[FRANKTHECRANK]

There’s a lot to the story- I do have a contract and a lot of photos. He knows the law and how much he can get away with. The police department is lazy and is booking everything under a ‘civil issue’. My lawer tells me that I will certainly win though

Yes- my lawer has all of this

So, you have a contract, lots of photos, and a lawyer on the case ....... but you're asking us if having a title with no car is worth anything? Yeah, my guess is there is a "whole" lot more to this story.

 

[jerry67]

You could call the Consumer Protection Agency in your state, they should be able to give advise

 

[scblucam]

Comes back to the VIN. If removed and placed on his car it is yours.

 

[CityguyUSA]

Is a real title worth anything without a car? I sent my car to a restoration shop where it was basically hacked apart to make a car for the shop owner by taking everything nice. Major fraud- don’t know what to do

Post this person's business so no one else has a similar issue.

 

[sschas]

My first thought is absolutely post the name of the business. My second thought is your lawyer may have advised against doing so. But man, my interest is peaked on this deal. Good luck and please keep us informed how this thing closes.

 

[adjudimo]

Good advice given. Hope it works out for you. I have a title to a 1957 Chevy Belaire 2 door hardtop that was stolen from me back in 1971. It just went POOF! Don't really know why I still have the title anymore. Silly, I guess.

 

[scblucam]

Good advice given. Hope it works out for you. I have a title to a 1957 Chevy Belaire 2 door hardtop that was stolen from me back in 1971. It just went POOF! Don't really know why I still have the title anymore. Silly, I guess.

Not silly if it goes POOF! and reappears.

 

[patman2]

I have a title to a 1957 Chevy Belaire 2 door hardtop that was stolen from me back in 1971

It's worth throwing the VIN into google and see if you get any hits... You never know.

Here too...is it still listed as stolen?

VINCheck® Lookup | National Insurance Crime Bureau

About VINCheck

www.nicb.org

 

[fairfax1000]

If you file a police report as stolen, and report it to the dmv as stolen, I suppose you can move forward. But you still don’t get your car back restored. Take a friend or 2 to his shop and record everything he says. Then go record what your car had on it when you dropped off. Go to his car and record what was yours that’s now on his. If he says to not go in the shop, go anyway. If he threatens to call the police, tell him to go ahead and do it. Record it start to finish, without stopping, (You can always fast forward past the dead spots) and I’m sure his reactions and comments will support your claim. Video evidence doesn’t lie, and your lawyer or any judge will most likely side with you. It sucks there are people like this in business.

 

[57vette]

I don't know if you can report a car as "stolen" when you and the restoration shop have a written agreement and you brought/sent the car to his shop. But like any others here, I think something smells fishy. On your dated and signed written agreement does it state specifically what's to be done to your car, and whether or not the shop had the right to keep any replaced or removed specific parts that fell under the terms of the agreement? IOW, if you specified you wanted it converted to a RS and you wanted a cowl hood... and he kept the old grill shell and hood, are you complaining because the take-offs are valuable and could have been re-sold? Did the car have a motor and drivetrain when it went in, was it drivable? What parts were removed, do you have a list? Did you contract for a complete or partial restoration and was there a time frame associated with the agreement? Is the problem that if you take back the car before they are finished with the "restoration" it voids the contract? If you want to keep the shop name secret, you could still post the agreement and use a utility to blur out the shop location and contact info.