I bought a 58 Yeoman 2dr wagon last year from a fellow who had picked it up at a local estate auction a week earlier. Great auction, with several 58s and a bunch of other stuff. Mine was a parts car, sold on a bill of sale from the auction company with the proper notarized documents from the heirs. My County Clerk said it would be no problem to obtain a title when I get ready. Also at the same auction was a finished Yeoman, running driving 348/tripower, nice looking car. It ended up with a fellow about 3 miles away from me. He's been here, seen my car...I've seen his, etc. He recently bought some property and put his Yeoman up for sale, and today a buyer friend of mine closed the deal on it---up until they checked the numbers (you know where this is going) Mr Yeoman and his potential buyer show up here today wanting to see the title to my wagon. "Sorry fellas, it was sold on a BOS--there isn't a title...yet" Mr Yeoman says " I was hoping our titles got switched by the auction company, but....check mine and see if it's for your car" With his title in hand, I checked my serial number plate. Boom. Numbers matched. Mr Yeoman never looked before he registered his wagon...so now he's facing the hassle of getting paper before he can sell his car. He left here with the phone to his head, calling the auctioneer........but before he left, he said he'd be signing over his title to me as soon as he got it all straightened out. So, how was your Monday....?
That is one of the benefits of Connecticut's system of anything prior to 1981 does not need a title, just a bill of sale. And the state DMV is not too fussy about what the bill of sale is written on; only Seller's name, Buyer's name, vehicle make, model, VIN, date and price. As long as everything is legible, it can be written on anything, too.
Damn, made getting title on yours easy. I imagined if this hadn't came up there would of been a lot of red flags flying when they did a vin check to start the title procedures and found it already regestered to someone else!
I ran into a similar situation when I sold a convertible to a fellow hamber in Oklahoma. I sent him the registration but the clerk copied the vin incorrectly. Didn't know it until he tried to register it. I had to go back and straighten it out at the DMV. Luckily, this was an Alabama car and no title involved, just registration. I should have checked it first.
Illinois is strict. As in STRICT. I NEVER, EVER, EVER, buy without checking. I was to buy an OT motorcycle from a friend, whom I knew (at the time) for over 15 years. Nothing matched from title to vehicle. Deal did not happen. He sold to someone who was not as vigilant. Point being, do NOT trust ANYONE, not even your friends, they may have been scammed. Cosmo
When I bought my Commander, the 'owner' was going to jump title. The problem was his son signed it as purchaser. I made him run it thru so I didn't have to pay the title fees twice.
Technically, he does. But 'possession is 9/10 of the law'...and I can whip up a huge mechanic's lien in about thirty seconds if push comes to shove(but it won't )
no shit, Sherlock! As Mike knows, I am a fanatic about this issue. I could tell many, many stories. In WI, it almost takes an act of God to just correct a one digit mistake on a title. In fact, WI DMV won't even let us title a car from Canada to our own name without a couple of months of "research" and a half a ream of paperwork. If you ever want to hear the solution to a particular title/VIN issue, just PM me. I have probably been through a similar situation and may, or may not, be able to offer some guidance.
My friend bought a new snowmobile/utility trailer from a dealer complete with title/tags. Years after he bought it he was contacted by another guy who had also bought a trailer. Seems that the dealer delivered the wrong trailer to each of the two guys. Stuff happens.
bought my 55 Stude at Bill's estate auction - knew he had had it since new so didn't really give it much thought...transfered the title into my name and when the new buy said - wait the title doesn't match the vin.... I thought shit....but hey - that looks like a Studie V/8 motor # on that title....thankfully the orginal motor was still in it and was a match....and stillrunning....
But, sounds like you own his car which is much nicer. So what # is his car registered under, your car's #. How did he get his car registered without knowing the right # or having the proper paperwork? Did he have and use the title to your car and now that is essentially what he has had registered for the past few years. Guess he never got a ticket or traffic violation where the VIN was ever checked.
before I put a deposit down on my car , I told the seller to bring the title with him so I could varify the vin tag vs the title and see if the title was clear before I put a deposit on it . the guy was taken back a little but I told him about how Bad Illinois can be .
Several years ago, I bought an OT muscle car from an older gent that was outside of a scrap yard waiting for it to open. He handed me a title that listed the same make and year of the car, I was in a hurry so I did not compare the VIN against the title. A few years later, I sold the car to a friend in another state, and when his transporter showed up, I finally checked it, and, you guessed it, the VIN had several different digits than the car. It cost me $100 to reschedule the transport [since it was my screw up, I didn't argue] then had to run a 30 day lien sale on the car. Luckily all went through OK at that point. ---John
About once a year I come across a vehicle that doesn't match the paperwork given to me. It's fraud for me to enter the wrong VIN into smog machine. These vehicles are older, most of them, so how many years has this been going on? So my customer, who is not happy anyway due to the smog requirement, has to go to the DMV and get the VIN on the paperwork fixed. In every case they're royally pissed... However, it usually only takes one visit to the DMV to fix this.
i had the same problem a few years back when i bought my 50 ford. i did check the title against the vin # but it was in deep shade and the"LU" looked like "1U," the # on the title. i noticed my mistake when checking "classic car database," and rechecking the vin plate with a good light. took that info to the license bureau, who checked the old Kentucky title. they straightened it out, no problem!
GaryM ran into a similar problem when he decided to sell his Caddy,,the car is a convertible but decoding the serial number on the title and the matching vin number is for a hardtop . The buyer was automatically turned off since he is a very knowledgeable & savvy Caddy collector. Huge price fluctuation,this was done long before Gary owned the car.HRP
we discover MANY titles with a simple mistake...5 instead of S, 8 instead of B, etc. here in WI it almost takes an act of God to get it corrected. Mostly because the DMV won't trust dealers. Imagine that. If the issue is discovered while still in the hands of a private citizen it can be corrected in a day or two. bottom-line...check/check twice. If there is a problem, have the current owner resolve it. DON"T buy the vehicle and hope to fix the problem yourself. Very tough.
Update: My pal the buyer called today, said Mr Yeoman talked to the auction co. owner(a stand-up guy, btw) this morning, and Mr Auctioneer guaranteed he would have a correct title for Mr Yeoman tomorrow. His county office is one of several in TN that has the authority to print titles, besides the Dept of Revenue office in Nashville. My pal the buyer says he will remind Mr Yeoman of his promise to sign off on the title that goes with MY wagon, and try to secure it for me and drop it off on his way home. Woo Hoo. Everybody makes mistakes...but some can easily be prevented. I bought a two-owner 73 Corvette years ago, that included the MSO and first original title in the folder full of paperwork. Between the MSO and the first title the DMV of MI messed up one digit/letter. When I titled it in TN, the TN DMV messed up another, so it had TWO errors. I eventually sold it to a guy who had more money than sense, and he didn't seem too worried about it, so I didn't have it corrected.
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