Ok here's my dilemma. I purchased a MINI from a NAM member. After I paid him, he paid off MINIUSA, who requested to the original owners DMV to send him a copy of the pink slip (to Hawaii), and then he is supposed to send that to me once he receives it.

Sooo to make a long story short, my problem is that the tags are expiring at the end of the month, I still don't have the pink slip so I can't register the car in my name or renew the tags. I thought I'd have everything taken care of weeks ago, but I was wrong.

Any thoughts??

 

Too many links in that chain. You haven't done anything wrong, so I would assume it is not going to be OK and start damage control procedures. Take this story to the appropriate office and start trying to make it right in whatever way you can.

Of course, if you have phone numbers to bug the parties involved, that can't hurt anything either.

 

You might want to get an application for a duplicate title - this page covering transfer of ownership mentions it as an option:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr18.htm

 

Talk to the DMV. What do we know?

 

do you belong to AAA? they're real good straightening stuff like that out.

 

Do you have a bill of sale from the NAM member? Take that to your DMV and ask what the next step would be. Varies by State, you can usually get by with just applying for a duplicate title, but you may need a letter from MINIUSA stating that the vehicle was paid off and there is no lien on it.

 

I had this same problem when I sold my last car...

Problem...I paid off the loan from Toyata Financial.

They send me my pink slip then I had to sent the pink slip to DMV to get there name off the loan. This process to 4-6 weeks. I had a buyer for the car but the other party would not take ownership until I got the pick slip from the DMV.

So I had to wait 6 more weeks before I sold the car.

So you may have to wait about 6 weeks to get all the paper work in your name.

 

Thanks everyone! I do belong to AAA, and I made an appointment with my local DMV for tomorrow. Because I bought this car in not running condition--I had to have it towed off the storage lot--acquiring it, and getting it out of the hot baking sun was necessary to prevent additional damage to the paint, so it really wasn't feasible for either of us to wait until all the paper work was done before selling it. Though admittedly, I was more enamored with the MCS and restoring it, than I was about all the little details about whether the car was even paid off, and whether the tags were about to expire.

 

Wow, fun! First thing to do is to call your insurance company. They are usually good at helping you out on these kid of things. You could call the DMV, but their automated system is very convoluted and you may never gat an answer. Going to the DMV is always an option, but I'd only do that as a last resort.

Also, I think that you have 30 days from the time your tags expire to renew them. A cop told me that once.

 

What about temp tags? Those 30 day tags?

...Les

 

I'm sure you have a valid reason but why do you need up to date tags if the car's not running?

 

I didn't say the car isn't running now....it wasn't when I bought it.

 

I'm not sure they have those in CA. I believe the tag stays with the car, but needs to be registered in the new owners name. It should be worth the aggravation once all this paper chase is done. Have the seller overnight the papers to you.

 

I'm betting if you pay the reg fees you'll get a tag (as long as you don't need a SMOG check) - they don't care who owns it as long as the fees are paid!

 

Except he will need a smog check to bring the car in from out of state. I had to do just that back in 2003 when I moved back here from Colorado.

 

Yeah and I'll be responsible for sales tax!

As it stands, I talked to MINIUSA and also finally got in touch with the owner, and he's overnighting some documents that will hopefully get me going.

The local DMV basically told me that I was better off not driving the car when they expire--thanks to a new service that lets people report others driving on expired out of state plates! Arggg

 

You could always swap plates with your Cooper. Then drive slowly and carefully!

 

tags are a fix it ticket. So if you're going to get registered, the only risk you have it a court date, but you won't have to pay anything...

Matt

 

Ahhh....gotch ya.....tx...Les

 

Hah, yeah except the plates on the Cooper are going with the new owner the day after tomorrow!

What about if I took the plates off altogether?? Would that attract more attention or less? I could get one of those dealer advertising paper plates and then my car would look like a new car without plates.