question about pink slip. how much is this going to cost me?

[68Valiant]

Ok. I am seriously thinking about purchasing and original 340 1968 Dodge Dart 2 door hardtop.it has the 8-3/4 rear but no motor or tranny.I have a 360 and 727 to put behind it so that is fine. The car is unbelievably straight and has never been in an accident. Interoir is rough but livable for now.He says he wants 1000 for the car.But there is a catch. The guy he bought the car from said he would give him the pink slip and never did.He said he filed for lost pink slip and 2 months later hasn't gotten one yet.so it basically has no pink slip.It does have a bill of sale and everything just no pink. How much red tape and money do i expect do sink into this to get a pink and get everything straightened out?If it will be alot I am not going to purchase this car.Even though I want to.

[Joe Mad 73]

Without a clear title you could end up in some real deep stuff. Take both of the guys down to the DMV and make sure it's done right. You might have a bill of sale, but that first guy could be a butt head and mess you around. Don't put out any money till you have a good title.

[451Mopar]

Don't buy it without a clear title!
The difficulty of getting one depends on your state as the requirements vary state-by-state.
A neighbor gave my brother a Honda Prelude, but din't have the title, and it was titles in Oklahoma (we were in Colorado.) We never got the car titled because of all the hassel, so it sat in the yard untill we sold the house.

[Warren J]

I don't advise purchasing a car without a title. Take the serial no. to your DMV. and ask them if the car is registered, and what you need to do to get a title. Sometimes the reason the other person didn't register it was they didn't want to pay the sales tax. Check with the state police and have them run the serial no. to see if the car is hot. That might help make your mind up for you.

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[ehostler]

Don't buy it without a clear title!!! It's to easy to get bit in the ass.

Even if he does have a "Bill of sale" from the prior owner. The bill of sale could be fake. The prior owner may not have given him a title, because he may have sold a hot car.

It's not worth the potential loss of money.

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Ed - MoPower

'96 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT CC 360 4X4
'68 Charger 383-4
'69 Coronet 500 Convertible 440-4

[Chargerchuck]

I wouldn't do the deal either; California will not release DMV information on prior owners due to anti-stalking laws; so like another respondant suggested, at a minimum you would need the current owner to track down the last owner with clear title to help sort this out with the DMV. This person, because they already sold the vehicle to the current "owner" has no vested interest in helping you out. The only person who has an incentive is the current "owner" who knows that unless he finds another sucker, he will have to get clear title first, before he can unload the Dart. If the deal sounds too good to be true it usually is.

[69CORONET440]

Get the VIN# spend $20 on CARFAX.COM you'll get all reg history BUT if the guy you buy from has never had the pink he cant be legal owner bos or not- you will need both past owners to sign off for you to get clear title - hopefully somewhere somebody non-opp it - what tags are on the plate? $1000 Darts w/o motor/trans are around unless you want to restore to 340 without paperwork i'd pass-good luck but be careful-c ya

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Fast Ladies (Very Slow Gin)

[ehostler]

CARFAX won't do anything pre 1981.

As far as non opping the car goes. You can still do it, after the fact, in California. So long as the cars wheels do not touch any public road surface. I forgot the vehicle code that this is in.

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Ed - MoPower

'96 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT CC 360 4X4
'68 Charger 383-4
'69 Coronet 500 Convertible 440-4

[Tim_K]

A few years ago, I was driving down the road not too far from where I live, and saw a nice '70 Charger for sale in someone's yard. It was a 318 Charger, and the car was in pretty good shape inside and out. If I remember correctly he wanted $5500 for it. Well, I couldn't have afforded $200 at the time, I just stopped to see the Mopar. While going over the car, I noticed there was no VIN tag on the dash. The seller offered the extremely lame, if not downright stupid excuse that his son's wife was cleaning the windows and interior one day, and she pried it off with a screwdriver. There were no scratch marks on the dash. The car still had the fender tag. Wow, I must look so dumb that I'd forget to breathe if it weren't automatic! Anyhow, even if I had the money AND wanted a '70 Charger, that one little missing tag would have gotten an instant NO from me, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Don't put out one dollar for that Dart unless you can get a title in the seller's name first. Go to the state cops yourself with the VIN and have them check it out.

[69CORONET440]

Bummer on CARFAX - DMV here told my brother "non-opping has to be done before current reg exp's" also by current reg owner - for what its worth

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Fast Ladies (Very Slow Gin)