Hey there guys, this is my first post but I've been a lurker here for quite some time. I hope I'm posting this in the correct subforum. I hope the mods can move this to the correct place if I'm not.

I am living in Iceland and in cooperation with my cousin that lives in the states I bought my 1991 z28 back in the summer of 2007. I won it at a auction on copart.com and the only thing that was wrong it is was a broken fuel pump...

The plan was to go out and visit my cousin the next summer, take the car for a roadtrip and then ship it to Iceland.. But due to personal reasons the next summers passed and I never went to take that roadtrip. So I decided to just get the camaro shipped to Iceland. It was picked up by the shipping company with all the papers that I got with it from copart and I thought it was ready to ship out but then it got stopped by the customs because the title was missing.
I went ahead and contacted copart but they said they could not help me because too much time has went by since I bought the car from them.
Next I went ahead and searched google for available options and found out that a so called "title company" might be able to help me so I went ahead and contacted a title company called "international title service" which had a pretty good reputation at the time, the told me they could get me a new title so I sent them my money, but after 6 months of them not getting back to me and not replying my emails or phonecalls I decided to look them up on google again and then I found out they had gone straight downwards since I sent them my money and a lot of other people were facing the same issue as me. I contacted my credit card company and got a full refund three months later.

Right now I am wondering if I do have any options left or if I am officially screwed. Does anyone here have any experience with this sorta thing? I can provide the papers I have and the vin number of the car for anyone that is able to provide any help and I am willing to pay whatever it takes to get that title.

Long story short: Bought a camaro back in 2007, tried to ship it to my country, got stopped in the customs because of a missing title, got cheated by a title company, Is there anything I can do to get a title?

 

Take the vin code.. run a CARFAX on the car. This will tell you who owned the car last..
Try to contact the last KNOWN title holder... IF your lucky you can get them to file for a lost title, and sign off on it, (it'll cost them from $15-$25 for the lost title) you can send them the cash... BUT ONCE AGAIN you run the risk of spending $50 and getting no where (car fax is like $25)

I did this with 3 "lost title" cars, i got the title from 2 one stole my cash, but used paypal and got my cash back... ONLY idea i know.. best of luck.

Oh or you could have your friend file for a ABANDENMENT TITLE... WHICH will make it a "salvaged abandenment title" which i hear you can get cleaned up to a strait title.. i dont know for 100%

 

I'm assuming your cousin has possession of the car now? If so, it would be easier for him to get a new title in his name at his local DMV. After he has a title in his hand, he can then sign it over to you, then the car can be shipped.

It's just going to be very hard to get a title unless you can physically walk into the DMV and file for one, and they usually want to see the car as well so they can verify the VIN.

 

Ether you or you cousin need to apply for a lost or defective title in the state where the car is now. If you have a proper bill of sale, this should be no problem but it will cost you some money. It varies from state to state, but generally you will need to get a Surety or Lost Title bond in the state where you apply. Then you have to send the proof of bond and bill of sale and what other supporting paperwork you have to the states DMV and apply for a new title.

http://www.bfbond.com/pages/title-for-bond.html

 

I would think the co. that sold you the car would have had to have a title to sell it.So I would put the responsibility for the title on them,but you would have to have a receipt for the car first from them.Contact them again,they should by law have records of the sale.
Why in gods name did you wait 5 yrs.

 

Thanks, I'll definately take a look at carfax, since I'm not from the states I had no idea that such thing would exist.
I tried to do a search on carfax.com but it seems that I need to be located in the states to register for an account, is there any other place I can try?
Or could someone here get me a carfax report? I can pay via paypal.

Do you know where I can get a title cleaned, or read further about this progress?



Unfortunately my cousin is located in another state than the car, the camaro is sitting on the harbor where the shipping company is loacted, at virginia beach and I've been paying storage fees for it for some months now (ouch). I'd rather not be paying for transport for the car over half of the states and then back...
Is there no way to do this with the DMV over email or phone?

Do they usually need to see the car to give me a new title for it? What states are the most friendly, do you know if this might work in VA?
I might even take the chance and fly out to VA to work this out, or would I need to be a resident to be able to file for a new title?


Well I had no idea that the title was missing, I just got a bunch of papers with it and assumed it was everything I needed... My cousin and his friend have bought many cars through copart and shipped them out of the states and there has never been any problems like this with it.
I contacted them and they said they can't do anything about the title since it's been too long since I bought the car but I do think they have confirmation that I bought the car from them and I have the bill of sale as well so that might help me obtain a new title.
Like I said, I was going to take the car for a roadtrip before I'd ship it. It actually was three years after I bought the car that I discovered that the title was missing and contacted copart, It's just taken some time to work these things through by waiting for the title company, getting my money back etc.

 

And note that there is nothing that DMV in VA can do! (I was told) due to the car was last registered in California, where the car was sold.

 

If California has received nothing on the car after a period of 5 years it is purged from there system and assumed left California. Just apply for new Title in state where car is and see what happens. I am not sure of VA. laws but when I brought a 2000 windstar from WA. to CA. it was a matter of a trip to DMV and they did a odometer check and opened hood to verify it looked (no after market parts on a minivan of all cars haha) then they did they ppwrk processing and a new title and registration was issued and all smog requirememnt were stamped new to california.