Abandoned Title

A friend of mine bought a 91 CRX that has no title. What is the process for getting an Abandoned Title? Does it cost anymore or less that registering a car normally?

Call or stop by your local Sec. of State and they can let you know what the process is. I think it varies by state.
You also may want to check with your local police dept. so they can run the vin and tell you if it's been reported stolen. I hope they got a good deal.

$300 and really the only thing it really needed was an ECU ($20 from Ebay). Only downside...its an auto...that's gotta go.

it will vary by state, but if the car was abandoned at a shop or storage lot you can easily get a title because of forfeiture laws.
If it was abandoned on a street and tagged as such by the local police you have a headache ahead of you

What happened was this. --- He bought the car from a shop owner who worked at a salvage yard. The salvage yard had to pay him but didn't have the cash so they gave him the car to settle up. The shop owner said that he was trying to get a title but never did. Hope this helps.

Run like hell is my advice.

What state? In a state such as Maine, Vermont or Rhode Island, cars older than a 1995 don't need a title. You could: 1. Call police, verify car isn't stolen. 2. Get a signed bill of sale from the person or shop who sold it to you. 3. If (and this is a HUGE if!) the seller legitimately owned it & there are no liens, you can then register it in a non-title state. 4. You then take the registration from the non-title state and apply for a title in your own state.

DISCLAIMER: Unless the seller actually owned the car, the above process is not legal. Don't skip a step & if you can't get a bill of sale from the legal, rightful owner, don't try this at home.

Friend lives in Alabama. I live in FL.

fornetti14's right. It really does depend on the state. Here in Georgia, all you need is a "bill of sale", and you can get a new title much more easily for a car with no title at all than you can for one with a "salvage" or "abandoned" car, especially if the car is old enough.

i'd have a cop run the vin to see if it's stolen, then if it's not i'd make a cheap race car out of it. it would be perfect for Lemons, Chumpcar, autocroos, drag- whatever. getting a title for a vehicle without knowing who actually owns it is usually not worth the effort.

jlm_photo wrote: What happened was this. --- He bought the car from a shop owner who worked at a salvage yard. The salvage yard had to pay him but didn't have the cash so they gave him the car to settle up. The shop owner said that he was trying to get a title but never did. Hope this helps.

cars coming from salvage yards typically come with Junk certificates which are very hard to get rid of (not impossible though). (note: all information provided is based on my interpretation and experience of Illinois law) we have a camaro that was given to our junk car guy, which he had intended to use for parts on a second camaro, we ended up with it. It was a complete undamaged car, but since the junk guy had it, it was issued a junk title. we had to get a letter from the junk guy stating that the junk title was applied for erroneously so we could get a legit title. They did end up issuing the legit title, BUT it was tagged as rebuilt, and it had to be inspected. we gave up trying to get the title returned to clean like it should be.

Your profile doesn't say where you live, go to "Your State DMV" and search for FAQs.

OR you could sell it here to someone that needs a race car or Challenger and has no need for a Title. Add $50 for your trouble, make new friends.

Dan

914Driver wrote: Your profile doesn't say where you live, go to "Your State DMV" and search for FAQs. OR you could sell it here to someone that needs a race car or Challenger and has no need for a Title. Add $50 for your trouble, make new friends. Dan

That might just be the best piece of advice I've got so far. Thanks.

Been there done that never again.