Potential Auto Registration Hell

[Michael Palero]

Background:
I was given a Nissan 240sx from Patty.
[A friend] gave Patty the Nissan 240sx
[Brother] of [A friend] purchased this car from a Nevada resident.

Problem:
I would like to registered this car in CA for Patty. I have no paperwork. The 3 people before me (Patty, [A friend], & [Brother]) have no paperwork.

I spoke with the CA DMV today via phone call and they said I will need to provide a NV title & chain of ownership when I register the car with the CA DMV.

I checked the VIN with a free CARFAX check, and the car checks out as NOT STOLEN and SALVAGE.

Is there a way for to register this car in CA if the original Nevada owner cannot be found?

[Rick Brown]

Sounds like a good candidate for a track only car...........

[Robert Puertas]

You have to send a registered letter to the last "official" owner. If you get no response for a certain amount of time, then you are good to go. There is obviously some official stuff that needs to happen to prove you're not just cheating the system, but I have a friend who went through something similar.

Good luck...

[Michael Palero]

Sounds like a good candidate for a track only car...........

Wish I had a truck.
In use it will be a track only car, but since I don't have a truck it needs to be registered so it can be driven to the events =(

You have to send a registered letter to the last "official" owner. If you get no response for a certain amount of time, then you are good to go. There is obviously some official stuff that needs to happen to prove you're not just cheating the system, but I have a friend who went through something similar.Good luck...

Thanks Robert. I looked around. What you are suggesting is the same as putting a Lien on the car, correct?

I've found the paperwork from the CA DMV for the lien, but I'm hoping I can still use this paperwork since this is a Nevada-plated car.

Nevada DMV's helpline has closed for the day, I'll see what I can find out.

P.S. if you ever need to ask a DMV related question, the CA DMV twitter folks are SUPER responsive. I received a phone call about this issue from them in less than 2 hours from posting my original help tweet. It sure beat driving to the DMV and getting passed back and forth between people that would know!

[Robert Puertas]

Twitter huh?
Impressive!

I usually just go to AAA when I have a DMV issue. They can't do everything, but they always know what to do and how to do it, even in the rare cases where they can't do it themselves.

[Michael Palero]

Twitter huh?
Impressive!

Yeah it was a great and really positive experience with the CA DMV.

I usually just go to AAA when I have a DMV issue. They can't do everything, but they always know what to do and how to do it, even in the rare cases where they can't do it themselves.

AAA is great, until they lose your paperwork. That's another kind of nightmare.
Dan Yeung went to AAA Alhambra to start getting the Cressida I gave him registered.
The orignal title and smog paperwork was lost by that AAA