Locate a car by VIN?
09-15-2013, 01:30 AM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Locate a car by VIN?
Is it possible to locate a car by the VIN?
I have a friend who passed away 19 years ago. About 2 years afterwards, his widow sold his Porsche 356B Cabriolet (she offered it to me, but I was not in a financial position to buy it at the time.) Now that their son is in his late 20s, she wished she had never sold it, and would like to try to track it down and see if the current owner would be willing to sell it to her so she can give it to him as a birthday present.
She doesn't have the name or address of the person to whom she sold it, but she does have some old insurance documents that have the VIN. Of course anything could have happened to this car over the past 17 years, but assuming it's still in California, and registered, is there any way to obtain this information from just the VIN?
I checked the DMV website that says you can fill out a form and get the name of the current and last 3 owners for a $5 fee. But it also looks like there's a CA privacy law that says you must be the registered owner to access this information. If I was the registered owner, why would I need to fill out a form to find that out?!
Surely this is not a unique situation - trying to track down a specific car with sentimental value. Anyone ever done this successfully? Any ideas how to track a car down with only the VIN?
Thanks in advance for the help.
I have a friend who passed away 19 years ago. About 2 years afterwards, his widow sold his Porsche 356B Cabriolet (she offered it to me, but I was not in a financial position to buy it at the time.) Now that their son is in his late 20s, she wished she had never sold it, and would like to try to track it down and see if the current owner would be willing to sell it to her so she can give it to him as a birthday present.
She doesn't have the name or address of the person to whom she sold it, but she does have some old insurance documents that have the VIN. Of course anything could have happened to this car over the past 17 years, but assuming it's still in California, and registered, is there any way to obtain this information from just the VIN?
I checked the DMV website that says you can fill out a form and get the name of the current and last 3 owners for a $5 fee. But it also looks like there's a CA privacy law that says you must be the registered owner to access this information. If I was the registered owner, why would I need to fill out a form to find that out?!
Surely this is not a unique situation - trying to track down a specific car with sentimental value. Anyone ever done this successfully? Any ideas how to track a car down with only the VIN?
Thanks in advance for the help.
09-15-2013, 01:50 AM
#2
Racer
Member Since: Feb 2011
Location: Vacaville Ca
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there should be a service available on line Google it obviously law enforcement could but no one in LE is going to that unless they are a personal friend willing to risk it. The only other thing I can think of is and I know its out there is contact Wayne Carini from F40 Motorsports in Portland CT, who knows maybe they will do a story on his TV show given the story. Good luck keep us informed.
09-24-2013, 11:49 PM
#3
Team Owner
One possibility is to do a car fax check. The car fax will at least give you information on where the smog checks have been done and also the DMV area where a change of ownership has occurred. It won't give you the name of the owner, but will narrow down the location of the car,
Good luck
Good luck
09-25-2013, 12:04 AM
#4
Burning Brakes
One possibility is to do a car fax check. The car fax will at least give you information on where the smog checks have been done and also the DMV area where a change of ownership has occurred. It won't give you the name of the owner, but will narrow down the location of the car,
Good luck
Good luck
