im currently trying to save a really nice 49 chevy truck that is right accross the border. my issue is that the current owner does not have the title or vin plate as the plate was removed when it was getting painted and the owner had already lost the title. also the last time he registered the truck was back in 85 and the mexican dmv has no records dating that far back. unless theres any other way for me to get around the fact that theres no title or vin plate when bringing it back to the U.S., i think i need the title and vin plate. thanks for your time fellas.
This. ^^^ You'll spend more time & money dealing with it than you would starting from scratch with a documented truck. Consider it to be a parts truck & pay accordingly...that is, if you can figure out how to even get it across the border as "parts".
so you guys dont think that with a new title and vin plate that id be able to bring it back and save it???
try a title company if you get the truck http://www.broadwaytitle.com/ http://www.its-titles.com/ be very carefull and research.
Well lets see you want to bring it into the states, it has no title so you are going to break a federal law by putting a vin tag and matching title with it. Then you are going to try and bring it into the states and risk getting caught with it. Well I guess there is one thing that is on your side you don't get super max for vehicle tampering. This is a very bad idea.
If it were mint, then maybe it could be worth the hassle (and I'm sure the hassle would be huge). If it's something that's in "trying to save" condition..no way. Run Forrest...RUUUUUUUUN!
well i can assure you that its not stolen. the truck actually belongs to a doctor and he has the original vin #'s written down just no paperwork. hes already restored the truck and its like new. interior just needs a little touching up. my thinking was bring it back then filing for a lost title once its here.
Does it count if you break a federal law while in another country? You know, if you happen to "find" the tag laying in the guy's garage or something. The other option you have is to try to get it titled there using the engine number. Some states did them that way that late. Then you could bring it back and have clean paperwork.
could be a script for a new movie with a twist... "run for the border" 1st challenge is to get a clear mexican title for that truck.
it was a texas truck up until 80. then he took it over there at wich point he registered it and they took the U.S. title then gave him a mexican title. in 89 the mexican dmv lost all the dmv files when their system crashed. but well continue looking for the vin plate for the time being.
if he has the original Vin (in this case it would be a door post serial number) you can run the s/n number here http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/vin/vinbuster.html enter the number and make sure it comes back to what he has
so then what your sayng is to run the #'s for the original U.S. title and then try to get a new original title here
"Son...(in a paternal voice).... Exactly how... do you plan... to acQuire such documentation?" It's certainly possible that the situation is exactly as you've described- lost title & VIN plate. It's also quite possible that, as someone mentioned, the truck is missing these items because it's stolen. You can, probably, with some effort, get these things from a different vehicle and use them with this truck. (The fact that it's illegal to do so we'll put aside for the moment.) So, you are going to do...what? Get a Mexican title? Sounds somewhat difficult. Get a U.S. title? Maybe easier to find, but then what? Use the U.S. title to get the truck from Mexico to the U.S.? How's that work? The only way I would even idly consider this is if the truck is cheap enough so that, if it gets confiscated, or if it proves impossible to title it in the U.S., you can simply walk away without taking much of a financial beating. That assumes that you are allowed to walk away at all by the authorities, who tend to overreact to this sort of thing. If it is legitimate, as you say, and you have a VIN written down, or better yet you can get the stamping from the door or an engine number...something...then the doctor can apply for a lost title from Mexico. Once it's legitimate, buy it & apply for a normal U.S. title. Lol'd at this one.
All these things you say(lost tilte, lost vinplate, guys a doctor, Mex DMV lost paperwork) all add up to horseshit.
When their system crashed? I lived in mexico in '89 they didn't have a system they still kept records the old fashioned way. You never heard of PT Barnum did you?
You said he has the vin number written down. I bet the vin is also stamped on the frame somewhere. GM cars have it stamped in the front somewhere by the steering box, and also behind the rear end on the frame horns. Someone on one of the vintage Chev forum's would know where to look. See if it matches what he has written down. Then you just have ALL the rest of the problems mentioned here to deal with.
A 1950 would not have a frame serial number stamp. That didn't begin until '55. All there is is a serial tag on the body and an engine number on the motor. Like I said before, some states used the engine number for registration in 1950, I think Texas was one of them - so you may be okay in that sense. It still has a motor, right?
buy a project here in the states and get whatever good parts he has to offer! where do you think all of our stolen trucks,cars and parts end up in MEXICO you say it was a texas truck but then went to mexico and he has no title or tag probrably because its HOT just leave it be and walk away
Well, you could bring it over one piece at a time. If you know the vin# why can't the Doc just get a duplicate Mexican Title? Can you do a bill of sale transaction in mexico and get around havng a title in his name? You could always bring everything over except the cab and just put a solid U.S. cab on it and be done with it.
My 1949 Buick has a frame stamp on the right rear frame horn. But it's not a Chev pickup which may be different.
See if you can get a guitar with it , and you can sing jailhouse songs. Maybe you'l be famous when you get out.eek
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