Title troubles and abandoned vehichles.

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

Team_Asterisk

Team_Asterisk

R0T0R WH0R3
Hi guys, I'm new here. I'm from rx7club.com and love rotaries, but havent been around Hondas too much. I was looking around for my next project car, and due to a strange coincidence, think that I may possibly get a Honda! Through, the story is compicated, because I'm trying to find it's owner first.

Today, my friend told me about this abandoned car that has been sitting at his apartement complex for almost a year now. It's been in a wreck, and has been confirmed as abandoned by a few residents, being there for almost a year now. The car has a doughnut, the airbags went off, the plates were removed, and the front bumper is inside. Seems like someone effed up and just plain ditched it. My friend thinks that, since these are University apartements, the person may have left the country already. So we went to the office, they told us to go to the police department. There I talked with a guy who said that he will ask around, and that we MIGHT be able to get it, but he is not shure at this time.

I have the tools and knowledge to fix it up, at least for autocross duty, and have it be inspected for safety and a rebuilt title. This is the problem, however! If there IS no title, and the seller is "missing". The guy told me that he will contact a guy that takes care of stuff like this, and I should call him friday. Hmm, is it possible to like, "claim it" if the previous owner is unavailable? Let's say the junkyard takes it, what would I need to do? I presume that, it will be given a "Salvage" title, and I would need to buy it from the yard, fix it, and inspect it. Has anyone had a case like this before?


PS: Basically, my friend thinks that a Chineese person bought it, drove it with only liability insurance, wrecked it, and because they were leaving, did not feel like fixing and selling it, so they just ditched it, and moved back or something.

Thing is, we really want this car, but of course, we cant just take it, so what do we do?
 
if you have a bill of sale from the last registered owner (according to the dmv) you can file for a lost title and basically re-title the vehicle.

check your state dmv website, as this will vary from state to state.
 
In NJ, you need the vehicles registration, and the previous title had to be in YOUR name. Thief proof, if you ask me.
 
it differs in every state i just went threw this with a car i got . it was abandoned and i had to go threw some paperwork at the dmv and had to do a VIN cheack at the dmv befor i could get the title for it .

but look in the car for a old reg paper and see if there is something with a name on it and try to trace back your self or if you take the vin and do a carfax on it it wil tell you all the places it was registured in with names and adresses. car fax cost some money but gettin a title for it wont be free i am shure
 
and nice to meet you i am on rx7club as well i have a rotary in my mazda b2200 been on there for almost a year
 
LS_VTEC said:
In NJ, you need the vehicles registration, and the previous title had to be in YOUR name. Thief proof, if you ask me.
Click to expand...
And in NJ an abandoned car won't sit somewhere for a year either. The police a town over called my friend after his camaro was in a parking lot for a week suspecting that he abandoned it. I still remember him on the phone, "No I didn't abandon it, it needs a new (forgot what it needed). I don't have the cash until I get my paycheck tomm."

BTW, What kind of car is it?
 
You'll need an ABA form, it's easy.. At least in CT it's easy. I have a bike that way.

The age of my bike helps a lot too. But you'll need it to pass a grand inspection at the time of registration
 
It's a 96 or 97 civic LX sedan. Silver, automatic, 125,000. I wont tell where, but it's in Illinois.:D

The ONE good thing about where I live, is that there is no emission testing, and hopefully getting a "Rebuilt" title wont be too much trouble.
 
Last edited:
Celerity said:
Ummm... ok. Because a 97 LX is such a rare item that we would steal it out from under you.
Click to expand...

^_^ Lol, I just knew someone would say that! I dunno, I talked with a friend, but he said it's probably not worth it, to fix it even if I DID get it somehow. How is the used parts market doing nowadays?
 
Ok, update on this: The cops finally tracked down the owner for us, and he said it sat for about 6 months now. They wrecked it when they moved in, parked it, and bought a new car.

The guy wants to give it to us for $100, and me and my friend will split 50/50. I need a headunit right now, and there is a nice one in it, so I'm deff getting my money's worth!:D

We will try to figure out how is the title, and if it's "clean" then we will fix it up, but if it's crap, then we will ebay it or something.

Civics are popular as hell, so I bet SOMEONE is gonna need some parts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top