Getting a title for a car

I have two MG Midgets, a 1972 and 1978. Some of my friends and I are considering building a GRM Challenge out of the 1972 Midget. How do you go about getting a title for a car without one?

It greatly depends state to state. The best thing you can do is visit your state's DMV (or equivalent) website. It'll spell out the policy or procedure.

Carson wrote: It greatly depends state to state. The best thing you can do is visit your state's DMV (or equivalent) website. It'll spell out the policy or procedure.

+1. Some states it's easy, but I can tell you from experience TN isn't one of them. You might try one of the title services like Broadway Title.

I am in Kentucky. I know all the judges in my county and the county clerk really well I wonder if that can help.

What if I "sold" it to someone in a state in which it was easy to get a title for it and bought it back?

96DXCivic wrote: I am in Kentucky. I know all the judges in my county and the county clerk really well I wonder if that can help. What if I "sold" it to someone in a state in which it was easy to get a title for it and bought it back?

Yes, knowing the CC in your County can help you a lot....has me in the past. I'm sure some of the other options could work, but remember if the owner ever comes looking he'll have a case. Probably not a big issue unless the car(s) are pretty valuable imo.

I know the seller. He lives a few houses down from me. Should I get a bill of sale or receipt or something?

96DXCivic wrote: I know the seller. He lives a few houses down from me. Should I get a bill of sale or receipt or something?

Was the title in his name and he just lost it? If that's the case just have him file for a lost title and offer to pay the cost if he doesn't want to.

I don't think he had the title either.

Gotta love Georgia, Bill of Sale is all you need.

Alabama is the same as long as it's 1975 or older, Bill of Sale is all you need.

http://transportation.ky.gov/mvl/titles/title_inquiries.htm

There's an email link for you to ask questions. Ask Ky DMV how to get a Title.

If your friends - fellow Challengers are not putting the car on the road, is a Title necessary? If they trailer or tow it I would think a bill o sale would prove ownership.

Dan

I was recommended this place for a motorcycle title. They are not free, but they quoted me $200 for a title and plates (which can be $50+ in Ohio).

International Title Services:

http://www.its-titles.com/

96DXCivic wrote: I don't think he had the title either.

Then, as far as the state is concerned, neither he nor you are the owner.

The saving grace is that the "owner" on the title (now long-since lost) will probably never lay claim to the vehicle.

In Missouri, the vehicle is worth about whatever the going rate for scrap happens to be. Because there's no way to get a title.

I haven't ever tried one of the title services yet (where you "sell" the vehicle to a company in another state and they "sell" it back to you with an out-of-state title) but I've never gotten a free no-title car that was worth the expense of getting a title.

Titles are such a pain!

Clem

I'd recommend going through regular channels first before spending money with one of those places that sells you an out of state title. Go down to the DMV, ask some questions and find out how things are done first. Generally you can get what's called a bonded title (you buy a bond that you have to hold for some period of time, and if there are no claims on the car in that time you're home free.)

You may have a problem in some states if you try to get a title through a company like ITS, since they can potentially be used to launder the titles of stolen vehicles. I know Minnesota takes a pretty dim view of them.

ask on mg experience website trader or midget forum for art work for a 1972 and 1978 midget alot of the cars are long gone but people still have the "artwork"

Karl La Follette wrote: ask on mg experience website trader or midget forum for art work for a 1972 and 1978 midget alot of the cars are long gone but people still have the "artwork"

I love that they have a secret code for this!

I tried to do the same for a mustang several years back and everyone either thought I was a cop trying to set them up or just laughed at me.

That's probably your best bet and cheapest way to get this done, despite being completely illegal.

Clem

I miss Kentucky.

Rusnak_322 wrote: I was recommended this place for a motorcycle title. They are not free, but they quoted me $200 for a title and plates (which can be $50+ in Ohio). International Title Services: http://www.its-titles.com/

I've used them 3 or 4 times with great success.

Couple of bits of handy info that might help you. If a car is older than 1985, you can register it in the state of Georgia with only a bill of sale. To register the car, you do have to have current insurance on it. Some states will accept CURRENT registration from states that do not require titles along with a bill of sale to issue registration to the new owner. I just had to go through a problem with the Yugo I sold, ended up getting registration from a company in Maine since the car was an '89. In Maine, any car 15 years or older (IIRC) does not require a title, so as long as it is registered in Maine, then it can be transferred to you. I had to provide a valid insurance certificate for the car, sign an affadavit that the car was not stolen or had any liens on it, and a power of attorney so that it could be registered in my name, then when I got the Maine registration, I took it to my tag office, they looked up the rules that showed that registration could be transferred, and gave me the title for the car. Good luck!

Don't you go to school in AL? You can register the 72 in AL on a bill of sale. It's going to be easier though if you "bought" the car from someone in AL. IIRC if you bought it from outside of AL they go by the rules of the state you bought it from.

Here's another thought:

Pick up another cheap parts Midget with a title. There are two on my craigslist right now for under $500. Switch all of your parts over to the correctly VINed car (to be legal, or switch VIN plates to be, uh, less than legal.) This way would be quicker and probably cheaper than waiting for a bonded title to clear and less hassle than going through all the paperwork.

You can sell off parts that you don't need to recoup costs and everyone knows you can't have too many parts cars for a LBC.

i would - um - do what carson said.

ohio sucks for lost titles. we dont have some 15 or 25 year rule - everything needs a title including the old truck sitting on a farm for 50 years and the owner has been dead for 49 and the title location went to the grave with him. i got one of those, the last registration was in 1953 but i got the title with it.

i personally would "never" swap a vin tag if i had something that had no title but i knew was legit and not stolen. i would NEVER (note difference between "never" and NEVER)buy a questionable vehicle. had a truck once that i was given, the owner abandoned it at the house he rented when he left. the lady showed me the letter he sent her saying it was hers now and tow it to the junkyard if she did not want. she gave it to me for free, had my cop cousin run the vin to verify it was clean, and i "did not put the vin tag and trim tag from another same year truck i had scrapped on it nor did i use the title from said truck to get my plates and tell the bmv it was out of commission for a few years before i decided to put it back on the road"

thats my take. i'd rather "turn two cars into one car and a pile of scrap" than deal with a title company and be looked at like i was trying to launder a stolen or previously totalled car through a title agency when i went to the state title office.

HoserRacing said: To register the car, you do have to have current insurance on it. Some states will accept CURRENT registration from states that do not require titles along with a bill of sale to issue registration to the new owner.

Just curious, what is the difference between registration, and a title?

title is the ownership document, registration is what they give you when you get license plates

I see. Here, both are the same document.

I guess I should have asked, but why do I see so many cars for sale with no title? Are the papers actually lost, or is 'title' lost if the car is not registered for a period? Again, up here, that's practically non existent.

Sorry for the thradjack. I've always wondered about this title business.