Hello elders

My shipper has misplaced a title to a Series 3 I purchased for export and the car has been sitting at the port since August 2021.
I don't want to lose this car to junkyard or scrap yard. On the title, the owner address is as below.

3734 Camden St.
SE Washington DC 20020

Am pleading if any of the members on this forum is closer to this address so the person can have a chat with the owner on my behalf to assist me have a replacement or duplicate title to facilitate the export approval of the car.
I will foot the bill for the title replacement if owner is found and ready to assist.

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I highly honor your kind support.

Mike

 

hi: i'll pass this along to you on the chance it applies to your situation.

i live in mi and a neighbor gave me a 1951 london taxi cab a year ago. he had no title. in fact he bought it 25 years ago and never applied for title. i was able to obtain the title myself by showing value (i copied a page from the kelly blue book) to the secretary of state along with the "apply for lost title" form. the only rule the sos had was the appraised value was not >$2500. the kbb placed it at $2200 so i had to pay about $150 in sales tax.

i received the title about 3 weeks later. i sold it and used the proceeds to by my s3. hope this helps. ren

 

That's a great idea to apply myself, I did applied for a Ford explorer I bought I 2013 without title though am out of state applicant, I would try same this time too.
I find the lost title forms, fill out and send via DHL to state secretary and see as you have mentioned.

Your S3 looks lovely and super

 

If you are not in the US you might not be aware that Washington DC isn't a state but a city where the US capitol is. They have their own liscence plates so I'm sure they have a system similar to the other 50 states. In my state (Ohio) the bureau of motor vehicles has to physically look at the paperwork and compare it to the serial number on the car. Not a big deal but the owner, paperwork and car all have to be in the same place at the same time. Some states just require a "Bill of Sale" so you could contact the person you bought it from and get a legal Bill of Sale and also ask them to get a replacement title.

 

Also, in some states the property tax records show the owner's name, but other states they hide it. I found a phone number on the internet for someone that supposedly lives at that address but the person I spoke to had never owned a Jaguar. It will be expensive but a lawyer in Washington DC is probably your best bet. If it was me, I'd sue the shipper that lost the title.

 

I contacted one of the managers at where I bought the car requesting for replacement title and below I copy and quote her reply.

"The original owner of this car, is not interested in helping us order another title. It has been too long since the sale of the vehicle"

however, I will print the invoice and attach to the application.

So, I this case, I have fight for myself to have the title to be able to have car shipped to me.

The shipping guys who misplaced the title are also not replying to my emails in regards to this car's title issues.
I have even email them the title replacement application form to apply for it but no one has replied to that my email.

 

Thanks for your effort boss.
This is the original title and the owner name, but it was later somewhere along the line reassigned in VA.



So now, can I apply for the title replacement or duplicate from VA?



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mikega: you should be able to, as you say, "fight for yourself" to get the title assigned to you without having to rely on the last owner or the shipper following the "rules" set forth by washington, dc department of motor vehicles. just keep plugging away. ren

ps: where are you located?

 

Yes, I will keep fighting for it till successful but where do I apply DC or VA?

ps: where are you located?[/QUOTE]
Am located in Ghana, West Africa.

 

mikega: you would have to go to the last state that actually had legal possession of the car/title which i believe to be m&g motors in washington, dc (district of columbia which is not considered a state but does have a department of motor vehicles which will be the agency that issues the title in your name. hope this helps, ren

ps: is it your plan to ship it to ghana, sa?

sorry, west africa not south africa

 

Ok, I will file for the title at DC.

Yes, I will ship it to West Africa

 

Am now going to order a duplicate title online as recommended by DC DMV personnel when I called this morning and explain the situation.

Is there any way someone here can check the previous registration of this car in DC so I use that for the filing?

VIN: SAJAY1342GC459865

Thanks for your help

 

mikega: i'm not sure there is a way to find out who were the prior owners. i don't think you need to. you just need to use the last owner of record which based on your photo of the back side of the title would be m&g motor sales. one other consideration is that none of the dealers listed on the back side of the title actually applied for a title and the car still is legally titled in lillian davis' name. you can call the dc dmv to confirm who the last owner of record is. good to hear you are making progress. with luck the jag will be floating to west africa. ren

ps: do you have any pictures to post

 

Thanks Ren,
At the moment, I want to know the registration plate Lilian Davis was using if there is anyway someone here can find it for me.

I know couple of elders here like Jose, Yellow series, Doug, etc, can find it for from a database

Here are pictures

 

Very Nice looking car!!
(';')

 

A little clarification. Each state (Plus DC) has their own rules and regulations for motor vehicles. So there are 51 totally different set ups. Some states don’t even require titles for older cars. To my knowledge, an average citizen can’t find out who owns a car from the metal license plates or the VIN number, but law enforcement personnel can. There is a database used to identify stolen or salvage cars that is publicly available and your VIN number came back clean so that’s good news.

In some states the metal license plates stays with the car even when its sold and in other states the plates stay with the owner and not the car. Then there is the whole matter of taxation and how they calculate it.

If it was in Ohio I’d go to the bureau of motor vehicles and help you figure it out but DC and Virginia are hundreds of miles from here. In Ohio to get a duplicate title the person that the state thinks owns the car has to apply and then have a notarized signature. If your title was signed off on when the owner sold it but the person they sold it to never registered it then the original owner's state still thinks the original owner still owns it. This is a big problem when the original owner has died. It’s also a problem if the previous owner had a loan on the car in which case the bank has control of the title.

So the bottom line as I see it (at least in my state) is that you have to find out who actually owns the car as far as the government is concerned and what state (or DC) they are in and then get that person to get a duplicate title and sign it over to you. I'd start with the dealer shown on the back of the title as businesses are usually easier to find than individuals.

Long explanation but it is very complicated for my state and then multiply that times 51. The car is beautiful and worth fighting for but unless the person that sold it to you agrees to help I fear it’s going to be very difficult to get it straightened out. Hopefully you don’t have money at risk if it can’t be straightened out. I certainly wish you good luck as I know you are a serious lover of classic Jaguars and will care for the car.

 

mikega: looks like a solid car. it definitely needs some tlc.

1) what are your plans?
2) how did you learn of this car?
3) if you didn't kick the tires in person, did you have a person evaluate the mechanics/structural soundness for you?
4) are you trying to find out what license plate (registration plate) was issued to lillian davis?

 

I can answer 4)

Yes that's correct, I want know the registration number that was issued to Lilian Davis.

And getting the registration number will help me apply for the duplicate title which will be shipped to Lilian Davis' address and we can pick it from her.

I would appreciate if you can help in 4) answer

 

mike: just to be sure we are talking about the same thing, when you speak to the "registration number" are you talking about what we in the usa refer to a license plate (RRRENNN) in my attached photo?:

 

exactly, am referring to the license plate