Vin trouble

[dwcsr]

For all the guys that buy a truck without a current title or try to fudge the numbers then dump a lot of cash into it.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/7059215.html

[tommys69/454]

I guess that is really bitter sweet!!!!!! glad to see the guy get his ride back but also feel for the couple who lost there cool truck. I am sure it sold a few times and that could have happened to anyone of them. wow you really need to know the "who and the what" that you are buying.

[blackdiesel]

If he had Insurance on it when it was stolen and was payed off, then it's the insurance companys truck.

[Dan Bowles]

I remember that Barney Miller episode where the guy brings back the stolen car, it is MINT. They call the lady who owned it and she decides not to press charges. The guy takes off and steals the car again...

Don't spend any $$$ until you have PAPERS on anything!

[mr48chev]

Too many guys want to cheat the system and that can bite you in the butt in the long run.
I've never been anal about my built out in the garage cars having a title that doesn't say assembled or having a bonded title but some guys go nuts trying to keep that off their titles or don't want to jump through the hoops to get it done.
As Tommy69/454 said, the truck may have changed hands and shuffled between states several times before this was discovered.

I have a friend who deals in high end sports cars and he doesn't like to handle cars that come out of certain states as they seem to be clearing houses for stolen or wrecked and rebuilt cars that end up with clear unblemished titles.

Some states make it near impossible to find out if the rig is clear and unblemished or stolen before you ever start working on it though.
It would be a lot easier on everyone if the states had a "title/vin research for a fee" thing going where you paid X dollars for the state to research the vin and title and when the results came back clear you would get a statement that the vin was clear of any issues when you took it in for inspection. No bogus title from a title company in far off _____________ and you would get a year of mfg title.

I have a 51 Chevy 1-1/2 ton with a clear Oregon title but the title used the engine number as the vin. The truck still has the old plates and they match the title so I am going to transfer the title and then go in and get an engine change title when I get it running and driving.

The fair deal in the case of that F-100 would be for the guy holding the title to sell it back to the people who had it and poured a ton of money into it either by building or buying it for what it was actually worth when it was stolen. To me he is just as guilty now by keeping a vehicle that an unknowing person has put a lot of love and money in as the guy who stole it from him. Not bad though, have a 700 dollar truck stolen then and get back a 20,000 truck now.

[OrrieG]

I agree, a fair exchange would be for the last owner to pay the stolen owner what the truck was worth when stolen IF he was not compensated by the insurance co. He recovers his monetary loss and they keep the added value. Wonder if anyone will bother to start backtracking the ownership to see if they can find the crooks? Karma works both ways....

[raycow]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

I agree, a fair exchange would be for the last owner to pay the stolen owner what the truck was worth when stolen IF he was not compensated by the insurance co.

Well no, that's not fair to the 1972 owner. The payment should be whatever the truck was worth then plus inflation on that amount.

Ray

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by raycow

Well no, that's not fair to the 1972 owner. The payment should be whatever the truck was worth then plus inflation on that amount.

Ray

Even at that rate the Yellow 72 version of the truck would probably be worth 3 to 4 K in todays dollars. And no one has seen any photos of what it looked like then or what condition it was in. That's all I am going to say on the subject as I'll probably get slapped by the be nice police if I say anything else.

Still the original and still the point of the thread is to make sure that you have a legal vehicle to work on before starting to work on it. We see threads every day about someone buying a truck or car without a clear title and asking how they can get a title for it. Quite often long after they have spend thousands of dollars and hours on the vehicle.

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Still the original and still the point of the thread is to make sure that you have a legal vehicle to work on before starting to work on it. We see threads every day about someone buying a truck or car without a clear title and asking how they can get a title for it. Quite often long after they have spend thousands of dollars and hours on the vehicle.

That was the point; each state has different laws on what happens in a recovery and who has what rights.

That’s why when someone posts a WIW I always say if it doesn’t have a title its a parts truck. I have a very nice 49 on the side of my shop now that is all original with a rebuilt motor and needs maybe 1k of work to be a real nice truck. But it has no title and its missing the VIN tag. I know it’s on the frame but if someone used the tag it could be a PIA to get it all sorted out.

I never pay more than $500 for a truck if it has no title in the name of the person I am buying from. These 3rd and 4th parties buy and trade stuff and no one updates the title is just as bad as a no title. I guess the moral of the story is get a clean title, make sure the VIN tag is there and original and do a title search at your DMV before you buy so you can find out the paper trail before you sink a pile of cash into it. If the paper trail looks odd or traces to one of those states that you can get a title for $125 on anything, beware.

A good way to avoid the issues of a stolen truck in Texas is to get a Bonded Title. It’s a title that has an insurance policy attached for 3 years that protects you against claims of others. After 3 years you end up with a clean Texas title in your name. Trucks with Bonded titles can be sold like others; it just has the policy attached. Its for no title and/or no bill of sale deals.