Illinois title question
 

Hi all, so I bought a ‘73 Chevy and (shame on me, I know better) didn’t verify title and VIN match. And they don’t. This is the first time I’ve ever had this happen after multiple Chevy trucks.

When I asked the owner (farmer) about it, he said back in the 70’s Illinois didn’t always use the VIN and may have used a different number. He did provide the previous owner to him title and a title for the truck from 1974. All have that different number that starts with a K instead of CCY. It’s only had 3 owners. And this guy says he knew the previous owners since new. They were all local farmers.

I didn’t catch the title error and registered the truck in Michigan. And apparently the people at DMV didn’t catch it either. Because it is registered to me now but, again, VIN and title don’t match.

I could’ve been duped, but I tend to think this guy is being honest. So, my question: any Illinois owners out there that has experienced this? Or should I just go report this truck to police? I want to correct this situation.

Thanks in advance,

Cort

Re: Illinois title question
 

For more context, I feel like the truck was registered with job sequence number from the build sheet….

The title states the VIN is Kxxxxxxx.

Two other trucks I owned had build sheets and job sequence numbers of C2570419 and G2710025. That is the same amount of digits I have for a VIN.

Keith Seymour…help? Did they use that job sequence number pattern in ‘73?

Re: Illinois title question
 

Honestly, I'd be inclined to go visit your local MSP, Michigan State Police, office. I would explain to them what occurred. They should be able to tell you whether it's stolen or not. Something I'm sure you'd rather avoid if you went to the DMV office first, as you could possibly be treated as a suspect who stole the truck.

If you don't want to do that, run both VINs here. NICB allows you to do that and they have a large database of stolen VINs.

https://www.nicb.org/vincheck

Re: Illinois title question
 

No. At least not on purpose.

Only the VIN for registration/title at the Secretary of State.

Normally the build sheet and build sequence number are not available and are of no importance once it leaves the assembly plant.

K

Re: Illinois title question
 

Ok thank you both!

Re: Illinois title question
 

So that website won’t let me run the “registered” 8 digit vin, but it accepted the real VIN and it came back clean! That’s a good start…..

Re: Illinois title question
 

Called state police and they gave me a number for a vehicle inspector to start down the right path! I’ll keep everyone posted on how this turns out in case anyone in the future comes across this situation.

Re: Illinois title question
 

More likely the original title was done by hand and didn't have the magic "this number doesn't have the proper amount of characters" check that modern computer systems employ. Also, many states handled "Farm Trucks" differently then standard vehicles even if the only difference was who owned them. In the 70's farmers were probably still titling lots of vehicles that were reactivated off the 'back 40' that never had VINs or had non-standard variants.

Whatever the reason for the miss-match, hope OP can get it resolved to modern standards without too much hassle.

Re: Illinois title question
 

Not familiar with Illinois but NY would allow a vehicle to be titled and registered with the engine number . I've had several several cars with that issue . My Chevelle for one and I had to take a picture and a tracing of the actual vin tag to get it corrected . The car still had the original motor in it so I had that proof too.

Re: Illinois title question
 

Thanks all. Just got off the phone with salvage vehicle inspector from sheriff’s office and she was a little stumped on what to do. So she gave me a number of someone at SOS that may be able to help…we’ll keep trying!

If MSP, Sheriff’s and this next call can’t figure it out, then I’ll just go into DMV with pictures of all the past titles and give it a go!

Re: Illinois title question
 

Good work. You'll get there, just keep after it. Just FYI, speaking only from dealing with clerks at the CA DMV, if the clerk you are talking to starts to give you any push back, or "oh I can't do that" kind of stuff, ask for his or her supervisor. It was my experience that A LOT of the CA DMV clerks did not know what the CA Vehicle Code actually stated.

Re: Illinois title question
 

Well the last number didn’t work out. Ended up on a SOS phone tree with no options to talk to a human being. So I made an appointment at SOS.

I am bringing copies of all the titles since ‘74. All I can do is tell them I tried to go through police/sheriffs and was no help. See what kind of agent I get I guess. Generally, I have had pleasant experiences with MI DMV staff.

Re: Illinois title question
 

Hopefully you get everything straightened out with this.

Re: Illinois title question
 

Cort,
You're WAY better off if you can get this corrected in Michigan. You definitely don't want to go to the Illinois DMV for help. The Illinois DMV may have been loose back in the '70's, but now they are obnoxiously strict and unhelpful. They will jump directly to the conclusion that the truck is stolen and that you're probably the person who stole it.

I dealt with something similar when my son wanted to buy a '79 C10 from outside of Illinois. The truck had no title because that state doesn't issue titles to classic vehicles. Bill of sale only. I contacted the Illinois DMV ahead of time and I'm glad I did. The Illinois DMV wanted us to post a bond for three times the asking price of the truck. They were going to hold the bond for five years. If the truck was reported stolen during that time, we would have lost the truck, any investment we had made in the truck, the bond, and we would have faced potential "possession of a stolen vehicle" charges. No thanks, I'll pass.

I hope Michigan is more understanding than Illinois. Good luck and enjoy the truck.

John

Re: Illinois title question
 

Sorry for the late update!

Thank you John for your input/suggestion. Luckily, I did not have to go through Illinois or any other hassle. I called the local Sheriffs office and they told me to download a form and have a deputy come inspect. He actually came to my house, looked over the truck, checked the form, checked it for being stolen, and that was it! He was also nice as can be and commented on how much he liked the truck!

So, in the end, my title now matches the VIN and life is back on track! Thanks everyone for the input.

Re: Illinois title question
 

That's great news

Re: Illinois title question
 

It's good to hear you didn't have to jump through Illinois' hoops. Glad you got your VIN and your title sorted out.

John