A title story...

[OrrieG]

I have alluded to some title issues I had years ago, the story is amusing to me so I thought I might share it.

I always wanted a mid 60's Caddy just because. 1985 a friend of a friend need Christmas money and sold me his 66 Sedan DeVille, which he disclosed had issues, for $175. That is the 4 door tuna boat model about 29 feet long. First thing I do after picking it up around the first of December is hit the car wash on the way home, ignoring the fact it is only 20 degrees outside. Two hours later after the ice is melted enough on the windshield to see I get home. One of the issues was the heater did not work. Turned out to be a bad water pump and the vaccum control system (did find out that if I removed the ac belt I could get heat out of the ac vents...). I kept if for a year or so as a Friday cruiser, guys I worked with loved to go to lunch in it. I then needed some money and sold it for $375 with bill of sale and signed title and forgot about it.

Fast forward a year. I am walking down town and notice one of the bars is having a promotion giving a way a 66 Sedan Deville painted hot pink. On close examination I notice it has the same ax hole in the trunk lid mine had and think it is cool to see it again. The bar draws the winner and it turns out to be the girlfriend of a fellow worker who immediately lets her know I used to own the car. For the next six months I get an ear full on a regular basis about what a POS it is, blah blah blah, and I keep reminding her it was a free car. She finally sells it.

Over the years I keep getting notices from different Cities and private parking lots that there are unpaid parking tickets on "my" car. I send them the BOS and finally they quit sending me notices.

Fast forward to 1987. I am hanging around the yard and two men in nice dark suits and sunglasses show up at my gate. Dogs go ape poop as they were taught. I get the dogs kenneled up and the guys show me the DEA badges. They asked if I own a 66 Caddy. I tell them I did, produce the bill of sale and photo copy of the executed title I gave the buyer. They ponder the documents while I ask what is going on. They say the car was found abandoned with evidence of interstate drug use so they ran the title and I popped up. I told them about the bar, gave them the girlfriends name and they left.

Moving on to summer 1988. I get a nasty letter from a towing company. At the direction of the County Sheriff they towed and impounded "my" car and if they do not get $800 and change they are going to sue me. I go to the Sheriff and tell him I have a legit bill of sale and copy of title. He runs the number and says "oh that one" and commences to tell me it has been thru FIVE owners without the title transfering, and has tons of parking tickets. I asked how could the thing be driven and am reminded that in Idaho the plates stay with you, not the car, so in theory you can put current plates from any vehicle on a car and unless you get pulled over, a cop can glance at the plate, see a current sticker (every years gets a different color and number of the month it expires) and move on. He says the towing company is just trying to shake me down for some money, legally I am ok.

I go to the towing company and ask to see the car to verify it is mine. I get to see ol' Pink with the ax hole and verify the vin. It has a new battery and good tires, starts but tranny has issues. I tell them I will give them scrap value (about $100 at that time) for it if they tow it to my house. I planned to pull the battery and tires, maybe the engine and sell the rest to scrappers that were paying abut $75 for non running rigs at that time. They push back saying they will just sue me in small claims for the balance. I say go ahead, I've got a bill of sale and executed title. So they change the tune and say they will crush it rather that "lose money". I called back a couple of weeks later, they say is smashed waiting for a truck to show up, I went down just to confirm it was truly dead, which it was.

And that is why I always sell using the legal title process and do not buy unless the seller does the same...

[Highsider]

Jeeze, it just went on-and-on, didn't it?
Car issues, not your story!

[jremig]

I had issues like that at one point in time. Sold a car to a family that had illegally parked it, they got a ticket and the dmv sent me a notice. Called dmv and said the car was sold on such and such date. Never heard from them again. This was in California around 2003. I forget what kind of car it was.

[DransportGarage]

Great story, OrrieG! I'm glad I lead a simple life. I wonder how many people out there just sign the title and trust the new owner to register it. You were pretty smart to get a BOS.

[low54panel]

I had a civic stolen back in 03 went and looked at the shell in the junkyard. Settled with the insurance company a few months later, letter from the bank saying loan was payed in full. Fast forward to 07 and I get a letter from a debt collector saying a tow company has my civic and that I owe 2500 for tow and storage and that it will be sold at auction to cover fees and they will come after me for the rest. The letter said car was red, mine was black but something about vin number looked familiar. So I find paperwork I had when I bought the car and sure enough the vin is the same. So I call the tow company to tell them the story and they wouldnt get a dime out of me. They say im the last person on title and that I am responsible. I try contacting nevada dmv and they say theres been 4 owners since me and I cant get any paperwork from them since the insurance companies name is on it somewhere along the line. So call up state farm to get something saying I was free and clear of this car. The guy I talk to at the insurance company has the nerve to tell me that if they give me paperwork saying that then it would be there problem and they dont want to deal with that. So I went higher and higher thru managers and what not until I find someone that says they will get me all the paperwork I need to settle this. I now have about 150 pages worth of letters and titles that prove it is no longer mine and I am not financially responsible that I keep in a safe place just in case it ever shows back up somewhere. Make sure the buyer signs the title in front of you, send your sold notice in, keep copies so just in case someone tries to come back on you. In arizona if you sell a vehicle and dont send in a sold notice to dmv, they will charge you 500 bucks if the vehicle is found abandoned and still in your name. Dont trust anyone even an insurance company to transfer a title, cover you a**.

[mr48chev]

Orrie I'd have to think that your story or the basis behind it is the reason I see a lot of local Hispanic folks marching the migrant workers they sell a car to to the local license and title office and then handing them the title in front of the clerk so they can transfer the title then and there and make good and sure it gets transferred. That isn't a bad idea for the rest of us to do an it might be prudent to factor it into the sales price.

[Old Crow]

A long time ago, my wife sold a car. A few months later, the immigrant who bought it came back and wanted her help to get it out of impound. She didn't help, but somehow they got it back.
Months went by and we got a call form the owner of the local impound yard. This guy had hit his wife and tried to run on foot. The impound guys teenaged son chased the immigrant down and tackled him. Impound guy had the car, told us they weren't getting it back.
Fast forward a couple more months and we got a call from some insurance company. Seems the immigrant actually got in one accident that wasn't his fault and the insurance was looking to settle the claim by sending a check to the legal owner of the car. We got a $2500 check 2 weeks before Christmas and the car got crushed.

[Highsider]

Crow- crazy story! Loved it.

[Old Crow]

I gaurantee I've never sold another vehicle without doing the proper paperwork to get the title out of my name regardless of what the buyer did with it.

Sad about the car, too. It was a '73 Plymouth Satellite Sebring Plus. Had a custom paint job, all the chrome and vinyl roof stripped off and a Road Runner hood.
My wife loved that car.

[OrrieG]

Wish someone would have sent me a check for my aggravation. I am surprised the insurance company did not pick up on the title issue.

In Idaho the titles are numbered. On the bill of sale I list the VIN, the title number and a statement that the buyer acknowledges receipt of the executed title. I also get the drivers license info to make sure it matches the buyers info on the Bill of Sale. I also make a note of the license plate number on the vehicle they are driving. I also do the same when buying anything significant from a private party, honest people do not mind.

[Old Crow]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Wish someone would have sent me a check for my aggravation. I am surprised the insurance company did not pick up on the title issue.

When the insurance guy first called my wife thought we were going to have a claim filed against us. She told him that we no longer owned the vehicle, but the adjuster didn't care, just had to send someone a check to close the claim. Since her name was still on the title, we scored.
Not a bad thing to happen to a family with 5 kids at home at the time.

[Highsider]

Orrie-- I will add "title number" to my standard BOS, and start photocopying their DL.

Good suggestions. Thanks!

[Old Truck Man]

Heck most of the vehicles that I have hoarded up the titles are still open. I have bought & sold hundreds of vehicles with open titles and never had any problems. Today I went to the Revenue office to license a 66 GMC . I presented a clear Missouri title. they told me a truck with the same Vin is registered in Nebraska? I supposed to find something out next week? Ill bet that they will send some LEO to verify that the vin on my truck matches my title. Im not too worried my oldest son is a lawyer and can get me a bonded title for almost any vehicle. One thing I wont do is swap the vin number or title from one vehicle to another. I also would never sell a vin or title.

[opc patrick]

One night getting ready for bed 9:30ish the doorbell rang... very unusual where I live. Anyway a 70 year old man in a 40 year old suit is standing there. I open the door and he immediately says are you Patrick Moore? Yes. You have been served! My wife kind of chuckles and he says “are you Jennifer?” Yes you have been served! We say ok and he walks away. Shut the door and our phone rings, it was the guy who just had us served. With my wife on the other handset, He immediately accused me of cheating with his wife, seems my car had been parking in his drive way during the days when he was at work. So now my wife is mad at me, I am worried my rear is about to be kicked and I know I had not had any FUN with anyone’s wife. So after a few minutes emotions cool down to the point we figure out that, it was my old truck that was traded in to the dealership last year. Wow. Someone told me to always pull your plates so they are forced to register it. I will do that for now on.

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

Heck most of the vehicles that I have hoarded up the titles are still open. I have bought & sold hundreds of vehicles with open titles and never had any problems. Today I went to the Revenue office to license a 66 GMC . I presented a clear Missouri title. they told me a truck with the same Vin is registered in Nebraska? I supposed to find something out next week? Ill bet that they will send some LEO to verify that the vin on my truck matches my title. Im not too worried my oldest son is a lawyer and can get me a bonded title for almost any vehicle. One thing I wont do is swap the vin number or title from one vehicle to another. I also would never sell a vin or title.

Today I went to the revenue office. The lady made a phone call to Nebraska. Cleared up the problem. My truck was registered in neb. then the same owner moved to Missouri. I bought it from him so I got my plates transfered. I also put insurance on another 66 GMC Pk. That one has antique plates that never expire.

[Highsider]

Oh, gawd, I am using patrick's story as an excuse...IF such a situation ever comes up, of course!

[OrrieG]

This is getting more entertaining post by post....

[1project2many]

My Brother in law had an early '90s Chevy S10 Blazer that was getting rusty. He liked it but it wasn't worth keeping. It was red and black and had a bunch of accessories he'd added. He happened to find another one that was red and grey but nicer so he swapped the plates and the parts he wanted then donated the old one to a charity. He collected all the proper paperwork and a warm fuzzy feeling, too. About a month later he gets a visit from a state police officer. They want to bring him in because a detective in another state needs to question him in regards to his red Blazer. Well, his Blazer, red and grey, is sitting in the driveway but the BIL swears it hasn't been out of the state he lives in. Officer gets a bit forceful, says it was involved in a drive by shooting and fatality in that other state. Shooting!? Fatality!!!? I don't even own a gun!! Well, the BIL convinces state trooper to talk before throwing him into the cruiser and eventually they got down to the details. Pretty quickly the BIL was able to show the VIN on his current vehicle didn't match the one in question, and that the one in question was in fact donated. Seems as though the old one was sold through an auction but never registered again. So the police went with the last registered owner and started there. BIL said "Good thing I save all my paperwork or you would have been giving up a Sunday to bail me out!" It told him I probably wouldn't have, just for a chuckle.

How many states out there don't require titles on an older vehicle? That can really screw things up.

[55dude]

i traded into car that ended up having 400 parking tickets tied to it! i sent a registered letter and the husband contacted me and when i convinced them i had nothing to do with the woman they sold it to i went with wife and tranfered paperwork but first i was shown all the tickets and never have i ever heard a woman use the word C*#T to describe hear disgust of another woman! i still laugh when i visualize her face,damm she was pissed!