Hi guys.... here's the situation: I caught wind of a mid-seventies wagon (yes, I know, it's not that old but would make a neat driver) that has turned up in storage at a wrecking yard. Seems it ended up there as a result of the owner p***ing away and it being part of an "estate sale". I'll find out more details Monday. Anyway, from what I was told by a friend who saw it yesterday the yard owner said the car could NEVER be registered again and had to be crushed. Ever hear of this before ? Maybe the late owner's wishes, perhaps ? Anyway, I was told the car is a low miler and looks 2 years old, not 32. Now, I'm in Ontario and was wondering what silly provincial law would prevent a vehicle in a boneyard from being registered. We don't use the word "***le" here as you folks in the States, and to be honest, I don't fully understand what a "***le" is. Is it an ownership with V.I.N. ? To my Ontario friends, if the ownership is surrendered or lost how can it be re-registered if at all ? Anyone anywhere have any ideas ? The idea of a wagon with working A/C interests me. Make a great parts chaser for swap meets.
It doesn't sound like the yard owner wants to part with it to me. The never be registered part may be the p/o's wishes or because the ownership papers were turned in. In Most of the states ***le = certificate of ownership. Registration = certificate that shows that you have bought the tags for the vehicle. snooping through the Ontario dmv sight I find this. It looks like a bill of sale and a safety standards certificate are the main issues. http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/used.htm#safety It wouldn't hurt to go into one of the main dmv offices and ask how to do it right though, before approaching the yard owner with cash in hand.
Even if it can never be registered, or never had ownership transferred....why would you want to crush it before removing all the good parts?
I am in Ontario too...What happens is the the yard owner sends the ownership to the ministry and the ministry declares the car as destroyed...Their for it can never be ***led again...Their is one way around it that I have found....You can get a rebuilt ownership,but you will have to follow the emissions regulations with a rebuilt ownership....
you should be able to go there and purchase the car (provided the yard owner wants to sell it). even if there is no ***le, he can provide you with a bill of sale, and you can get a salvage ***le or a re-built ***le for the car. a salvage ***le is for cars that have been wrecked. once you get the car fixed, you can get a normal clear ***le for it. there is no reason (legally) that you should not be able to save the car. that's how it is here in indiana anyway. as long as the yard owner will sell it to you, you can buy it...but who knows how much it'll cost you. i bought a running 48 chevy from a junk yard for $300.00 and drove it home. there was no ***le but i got a bill of sale. for $100.00, i got a new re-built ***le for it. at that point, you can "refurbish" the car and legally get plates for it. after the car changes hands 2 times, you will get a normal clear ***le. i "sold" the 48 to a friend twice, and had a normal clear ***le within 2 months.
You could always have the cops run the VIN to see who it was registered to, and track down the family to claim it, or to see if they have the ***le for it. A "***le" for a car is like a "deed" to a house - an official do***ent listing the car's VIN, and the name/address of the owner. It's used to prove ownership over the car, as well as for tax purposes (vehicles are taced by some of their specs here in the US, and this do***ent is an official declaration of some of those (like if it has a 6 cyl, a V8, etc and the horsepower, mileage, etc). Transfer of ownership requires the old owner sign the back, and the new owner fill out his/her name & address on it in the space provided, then it needs to be taken to the local Department of Motor Vehicles, where they enter the data in and either send the new ***le with the new owner's info to him in the mail, or print one on the spot (depending on how sophisticated the office he went to is).
Chad... I don't think there'd be an E-test issue as it's a '76. Doesn't e-test stuff only apply to '86 or '87 and up ? As for a "rebuilt" ownership, how does that work ? Does that make the car "branded" ? As for the owner of the yard parting it, there really isn't a market for mid-seventies Mopar wagons around here. I think every other one was eaten away by road salt by the time the nineties arrived. I sorta kinda know him as I deal with him on the phone once or twice a month and I think he doesn't want it crushed or even parted .... yet, anyway. I called him yesterday when I heard about the car but he was off until Monday or I'd have more answers. Keep the ideas coming, guys, so I'll have some way to approach this when I give him a call.
How well do you know the people at license office?they may be able to point you in the right direction.
It sounds silly, but I had a similar issue. My friends grandfather p***ed away without a will and his widow was willing to give a friend of mine his car for free. It was a low mile mid-80s Buick. The problem with an estate is there is no one to sign over the ownership to you if he didn't transfer his car to the estate in his will. So we faced the same issue and were told to s**** the car. It was a pain in the *** but we did it. I had to get a notorized letter from the widow saying the car went to the estate and no one else had a claim. We then had to get the ownership in her name and she then had to transfer it to us. Not easy, but she didn't want to see his car crushed because of some paperwork. Now if the guy doesn't have access to the ownership and you can't get the estate to give you a letter, I think you're screwed. I would try and see what options are available if the car is abondoned or salvage as has been suggested. Good luck.
49Coupe.... I should have an answer on those issues Monday. I was thinking of asking a buddy in Alberta to "buy" it for parts without an ownership then registering it in Alberta (if it's possible.... ****, can't be any more strict than these goofy Ontario laws) then "selling" it to me, all the while storing it at my place, of course.
Saving it means buying it, which means being prepared to offer more than it will bring crushed. And finding out what the real story is on the paperwork - has it been turned in for s****? The junkyard owner may not sell it, or may not allow you to remove it, once the paperwork is gone. (Incedentally the demo derby angle is a good one to use on this car. It may be the one way to get the thing out of there intact - make them think you want to demo it. Maybe you'd have to bring it back when done with it. But if you brought back a different one, totally painted head to toe in demo colors and smashed to hell, how would they know?) Registering it again after that may mean you will need to use it for parts to rebuild another example of the same car. Some people just jack up the vin tag on the rusty car and roll another vehicle under it, but the law takes a dim view of it should they catch you - it basically means you can never sell the car and if it ever gets stolen it probably shouldn't be reported either - lest they ask the wrong questions should they find it and find hidden VINs that don't match. But people do do it, I once saw a 1985 Buick, according to the NY reg sticker, that sure looked like a '73 Trans-Am to me. Musta been a hell of a rebuild job. One thing, in Vermont on that car it would only get a registration. You might check to see if it's as easy to register it without paperwork there as it is in New York. While it may not be able to be registered in Canada again, it might be able to be registered in the states. The only catch is you'll have to do it without bringing the car across the border, until the paperwork is done. (I'd say bring to New York but it's too new, 73 up need ***les). Those clamshell wagons have something of a following, the people who handled the estate must have been pretty stupid to just junk one if it's in that good of shape. Seriously, an ad in the paper to sell it for $500 is too much work? That's the one good thing about New York, they made it so easy to get a registration on '72-older cars there's no reason to play games with them. So I don't even worry much about paperwork when I buy them. Unfortunately not many people know the trick to it.
When I was young there was a red 68 Charger in a local wrecking yard that everyone tried to buy. Not for sale and cannot be registered was the answer! Reason? Car was from New York and had been used in an armed robbery at a bank,they got this far and got caught.The car was impounded and finally sent to the yard where it DID get crushed. Sad sad story.....
Once you get a rebuilt ownership you have to do emissions testing,because its then cl***ified as a rebuilt 2008
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