Okay so I would love some advice on my 1978 Datsun 280z located in Louisville, KY.

Okay here's the story:
I bought my first car when I was 15 (Now 16 almost 17). It was a 1978 Datsun 280z! So I had the tittle for it but it was never transfered from a dealer to dealer tittle (Needed to be an owner to owner tittle) Also it was an indiana tittle. So we actually found the guy who had last had the car in his name. He was helping us and we had almost had it in our name when suddenly we lost literally all of the old tittle information, Inspection papers, ECT.

So we tried seeing if they had it on file, they did not. So I called kentucky's DMV and they had no clue who the car was tittled to when we gave them the VIN, and said we would need substantial proof to continue; which we had none (the guy helping was older and didn't remember anything about buying the car).

So I called Indianas "BMV" where they said it was still tittled in the first guy who owned the cars name! It had never actually been transfered from him. So basically all we need now is for him to get a dubplicate tittle and then transfer it to me. But it's been 3 Months since he said he would get it for us... and I have been pretty heavily on him about it and he keeps saying he forgot and will do it next week and is a repeating cycle. Now he's stopped even responding.

You can imagine how this is for a kid like me. I bought this car at 15 and worked all year fixing it up to drive and have put a good amount of money into it also. And now am ready to drive it!

Any advice on what I could do!??? (Please no: Oh just sell the car or part it. No I will never do that. I will keep it untittled forever if I have to lol). And I can't "call the cops ect. on who I bought it from due to the person I bought it from didn't even have the tittle even signed over to his name. Here's the order of people it's gone thru if it helps: FAKE EXAMPLE NAMES USED:
Lary Dun, Goodwill, Ebay Motors, John Blue, Me Tittle is currently in "Lary Dun's" name, which he donated to goodwill in 2004ish.

And yes I know i'm ignorantfor buying a technically untittled car :/ I was just an eager kid and saw a great deal, but see why now! Thanks for advice anyone!!!

Here's some possible solutions. I used to live in North Dakota, if you bought a car with no title, built a car from scratch, or lost your title you simply called the Highway Patrol and they sent an officer by your shop. He ran the car's VIN through the system and if it wasn't reported as Stolen/Missing, you were approved. The officer then would visually inspect the car to insure that it is relatively safe to drive and has the basic safety requirements (brake-lights, head-lights, mirrors, etc...). You then got an affidavit that the DMV recognized and you could then apply for a title.

I'm not sure how many states have similar methods, but if you could find a friend in one that does who is willing to get the car registered for you and then "sell" it to you, that could work.

Another option is researching a classic car title service that can get you a new title. Most companies will charge between $500-900 depending on the difficulty of getting it.

~Peter

Yeah I actually work at an auto shop and my boss is pretty cool and said he can do the option where he gets it in his name and "sells" it to me. May have to give that one a try.

I'm in Louisville KY and I've been down this road. Granted it's been a few years and I'm going off memory.

Title companies do not work in the state of KY, at least they didn't when I tried using them years ago and to my knowledge nothing has changed, so thats out.

If you have any close friends or family in IN it's a lot simpler there they have to have the car to get the title but from what I understand it's not a big deal there.

You need the seller to fill out a KY Transfer request form and a Title or bill of sale. You take this to the sheriff's inspection either downtown (this office seems to be more stringent) or the westport location (which conveniently has a clerks office as well). The car will have to be running, have a crack free windshield,seat belts, bumpers, working headlights, taillights, turn signals, horn and wipers (they will check). They will read the vin number from the dash, (if your dash is not original and has a different vin number remove the plate) They can use the vin on the cowl or in the door plate but go to the dash first thing. The Sheriff will keep your VTR and give you a new one they sign, You then take this VTR and the title or bill of sale to the clerks office and do your transfer (if not insured you can do a title only transfer, if you want plates you'll want to have an insurance card with you or proof faxed in. This should get it done but does require you have some signatures from the title holder, you might want o plan on showing up on his door with paperwork in hand, even if he produced the title you need the kentucky VTR filled out.

So what shop do you work at? Not a lot of S30's around here, most of us know each other. The Z club meets on the 26th at Collins Nissan at 6:00 pm.

Thanks, And I work at a place called Bluegrass Muffler. It's local, and we do alot more than mufflers. I am mainly just a clean up boy right now as i'm not old enough to work on the cars yet.

A Buddy of mine used to work there, Nathan, he's at Stein now.

Wow that's cool, it's a pretty cool job for a kid I got lucky to get it.