55.2-59 Locating a truck

[jnova67]

My uncle recently past away and I am trying to find his old truck. What is the best way to go about doing this? I have the old title

[Hcb3200]

If you have the title but not the truck going to assume it got sold with bill of sale or a replacement title.

Head on down to the dmv and ask for a title search with VIN.

Or if you know a guy who knows a guy in the officer of the law division then they can do a lookup with VIN to see last owner.

If its your Uncle well then you might have a heck of a trail to find.

A quick possible search is put the vin on a google search with words for sale and see if any current adds or even old ones are out there pointing you in right direction.

[mr48chev]

HCB provided some terrible advice with Ask a law enforcement officer to check. That is ILLEGAL IN ALL STATES and any law enforcement officer worth his salt will tell you that and say that they wonder why you even asked as it could cost them their job.

Very honestly about all you can do is go to the state DMV and ask if the vin is still in the system. It is illegal for them to give you any more than a yes/no answer and 100 % illegal for them to tell you who has the truck registered to them. That again is a fired on the spot and face jail time for giving out the info.


Online vin checks usually won't show vins with less than 17 numbers but that is worth a stab


Plus I have to add, would you want some mouthbreather showing up on your porch asking about the truck you have or had that is stored in a locked garage because they found info illegally? At my house you would be looking at the working end of a Mossberg 590 loaded with buckshot.

I hate to sound mean about this but the nonsense of invading peoples lives to look for Uncle Joe's or Grandpa's old truck that you cannot see sitting out in the open driving by on the road and ask if that is perhaps Uncle's old truck and would it be OKay to check the vin to see is not something that I appreciate. If you show up asking about anything that cannot be seen from the highway that is 400 ft from my yard that I might have the first thing I am going to ask is how did you learn about it (if I don't have it listed for sale and I never post the address) and the person who told you about it will be banned from my property for life unless I specifically told them it was for sale.

[1project2many]

That is ILLEGAL IN ALL STATES and any law enforcement officer worth his salt will tell you that and say that they wonder why you even asked as it could cost them their job.

On the face of it this is true. Although if you start by telling folks what you're up to they're not likely to chew your head off for asking. There are definitely ways to ask questions that aren't illegal, and some questions like "what can't I ask about" is valid.

A title search based on suspected lost title could be a good start. At the very least you'll learn whether or not a duplicate title has been issued. If there's a duplicate, it's perfectly fine to ask how long ago it was issued. Be prepared to show that you are related to your uncle.

I purchsed a truck in NE back in the '90s. Back then the county was happy to share info for past owners and all it took was a phone call to get a printout of all prior registered owners. I am not sure that the same would happen today but with the right approach folks might be willing to put you on the right path.


If your uncle lived in a small community you might be able to go to a local breakfast shop and strike up a conversation or two with some of the older folks to learn more. You'd be surprised how much you can learn over a coffee or two.

Good luck.