The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Getting a title in WI

Found a truck I need WI that has no title. Searching forums and WI DOT has me confused.

Anyone with advice.

Advice: unless you know someone at your WI DMV office, and they say they can title/register it, look for another truck.

Here in Illinois, you have to have a "bonded" title. Which means you buy a bond, then wait for 1-3 years. From a realistic standpoint, I don't think there would be a problem, but you never do know...

I think most states have the same bonding process. I bought a trailer in IA with no title, wasn't a problem at all though.

Yes, most states have a bonding process.
Whether a DMV allows a bonded title often depends on a judgement call by the DMV agent (I know this first-hand in three states).

Go to your local DMV and see what they will allow for whatever documentation you have.
A notarized bill-of-sale is usually a minimum requirement, but you will not know without first checking with your DMV.

It will be much easier for the owner in Wisconsin to go through the title process than you in Illinois. Offer to pay extra for the truck when he/she gets a clear title to offset the expense. Just my two cents. 🛠

Visit a Wisconsin DMV.........try to find someone nice and knowledgeable, that can be a challenge. They should be able to walk you through the process. I assume your going to rebuild or use the wisconsin vehicle as the base for the project ?

I did this twice a few years back and had no issues with getting a new title and new VIN plate after getting the vehicle inspected by the highway patrol. This was a while back and the process May have changed. Mine were both barn finds almost complete non runners, no titles, no plates did a complete restoration. I did have a bill of sale on both that had a VIN and cost and seller signed. The new state assigned VIN tag had to be welded to the door frame.

if you have several trucks and parts, frame, bodies etc to make one truck in the end..........you only need one good title and one VIN plate that match to make this work.

The above only applies to Wisconsin residents and their process to title. You are likely only concerned with and IL title.

Since your in IL and likely will title there............IL will accept a bill of sale from a state that does not title old vehicles. I lived in IL and did this on a dozens motorcycles purchased from a state like Georgia that uses bill of sale only on old vehicles. You do need a knowledgeable IL DMV worker that knows the bill of sale states and or knows how to these the book they have at each DMV.

Georgia is only one of many states that don’t title older vehicles. Georgia can title older vehicles but it’s a special request.

WI probably has a procedure for titling a vehicle without a clear title. But as others have stated, proceed slowly and cautiously. We moved to WI from IL on DEC 30, 2009. After a few weeks we got our cars titled. The neat thing, if all your paperwork is in order, is they print the title right there in the local office. No waiting for Madison to mail it to you.
(Not really helpful, sorry.)

Now I'm confused. You are in Illinois. Why are we talking about what WI wants? They have nothing to do with it. Aren't you talking about buying a truck in WI and taking it to Illinois and getting a title? Did I take a wrong turn back there at the Slauson cutoff? You can't get it titled in WI, you don't live there.

I went thru this i'm in fl. trucks in pa. no title or reg. first I would contact state office in closest city explain and ask what do you have to do. I called numerous times . most give you bare bones some will explain. I posted how to get a fl. for your old truck its on page 2 in this forum might help? also I did a search google there is title company in maine that does this for old cars / trucks if I remember cost approx. $1000.00 for maine clear title . this was my last resort!

When it comes to title issues I'm always surprised by those who advise soliciting advice from the local DMV. That's probably the LAST place you should consult for problem titles! They are bureaucrats whose purpose it is to block anything unusual or non-conforming. Assuming your vehicle is legally-obtained with no theft history and just missing a title due to age (for verification go to https://www.nicb.org/how-we-help/vincheck ) here's some options:

1) If you can locate a title service in your vicinity, use them; they have ways of circumventing the bureaucrats and getting things accomplished.

2) Speak to local towing companies; they routinely place liens on vehicles and, for a fee, can get you a lien title.

3) Get a Vermont registration. On older vehicles Vermont requires a bill of sale only and many owners have successfully taken advantage of this to get a Vermont registration that is then transferable to their state, complete with title. See videos:

Vermont Car Title Instructions


No Papers? How to get a title for a used classic car simply

$500 minimum charge for a title service for NC registration (I checked with two companies).
That fee did not cover registration fees and bonding, if needed.

I paid $100 for a bonded title - includes notary/fees. Done in one day.

My NC DMV agent advised me on the bonded title.

In NY, my registration/DMV offices advised me on 3 different way to get three different vehicles registered (all had different types of proofs of sales, previous titles, and/or previous registrations).

I disagree. Your DMV is the place to go. They are the one's who will be giving you a title/legal ownership registration. Circumventing them in some tricky dicky way could get you in trouble. There is no such thing as a lost title. If it's lost as an excuse from a seller, they simply go to DMV, give them the VIN and an ID. If they are the owner and lost the title, they give them a duplicate for $4.
Third party "get you a title" company's are crooked. Getting a title in a state in which you do not reside, is probably crooked, with a crooked address. Any other way than what the DMV in your state requires, is crooked. Bring them whatever honest paper you have, tell them the honest story, and do it the honest way or don't buy a truck without a title. You can get a bum living under a bridge to give you a notarized Bill of Sale, so what? Sooner or later you could lose the truck. A bonded title is an insurance policy that get's your purchase price back but you may still lose the truck. Are you going to buy and insurance policy that covers all the repair/restoration work you did in three years? No.
I've had two friends who have had the Sheriff come and take their hot rods. Doesn't matter how many years later it is.

Martin's idea is a good one. But I will bet the owner can't do that because they don't have any documentation either. The will have funky excuse no. 326. (Grammpa, who died, willed it to my sister who got ate by an alligator and her son sold it to a guy who never paid for it and we repossessed it with a lien on it and then we switched the vin tag from my uncles truck that burned up. So here's your Bill of Sale we got in Vermont)

This thread has reached its conclusion.