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Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:17 pm

Hi there,

I need some advice...

I recently bought a '65 VW Bus from a well known seller on TheSamba to export to the UK.

All proceeded without too much agro once he actually gave me the correct bank details.

The money finally cleared and I dropped him a line to say the export company should be picking up in a few days and that I need an bill of sale and the title to be sent with the bus.

That's when he casually drops in that as he lives in Alabama he doesn't have a title as it's not required being pre 1970. A bit of googling later and it seems he's right. I hold my hand up I never actually asked if it had a title but took it on face value that it would as he had decent feedback.

OK so the lady at the shipping company says - so long as the registration says 'transferable' it should be ok to export.

Just as I expected... the registration doesn't say 'transferrable'.

The lady at the exporters says she doesn't actually think he has the legal right to sell it if he doesn't have a transferrable registration.

Can anyone offer any advice here please? What's the easiest way to sort this out and roughly how long should it take. Personally I think the seller should make the problem right as soon as possible.

Thanks guys.

:(

Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:36 pm

Not that this will be much help but...

We are in a non title state for older motor vehicles. A current registration and bill of sale is equivalent to a title in a title state. I have never heard of a "transferable" registration (or think it exists).

There is not much a seller can do in this case. He can not make his DMV do something that they don't do.

One idea that may work is to get a transport temp registration. I may not be possible to do in his state (we got one in NH to bring a Bus home).

You may want to try to contact his states DMV and explain your problem and it may help. Remember that DMV's over here are the biggest bunch of government agency red tape and many won't even know there own rules. You will be on hold for a long time if you call also.

Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:41 pm

WM971252 wrote: I have never heard of a "transferable" registration (or think it exists).

They do exist, and are quite common. Anything 1972 or older in NY has a transferable registration as the ownership document, as do trailers weighing less than 1000 pounds, boats produced before 1987, snowmobiles, ATV's, etc etc. A transferable registration allows the owner of the vehicle to transfer ownership to someone else, much like you would with a title. I agree that the AL DMV is the first place to start. A transferable registration shouldn't be hard to get, though some states do transfer ownership with just a bill of sale for older vehicles.

Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:47 pm

Rather than making an expensive call, try the website for the Alabama DMV... Should get you more written FACTS about your sitiation than talking to a clerk. I get differing answers from almost every DMV clerk I've dealt with, when posing the same question/problem to each of them. :wink:
P.S., I think if this "transferable" reg. is used in AL., then of course the seller needs to provide one.

Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:37 pm

wm971252 wrote:

We are in a non title state for older motor vehicles. A current registration and bill of sale is equivalent to a title in a title state. I have never heard of a "transferable" registration (or think it exists).

VDubTech wrote:

They do exist, and are quite common. Anything 1972 or older in NY has a transferable registration as the ownership document, as do trailers weighing less than 1000 pounds, boats produced before 1987, snowmobiles, ATV's, etc etc. A transferable registration allows the owner of the vehicle to transfer ownership to someone else, much like you would with a title. I agree that the AL DMV is the first place to start. A transferable registration shouldn't be hard to get, though some states do transfer ownership with just a bill of sale for older vehicles.

i think people are getting mixed up here. if i bought a car from wm971252 that was 25 years or older, and was registered to wm971252, his registraton paper has a tear off portion that acts as a bill of sale, with all the cars info on it. in other words, his old registration has been 'transfered' so to speak, but i DO NOT get to used his plates.

here in CT we can also use a bill of sale if the car has not been tagged. i also agree that you need to start at the dmv where the car is coming from

Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:06 pm

skills@eurocarsplus wrote: wm971252 wrote:

We are in a non title state for older motor vehicles. A current registration and bill of sale is equivalent to a title in a title state. I have never heard of a "transferable" registration (or think it exists).

VDubTech wrote:

They do exist, and are quite common. Anything 1972 or older in NY has a transferable registration as the ownership document, as do trailers weighing less than 1000 pounds, boats produced before 1987, snowmobiles, ATV's, etc etc. A transferable registration allows the owner of the vehicle to transfer ownership to someone else, much like you would with a title. I agree that the AL DMV is the first place to start. A transferable registration shouldn't be hard to get, though some states do transfer ownership with just a bill of sale for older vehicles.

i think people are getting mixed up here. if i bought a car from wm971252 that was 25 years or older, and was registered to wm971252, his registraton paper has a tear off portion that acts as a bill of sale, with all the cars info on it. in other words, his old registration has been 'transfered' so to speak, but i DO NOT get to used his plates.

Not getting mixed up at all. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Plates are not transferable in NY state either, except in the case of a surviving spouse.