doze905

so this is the deal i bought a car from a guy in VA. about a year ago and knew i would be working on it for a long time before i would start driving it so i did not get the title changed to my name until i was ready to drive it. Well now i have every thing done and it looks like the title got lost in a move, i cant get a copy from the DMV because it was never in my name, i have long lost the guys name and address. so heres what im thinking if some one has a shell and clean title that they would like to sell the vin plate and title to me i would love them forever, its killing me to have the car done and all i can do is look at it. i know to some of you this may not sound right but i am out of options, if you would like me to get the shell and title and do what i want with it thats ok to. if you can help me shoot me a email at webmaster@declinedesign.net

tifosiman

Did you write a check for the car? If so, you could find the cancelled check in your bank statements and at least get the previous owner's name, then do a search for him on the internet. If it was never transferred to your name, he may be able to still get a copy of the title and then sign it over to you.

Tom R.

Someone with access to the DMV database should be able to punch in the VIN and get the owners information.

Check in the glove box between the pages of the owners manual, or with your cancelled checks.

doze905

it was all cash and i went to the dmv and they said because of new laws they cant tell me his name

Tony K

When was the last time the car was registered? IIRC, in Ohio, you can buy registration information as far back as they keep it - that's public info. Companies buy it all the time for sales/marketing purposes, and manufacturers buy it for recalls. As for the title, a licensed investigator should be able to get the title info for you, I think. Not sure, though. And I have no idea what the laws are in Virginia. Just some suggestions to try.

It was all cash? No receipt?

By the way, I hope none of the "morally-superior-to-thou's" climb on their high horses to give a lecture about abiding by the law as far as your idea for switching VINs goes. If you didn't steal the car and are not doing anything else underhanded, then you are not infringing on the spirit and purpose of the law. There are plenty of rare 440-sixpack and hemi-Challengers and 'Cudas that out there that "had their body replaced" . . . full restoration with all new parts, right down to the star-shaped rivets. If anyone wants to cry about your suggestion, I hope they never exceed the speed limit, for fear of being a hypocrite. Swapping bodies stands up to the call of "the end does not justify the means." Legally wrong and morally wrong are two different things.

The only reason I would hesitate do do what you suggest is that 1) I would be afraid of getting caught, and 2) I would feel compelled to disclose it when I sold the car, and that would be a worse stigma than a salvage title. But it does happen more frequently than people want to know. If you have a frame-rotted, floors-gone 1973 Super Duty Trans Am that you are restoring, and a rust-free Nevada-desert 1973 6-cylinder Firebird parts car, wouldn't you just replace the whole body?

Cheers,

Tom R.

Tony,
I thought the Super Duty Trans Am was 1974.

I read on my Pontiac Club magazine years ago about stolen parts. If one part of the car came from a stolen car, the whole car could be taken away.

Swapping VIN tags when the VIN is stamped on the firewall in an invitation for trouble. I would try every avenue before going down the VIN swap route for fear of getting pulled over and the cop seeing a riveted VIN plate that doesn't match the rest of the car. Kind of what I am hoping happens to the person driving my red S2.

When I bought my red S2 i sent the PA DMV a copy of my receipt and they sent me copies of all the information they had. The only thing they cut out was the parts with price paid.

Run a carfax, it would tell you the town it was titled in, that may give you a lead as well.

Another road may be with the local dealer. If they did work, they would have the VIN in the system with the owners information.

PCNA may also have some information, but again you may have to prove ownership.

Tony K

Tom - yeah, I agree with you. Absolute last resort only. Also, I wasn't thinking about the fact that the VIN is stamped under the hood! lol! I was gonna post something like "if you're gonna end up doing that, at least make sure you get the same year and color" . . . but yeah, on anything made in the last 30 years, I wouldn't even try, not even as a last resort. If there is any chance of the VIN being anything other than scribbled with a crayon elsewhere on the car, fugheddaboudit! In the case of a 944, I'd buy a parts car with a blown motor or one with light body damage that caused a total, and start over. Would probably be cheaper to just buy a parts car then go through all the little expenses involved in tracking the guy down.

Super Duty TAs were in both '73 and '74. I picked '73 for my example because most people seem to prefer the pre-huge bumper style over the latter style.

Tony K

Expensive lesson, Doze!

Tony K

Given that it was only a year ago, Doze, couldn't you almost remember physically where you went to look at/buy the car? I've owned over 20 cars and still remember details about where I bought most of them, and could probably find my way back to the sellers' houses for most of them; definitely all of them in the last few years. If you took a road trip to VA, could you not just kind of work your way back, "oh yeah..." to the guy's house?

Another suggestion is to contact the local regional PCA with all the info you have; maybe the seller was a member and someone would recognize who you are talking about.

Cheers,

KuHL 951

Here in Calif. I don't think you can even get a car towed away for crushing unless the Vinplate is on the car and you have a matching title/registration. Good Luck I hope it's easier in Delaware. I agree with Tony, go back to the place of sale and try to get something in writing from the seller. Be very careful trying to swap vinplates on a car, that's how most of the "salvage title" unsafe cars are returned to normal service. The DMV is very unfriendly to vin switching. I hope it all works out for you, people lose the title all the time.

Tom R.

Tony,
I am pretty sure it was only 74 for the SD 455. The 72 or 73 is the rare one because of the strike that cut down production. I will do a little research and confirm. Im pretty sure the most valuable second generation TA is the 74 SD 455.

The most valuable is the seven or eight 69 convertibles, the most valuable of those being the one or two ram air II or III models. Its been 20 years since i read that stuff.

But the only 68 Z28 convertible made didn't sell a few months ago when bidding stopped at ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Tony K

http://www.transamtech.com/73sd_index.html

http://www.iwaynet.net/~gl&lisk/transam.html

xsboost90

i had a 69 firebird...try getting parts for one of those...

Tony K

1972 was the year of the strike. I believe that, in addition to the cut in production, over 1000 bodies had to be scrapped because they couldn't use them for the 1973 model year (bumper laws, maybe?)

My first car was one of the 211 or so 1977 Trans Ams that were ordered with the rear seat console. Not sure about that number, but it was real low like that. Most went into the black/gold edition cars. I have seen one other non-bandit 77TA with the console. I got about five times that car's value when I sold it because of that stupid back seat.

Legoland951

VIN swap is a FEDERAL OFFENSE and it doesn't matter how we feel about it, it will land you in federal prison if you are caught. None of the 944s are worth that risk. Lien sale the car and it takes 31 days in Ca. PM me if you need more details.