TRACKING PREVIOUS OWNERS

[CUSTOMD2]

ANYBODY KNOW A WAY OF GETING AROUND THE "PRIVACY LAW" FROM THE DMV IN ORDER TO GET VEHICLES PAST OWNERS INFO?
I HAVE A 72 GSX,AND THE TITLE HAS THE PREVIOUS TITLE NUMBER ON IT,BUT I CANT GET THE VA DMV TO DISCLOSE THE NAME OR ANY INFO..
ANY IDEAS.
THANKS

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

What state?

[XXXGoldL34M20]

he has got VA which is Virginia

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Ah - I see that now. That is bad, very bad. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/frown.gif Virginia is near impossible - even with State Police assistance. Your best bet is a PI.

[Canuck]

See my story here on what I had to do to get info on My Chrysler 300F

http://www.vancouverclassiccars.com/Vancouver_Classic_Cars/1960_Chrysler_300F.html

Paul

[CUSTOMD2]

WENT AS FAR AS I COULD IN THE SAME FASION ON MY GSX.
EVEN WENT AS FAR AS POSTING ADDS ON CL,AND A LOCAL PAPER WHERE THE LAST OWNER SAID HE BOUGHT IT OUT OF.
WITH HAVING THE PREVIOUS TITLE NUMBER,AND THE CAR ALLWAYS BEING FROM VA SINCE NEW (FOUND THE DEALER INFO) IT WOULD TAKE LITTLE EFFORT FOR THE DMV TO TRACE THE CAR BACK TO THE OE OWNER IN 72.
IM IN MISSOURI SO NO LUCK ON LOCAL VA POLICE FRIENDS.

[Donnie]

not trying to hijack your post, but can anyone help with Ohio?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

OH has on online search feature. Although it does not give much info, it is better than most states. If you want more info, you need to use the paper form. Ohio is an average state for title info unless you have an inside contact.

[wisemanz28]

I'm looking for the previous owner of my 1969 Z28. The car came from Milwaukee,Wisconsin orginally. I found out it was a stolen recovered vehicle back in the very early 1970's. You guys have any tips on locating any info on the car?

[elonblock]

Canuck,

Great story! Congrats on obtaining the information and putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Elon

[bergy]

PA claims to only save records for 10 years (15 years for police searches), but the old info is still in the files (microfilm). I was recently able to get all ownership periods for my '69 Camaro sent to me on PA DMV letterhead. It takes a lot of persistence, knowing who to talk to, talking to supervisors - the archive researchers can get the info.

[bergy]

Doesn't Canada provide ownership history routinely? I wasn't too concerned with the ownership history of my Canadian Pace car (since I had the GM of Canada docs), but a print out of the previous few owners was shown on the Canadian registration docs that I got with the car.

[Keith Tedford]

We are in Ontario and when we bought our 396 car in '97, vehicle owner history still went back to day one. Now, apparently, it only goes back something like 15 years. I haven't checked this out myself, just what I have been told. I understand that the information is still on file though if it is required.

[wisemanz28]

Wow great story, I've had a similar story trying to locate the original owner of my 1969 Camaro Z28. I got close, I found the owner that had it in the early 70's, and he had a small car lot in Janesville, Wisconsin and he bought the car as a stolen recovery vehicle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I tried the Wisconsin B.M.V. and got the results similar to yours, thats where the search has ended. I know what you mean about your search, it was exciting talking to previous owners about my car, everyone was so suprised knowing the car was still around. I sent letters and pictures to some of them. I'm dissappointed that my search has been stalled out, but your story has given me hope. If you have any tips, man I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Jeff Wise

[mockingbird812]

Paul, Great detective work and tenacity!

[CUSTOMD2]

ANYBODY IN THE VA AREA THAT HAS A POLICE FRIEND???
THIS WOULD BE A EASY TASK,ID APRECIATE THE HELP IF SO.

[William]

Coppers generally need a reason to run a VIN. Later on somebody may ask why they ran it and if the car was ever stolen, could be trouble. All they will able to get is current info. NCIC is no longer easily accessed either.

Nothing ventured nothing gained but owner history is no longer easy to acquire. No one keeps records 40 years.

[Xplantdad]

Paul-cool stuff!

See you in January! <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif

[resto4u]

There are ways around the privacy act, but it is a grey area of the law.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

This is true as each state adopted the Privacy Act differently. Some essentially 'shut down', while others simply ask for a notarized form or they will cross out the personal info on their response. It all depends on the state.

I'm pretty sure that all states have the info, and they keep it on microfiche or other electronic media. It all comes down to 'who is asking', and if they warrant the extra work to retrieve the info. If there was a federal indictment involved, trust me - the info would be found.

There are some cases where the state will reply that the records have been lost - PA for example claims to have lost the records for early 1969. I'm not sure what to believe then, but I trust that since they took the trouble to reply - and kept the money - that they indeed searched.

[bergy]

Actually, I believe that it was the flood from hurricane Agnes that wiped out some of the PA records in Harrisburg. Gotta look at the title sequence numbers. For example, if you get back to the &quot;01&quot; sequence number for an original PA car - you've got the first ownership period no matter what the transaction date is. Sorry to delve into minutia, but it's important if you want to establish continuous history.

[Tracker1]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Keith Tedford</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We are in Ontario and when we bought our 396 car in '97, vehicle owner history still went back to day one. Now, apparently, it only goes back something like 15 years. I haven't checked this out myself, just what I have been told. I understand that the information is still on file though if it is required. </div></div>

Ontario will not give you the original owner's name just the next registered owner after that and so on up the line.....

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bergy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Actually, I believe that it was the flood from hurricane Agnes that wiped out some of the PA records in Harrisburg. Gotta look at the title sequence numbers. For example, if you get back to the &quot;01&quot; sequence number for an original PA car - you've got the first ownership period no matter what the transaction date is. Sorry to delve into minutia, but it's important if you want to establish continuous history. </div></div>

No apologies! The minutia can provide the most significant clues, and I have heard that Agnes took the early '69 records - bummer. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/frown.gif

Explain the &quot;01&quot; sequence number for the folks:

[bergy]

Sure - PA titles all have a 13 charactor title number on them. The first 9 charactors are numbers that are specific to that car. These 9 digits remain the same on every succeeding title that is issued for that vehicle. Digits # 11 &amp; 12 represent the title sequence number - they tell you how many total PA titles have been issued for that vehicle. the final two charactors are letters that represent the first two letters of the title holder's last name. It's important to remember that the sequence number does not necessarily represent the number of owners of a vehicle. Sequence numbers are advanced every time a title is re-issued due to a change. For example - placing a lien on a car due to financing results in a title change; name changes (due to marriage) results in a title change; etc. One car that I researched had 21 title sequences, but only 11 owners.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

So, when people refer to their car as having an 'A' or 'B' title it is not necessarily a 1 or 2 owner car?

Additionally, if a car is repo'd - I assume that would drive a title change too?

[bergy]

&quot;A&quot; (or &quot;01&quot;) title is a one owner. &quot;B&quot; (or &quot;02&quot;) could also be a one owner. If a finance company repo'd a car, they would probably already have a branded title in their files.

[Nova Research Project]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CUSTOMD2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">ANYBODY IN THE VA AREA THAT HAS A POLICE FRIEND???
THIS WOULD BE A EASY TASK,ID APRECIATE THE HELP IF SO. </div></div>

Sure if you car was stolen in VA.

In VA it is just like a NICB report. You need a police report and a case number for that particular VIN. Otherwise no deal.

Law Enforcement officials log the access to the files. I am told they can get in trouble for access without cause. Not many willing to risk it.

Greg

[Nova Research Project]

More...

I forgot but you can do a Prospective Purchaser Inquiry in Virginia.

VA PPI (https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/dmvnet/ppi/intro.asp)

But it will only show the last ten years if available.

I do believe that states do keep micro film records past 10 years, but because of tighter privacy laws, it is difficult to gain access. Tracing the pedigree of a vehicle is not considered necessary or even desirable for government agencies who fear that the previous owner will take them to court for releasing the information. Not to mention the budget cuts which probably eliminated the people to do the research.

Having a few 'orphaned' vehicles with no documentation, I feel your pain.

Good luck,
Greg

PS. Have you tried the The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) (http://www.vehiclehistory.gov/nmvtis_vehiclehistory.html) but mostly requires a newer VIN formats. But you may be able to find someone who can search the early VINs.