Getting info about a vehicles owner

[FruitaCrawler]

I need a little help. A buddy of mine bought a truck in CA and moved right after. during the move he lost all the paperwork he had including the owner address and phone number. I want to buy it from him but he needs to get a duplicate of the title. is there any way the i can get information on the current title holder based of of the VIN number or the License plate? If not how can we get a copy of the title?

[bigarms23]

run the vin through carfax it should give you the names of all the owners that owned the vehicle

[Cheesemaker]

Carfax won't give you a list of previous owners.  It will tell you where the registration was paid. 

Best thing is to go to DMV and talk to them.  Especially, loosing the title and not knowing where the previous owners live.  But if they did file a bill of sale with DMV, like everybody should, then the info should be in the system saying that they released all interest in said vehicle and who the buyer is, with his drivers lic # too!  If that was done, then he should be able to go to the DMV and apply for a lost title.

[Sway]

Do you live in CA? Id go to the DMV an see if you can talk to the PO to help you?

[BLACKDOG]

Yup, contact the DMV, or just poke around their website. You may find the answers you need. So your friend never got it registered in his name?

[FruitaCrawler]

Yup, contact the DMV, or just poke around their website. You may find the answers you need. So your friend never got it registered in his name?

no he was planing on moving when he bought it so he figured that he would just register it when he got moved but lost all the paperwork in the process

[yotarunner85]

I wouldn't buy it untill he gets it registered in his name. Dealing with the DMV and paper work is not fun. More like a pain in the .