Automobile Title Transfer

[Commander Cody]

Do any of you folks know if there is a web-site where one could see if a title transfer is complete? I bought an auto and I cannot get my purple heart license plates transferred until the title has my name on it.

[JJVP]

Do any of you folks know if there is a web-site where one could see if a title transfer is complete? I bought an auto and I cannot get my purple heart license plates transferred until the title has my name on it.

Check here: http://www.txdmv.gov/protection/buying_ ... _check.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sorry I just checked on my car and it only gives you info on the car (make, model, year). No info on whose name it is register. Might just want to call them.

http://www.txdmv.gov/wheretogo/contact_us.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cobra Medic]

Don't they mail the title any more?

[Commander Cody]

Titals are mailed to the finance co.

[Commander Cody]

I guess it's kinda like waiting for your CHL. You want to know ASAP.

[Commander Cody]

Thanks for the input. I went to the office today and it’s a done deal now. Thanks again.

[talltex]

Titals are mailed to the finance co.

The title transfer is taken to your local tax office and sent to DMV in Austin then the new title in your name is mailed back to you if their is no lien, or original to lienholder and non-transferable duplicate to you if you have a loan on it. Normal titme from tax office to title in hand is about 2 weeks nowdays.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

In a somewhat related vein:

When you sell a vehicle that you own (no loan/lien where the financer holds the title), make sure to send in
the form to Austin where you state that you sold the car to "Joe Schmoh, 123 Main St, Anytown, Texas".

IIRC, this costs $5 but may prevent heartache in the future. I sold a car in 2001 and the joker who bought it
never titled it in his own name, even a year or two later! But I had informed Austin DPS (or some agency) that he was the owner.

Over the course of a few months, I got 2 separate certified letters from tow truck operators in the Mid-cities area
(Arlington/Grand Prairie, midway between Dallas and Fort Worth, for those unfamilar with Mid Cities) that the car
I sold had been towed, and that since I was the last owner of record, I owed them big money for the tow and storage.

I simply called them and said "Not mine anymore". They never bothered me again.

SIA

[tommyg]

Be sure to check the serial numbers on the
car against the serial number on the title
It is a good Idea for buyer abd seller to go
to the court house and do the transferr together
This can save a lot of trouble

There is a form that a seller can file stating that the car was sold.
The seller should fill out this form and send it in immediately.
This will help if the vehicle you sold is involved in an
incident like a hit and run after the sale
You have 30 days to do this

https://vision21.txdmv.gov/Vehicle/Main ... ation.aspx

[TexasRedneck]

Sorry - but I ain't gonna pay the state $5 to notify them that I've sold something that they are gonna be collecting taxes on again from the new owner. I'm not paid by them to do so....

[clarionite]

I don't think there is a fee for the notification to the state. I sold an older car a few years ago, and went online and filled out and submitted the form. I'm glad i did, because I think the car went to Mexico and was never tagged here. (The address for the guy who bought it was right on the border) I got one letter from the state about renewing my tags. I called and was told to ignore it because they could see in the system where I had sold the car.

[talltex]

In regards to notifying the state that you have sold the car: you can do that, but all you really need to do is just keep a copy of the bill of sale, showing date of sale and signatures of seller and buyer, to prove that the vehicle was no longer in your possession as of such and such date. This will cover you in event of the vehilce being involved in traffic/parking violations, towing incidents, and especially , in the event of it being involved in an accident. This not only applies to individual sales, but also when you trade a vehicle in to a dealer. In many cases, your trade-in may be wholesaled to another dealer...and the title may be transferred several times to different dealers over a period of several months before it winds up being sold to a retail customer, and during that time frame it still shows up in the DPS/DMV system as being in your name. Also, if it winds up being sold at a "buy here-pay here" lot, it may not be transferred until the note has been paid off, which may be a year or two, although this is not common. I see it happen a few times a year...someone calls me and says they've got a letter from some town or police dept. that they have outstanding parking tickets on a car they traded in 6 months ago, and I just send a letter off with a copy of the sales invoice, and that's the end of it. It happens so rarely, that I wouldn't bother notifying the state up front, but just be prepared in the unlikely event that it came up.