Hylton,
You should be able to purchase a bond through an insurance company to protect you from a big loss on a car deal like you described. Here in the states it doesn't cost that much and I think after 3 years or so the owner can get an actual title.

 

that depends on the state, Nevada for one will not do a bonded title and there are a few others. titling companies can help you get a title if you don't have one, it does cost some money and the car has to have a clean VIN meaning not totaled/salvage or stolen.

 

If you dumped $40K into a car you didn't have a title for

 

It varies by state. Some states don't require a title and allow a bill of sale for cars past a certain age, then you can apply for the title yourself. These states have a bill of sale form you can print out from their DMV webpage. One of the main things a title proves is that there is no lien on a vehicle so no one else has a right to it. There are ways to prove that regardless...kinda like when you have to buy title insurance when you buy a house which is a fancy way of paying too much money just for someone to check and say no one else owns it. Now if the car was stolen, that's another story. Most states have a lost title process and you can ask the owner to complete that before you buy the car, that is if they ever had one.

For instance, I recently bought a '69 in GA with a bill of sale since it had not been titled since maybe three owners back. GA will not title an old vehicle if the title has lapsed between owners. I had the 1991 title from an old owner but it was no good since it wasn't signed and that person wasn't the person I bought it from anyway. I registered and titled it in SC but they just gave me a "temp title" with "unknown lien" printed on it. They said come back in six months and I could get a title with the lien part removed.

Funny thing is I moved from GA to SC about five years ago and had all my cars retitled. That car I just bought with no title was easier to retitle than an old truck back when I moved and I FRIGGIN OWNED THE TRUCK AND MY NAME WAS ON THE GA TITLE. My father had cosigned with me way back when I bought it and the title still had his name on it as well so he had to sign the title.

 

My question though is, if I buy a car in the US without the original title, can someone knock on my door 10 years later with the last registered Title and legally lay claim to my car?

A title only means so much. A paperwork trail means a lot more.
Someone can have a title, but it could have been a duplicate title. Whereas if you have a receipt showing that how you purchased it and the owner legally owned it and relinquished ownership to the vehicle, the papertrail would trump the title.

The opposite can happen too.
Sell a car and they go out and have a major accident with it. If they haven't bothered transfering the title, they could say the car /responsibility is still yours. Hence why I always get a receipt when I sell a car....

 

Sell a car and they go out and have a major accident with it. If they haven't bothered transfering the title, they could say the car /responsibility is still yours. Hence why I always get a receipt when I sell a car....

Receipt is a good idea. Also here in CA when I sell a car there is a form to send in within I think 10 days. It shows you have sold the car and the new owners name and address. Odometer reading and sale amount also. Supposed to cover the seller and the State then knows what the sale amount was and then they get their 8.25% sales tax from the buyer when registered.......

 

In the state of Illinois technically speaking it is illegal to posses a signed title. What this means is when you sell a car you and the buyer should go to the title agency and transfer said title at time of sale. This protects you as the seller from the liability issues of a car that has been involved in an accident and the title never transfered. I think the days of trusting the buyer to do the right thing are over.

Jeff

 

In the state of Illinois technically speaking it is illegal to posses a signed title. What this means is when you sell a car you and the buyer should go to the title agency and transfer said title at time of sale. This protects you as the seller from the liability issues of a car that has been involved in an accident and the title never transfered. I think the days of trusting the buyer to do the right thing are over.

Jeff

Wow. That would put me out of business. I flip a few cars a year. If I title more then 6 cars a year in New Jersey I need to become a dealer. That involves having a legally apporved dealer lot,about $10,000 a year cost for insurance,and I would have to warranty that every car I sell passes state inspection. The last car I sold broke in half when I pulled it out of a field. It would be kind of hard to warranty that one. I get these cars for free or even charge the owner to take them away and then sell them to people who want to restore them or use them for parts. That broken car was a real ram Air GTO that I got over 6 grand for. Basically it would be hard for anybody to be in the flipping market. 3/4 of the car I sell I get paid to take away from the previous owners because they were supposed to be crushed. Of course it sure helps to be able to flip cars without having to be involved in the whole tax issue.

 

Hylton when I purchased my car from a USA seller I had to have the ownership at the boarder crossing 48 hours prior to the car arriving. I was told they do a title search to ensure that it was not stolen or proceeds from crime, liens, etc.. Now without title I would call them and ask what the process should be. I think this kind of gives you a clean bill of health to a certain extent.