AUTOFAIR swap came around, I purchased a '50 Merc title from a vendor who signed and notarized it on the spot. The title said "sportsedan", which is a 4-door, but the DMV didn't know that, and sent it through. Then I bought one of those aftermarket VIN plates, stamprd the info from the title on it and I was done. Crooked, maybe, but sometimes when you are dealing with crooks, you have to do whatever it takes!
Hmmm, my engine was a GM Goodwrench replacement that I pulled from the car it was in. Not thinking about the title, I sold the car to some guy ---restoring a Beretta. Yeah, I know. I did not keep track of any of the paperwork as it is a replacement unit. I certainly don't want to go new vehicle route. What do the Model A guys do with replacement engines in titleless constructions?
just my .02 c , "beefstew " I also had troumle with my small town dmv , I'm sure it depends on your location, dennis4x4 lives in laplata county , I'm 47 miles away in montezuma county ,the cortez dmv refused my alabama paperwork seems that there are alot of cars being "purchased from alabama lately" , I'm sure denver or so cal with millions of people a couple its or broadway title could slip by in each dmv , but in town of 7000 people it's hard to justify that every body has started "buying their old cars from alabama" , also who made the comment about colorado refuse cars from non title states , no , if you buy your car from joe average it would likely be fine , but seems like 1/2 the no title state cars titled across the us were " sold " but ITS or BROADWAY, the colorado state patrol has been taking interest latey in people who buy and sell old cars , a buddy of mine ( no not something I heard on the grape vine) was visited last week and all 100 or so cars where VIN inspected , I'm sure it would look sus if one of those vehicle now showed up as being bought from alabama , ok here's atest , how many would drop your hard earned cash to buy a car that was titled using paperwork from a company whos main income is to buy register and sell cars that they never see and in some cases maybe as far 2600 mls away and the only proof that its not stolen is that applicant said its not , its not legal nor is it illeagal ,its called a gray area .. and finally for those you have been succesfull dont go posting on an open forum ..
I just applied for a bonded title in Texas for my '62 C10. A used car lot had sold it to "Guy A", who then sold it to "Guy B". Guy B never titled it in his name. Guy B sold it to me and gave me a pile of paperwork that included a lien release from the car lot, a title in another guy's name and a bill of sale from Guy B to me. No dice. The DMV said I have to go back to the car lot and get them to sign a re-release of the vehicle to me instead of Guy A. They didn't want any part of it. Guy A is no where to be found without hiring a PI. I could have Guy B go back and title it in his name, then transfer it, but with late fees, it would total over $400, plus I have no guarantee that he would ever sign it over to me once he got the title in his name. I said 'screw it'. I'll pay the $200 for a bonded title. Then I know I'll have a legit, Texas generated title using their paperwork and their processes. ITS charges $130ish and there may be issues with your individual state. For an extra 70 bones, I'll jump through the hoops and never have to sweat losing my truck. Just my .02
I agree with kreatures ,I know the legit way may be a pain , but a few hoops dot the i's cross the t's a state vin insp a few hundred $ and sleep easy at night , the only thing colorado requires is that it passes surounding state title search and they do a visual insp for safety ,lights wipers brakes tires etc .
Don't try to use a title service and bring a car accross the boarder into canada. All the services are flagged! No title for a US car? Don't buy it and try to bring it over. I have been having nothing but trouble over this and finally am getting someone in the states to title the car for me so I can buy it off them.
Many years ago, my wife stuck the title for my 39 away so I would not loose it, guess what happened, she lost it. I had not transfered the title, so I thought no big deal, I still kind of know the people I got the car from (his dad bought the car new) I will have them file for a duplicate. Well the state of Arizona does not have a record of the car, it was last registered in 1970. Jump ahead 10 years, I decide to change the firewall, no big deal, so I cut the metal out around the VIN and put it into a safe place. Jump ahead 5 years, I cant find the VIN I cut out and I have no idea what the VIN used to be.... So, after having everything I needed I have lost the title and the VIN, and I don't even have what I need to file through a title service...
Colorado DMV offices can refuse an Alabama title They only think they can. Unfortunately, there's Federal law that says they have to (it's called "extending full faith and credit to the legal product of a sister state"). Sometimes they yield if you have a letter from a local attorney who reminds them of this. A little Latin in the text helps - "amicus curiae" (I'm saying this as a friend of the court, I don't represent him), de minimus non curat lex" (too small an error to matter), "stare decisis" (already settled law), blah. Also helpful is filing a copy with the County Clerk, and getting a receipt - this makes it enforceable as local law.
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