Titling/registration nightmare. Advice?

fla-gypsy wrote:
Walk away from it, if he really wanted to sell it all of that would have been settled previously and you have no way of knowing if it is a scam/stolen/wanted as evidence/etc

This.

Steer clear, this is toooo hinky for an ethical seller. As someone said, he should have taken care of it a long time ago.

Oh, toed, that is a nice idea! It would require staying at the seller's ranch for a couple of days, but not for TOO long, maybe.

I can ask the seller how far we would have to go to get fedex and fax services.

Naio - when I bought my TT, I bought it used from an individual in Nevada. Nevada license plates go with the person not the vehicle (whereas in California, they go with the vehicle not the person). I was worried about driving it across state lines without any plates/registration.

I went to the CA DMV to get it registered before I drove it from Nevada to California, but CA DMV wouldn't register it without a visual verification of the VIN. So I asked for a trip permit for the drive from Nevada to California. The DMV employee misunderstood and gave me a trip permit from my house to the DMV office. I went ahead and drove it home to California - it was fine. No one stopped me or gave me any trouble. I did have the signed over title and all my other documents just in case - but I pretty much worried about nothing.

If your DMV will let you register it without the visual verification (CA DMV said if the trailer/vehicle has never been registered in CA, then it MUST have a visual verification), could you overnight the title to a friend back home and have them go into DMV and register the van? Then they could fax/email you the temporary registration paper for your drive back.

Yup, that's what I keep telling you.

Gdetrailer wrote:

You are blind to not see the red flags on the mere fact that the vehicle is in one state and the owner/title is in another state..

The owner WILL have a much easier time selling the van if it was in the SAME state they currently are in..

Hence the red flag.

The vehicle and the owner/seller ARE in the same state. The vehicle IS with the owner/seller.

Per the OP:

The vehicle is TITLED in MO. The vehicle and owner/seller are BOTH LOCATED in AZ. The vehicle is NOT currently registered.

The OP will be registering the vehicle in HER STATE OF RESIDENCE (a 3rd state).


It sounds like the owner/seller bought the vehicle in MO (where it was titled) and at some point moved with the vehicle to AZ and never bothered to register it in AZ.

I am glad to hear that other people have done this with no problems! Maybe I am worrying too much, being too much of a stickler for the law.

You are blind to not see the red flags on the mere fact that the vehicle is in one state and the owner/title is in another state.

Honey, you are the one that is blind, because you cannot read. Owner and vehicle are together, in the same state. They used the van when they moved from MO to AZ, and now that they are done with the move they don't need it anymore. Naturally, they have the title in their possession and it was issued in the state they moved from.

Flights of paranoid fantasy like the one above aside, I do feel a little anxious about taking the rig across multiple states without everything squared away.

I am not worried about the seller trying to rip me off. A much more realistic worry, IMO, is that he and I will simply misunderstand something we are supposed to do, legally, and when I find that out weeks or months later and contact him he will have no motivation to fix things. I fear laziness, more than scamming. But I fear it enough to make me uncomfortable taking legal shortcuts.

Several years ago, I bought a pickup in KS that had no plates. I folded the title in half and taped it in the back window, then drove to MN with it. If you can show that and have proof of insurance on that vehicle chances are they will let you roll...but there's always a chance..

B.O.

Naio wrote:
Lots of great advice here, and a few people reading things into the sit :)

I have always insisted on a CLEAR TITLE free of liens and titled in the current sellers name.

Yes, that is exactly what I have. Like I said, I confirmed it with the state dmv. The title is in the sellers name, no leins, etc.

So far, there have been none of the red flags you list, in this case. Unlike with so many local vans :(. Another one that does not allow test drives came on the market today.... sellers be crazy.

I, too, thought it would be so much easier to find a van in good shape, low miles, nothing weird!

Having a clear title is ONLY ONE "PIECE" of the puzzle.

One MUST take that title TO the vehicle in question AND COMPARE the VIN ONE THE TITLE TO THE VINS on the VEHICLE. Yes, that IS VINS on the vehicle..

There ARE at least TWO places the VIN should be permanently attached. Primary locations are drivers side dash at the bottom of the windshield and drivers side door post.. There may be VIN numbers stamped in the engine compartment around the fenders.

More often there are even more locations.

ALL locations MUST have the same VIN number and the numbers on the vehicle must match to the numbers on the title..

Buying it without doing this verification can result in a non registerable vehicle in any state.

You are blind to not see the red flags on the mere fact that the vehicle is in one state and the owner/title is in another state..

The owner WILL have a much easier time selling the van if it was in the SAME state they currently are in..

Hence the red flag.

Your money and time to waste BUT the mere fact you are posting this on a public forum clearly tells me YOU KNOW that this is a bad idea and you are only looking for CONFIRMATION that it is OK to proceed with this deal..

Most folks KNOW the answer to the question they pose, but in truth they are only looking for a OK by others and will go ahead with something that they should pass on.

As far as someone not granting a test drive, yeah, personally depending on where you live, there is a good chance the owner will never see the vehicle return or the vehicle returns but is no longer sellable..

It is extremely risky now days to even grant a test drive with YOU riding along, kind of puts the seller into a real bad position to get car jacked or worse, DEAD..

The sellers don't know you from Adam, so they ARE going to be cautious now days when a perfect stranger pulls up and asks if they can drive a vehicle to a nearby freeway or to some mechanic that the seller does not know..

I myself have sold vehicles without anyone asking to test drive it so I personally don't see anything odd or wrong with a seller not granting a test drive.

Take a look at it, start it up, move it back and forth in the sellers driveway.. Granted it doesn't allow you to fully gauge the condition but HEY it IS USED. If it appears to be in fair condition make the seller an REASONABLE offer and see if they counter offer..

You are never going to find a 100% top notch condition used vehicle, there will ALWAYS be some problems that you will need to address.. You roll the dice and see what you get when buying used. That is the game you are playing.

We bought our MH in Colorado from here in Alaska. When we were still working, we flew down Friday evening and took off for Vancouver, WA. We had the bill of sale for it. The tags were expired. State Farm didn't have any problems with it. No one bothered us at all.

Parked it in Vancouver, WA Sunday, flew home got plates for it, flew down a couple of months later and drove it to Alaska. I'd do it again, no one is going to bother you if you're not speeding, you have the bill of sale in hand and insurance on it. We also had the cell phone # of the person we bought it from in case a cop did want to call about it.

Bill

Lots of great advice here, and a few people reading things into the sit :)

I have always insisted on a CLEAR TITLE free of liens and titled in the current sellers name.

Yes, that is exactly what I have. Like I said, I confirmed it with the state dmv. The title is in the sellers name, no leins, etc.

So far, there have been none of the red flags you list, in this case. Unlike with so many local vans :(. Another one that does not allow test drives came on the market today.... sellers be crazy.

I, too, thought it would be so much easier to find a van in good shape, low miles, nothing weird!