[260]

A while back I posted this same question.I have a 1978 title and the DMV only goes back to 1980.Someone told me to go out and buy a Old Car Trader.He said they had title search companies in there.Well I didnt find one!I will pay any price to talk to the original owner of my car!Can anybody help?????

 

[elcamino]

Tracking down previous car owners can involve some legal problems if you are not carefull. There have been laws passed in the last several years to curb this kind of thing for all but legimate reasons (talking may not be one). Most people can become paranoid when strangers start bohtering them about something they have long forgoten they ever owned. People have tracked down ex-wives/girlfriends etc and done harm to them by using vehicle records. Most states have passed laws and there may even be federal laws relating to this, I have been told that states that will give you the history will redact the owners names.

I once had to stop a car dealer from giving my name to propestive buyers for my trade in, one guy was a real pest and thought he should keep me informed about his dealings with the dealer, wanted to be my buddy I guess. He also told the salesman a lie that I said something derogatory about the car trying to get the price lowered. Damn saleman believed him and barked at me "why did you tell him that?"

So as you can see, tracking down car owners can irrate people. I personally would not do it!



[This message has been edited by elcamino (edited 05-21-99).]

 

[260]

I can assure you I am not one of those pests.All I want to know is how many previous owners and possibly a little chat...nothing more.

 

[Gene Chas]

260, I'll share my experiecne. I was told a BS story about the original owner of my car( check "Vet's and their cars" for that one), and I knew the car never left a certain city. I gave the motor vehicles bureau a call and reiterated the same BS story I was fed and, although the taped message indicated that due to the privacy act information on prior owners, blah, blah, blah, this gal was going to help me out. I happened to have the name of the second woner from some old registration/bill of sale documents the last owner gave me. She found his name, but couldn't get her database to find the original. God knows she tried. So there you have it. The car never left the state and the records couldn't be pulled.

At a local Camaro/Chevelle specialty store a guy pulled up in his new Camaro and the owner came out to look. I happened to be leaving so, hey, I'll check out this guys ride too. The fella went on to say the car came out of Texas and he checked it out. The shop owner obviuosly asked him how, and he said he had the state police check it out. The owner said he understood that you couldn't check anything out of state. Well the state police can. The proud owner of the Camaro was a peace officer so unless you're connected... I asked a neighbor who's a dispatcher to check my Chevelle and he said that there was just a policy which forbid this type of checking due to a current/previous owner altercation here at our local town police.

I went on to call a client and friend of mine whose is the areas largest Chevy dealer. He didn't think any of the original transaction records would be kept this long.

So there you have it. Even with access to a database, my state's records were incomplete. If you've got a buddy who's a cop and he's willing to help, it's worth a shot. I've wondered whether the police would've accessed the same state registration database anyway and found the first owners records missing or incomplete.

Net/net, even with access to data it could be a bear. Remember 1K of computer memory probably cost 5 grand in 1967, 68, etc. so archives of such records weren't easily kept.

As a funny aside, the second owner of my car was really excitied to hear about the car. (I called him up after I searched his name on four11.com ) In fact, he's showing up tomorrow to take a look at her. I'm sure he'll give me some insight into the car's history. It'll be cool.

 

[260]

Gene,
Thanks for your insight.Your advice may be all I need.I will give it a try.....

 

[elcamino]

Just recently seen a news report on a Wisconsin TV station about police officers who were in big trouble for using there computer access to some national data base for personal purposes. They were suspended and face criminal charges etc was the jist of the story.

The records may still exist but are blocked from access. I work for a state goverment and if I access any site or records I am not permitted to access. Goodbye job! No tolerance for this at all.

[This message has been edited by elcamino (edited 05-22-99).]

 

[Keith Tedford]

You could always put an ad in a news paper in the area where the car may have spent its life. A previous owner or one of their friends may see the add and get in touch. Just a thought.
Our '69 Chevelle had 12 previous owners and the information comes with the change of ownership from the Ontario DVM at a price of $20. I have contacted two previous owners, one being the person who bought the car new. He figured it was the best phone call that he'd had in a long time and we had a very good talk. He was the one who installed the Stewart Warner tach and gauges along with the Hurst shifter. He had tried to trace the car a few years ago to buy it back with no luck. He ended up buying another SS and cloning the car. You never know until you try.

 

[Gene Chas]

Yeah, 260, let me reiterate what Elky said. I told my neighbor to not take any personal risk in checking these things out and he didn't, he wasn't allowed to.