Hi everyone, this is my first post and I hope it is in the right place. I have been working on my new obsession for a couple months now and just noticed that the VIN listed on the title is not an actual VIN number, or at least doesn't fit the profile of a period Buick VIN, and, it isn't the same number of the actual VIN on the body of the car. The car is currently registered till October to the person I bought it from so I'm assuming he had no problem but what do I tell the DMV when I want to register it in my name? Could it be an engine number on the title or??? Any ideas are greatly appreciated. :TU:
Hi Super K, I can only speak for New york because I had the same issue with my 70 GS.. My registration(title) was missing 1 number from the Vin on the car. When I went DMV I took a picture of the Vin ID tag on the car and showed them the mistake. The DMV made the mistake registering a car with the missing number and the previous owner never caught it (18 years of registrations). I find it the first time,thanks to the sloan museum!!So they took the copy of the picture and sent it to the Head DMV office and 8 weeks later got a new registration (title) with the correct number back. So it can be fixed..Again can only speak of NY. I would work on getting it fixed soon just in case you run into problems..
Yeah, I want to start looking into it. It's just weird that the two numbers aren't even close...I can see the error in omitting 1 number from the VIN but my two numbers aren't even in the same realm...and somehow the last owner had it registered...thanks for the info.
I wouldn't put any more money in that car until you resolve the VIN issue.. Just my 2 cents.. Mike Iggycat NJ
I thought about that but not sure about having them do a title search...The VIN checks out to the car, or at least the same make, model and year...just a funky other number on the title...
Had same problem with GMC truck dmv made the mistake and they fixed it, on the other hand had the truck came from another state it has to go through sheriffs dept. then its a hole other problem. Good luck get the title right before you do any thing else.
Super 55, The ID should read 5 = Super, B =1955 third digit the Plant followed by the sequential production number. These ID numbers can be found on the hinge pilar post and on the dash under the hood.
Louie, Yep, my Vin reads that way. It's just that the number listed on my title isn't that same number.
Looks like you have your work cut out for you this summer. Just kidding, should not be a problem. Where is Dayton??
Only a few options that I can think of. You have a title to a different car because you got screwed, DMV made an error, or he made a mistake and got title and cars messed up. Are the descriptions of the car, year, type, etc... correct on the title? Do a vin decode of both the number on the title and the number on the car. If one of them doesn't match what the car is, it's going to tell you a lot. If the tag on the car doesn't go with the type of car, you have problems, if the numbers on the title don't go to the appropriate model and year of Buick, you can show DMV it's their error.
You can only speak of UPSTATE New York. Try getting these pains in the asses down in the City and Long Island to do something helpful like that! Yah.. right! I mean sure, they probably "should" or "have to" but I guarantee you're gonna visit the DMV at least 3 times before you find someone who will.
The actual VIN from the tag inside the door is correct for the car. The number on the title isn't even close to a normal Buick VIN. Plate from car reads 5B2007351 which is correct for a 1955 Buick Super which is what the car is. Title that was just issued in January of 09 states a 1955 Buick, same license plate number and this under the VIN: V7794155 Not even close. I'm afraid to take it to the DMV!
Well the good news is that the VIN that is on the title couldn't go to a 55 Buick, so that means they have messed up somewhere. Good news. I would go down and get it figured out right away. I don't know what DMV is like where you are, but in Washington it can be night and day between places where you take your car or trailer to get licensing done. Might take a little while to get them to figure it out, but I would think you would be given some kind of paperwork right away. If the prior title was in state, it may be in the computer and a fairly easy fix.
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Call at different times and ask the same or different questions and see if you get different responses then you will start to get a consensus of your state's DMV threshold and by that you'll have an idea if you should or shouldnt pursue it.. Or you can get a new bill of sale with your Vin# on it for your car from an <st1:state w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on"><st1:state u1:st="on"><st1lace u1:st="on"><st1:state u2:st="on"><st1lace u2:st="on">Alabama</st1lace></st1:state></st1lace></st1:state></st1lace></st1:state> lost car title replacement service, you can do a google search or find them in Hemmings,or http://www.getnewtitle.com/alabama it will cost about $300+ but it will get you out of your situation with all new fresh paperwork.. And lastly you if you have any recent relatives that passed away you can claim that car was left behind and you cant locate the paperwork, the DMV have special provisions for vehicles w/o paperwork from an owner who passed away. I recently did this here in NY, it was time consuming paperwork but was able to get registration and register the car with new paperwork.. One more thing when you call the DMV, one of your questions is tell them that you have your uncles old unregistered car in the garage and you want to check the Vin# still in the DMV system, Hopefullly its not and the reason being is you want to make sure there is no overlapping on this if you were to get a new bill of sale from Alabama and re-register the car in your state.... 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Thank you to everyone who has replied and given suggestions. I'm going to try to track down the guy I bought it from and see if I can get a copy of his registration. It was just registered this year. How that weird number got transferred to the title is a mystery. The car was registered in California and I'm in Nevada. Hopefully they can still look it all up. Thanks again!
This happened to me twice, once with a 71 lark and one with a VW beetle i bought my wife. all i did was take my bill of sale down to the dmv, they walked outside and visually inpected the correct vin on both vehicles and changed it on the title it was no big deal.........good luck!
