What’s in a
name, you say?
A
rose by any other name, etc., is one thing, but a title in other names is a
different story.
In
our old-car fascination, we tend to focus on the condition of the car we are
buying rather than the clearness of the title.
Whenever old-car
people get together to tell horror stories about restoring their fine old LaSalle or Cadillac, the most
horrifying story experiences relate to chrome plating, but a close second is
getting a clear title to enable you to actually own and drive your new pride
and joy.
Just
a minor inconvenience and expense, you say? Guess again…this can end up being
major problems for anything other than a parts car. Going back to my earlier
daysworking as an auto theft investigator, I can still remember many incidents
of taking cars away from innocent victims and how much they lost in these bad
deals.
One
good example was a 1947 convertible that was in reasonably good shape and
fairly complete. The car was part of an estate that the former owner’s brother
sold to an anxious buyer for the very reasonable price of $10,000. He was told
that the title couldn’t be found at this time, but he
would apply for a duplicate title, or at the very worst, get a bonded title.
The
buyer was anxious to get to work on the restoration and didn’t worry about the
title, figuring it would be forthcoming. By the time the restoration was
completed about $25,000 (and a year and a half) later, he went to the former
owner’s brother to get help with the title, only to find out that the brother
had also passed away. The only option left was to apply for a bonded title.
As
the car was now restored, the value had increased, and after appraisal, it
required a $55,000 bond. The total cost of getting the bonded title was almost
$2,500. A title was finally obtained, license plates were acquired and the
glorious day came for driving and enjoying the car.
About
three months later, the you-know-what hit the fan. The
original owner’s son (who had been overseas in the military) showed up with a
valid title signed over to him by his father. The car was tied up in court
action for quite a while and it would take a large book to detail all that went
on from that point.
The
bottom line was that between lawyer fees, court costs, settlement with the bonding
company and satisfying the legal owner, the buyer’s good deal cost him an
additional $22,000. By the time the buyer got a good, clean, usable title, he
had about $82,000 invested in a car with an appraised value of $45,000. This is
only one of dozens of similar stories.
One
of our own Club members bought a ’41 Cadillac that had gone through an auction
and a couple of dealers. The title he got after a couple of months turned out
to be invalid, and it took another four months and quite a few headaches and
scares to finally end up with a clear title to let him drive the car legally.
The
obvious question is, how you can prevent these kinds
of problems? It is not really that hard, but it will take a little effort on
your part.
The
first thing will be to personally verify the VIN on the car you are buying and
check it against the title. Oh yes, look at the actual title before you put
money out. If the seller is legitimate, he will be willing to give you a
photocopy of the title for you to check out. Cars at one time were titled under
both frame number and/or engine number.
Make
sure the title shows the frame number and then clear both numbers. Somewhere in
the history of the car, two cars may have been married to make one car and one
of the cars may not have been legitimate. Above all, verify the identity of the
person from which you are buying.
Now
go to a police department, sheriff’s department or state police office and have
their auto theft section run a clearance for you. If everything checks out, and
the person you are buying the car from is the same as the name on the title,
you are generally in good shape. Still, be sure to get a bill of sale that
guarantees the car to be free from all liens and encumbrances.
If
the car is part of an estate, make sure you get all of the supporting documents
(i.e. death certificate, any powers of attorney and an affidavit from the
person selling the car that he has the authority to sell you the car). If a
bonded title is required, have the seller get the bond in their name before
selling it to you. The purchaser of the bond is the person responsible in case
of forfeit.
If
anything doesn’t seem right, get an attorney to draw up a buyer’s and seller’s
contract that will protect you. If the seller is not willing to go to all of
the trouble, then you better shy away or plan to use the car for parts and
scrap the rest. He may even offer to reduce the price rather than go through
the hassle you are asking. This could be the most costly discount you ever got.
Even
the most astute buyer may get stung occasionally, but it sure is nice to have
the odds in your favor. If the deck has to be stacked, at
least get them stacked in your favor. Or, if you are wealthy enough that
you can afford these kinds of mistakes, let me know. I ought to be able to find
something to sell you.
See
ya later,
—Walt