I did a search about this but there was really too much to try to read. I know it's an age old issue, but I am interested in looking up the ownership history (or even current status) of some cars based on their VIN numbers and/or their original California license plate numbers. Is there any recommended service that offers this information, even if it's not cheap? Speaking of not cheap, can a private investigator still perform such a task? Has anyone ever gone this route? I have no idea what this will cost, but it might be worth it to get some clear answers. Thank you kindly. Blimp
Blimp, you really need to ask a PI if this is something he or she will do. Are these cars you once owned? What's the background here? And before the vultures get to you, go fill out an intro.
He sounds like a fed looking for stolen parts and unpaid taxes!! What, are you going to hire Magnum,P.I. to figure out a paint code and what year it was done?? There are reasons why people blur out their tags in pictures....
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire..... the A-Team!
Just my opinion but this is just too weird. What could possibly be hidden that you need to find out at any cost about something that belongs to someone else?
For a price the California DMV will perform a search of the California DMV records.... they charge a flat rate back to a certain year and then an hourly rate beyond that to manually search the records. This would be the simplest and legal way to do this. Anything beyond that, I agree with the other replies, seems a little "odd".
Here in MI there were some guys making muscle cars using inactive VIN numbers a DMV employee was searching for them. On that subject, ever notice how there are more survivors of some cars than were ever manufactured?
Guys, sorry, I'll post an intro right after this. Nothing weird going on, although I totally understand why you might think that. Isn't this a common question? I searched the forum and saw more than a handful of posts on the subject, but nothing that really answered my question specifically. I'm just trying to trace my cars' origins back to their original owners, maybe even to which dealership they were sold from. It's always a thrill talking to the previous owner of a car and seeing if they have any old photos of it they want to share. It's sometimes easy to do on your own with some dedication, but often the trail goes totally cold. Marcosmadness, have you done such a trace as you've described? That sounds like it could be a winner. Though I did contact a private investigator who told me that he couldn't help me due to privacy laws, so I'm not so sure that this is possible anymore. Thanks again, sorry to cause any upset. Blimp
I am a PI and do vehicle related investigations. Take the VIN to a local DMV and have them do a search for any records. If you ANY paper work related to the vehicle take that too. A PI can stand in line at DMV just as you can...... I have pulled apart vehicles to find reciepts and papers related to the previous owners that helped trace its history.
Yep, it's not legal to give out that info to just anyone. http://www.justice.gov/opcl/privstat.htm I couldn't even verify a Vin with the state of Arizona when I had the title in my hand because what was asking for was in violation of the privacy act. On that deal the P/O had carried the title to the car around in his wallet and worn part of the vin so it was hard to read.
Easy as that? Surely they couldn't give any records from when the car was registered in another state, though? I am told that at least a couple of my cars were originally from CA. Thanks! EDIT: Sorry, Mr48chev, we posted at the same time. Sounds like it's going to be a bust.
Depending on where you live you should be able to do that at the DMV or the police dept. Some states are not as quick to let someone not in law enforcement do that as others. I don't want to hurt your feelings but you come off as a car thief or a repo man. Maybe that is a question better asked of someone who knows that is not the case.
Well I don't suppose it'd be very convincing to say I'm not a car thief or a repo man, but I'm not a car thief or a repo man. I just like playing detective and learning about my cars' history. Wouldn't a thief be more interested in erasing a car's history than learning about it?
So I read your intro, and youre into vw's...Everybody had a vw at some point! Just make up the story...who cares!? If a cars history isnt fully documented you may not want to open a can of worms, all it takes is one little gray area and you run the risk of owing alot of taxes and possible repo from several agencies that could get inolved! I almost lost my 66 bug because I tried to register it from a bill of sale from a guy who ran dealer plates on it and technically never owned it! I was told if I tried to go further it would be considered "stolen"....ya...can-o-worms
I have a friend who did something similar. Bought a car on a Bill of Sale and got a new title made for it through someone we found on here actually. Made me pretty darn nervous but the cops haven't come knocking yet so fingers crossed. None of that is related to what I'm interested in doing here, though, but I see what you mean. If I dig too far I could find someone that says the car was stolen from them!
Not if he saw the tag on the internet or check the vin at a car show ans was looking for it. The day of stealing a car in KC and titleing it in Arkansas is long gone they get stolen and chopped these days. I don't know what you won and I am not interested for any other reason than to know what you are about but a lot of times you can remove the back seat or on later fords the front seat and find the build sheet. That more often than not will give you the most important part of the history for most cars. I even found one in a '54 wagon that showed that it was special order and the options orderd and its destination dealership. Here is the problem, we all know someone who has been hit and never recouped their car or any of the pieces of the car. Now someone comes on a site with lots of prime stuff and first crack out of the barrel they want to know how to find out the info on a car that we have no idea that or if they own it. This is not a personal attack or a bad reflection on you but is why some of may be suspicious of you today. Maybe in a while when we know you better it may not sound so suspicious to us. Does that make any sense to you at all? Its not about you it is the world we live in.
I understand entirely, don't sweat it. I have heard similar stories to one told above in that you can look up a car's history in CA but that maybe they could only go back twenty five years and/or that it's no longer possible due to new laws. I was just wondering if I could learn more, and I think I did. Volkswagens never stuck build sheets under the seats, not that I'm aware of anyway. You can order one for a small fee ($50) from the factory, though. I've already done that for one of my cars. It's pretty neat and gives the general area that the car was shipped to, but not much else. It's a shame they don't list the original dealership (though I've heard that some of them actually might?) but even if they did it wouldn't help much in finding any previous owners. I just think it'd be really neat to find old pictures of some of these cars from when they were brand new.
I think it is a reasonable question. I have attempted to track down EVERY owner of every car I've owned... And I have owned about 20-30 of them. The bad news is that Cars from California are the hardest. Privacy laws make it impossible to get any info from the CA DMV. You have to be a lawyer or a cop to run a check... I once tried a PI, but they said unless it's for legal reasons and a court or lawyer's office is involved you just aren't going to get it. I have tracked tons of ownership records through other states like Arizona and Texas and they had just released stuff without any questions. The good news is you may not need the DMV if your car is within the right years. If the car is from the 1960's or even the 1950s you may be able to track it privately. Anything earlier and the trail tends to go cold... due to the owners passing away with the info. For example I bought a '57 Coupe Deville that had no history, but I was able to get a last name from the guy who I bought it from. I tracked down around 8 people with that last name around the city that I bought it from. Called them one by one. Got a gentleman who owned the car since 1962. He had photos and a ton of stories and some original documents that he sent me. Dealership stuff from my car as well. He wasn't sure why he held onto it.. but did. It was amazing. He bought it from a used car dealership but knew it was owned originally by a big shot track-home builder in Northern California. I found an address for the builders name and called it. An older lady answered and told me that her husband had died, but asked me why I was calling. I told her about the car and she remembered the car. She sent me a couple photos of her husband driving it the day they brought it home. I have a bunch of stories like this for a bunch of cars I have owned. It is worth a try if you have the time and drive to research history. Not many people do though. Most people just give up when they hit any difficulty. Josh
Cool story, that's just what I had in mind. I've been able to do that myself on a couple cars I've had but I guess haven't been so lucky on others. So you just randomly called a DMV in in Arizona or Texas and they've often given you results like this, even if the car was never owned in those states? How bizarre. Dan
Knowing the thorough history of who used to have your car is a little like knowing the thorough history of who used to have your girlfriend. It's your car now, do you really care? Some facets of life are meant to be lived for in the present.
Internet. They are all connected these days. Some of them are not sharp enough to figure it out but in just a few keystrokes they can call up all kind of history. it is just a matter of policy if they will. I had an OT car back in the '90s that I purchased from a bank. The bank was in kansas, after we signed the paperwork the bank informed us that they could not supply a title. I decided that I should find out why the bank couldn't supply a title, went down to the local DMV here in Missouri payed my fee and did a title search. The vehicle had been owned 7 times starting out in Illinois, twice by car lots in Missouri and had been stolen from the last car lot that owned it. Took me longer to get though the line than to get the print out on it. I called the car lot it had been stolen from, from a pay phone, and asked if they would release the title to me. They said they had my number and were sending the hiway patrol. I sure wish they still had pay phones around here. LMFAO I know who used to have my girl friend. unlike some of the cars I have owned he didn't do her any damage.
My wife never had a boyfriend before me. I'm sticking to that story! I guess I'm just surprised that old records from the pre-internet days ever got transferred to computers, but it sounds a little like that might be the case. Dan
The times I had called Arizona & Texas had been for cars that had been titled in those states previously. They keep microfiche and have some records transferred to digital as well. They have a special department that you have to bounce around a little to get to. I think the ease of these things are coming to an end. Sadly, California's lockdown on records is the way of the future. As for history and girlfriends... Apples and Oranges. I will take a car with history over a girl with history any day! Josh
The past threads have answered your question, it just wasn't the answer you wanted to hear. It also gave you the info needed to do searches yourself, but you still FNG'ed the whole thing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=657510 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=645101 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=634515
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