I thought Texas was bad ,California is crackers with all their fees and taxes.In my case Im just going to set in motion the lost title transfer to her address,sounds like if I go for the owner transfer Ill get hit big with fees.Then have the transaction made on the Texas Dmv side.
The Back story goes as follows,Im in discussion currently with a female CAR OWNER from CA ,she sold it to a 2nd party 4 months ago,no title ,who then sold it to me as a hot potatoe .I was promised 3 or 4 times ,yes it has a title.Guy doesnt call me back after leaving 3 weeks of messages.This morning I knock on the original sellers door aftr locating her ,she was glad to help ,told the young man that the title was lost ,he said that he could take care of it.Hands around neck aND squeese later, my day was spent how to forward a lost title from California to her address,Im hoping its just a small transfer fee .Is another remedy available?I dont care to go Bonded if at all possible, IF ITS EVEN POSSIBLE.Call CA dmv .,1 phone number for the whole state leading me to believe its prison workers formed out,30 min ,to 1 hr wait,wonder what music Ill be listening too?Printed form and ready for her to sign I just dont now fees / forms of payment ,i want a smooth transfer, she could lose patience.

Buying a car without pink-slip in hand: hope you got the deal of the century and the aggravation is worth it... Good luck.

Music: "Jailhouse Rock?"

The DMV in Bridgeport CT is a special kind of government hell.

__________________
2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

They handle these all day long at every field office of the DMV.

The form likely (as I recall) includes a "Statement of Facts" you have to fill out, and some DMV fee you need to pay, (Probably about $20-$50 - nothing like this comes free any more, I think).--

And, I'd be happy to go to the local DMV for the blank form you need, if you want. leaving town in the morni though, so PM me your mailing address and I will go get one and mail it to you.

If you never paid sales tax on the transaction, you might need to do that, and fill out a bill of sale, (may be more complex if their was a "phantom 2nd owner, as you tale seems to suggest, that vanished and can't sign the bill of sale or it was lost) and if you want up to date tags, you might have to catch up with fees and penalties on delinquent stickers, and possibly a California smog check in California if necessary.

Though, I don't know exactly how it works if both you and the car are outside of California at this point, your post (the OP) is not clear on that.

Should not be that hard if you are honest and the facts are straightforward, it is really about understanding the routes and structures here. The DMV employees are pleasant, knowledgeable and straightforward where I live in this rural CA. town; Very unlike the big DMV office on Fell Street in San Francisco, which is a zoo, and some of the DMV employees barely speak English and know virtually nothing. Entering it is like going into the forest of a living Kafka novel.

PM me if you'd like the forms sent to you.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Soooo soooo glad I dont have to deal with the BS of Calif DMV anymore.

Just registered an out of state car with current tags. New Tn plates, current registration and tags til 10-14, Tn State tax (10%) for under $140.

The other joy ?

Took 8 minutes from the time I left the car until I was back in ready to go. That was with one person in line ahead of me finishing up.

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

chasin... no idea where you are in the process but it sounds like the 2nd party never legally existed. Hint hint

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Don't feel too bad, I have my county in Colorado's DMV in contempt of court for failing to issue me a title. I bought an old ford truck from a little old lady who received it as a result of a sherriff's sale as restitution. She never titled it, gave me the original bill of sale and automotive power of attorney. No bueno at the DMV, so the lawyer handling it for the little old lady got a court order to issue me the title and had the court order certified at the courthouse. They decided that after a while of making up one excuse after another that they would just flatly deny me my title in contempt of the court order. It stands thusly for now though the lawyer is working on it.

__________________

90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

Small county? Bored local media? Have at it -- they probably don't want their contempt of court to be publicized far and wide... OK, countywide.

Bridgeport CT is a special kind of hell.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I think the title is a little bit misleading, but if a hour on the phone equals hell it's not that bad of a place after all.

If you are a AAA member, maybe they can help you. Because the gentlemen you bought it from never registered it, the car is most likely still in her name; give the lady $150 to get a new pink-slip. And too put a little pressure on her, tell her she's still liable for tickets and such.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Bummer. Bridgeport, CA (about an hour down the road from me) is actually rather pleasant.

NV DMV varies depending on which location you go to and when you go. Reno on a Saturday may actually be the first circle of Hell. Carson City on a weekday is shockingly quick and easy.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Im surprised you bought it without the title, good thing the paper owner is compliant. Do you have registration documents? or nothing?

how old is the car?
I suppose another option if she calls it quits for you is to sell it out of state to a title not required state after a certain age, let someone register it, then sell it back to you and provide you with a statement of title law from that state.

Then you should be able to register it, but you need someone to go through all that, and you will have all the fees and trouble they incur as well

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

I went to the field office of the local DMV yesterday and talked with the manager of the office about the situation, as you have outlined it in the first post.

She has worked there for a long time, and knows well how situations like this can be resolved. In fact sh3e knows me personally and shepherded the process successfully to have a title generated for me in my name on a lien sale transfer of the barn find ebay California1967 Cougar I had bought off ebay and unregistered since 1991, and I now have a clean title plus 2014 tags on it, AND also gone through the steps to retain the original 1967 California black plates on the car.

Bottom line, she is a "can-do" helpful and very knowledgeable high-ranking California DMV employee, the person in charge of this entire field office, and I think she knows what she is doing based on my successful recent experience.

However with the information you have supplied so far, it is unclear to us what exactly is going om. Are you in California, and where are the two prior owners of the car.

What she suggested that you do is gather up ALL the original documents you have and call the 800 number and have a representative gather the needed information and facts for you, and then you will gather up ALL the relevant original documents and sip then to the DMV rep in California for review and a decision will be made.

To speed it up for you, I have collected duplicate copies of the California DMV "Statement of Facts", a "Transfer/Bill of Sale" and "application for Duplicate title"


PM me your address and I will shoot them to you for your perusal, and after your conversation with the California DMV by phone you will already have the blank forms I sent you in hand ready to be filled out which can be mailed in with your package to the DMV.

Good luck.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Hell has just got a little hotter, Ca requires you to bring the car to the state to re register if the car has not been in the system for more than 10yrs, in this case 1998 ,Ive always wanted to visit Ca. but not their DMV.My only hope now is the car lot were she purchased failed to send her the title ,a long shot with a cross wind .

CT's own little slice of the third world!

__________________
2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200