Hey fifty3...
You may not need to worry about it, at least not at first... as long as that is a Texas title you are talking about, and that you are wanting to transfer that title to your name, in Texas still...
If you have the Texas title from the previous owner, and a bill-of-sale, and a power-of-attorney in the name of the title holder giving you the authority to transfer the title, all you need is to get liability insurance and go to your county tax office. No physical inpsection of the vechicle and serial number is needed...
If you have the last registered license plates from the truck, take the plate numbers with you, too. Or any paperwork regarding license plate registration. You dont have to have that, though.
Take the paperwork you have to your county Tax office, and get in the line for vechicle title transfers/registrations. At the tax office, they can look up the title by the vin number on the title, or they can look it up by the license plate number.... If the records for that vin number/previous owner/license plate number, match each other, then all you need to do is fill out the title transfer application, and there should be no problem. Just use the vin number from the current title consistently on all the paperwork/forms, instead of the serial number on the actual truck. And, dont write on the title... That is what the "power of attorney" is for... so that any writing/signing of the title can be done right there in the county tax office, under the instructions/supervision of the clerk that is going to be entering the transfer into the computer, etc... The best thing, of course, is to have the current title holder there in the tax office with you, to sign the title at the right time... But that just isnt practical most of the time... So if you get the current tile holder to sign-over a power-of-attorney, that is the next best thing to having the legal owner actually there. Let me know if you need a power of attorney form... I can look up the link to the one I have used...
(If you have proof of liability insurance when you apply for the title on the truck, you will leave the tax office with license plate(s), and the reciept/temporary title... I suggest you ask for "classic truck" or "antique vehicle" plates/registration, instead of the normal annual plates... If you just want to apply for the title, but not plates/registration, you can do that without liability insurance, but there is an extra form to fill out... The antique vehicle plate/registration is good until 2013, so if your going to be ready to drive the truck anytime before then, you might as well do title and registration and plate all in one trip to the county tax office...)
If it were me, that is what I would do... Get the title transferred into my name as it currently is, without bringing up the question of possible mismatch between the physical markings on the truck vs the title.
Once the current title is in your name, that is when I would worry about the vin number on the title, if I was going to worry about it. I dont have any first-had experience with changing the vin number on the title, but kennycj's advice on that one sounds good... You may just want to wait until you own the title first, before confusing the issue. If the clerk at the county office feels uncomfortable about transfering the title and changing the vin number all at the same time, then they may send you to the regional titles office to fill out a "statement of fact" application, to determine if you are eligible for a simple title transfer that a county tax office can execute, or if you must go through a bonded title application. I think the chances are pretty high that they will send you through a bonded title process, if you raise the question of the vin number on title not being the official general motors serial number for the chasis/cab of the truck...
I've just completed the bonded title process for my 1953 3100.
I did not have the original title. The truck had passed through several succesive "possesions" without being re-titled, since the original owner died. But, they did look up the last title (based on the license plate number)... And the vin number on the title was an engine number, not the serial number, same as the case for you. When the clerk saw my serial number didnt match the vin on the previous title, she had to call over her supervisor. If I would not have already had the letter from the regional titles office that linked my name to the license plate number and the serial number, then they would not have taken my title application as a Texas title transfer, and I would have had to go through the additional process/paperwork for titling an untitled out of state vehicle...
Last edited by MacX; 02/08/2010 7:29 PM.
