Getting a title in Missouri - Bonded title

I spend too much time looking at these things, but tonight I found just what I was looking for. Missouri has a bonded title procedure that doesn't end up with a salvage title!

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3010000192.HTM

Last time I went through this with the state, we found they had a bonded title program for vehicles over 25 years old, but you ended up with a salvage title.

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3010000217.HTM

Almost no one knew of that one, but when I went over to Jeff City, they searched their files and came up with some very old paperwork and gave me the steps. Problem was, you ended up with a salvage title, leaving you with those hoops to go through. It would have to be nearly restored before you could get a "prior salvage" title and actually get tags. And it would always be branded with a "prior salvage" title.

This one I just discovered gives you a real title, ready to drive. For historic tags, this means you can pull it from a field, file the paperwork, and drive (assuming it is even capable) with no inspection, except the serial number being inspected and a check run to see if it was stolen. No safety inspection, no check to see if it meets some ambiguous code.

I love it. I'll be in Jeff tomorrow at their window. I'll bet they'll have to go and research it themselves, they will not even know they have that on the books.

 

>>>>,I'd SURE like to know how that goes ,,please eMail me when you get it done ,,at [email protected] ,,i need to do that with my "T" ,,
thanks in advance ,,,
bill

 

Good Luck. I have many personal horror stories about my experiences with the Missouri Department of Revenue. I remember reading about bonding for a title but I have not tried that approach. I am curious about this process.

John

 

that looks pretty clear, let us know what they say...

 

I am dreading the process here in ky. Sure wish it was easier. I to would like to know how you do.

 

I went and got a bonded title on my '53 Chevy here in Texas. The process was long and labor intensive, having to run paperwork all over town. Once it was done tho it was well worth it. I now have a clear bonded title (not salvage) in hand with my name on it. I love the peace of mind that goes with that.

 

Also look at "Chapter 301 section 301.132. This was written just for 'Street Rods'. I believe the Slovers (Pete&Jakes) helped write this bill.

 

So you have to run Historic tags?

 

No, I was just making the point that you could take a car from the field and be on the road with no inspections. You can add the normal safety inspection and get normal tags.

I'm in the Capitol now waiting on a hearing for a bill that is intended to close all my businesses. As soon as that is over I'll go to the DOR across the street and check on this more important subject.

 

Ok, I've been to the DOR. Bonded titles are real, they do a few. Not many. Since almost nobody knows they exist, that is understandable.

I'll put a writeup on my website sometime soon, along with scans of their internal instructions they copied for me. But for now, I'll list some things to help you figure it out. But, before you set out to do it, I'd recommend doing some asking yourself and make sure you don't waste a lot of effort doing things in the wrong order or extra things. And, I can tell you that just because you have their word in writing, it might be different the next time you talk to someone. But knowing it exists is the big step, from there on out it is just filling in the right blanks.

Here is the statute:

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3010000192.HTM

The vehicle must be at least 7 years old. It must be worth $3000 or less.

Here are the steps they said have to be done:

-Buy a form 551 from the license office, cost $27.50

-Take the vehicle and form to the Highway Patrol, who will verify the serial number and make sure it is not stolen. (There may be the possibility that they will come to you, you'd have to check. I've had them come to me for other things, not sure about this.)

-Take the form to the License office, along with
1. a bill of sale (no need for notary, and surely someone can "sell" it to you),
2. a notarized statement of facts, a paper you write to explain how you came into possession of the vehicle and why you have no title.
3. 2 estimates of value from licensed car dealers (or go by the average bluebook value, and I can assure you you'd be better off using dealer's appriasals)
4. A surety bond in the amount of 2 times the value of the vehicle. This is a minimum cost of $100, will not be over about $150.
5. Title application.

I would recommend that you take everything to the license office and ask if you've got it right before buying the bond.

I didn't ask today, but the other type bonded title can only be done at the headquarters in Jeff City, I assume this is the case here. You might be able to work through the local office to get questions taken care of, but like antique tags, I'm sure it's going to be handled in Jeff.

For what it's worth, there is also a statute allowing for bonded titles of vehicles over 25 years old, but you get a salvage title. This leaves you another whole can of worms to deal with. The above method gets a real title.




There is also a provision for a title for an abandoned vehicle, one left on your property. This might be of use to some. Say, if you have a car that for some reason is sitting on your property and the owner doesn't claim it. My imagination says this would be the case when you buy a car and get no title. It's on your property and nobody claims it. You get the idea. This is covered at:

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3010000193.HTM

An advantage of this is there is no bond involved.
(cost savings)

It would involve the 551 inspection, sending certified a letter to the last registered owner (if one is in the records) or siging a statement that you have used all reasonable efforts to find them.i

In the end you would receive either a salvage title or real title, depending on the condition of the vehicle.




Then there are Street rod, and custom vehicle titles discribed here:

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C300-399/3010000132.HTM

If this doesn't give you enough to think about, spend some time reading the entire set of statutes on titling and registration at:

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c301.htm

Good luck.

 

>>>>>,Back in '96 ,,my "T" was hauled to the Springfield DOT/Hi-Way Patrol ,,they issued a DOT serial number and titled it as a "1996 Specialy Constructed Vehicle" ,,but to get insurance ,,i have to call it a "Kit Car" ,,,,
i can get a 1927 T title from Titles Unlimited for a couple hundred bucks ,,then ,i can get Historic or Vintage plates ,,and no more inspections ,,i think ?

 

">>>>>,Back in '96 ,,my "T" was hauled to the Springfield DOT/Hi-Way Patrol ,,they issued a DOT serial number and titled it as a "1996 Specialy Constructed Vehicle" ,,but to get insurance ,,i have to call it a "Kit Car" ,,,,
i can get a 1927 T title from Titles Unlimited for a couple hundred bucks ,,then ,i can get Historic or Vintage plates ,,and no more inspections ,,i think ?"

You can get the same with the bonded title, It will be considered a 1927, and you would have a choice of "historic" or "Hot Rod" tags. And with either, you are correct, no inspections.

This about exhausts my knowledge of the subject. time for someone else to jump in!

 

I have beeni trying to figure out my options with regards to acquiring a title for my 28 sedan. I bought it out of a sotrage locker and have a written bill of sale describing what it is and what I paid.

It was basically a 28 Model A body with no identifying marks/tags and a Pete and Jakes frame. Again, no tags on the frame either.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to my options here? I have been offered a title for a 28 coupe from another state but I'm not sure how much more help that will be.

Any ideas? I am not anywhere near the running stage so I figured I could do some of the legwork ahead of time.

Help guys???

Thanks, Grant

 

When I licensed my non-running Chevy four years ago when I moved to MO from out of state the officer at the High Patrol office refused to send any body out saying they don't do that.

He wanted me to bring the car to him which would have meant a flat bed hauler. I told him the aluminum plate under the rubber floor mat was obliterated; he didn't care. He wanted to see it was not there. Duh!

I had a local garage verify my VIN from my old papers and no questions asked.

The little girl at the DoMV insisted I needed an inspection before I could get it licensed. She was horribly wrong. Only VIN for title. Historical plates require no inspection, ever.

Regards, Two Bit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Grant, have you talked to Jerry or Jason at Pete and Jakes, there is a legal way to get a MO title and the Slover's know a lot about the process.
Good luck

 

Thanks fellas. When I originally purchased the combo from the storage unit, I called the MO Hwy Patrol and they told me I would need to bring it by "AFTER if was running," and not to bother bringing it by in the current state it is in. I figured at that point I had an entire build ahead of me and some time but I have been going balls out on this and I figured this was a good time to start the process.

34toddster,
I think that is a great idea to contact Pete and Jakes. I will reach out to them and see what they can tell me.

I really appreciate your all's advice.

Grant

 

I've done a lot of cars in Mo. and even if you get the same lady over and over, they will still change the requirements one time and require something different the next time. Some offices are almost impossible to deal with. But that is good info on the bonded title and Pete and Jakes are always a ton of help.

 

switching frames puts you in a differant ball game from buying a complete stock vehicle. get you papers before you cut or finish job.
my friends said they are easier to work a nice car than a running pile .
we go to jeff city too in the old cars, the girls up there are street rodders and very helpful .

 

I've got a 37 Chevy that came from Texas w/ a bonded Texas title. The title lists the body number as the number of record as there is no "id" plate on the vehicle.

The engine is a replacement, as well, and has no number that I have found. If there was one, it would have no correlation to what is on the title.

I assume that I can get a MO title w/ the bonded Texas title but the body number is a little worrisome. Should I leave well enough alone and get a MO title or try to get a title w/ an engine number "that I might locate"?

Thanks,

Larry

 

LJLarry,
I will let the others reply if they can help as I am obviously looking for help myself

ChevyFordman,
I just fired off an email to PnJ and they already replied. They tell me I have a stamped number in the frame rail near the DS motor mount. I will go back to the shop in the am and see if something is there. If there is, they said they think they can help!!!! Fingers crossed!!!

Thanks again all!!!!

Grant

 

You should have a blue Texas TITLE that was gotten through the bonding process. There's no such thing as a Bonded Texas Title. No Texas title has "bonded" on it. If that's what you mean.

If I'm not mistaken, in Texas, bonding is a process used to get a regular blue title. What you wrote sounds like all you have is the bonding paperwork or a temp title. You should probably do some serious checking into what you have. It may be worthless in MO.

 

My 1940 chevy had an illinois title with engine number, I pulled the engine an put a 350 in then I took it to troop C , They used the numbers on the pass side floor for title ..

 

Well, it states "Bonded Title" on the front in big letters. In bigger letters it says " Texas Certificate of Title". The title is blue, however. The previous owner had an open title that had some problem with it and he went through the laborious procedure to get the bonded title. It lists the 2nd previous owner and the previous owner from whom I purchased the car.

 

If there were numbers on the passenger side floor on my '37, they are long gone. New floors sometime back.

My fear is that if I take the car and the title to the highway patrol for inspection and they don't like the body number on the bonded title, I may well be screwed forever. I'm trying to avoid that!

Troop A here in the city does not have a sense of humor like the troopers in more rural areas. Nice folks but are very serious.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Might consider going to a friendly Judge because he can write a notarized letter that you then take to the DMV that tells them to title it, pay your money and get your wanted title.

pdq67

 

I really don't know the route to solve your problem, but I'd sure get the title worked out before putting time and money into it.

Just like someone said about the ladies at the DOR, you'll probably get a completely different story from the troopers next time you go there.

 

Sounds good then. I just wanted you to be sure before you started your process. I've never had trouble, but I seen folks walk in with stupid paper work and get turned away. Good luck.

 

My comments about not starting without a title were directed to the post about the frame and associated parts, not Larry's Chevy. By the time my post was typed several others had posted, putting mine way out of context. So goes a busy board.

As to Larry's problem, he really has no problem. He and I have talked offline and I think he's got it figured out.

However, just so others don't get bad info, Texas has a bonded title program and it's used quite a bit. I've done several. It can be bought and sold as any other car can. As to Missouri, they take it exactly as they would any out of state title. IDOD inspection by an inspection station, not law enforcement, if you want a title only, or normal safety inspection if you want tags.

Part of the Texas bonded title process is getting it inspected for the vin by an auto theft law enforcement unit. Because of that, if it has a bonded title it's very likely going to have a vin somewhere. It may not be what you expect, it might be the model number that is also on half the cars made that year, but someone guessed or conned them into believing it or thought it was a vin. It'll be on the car and title, your job is to find it.

You'll get a clear Missouri title back. The Texas title can be so new the ink is still wet, no problem. I re-registered one less than a week after Texas issued it.

I've done several.

Gene

 

Just bumping this up with an update...

I just received a clear missouri title back on a 54 Chevy PU using the Missouri bonded title process outlined by austinsailor. This was a truck bought in a parts lot, owner worked with me to write out a bill of sale for the truck. Had to take it to the Highway Patrol office in Springfield for inspection. Truck was field fresh with no bed installed and that was fine with the HP. He verified body and engine numbers were not registered and filled out the paperwork. Hauled the truck on in to town and found two dealers that would give appraisals. One hand written by an old school dealer, one typed up real nice. Only the letterhead mattered to the dmv. I found an affidavit template on google and made my own affidavit describing how I came across the truck. Saying it was purchased in a parts lot did not cause a problem with the DMV. Bought a bond (make sure the insurance company writes the correct bond language. Mine almost screwed it up). Made sure everything was notarized, even the BOS, which technically does not need to be.

Took a day off work and made the road trip to Jeff with my papers. Visiting that dmv window is an experience... Every person there had some type of complicated title issue. I was 9th in line and waited 3 hours for my turn. The nice lady took one look at what I wanted and excused herself to go visit a supervisor. A very long 10 minutes later she came back and took payment for title fee and taxes on my purchase, and handed me a generic receipt. Bonded titles must be hand entered. They don't have an option for it on the computer system. She told me to expect a minimum of 30 days wait.

Today a clean original title showed up. It was not marked "bonded" like the statute says. YMMV on that tidbit, as I'm not sure if it was oversight or not. I'm not askin. The whole process took a few months and cost about $200. Neither dealer would take money to write up a basic appraisal. Of course I visited over a dozen dealers to get two bites on helping me. One other point of interest is that there was a pretty big gap in time from the BOS to when I applied (life happened) and there was no late penalty applied for that gap. You also have only 6 months from the inspection date to application or you have to re-inspect.

I would not want to do this every day but it was pretty straight forward. Missouri is notoriously picky on auto registration, so you have to cross the t's and dot the i's, but it can be done.

 

Forgot to say thanks to the OP and the hamb for posting up the original thread. This particular truck is super solid, and can now be properly re-introduced to the road due to this obscure tidbit of info. Hopefully a few more someones in Missouri will find this and save a heap from the Toyota factory.