So, I bought a car from a friend and was given a title at the time of sale. The title was from the previous owner but this posed no problem at the time. I was planning on taking it to my local "title lady" to get this situation squared away. Unfortunately when the title lady ran the VIN she said that the car was "issued a 'death cert', i.e. this car has been crushed according to the state". The vin on the title matches the vin on the car and I can look out my window and tell you that it hasn't been crushed. So, do I search high and low for a 'historical document" (mind you the car was produced in limited #'s) or is there any way to get this title corrected to show that it is still in existence and in fact sitting in my garage? I don't want to buy another car (you know the rest) as I have only found a few posted online with price tags out of my league. I was planning on taking this car to the Round Up but now I don't see that happening. HELP! Tina
A few years ago (4?). It had been sitting in my friends shop collecting dust until he decided to sell it to fund another project. He has a few projects going on at once so I think he just channeled his energy elsewhere for a while.
Is it a Venus?? They were limited production built here in Houston on 52-54 Lincoln chassis. A big slab-sided two seat roadster. YEOW!! There was one running around the Eastside in the 70s.
Why not call DPS and have an officer verify the vin on the title with the vin on the car. Then they will see its not crushed.
see, that's what i am thinking. i just dont want to bring government officials into the picture if i dont know the outcome.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=159084&highlight=take+my+car+away there were some title questions and answers in this thread , might help
What kinda car and year model is it, is that a secret or something? Sounds to me like someone whiched the vin number on the car. Chances are it was stolen at one time or another. The reason this one is in your "Price range" is because of that. If I were you I'd take the car back to your "freind" and get your money back. You will never get this straighten out and the DPS is liable to sieze it and throw you in jail. Screwing around with vin numbers is AGAINST THE LAW! For the gazillionth time! There a reason for that...to keep people from steeling cars and switching the vin number. Sorry no illegal advise coming your way.
Well if you have the title that matches the vin and a bill of sale you should be O.K. Unless someone changed the vin tags, then thats another story. I understand not wanting to bring in state officials(dont preffer to mself) but you might have to. Or you might be able to do an out of state title thru a title company. Ive done it twice on both my motorcycles with no problem. But since the number comes up you might be better doin the DPS route.
When the title lady brought the vin number up did the car that came up match what you have same year type etc.? It is very possible that the DMV database has the info wrong or she put the wrong vin number in or just fat fingered it. At one time several years ago (10+) inmates entered the data into the database/computer (yeah, very good idea). The State of Texas has just undergone a "system conversion" and your vehicle's record might have been mangled. Things like that can happen in computer systems. Good luck. Please let us know what happens.
Look up Texas DOT form VTR-61 (Rebuilt Affidavit); it covers repaired, rebuilt, reconstructed or assembled. Maybe you can go at it that way.
You may also be able to do a bonded title. The problem you're going to have is that you need a bill of sale from the owner that is listed on the title, however you do it. Otherwise, the guy you bought it from is going to have to title it and then sell it to you. I just went through this on a dual transfer. Original owner dead and bill of sale signed by husband to the guy I bought the car from. They would not transfer without a bill of sale signed by the person on the title. And, you MUST have the VIN on the bill of sale and the title, both of which match.
i have the untransferred title and a bill of sale. however, the vin is coming up showing the car has been destroyed. i have information for another title specialist i will be calling tommorow. i think something shady happened a long time ago and will need to research further. what exactly is a bonded title?
I think she's got a 55 Lincoln Capri.... I'm all about scamming the scammers (i.e. DMV/DPS/Popo/etc), but when the database shows the car is salvage or scrap, I don't have any first hand knowledge of how to get around it. If it were me...I would call DMV and ask them what they suggest. Did they tell you to pound salt (probably) or did they give you some options? Ask them if there is a process for getting a car back "from the dead" or salvage. If not, having DPS come over is worthless. If there is a form they can sign or something...it may be worthwhile. Nick
OK, let me answer all the quastions......It's my car, she posted this at work when I found out about the title, trying to get some answers started. It's a 55 lincoln capri, Nothing shady went on with the past 2 owners. My friend bought it from a guy with the title in his name, a blue texas title (it is called a negotiable title) . He never registered it being that he drove it for a few months and then parked it in his storage place for later. It was sold to me later. It shows on the title, he wrote the date down, as december of 2001. I go to the title ladies office and she looks up the vin on the txdot website. Texas records indicate the vehicle was sold to a salvage company in May 2001, and it was issued a texas death certificate, the car was destroyed for scap and the title destroyed....NO MORE BLUE TITLE. Now, I go home with the print out of this, and the blue title in my hand and walk over to the very uncrushed car. The VIN tag is very original looking, the rivits match the patina of the tag, nothing is loose or scrathed or has any tooling marks, it looks as though it has never been touched, and it matches the title and the print out from TXDOT. So the car and title was destoyed in may of 2001, yet my friend bought it in december of 2001. He did nothing wrong cause he bought it from a guy with it in his name, the guy signed it and handed him the keys, the vin tag matched the title, everything legit. I'm wondering how the salvage company can say they destroyed a car, and report it to txdot and not have destroyed the vin plate or the blue title, both of wich are supposed to be destroyed. The print out she gave me even says the salvage company lic. Number with the state of texas.... I think they just put in the vin of the car, but obviously never had it. Or the guy sold them a junker in the yard and said the vin is bla bla bla, and they just wrote it down and reported it....... I would think that if I could prove a mistake had been made they would let me title it, but I don't want my car and title seized because they don't exist...... The title lady sat down with the supervisor of DOT and they said once a vin is issued a death cert. it will never be titled again in this state. No rebuild ability like a salvage title, it DOES NOT EXIST. But, it seems like all it would have taken was someone hitting the wrong key on a computer and this could have happened.
dont mean to highjack this post Jabber but I was always assumed that all you needed was a signed title from seller to change title... now they are asking me for a bill of sale? how new is this? i dont know where the guy is becasue i bought the car 2 years ago... so now my car is still not finished but they said i have to get 2 appraisals from 2 different dealerships, then get the title bonded through a Bond company...
I think you should give the lady her money back. You get the car and the paperwork and straighten it out because she will never get it straight. In the mean time the car is worthless to her because she can't drive it. She has a right to sue the shit out of you for that, if she wants to get ugly and she has a case if I understand the situation as you have posted it. Folks, this ain't 1940 and you can't dodge and weaver the system. Please give her the money back, if that's what she wants. Buy the way, I'm not an attorney but, as we've said before, "I play one on the HAMB". EDIT: You may want to look up a little form on your county website, DMV form U130. It's been around for years. Nothing new except now the rules are even tighter because of all the auto theft. EDIT 2: Other thing that I found out the hard way is, if for some reason this is straightened out, the person walking away with the title will have to pay the sales taxes for your buddy and for you and for themselves.
Aman, What the fuck are you talking about. She is my wife, she posted the question for ME because I work in a shop and she thought she would get some replys for me before I got home from work. It is in OUR drive way. And No, I don't want to get my money back from the previous owner. I want to get the car legal.
John- I'd call Austin and run it further up the flagpole than the local Paul Bettencourt office. I've never heard of this issue so you can understand why prolly no one has any experience on this. What would be the case if a guy owned a car for 20 years, and on the 20 year of renewing his registation and tag, his cars VIN somehow got on a crushed list? Seems there is a way to turn it around, the nail in the coffin though maybe the timing. 2001 was 6 years ago.
It is my understanding that when the title is turned in to the state it can never be titled again.....but since you have the title it is very possible that the state made a mistake. At one time a county judge could give you some paperwork to get this straightened out. Might be worth a try. Another thing that may have happened is that a duplicate title was issued when the original was misplaced. So it is possible that there was at one time two existing titles to the same car. That could be why it is listed as being destroyed. Anyway...good luck. Hope you get it straightened out. It is a good lookin ride.
John- give Ken Lawrence a call, Lawrence Auto Title, website lawrenceautotitle.com. He is retired from TXDOT, know his stuff. 800 352 2788. He should know what to do. Tell Tina hello! See you guys at Roundup, hopefully in your Lincoln.
Bonded title is a title where you pay a fee (bond fee) and they give you a title. If the original owner doesn't come looking for the car in x amount of time, the title transfers to a regular title. This is the path some folks take when original title lost or there is some question of ownership.
Lawrence Auto Titles works, it is well worth the call to Ken, he does know his stuff and won't bring in the State's gunmen...goodluck and super nice ride
I wonder if you could bring the car and title to Oklahoma and register it here? Of course, you'd have to pay to transfer it twice if you're buddy's name is on the title, but for what its worth in this case, it probably doesn't matter. I know when you register a car here in Oklahoma, the DMV rep is required to look at the car and verify the VIN# with that listed on the Title, and then will go through with the transfer process. I don't know for 100% sure there would be no problems, but it may be worth the try. If you've got someone you trust up here, it might be worth trying to have them transfer it into their name, and then back to you. Although again, it might be problematic once you take the same title and VIN# back to Texas even after it has been updated and cleaned. Is there a way to find out what salvage yard supposedly crushed the car? I'm pretty sure up here the yards are supposed to have a title or bill of sale of some sort whenever they recieve a car for crushing/destruction, and keep the info on file for a time. Even though it is 6 years out, this might be a viable shot. After all, how many '55 Lincoln Capris would have been crushed around that timeframe? Someone there would probably remember doing the deed. The only other way I can think of would be to start chasing the paperwork the state used to create the death certificate records. If you can find the error, perhaps they'll change their mind. Good luck! Sounds like a goat ropin' good time!
Probably irrelevant, (and possibly incorrect), but I thought the blue title was NON-negotiable, used if there was a lien against the car, allows the seller to "own" the car, but also allows the new owner, (still paying on it), to get tags, innsurance, and all that stuff, but does NOT allow them to legally transfer ownership. Anywayz, good luck.
Holy shit I'm sorry, I didn't realize that. That's even worse. If you don't get this right, you'll never hear the end of it for the rest of your life I thought she bought it from you and I was just trying to help her out. I've been thinking how you could make this work and there has to be a way of correcting it. There is a place here in town that does this type of work, title problems. I've never done business with them however, I did talk to them about another problem and they seemed positive they could fix it. Right now I can't find it but I'll keep looking and I'll send you their name and phone number. That car is too nice to have this happen to. Anyway, please excuse my screw up. I'd like to see a remedy for this. It doesn't happen very often and would be good information to know. Good luck.
Ok so I called the guy in taylor, ken lawrence, who worked for txdot and now runs a title company, and he says he sees a few of these a year. He said it is 100% irreversable. It is a parts car now, and that VIN will never be titled in this state again. He said it is usually a screwup when this happens but the way the laws are written there is no way to correct it. He said there used to be fix for it, and inspection by a dot officer and a form to fill out, but they changed the laws to prevent theft about 15 years ago. He said most of the time an insuurance company will screw it up, but there is no fix. So I guess I'm looking for a 55 lincoln parts car now, anybody now where a 55 lincoln 2 door is, for parts? I'll buy it. FUCK.
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