Topic: Attn: California DMV Guru's

[Yotaleigheehoo]

I bought a 1979 Yota over the weekend that I plan to use for parts only and sell the rest. The engine is junk so it will get scrapped.

Here's the scoop. Original owner died in 2010 and his daughter took legal possesion. Daughter sold it via bill of sale to X. X then turned around and sold it to Y via bill of sale. Y then sold it again via bill of sale in May 2012 to the dude I bought it from.

The dude I bought from never got it smogged but did pay all DMV fee's to a tune of $461 (I have DMV receipts) which I'm guessing was back fee's etc..... After the first smog attempt, the dude parked it and never touched it again.

I'm guessing getting all this crap sorted out is gonna be a pain in my arse. What are my best options for taking legal ownership of said vehicle when I only plan to use it for parts?

Also, is the vehicle title associated with the frame? Or the cab? Or both?

Thanks

[steveco.]

i feel that pain! i had the same done to me. ok so this is how i understood what you wrote. Original owner sold it to X.  X then sold to Y. then Y sold to Z. then Z sold to U. if Z paid the fees then it should be in Z's name next.. so you need a bill of sale from Z.    heres your problem. if the original owner put it in X's name. then you need X's signiture.  if X signed a release of liability and put it in Y's name. then you need Y's signiture. and if Y released it to Z (sounds like it). then you need Z's signiture.  if no one did any of that. then you need the Original owner. the DMV can sort it out for you.. at least the fees have been paid.  mine were $800!!

[Yotaleigheehoo [OP]]

I guess I made my question more complicated than necessary. From what I can tell from the paper work, the dude (Z) who I bought the truck from, is the actual owner so it shouldn't be too bad.

I don't have any intentions of putting this truck back on Ca highways and I don't want to have to dump any money into smogging it.

Hoping it will be a painless process.

[steveco.]

perfect! straight foward transaction then.. fees paid. cut it up take spare metal to junk yard for scrap. it'll weed itself out of the system..

[Rocksurfer]

About the only thing I could say at this point is I'd have to see the paperwork. I deal with this type of thing all the time and getting it straight may take a DMV supervisor to handle. But since you don't plan on registering it and junking it the only issue may be getting the junkyard to accept the paper you have. As to the numbers, the frame and the public VIN must match or you will need the additional paper for both.

[Snowtoy]

Shouldn't have any issues, even if you wanted to put it back in the road, unless things have changed dramatically over the last few years.  I restored a truck back in '06-7 that when I bought it hadn't been registered in 8yrs, it had no title and had changed hands 3 times since the last titled owner had registered it.  The only chain of ownership was a napkin that had the date of the original sale/owners signature, and each subsequent sale.  I expected a bit of an issue with the DMV(though I knew the napkin BOS wasn't an issue), but only got a chuckle out of the woman at the DMV when she asked for the paperwork, she said it had been years since she had seen something like that come through.  All I had to do was pay the transfer fees for each of the past unregistered owners and the registration fees.  As long as you have some written chain of ownership, it shouldn't be an issue to non-op title it in your name, so when you can scrap the truck at the metal yard w/o having to cut it into pieces.

[Yotaleigheehoo [OP]]

I have an appointment with DMV tomorrow. I'll post the results

[Cheesemaker]

Glad I don't have to go through that here in Oregon!!   

I talked to my local DMV guy, who I know personally, about getting rigs from Cali, that hasn't been smogged or registered for years, and getting them registered here at my local DMV.  He told me, easy peasy!! Just need title and VIN to match, and $180 later, got new plates, tags, and title!! 

[Caboose]

I would put it in your name and non op it so you can sell the cab with the title.

[Yotaleigheehoo [OP]]

I would put it in your name and non op it so you can sell the cab with the title.

This was something I was wondering about too. Thanks for the reminder.

[Yotaleigheehoo [OP]]

Easy as pie.  Only cost me $33 bucks to transfer.

All I have to do is go back to DMV in late March to non op and I'm good to go.

Thanks everyone.

[Rocksurfer]

Don't you wish you could have non-oped it now, DMV tricks to get more $ out of you when you forget that non-op, even by one day.

[Yotaleigheehoo [OP]]

Don't you wish you could have non-oped it now, DMV tricks to get more $ out of you when you forget that non-op, even by one day.

Ya, I caught that too. According to DMV, I can non-op the truck NO earlier than (60) days prior to May 10, which is when the previous un-complete registration (no smog cert) expires. I put an alert on my phone, iPad, wrote it on the calendar of the
wall etc so I don't forget.

DMV= Damn Money Vulture

[Rocksurfer]

That's what I loved about AZDOT, if you sold your vehicle while the tags are still good you can get a refund from them on the balance of the year since not only are the tags yours but the plate is yours too so when you sell a car you keep your plates.