Out of State Car Purchase Nightmare

[DJChillfit]

Howdy,

I've had quite an ordeal that I guess should be explained before I get to my question, I'll try and keep it brief. I bought a MB in mid-February of this year, my first car. I bought it from a guy I'd known online for a couple years. He lives in WA and I live in OR. He'd talked about how much he loved his car for a while, so I felt confident it was in good shape. He'd wanted to sell it so he could put it towards an older Porsche.

Anyway, he came down to OR and we got the car and paid him with a check. He said he couldn't find the title, but we got a notarized bill of sale. We didn't know whether this would be enough to get an OR title, but he said if it wasn't then to tell him and he would look for the title or apply for a replacement. Well, it wasn't enough, so he went to the DMV. Unfortunately, the lady there told him the wrong form to fill out, so all we got was an Affidavit in Lieu of Title, which still wasn't enough to get an OR title. I told him this, and told him the form he would need to fill out to get the proper WA title so I could transfer it to an OR title. He said that'd be fine, etc.

Unfortunately, he hasn't returned any calls or answered his phone, or responded to any email in a few weeks. All I want to know is if he's filled out the damn form! OR only allows two trip permits, and my second one expires in 11 days, and I've already gotten a ticket for expired tags.

Now I'm wondering what to do. I'm just looking for the easiest way to get a WA title or an OR title so I can get my OR plates. Any suggestions would be apppreciated.

Simon
78 280E
126000 miles

[Lebenz]

Hi Simon,

Glad to hear you are a new MB owner—welcome to the club! Look at the bright side, no adventure ever has gone without a few tribulations. So you’ll get through it, and have a fine ride in the mean time, and another good story to tell to your friends.

Okay, so I am from Washington State and in Washington the seller is obligated to notify the State of a sale of a motor vehicle within about 5 days of the sale. The State then issues a new title to the buyer. I’m guessing that the seller might not have done this, but even if he did, you should contact the Washington State department of motor vehicles. You can find them on the web. Tell them what you’ve told us and they will get you under way. You will need some type of proof of purchase such as a buy sell agreement or similar, then a state inspection and so forth. The good news is that because you are from Oregon you won’t have to pay state sales tax on the car! Anyway, the State will verify ownership and help you to move foreword. Sorry I can’t be more specific........

[84300DT]

possesion is 9/10ths of the law. U have the car right!..

I just sold a car here and the CT DMV gave a hard time to my cash
buyer...even tho he held a clean Fla. title and a bill of sale for the vehicle. Eventually reason overwhelmed them and they issued a new title. So don't give up

[Ken300D]

A good rule of thumb for bringing cars into Virginia (and probably other states) is to have a title in hand and a completed Bill-of-Sale signed by both parties that states the transaction price. Actually this applies for in-state transactions as well.

There's nothing magical about a Bill-of-Sale. You can generate one easily on your computer. I took one from the Maryland DMV and cut-and-pasted the appropriate parts. The key thing is the transaction price and the signatures of both parties. Virginia DMV always wants to tax you on what THEY think the transaction price should be. It seems they always want to use a transaction price based on perfect condition and top market value (seemingly from a few years back!)

Gee, go figure. Virginia DMV wanting to charge you more taxes!

My personal rule is to go to DMV the very next day after the transaction and have the new title issued in my name. This prevents the previous owner from successfully obtaining a duplicate title - not that its much of a risk.

On an additional note, Virginia requires titles for trailers. Most other states don't. This makes it an extreme hassle to bring a used trailer into the state. New trailers usually come with a Certificate of Origin from the manufacturer but getting one for a used trailer is considerably more difficult. So, VA people have incentives for buying trailers already titled - not really good market competition.

Ken300D

My parents had a similar problem with the 500 from Denver to a small town in Nebraska. it took this pic
http://members.roadfly.com/bimmerdan/mbsale.JPG
And some import papers home this helps

[Snibble]

Dan, noticed your car was bought on my birthday

My god I never noticed that. We would have had it for 8 years Saturday. 48k on it to