Buying a car with no Dash VIN?!

here are some thoughts:

1. vehicle title law is all state law, and the different states have different laws. some states title cars no matter the age and some do not issue titles for cars prior to certain years. whatever state you live in call the dept. of mt. vehicles and get their advice. then you don't have to worry about violating your state law whatever you do with the car.

2. because of the value of muscle cars these days, lots of people are doing things on the edge of the law. you can get "replacement" fender tags for mopars; "replacement" titles and of course, buy cars that have had the dash taken from one car and put into another (rebody cars). these practices may not be illegal unless you do some of this stuff in order to get more money for the car and then not disclose what you did to the buyer. that action would be a criminal act and a felony in all of the 50 states.

3. finally, if you do not have enough background or knowledge about old mopars - or are not "an old fogy" who grew up with these cars and knows what looks right and what doesn't, if you're going to buy a car, take someone with you who knows mopars. if you buy a car unknowingly that has a legal problem with the VIN and then try to sell it, YOU will still be committing a crime. you could be stuck with a car that can't be sold again and is only good as a parts car - no matter how nice it is!

4. one last thing - as the collector car hobby has grown so has the number of identification of formerly stolen cars. there have been a number of stories lately about cars being confiscated from their present owners because the car was stolen years ago. when the police seize such a car, the present owner receives NOTHING! the owner can try to sue the person who he bought the car from but those suits rarely produce any money. a person who buys a stolen vehicle NEVER acquires a good title to that car no matter how long ago the car was stolen or what the buyer may have invested in the car.

when i bought my two cudas off of ebay, i had the pennsylvania state police do a stolen car VIN check before i paid for the cars. in this day and age, you just can never be too paranoid....