Quote:
Originally Posted by Murf
Greg, I’ve heard this about a few states. So what happens if someone sells you a car they don’t own? Will the cops down there run a vin for a person before you pay for it?
It just seems less likely to screwed if the seller has the car & the title.
I guess the registration would prove ownership but what if the car isn’t tagged?
Just curious
Murf
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The cops will run the VIN for you no matter who owns it. They don't care about that as long as it doesn't come up as reported stolen, they'll sign it.
If the car isn't tagged, it's supposed to be recorded as a non driver. It would still be in the owner's name. I've taken cars off the road and you fill out a form. That's just to get you around the insurance mandate so they won't suspend registration. So, they still have a record of who it's registered to.
Now, if it's something like a 'barn find' and they have no recent registration of it at all, so technically as far as their records are concerned the seller didn't 'own' it...well, that's something I haven't done YET.
My '66 fits that category (except for the barn..lol). I had a cop fill out the form and went to the DMV. They told me that I couldn't register it until I wanted to insure it and buy a tag. I'm not ready to do that yet.
I expect it will be a pain but as a last resort, I can always go to a title service. The important thing is that it's never been reported stolen.
By the way, the rules here say that they will NOT title a vehicle built before 1962 even if you want one. They WILL title a car made between '62 and '85 if you want it but it's not required.
I can tell you for a fact that they won't tell you that if you go to the window and request a title. I have asked for a title on a couple of late '60s and early '70s cars and they will tell you that they don't issue titles for cars before 1985. I never pressed it. When I go to the DMV I just want to get out of there with my tag ASAP.
EDIT- I just looked on the GA DMV site and now understand why they told me that. The title has to be in the original holder's name if you want a replacement title for a pre '85 car.