Greg Rogers

I am finally taking a 72 Cutlass Supreme to the salvage yard. I've had it over 20 years and have used many parts off it. I have a Michigan title for it. My buddy came over and said I should take out the vin tag and take it and the title to a title dealer. I sort of think of this as slightly shady. It's not anything special, just a Cutlass Supreme that had a 350. What do you guys think about it?

oldcutlass

It is shady and as you said I don't think there would be a market for a Cutlass title.

tru-blue 442

Junk yards in my neck of the woods wouldn't take it without the title. If it's going to scrap,
let the title die with the rest of the car, just a thought.

cherokeepeople

same here in iowa.they won't touch it without a title.but thats not to say you could cut it up and bring it in piece by piece.then you need to think of the unethical side.somebody in houston has a 72 cutlass supreme that was waterlogged,quick way to clear it from the flood rolls is new vin.i wish when all the flood waters clear they would go down the streets and take a big weight and crush all the cars to keep them from ever hitting the road again.

tru-blue 442

I had to scrap a 66 442, no title, no vin, a shame, but a rusty pos just the same. I cut that sucker up in small pieces and they still wanted a title! Fortunately, I had one from a 73 Supreme...

joe_padavano

Interesting. I've cut up and scrapped cars in pieces previously with no issue. If you just bring a hood or a roof, they can't expect (nor do they ask for) a title.

tru-blue 442

I could have made a few trips and done it like that but I just piled it all onto a trailer and showed up without knowing they needed a title. I had to pull over onto a vacant lot, drop the trailer and go back to the house and dig the 73 title out. Let them know 1st, Oops, I left the title at home, I'll be right back. Lesson learned.

Tedd Thompson

I sometimes get derelict cars left at our rentals, some belong to vacated renters other just show up out of the blue. This use to be a huge problem tracking down the owners and getting cars moved. I now tell the sheriff department that I have a abandon car on the property then put a three day warning on the windshield and in three days I have a towing company pick up said car or cars and they are gone, no paper work no paying the tow company no nothing. This is in California different states different laws, I know its legal and I know there is no hassle... Just my experience.... Tedd

wr1970

Um you can get a storage lien title? We can in my state if it has a vin.

joe_padavano

I know you can get a title for an abandoned car left on your property in the state of California - I've done it when I lived there. An acquaintance had left a 68 Cutlass convertible for me to work on. He then fell off the face of the earth. When I was about to move from SoCal, I went through the storage lien process, got a clean title for the car, and promptly sold it. Why give that money to a towing or salvage company when it can go in your pocket? Of course, the process takes longer than three days, since you need to post notices and demonstrate you attempted to contact the owner.

coldwar

Really the problem is applying the loose title you might have and numbers to another vehicle. We all have loose titles, I have a shoe box of them, and we see them for sale by others as souvieniers on ebay. It gets weird when you attempt to use your paper on another car - if it gets inspected later and the frame number or engine number or some combination of any indicated numbering doesn't match, the inspecting authority will work their way back to you. A old buddy of mine now dead did a short bit in jail due to exactly this after a later post sale inspection.

Don't confuse stories you might hear of what guys do with old pre-war Ford paperwork, while the law and it's application is the same, Fords are a different set of conditions. You save your title and tag and move them along to someone else, one day the dreaded knock heard at 9am on Sunday morning with state troopers in uniform standing there will make you regret whatever you realized in the deal.

Used to see boxes of titles for sale at swaps, I bought some years ago which I still have.
.

Paladin31

In Michigan, none of the scrap yards I have dealt with in the past 10 years or so will accept a car without Title, period. If it's as Joe said a hood or a door, no problem. But basically the pieces shouldn't look like a car, but chunks. I am sure that you could use Craigslist to have some scrapper come & get it...be aware that they have eyes on all other pretty metal you possess as well...

Also current rates are about $137/ton of steel/iron. So if you have a frame & chassis...you are looking at $80-90

Best wishes as always my friend,

Brett

Greg Rogers

Yep, I agree with the general consensus, and my own feelings actually, that it is shady and not worth the hassle.

CRUZN 66

Basically it's illegal and constitutes fraud... Let your conscious be your guide...

cherokeepeople

frank zappa nice!

Gary M

If it can be restored with a majority of the car intact, try to sell it as is for restoration but if not you risk your reputation by going foreword on this. The buyer will through you under the bus if they are caught trying to sell it. They will say, that's how I bought it and then you have to prove your innocent because they say they are a victim of you selling a scrap car fraudulently to them.

QUOTE=Greg Rogers;1042531]I am finally taking a 72 Cutlass Supreme to the salvage yard. I've had it over 20 years and have used many parts off it. I have a Michigan title for it. My buddy came over and said I should take out the vin tag and take it and the title to a title dealer. I sort of think of this as slightly shady. It's not anything special, just a Cutlass Supreme that had a 350. What do you guys think about it?[/QUOTE]

toymobile

I had a 74 Corvette BODY (I used the frame) listed it on CL as body only with VIN and trim tag still attached, sold it same day.

The guy that bought it told me he had a 75 that was stolen and recovered but the insurance Co. had totaled the car and in Fla. a totaled car can not be registered he planed on swapping the Vin . TO MUCH INFO FOR ME TO KNOW but that was his problem, I sold the car with good intent .

Just food for thought.

Johnny

texxas

You too? At the start of August I had 5 unregistered, nonrunning junkers sitting around the back lot of a group of 5 houses I have next to each other. I got some tow stickers on eBay and 4 of the 5 are now gone and not one resident claimed to know anything about those cars. The 5th car hasn't moved. I never saw it before it showed up. 15 year old Nissan Sentra, total POS. Some one comes late at night and hangs around it drinking beer and throwing the cans on the ground, so I have been popping the trunk and putting them in there. It's getting full. The steering wheel doesn't lock so I will probably tow strap it down the street soon. I won't miss that big rolling trash can. City won't do anything about it other than a sticker since it isn't on the street and can't be seen from the road. I can get a tow company to move it and have code enforcement sticker it, but last time I did that the code guy started looking all around asking about my trailer and saying the scrap metal pile was an eyesore and the fence was leaning etc... I don't need him to come back. I have enough to do already. I did fix the fence.

Tedd Thompson

The word is out around our rentals. they all know I won't fool around anymore. Now if someone has a problem with a car and tell me what is wrong and approximately how long its going to be down I'll work with them but no more stacking cars up like cord wood and forgetting them. We almost lost our insurance (and that was just liability ) a couple years back because of abandon cars and precious junk which caught on fire (actually the fire was set) and burnt down two units......Tedd