Incorrect dash vin tag
I’m fairly positive the gentleman I got the car from was unaware of this issue. As the car was not on the road or registered in his name
Oh boy! This is like stirring a bucket of crap! The more you stir the worse it stinks!!
Unless you have a motor vehicle registration from the previous legal owner, listing the correct vin for that particular car, the vehicle is not yours. As you said, the previous owner never registered the car so if he doesn't have a bill of sale from the person he bought it from, it wasn't his either. Before you do anything, establish if the guy you bought the car from actually owned it. If he didn't register it, he should still have a bill of sale or a document signing over ownership. You need to establish who sold the car to the guy you bought it from. Then, that person may be able to solve the vin issue.
By the way, if you traded one car for another, its still a legal transaction and, still needs a bill of sale to transfer ownership.
Also, if the last state where the vehicle was sold assigned a new vin number, the registration should state that clearly.
I 'm going with Alaskan_TA on this one.. this whole scenario looks and feels totally fu#ked up and is going to result in a whole lot of anguish the minute you try to register that car. At first glance it looks totally illegal!!
