[Jay H 237]

I'm wondering if anyone has done a title search in NJ? I went to thier website and can't find any actual info on doing a search.


Here's why I'm asking, my father just found an old registration for his 1973 Mustang Grande that he bought new and had until he traded it in to a Chevy dealer in 1982. We're trying to see if we can find out what happened to the car.

I just ordered a Marti report on it for him and he should get that before X-mas.

I know there are privacy laws and the DMV may not give out much info but it doesn't hurt to try and see if the car is still around, even if they don't give out any names. There's always that slim chance we may find out what happened to 3F04F126773 after it was traded into Artsma Chevrolet in Wyckoff.

[Veronica]

Hello. Apparently, the answer to the question in the thread title is 'no'. In most states, they're pretty funny about tracking down a person by means of an auto vin. If you had a friend that was a cop or worked at the DMV, you might be able to convince them to help you out, but they would probably be putting their job in jeopardy by doing so. But, someone that knows you mean no harm, other than pestering some guy about selling his car to you, might be willing to go ahead and push a couple of buttons for you.

[Johnsteve]

Its very funny question but its also very interesting.Reply for your question also posted by a member was excellent.lol.Thanks.
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john


New Cars

[Irishking]

In Indiana you can fill out a form and pay $8 to have a Title History Check run on a VIN. However if the car was not titled or registered in Indiana within the past 10 years, you will end up getting nothing back on it. The Indiana BMV only keeps records back ten (10) years.

[Jay H 237]

I should do an update, I forgot about this thread.

Last spring I called the NJ DMV and requested a title search form which was mailed to me. I filled it out and sent a check to the DMV. I got a letter back a month later telling me that they had purged thier records and that there was no indication of the car being titled or registered going back to May 1988.

Now that could mean the car was junked by then, but it also could be unregistered or titled sitting in a garage, yard, field or it could also mean that the car was taken to another state by then.

It would get costly doing searches in all states but that becomes another problem too. Some states now no longer issue titles for older cars so I wouldn't be able to do a title search on a 1973 in those states.

I know that my chances of finding the car are almost nonexistent but it doesn't hurt to try and look every now and again. That's why I have the VIN in my sig on here, the Vintage Mustang Forum too, watch Ebay for 73s at times and have even been contacted by a few people every so often about a car they saw that I will check out.

The Chevrolet dealer (Artsma) that my father traded it in to has been out of business for years so that's a dead end too.

The Grande was well maintained and garaged it's whole life and in very nice shape still when he traded it in and unless it was in a wreck had plenty of life still left in it. His job moved further away and he wanted a better fuel economy car when he found a 4 cyl Citation that replaced the Grande.

I got a deluxe Marti report on it too. That's when I found out his car was rather unique. It was Dark Metallic Green with Ginger interior, 1 of 139 Grandes in 1973 with that combo. The car's color scheme was identical to this convertible http://www.svs.com/zim/mustang/images/73-4Q.jpg

[Irishking]

Jay
After seeing your posts, I believe you probably have plenty of eyes looking around for your father's 1973 Mustang Grande. Something tells me that it will turn up.

[Jay H 237]

You can never tell, all you need is the right person to stumble upon it.

Even if it does turn up and the owner has no intention of selling that's OK too, my father would be thrilled just knowing it's still around. Would be nice just getting some current pics of it.