What should have been a routine visit to the DMV quickly turned into a nightmare for this 1967 Corvette owner.
Without fail, each and every year, most of us go through the same old process of paying our vehicle registration fees to the DMV, at which point we get our fresh sticker that keeps us legal for yet another year. It’s typically a boring process that doesn’t even involve having to go to the DMV anymore (thankfully!), as most states allow us to pay these fees online and receive our new stickers in the mail. However, in the case of the 1967 Corvette owned by CorvetteForum member rbwamsley‘s father, things didn’t exactly go that smoothly when he tried to renew his registration recently, as he explained in this thread.
“My dad has owned his 1967 Corvette since 1973,” he said. “This year he went to get the antique registration renewed and the DMV told him the title had been released and the VIN is registered in another state. My dad has been on the phone for hours with the DMV in our state and the DMV in the state where the VIN is now titled along with the sheriff’s department. Searching the VIN on Google, I was able to see the car and that it was sold by a classic car dealer and by Mecum Auctions twice. Mecum said they verify the VINs on all cars before they are sold, but I seriously doubt they checked the frame VIN as it’s extremely difficult to see. There is a chance that we can get the vehicle retitled here, but then I’m just worried about the other person going and doing the same thing they did in the first place and pulling the title back to their state.”
This is a nightmare of a situation indeed, and the sort of discovery that no one wants to make. Unfortunately, with the prices of old Corvettes continuing to skyrocket, well, it’s going to become more common as well. Regardless, many suggest that the member’s father secure an attorney, though some believe that the fact he’s owned it for so long should help as well.
“Provenance. If your dad has owned this car since ’73 and has a state issued title in his name from 1973 and has continually kept renewing his state registration and insurance from 1973,” said phil2302. “Assuming all numbers on the car check out with his docs I don’t see how his ownership can be disputed. I would have an attorney look at this.
However, as one might imagine, the OP isn’t alone, as at least some other members have faced this same problem and managed to get it corrected. “I had an issue like this,” said elwood13. “My brother bought the car in 1978. Quit driving it in 1986 and then moved to a different state, never registering the car. When I went to title the car in my name in 2018 they said it was registered in New York. Even though I had his loan paperwork and past Texas registration records, it didn’t matter.”
“I had to contact a local auto theft detective to come out and verify the VIN on the frame. He filled out a state form and he contacted NY detectives where the car was registered. They went out and verified that the VIN on that car was not correct. The kicker was I had to wait for that owner to re-register the car correctly. That is what the NY DMV told me as I had been calling them as well. I think the owner changed it within a couple weeks. Took about eight months to get a clear title.”
Some good advice, though of course, these types of situations can vary greatly, particularly from state-to-state. Regardless, this story also serves as a warning and a reminder that these days, with collector car prices continuing to rise, there are plenty of fraudsters out there that don’t mind making our lives difficult to make a quick buck or two.
Photos: CorvetteForum
Keyword: Lifelong 1967 Corvette Owner Shocked to Discover That Someone Cloned Their VIN