We’ve all been there. You need one major, hard-to-find part to complete your project. An ad for a cheap parts car that has what you need pops up on your radar. A little quick math says you can get your part for free (and maybe some other nice-to-have bits) if you cannibalize what’s left of the vehicle and sell the other good parts to another fellow enthusiast in need.
You read the ad a little further and two words leave you suddenly conflicted: NO TITLE. Do you take the gamble?
I’ve been there myself on several occasions, and it’s always a tough decision. After all, a title is legal proof of ownership. Without that, you could find yourself explaining to the police why you’re in possession of a stolen vehicle. Makes for an expensive quarter panel or transmission, even if you do manage to lawyer your way out of it.
Over the course of a few decades and many resurrection projects, I’ve figured out how to (usually) come out on the winning side of the equation. I’ve also figured out what doesn’t make sense and when to simply run. Here are my tips for getting what you need without getting yourself in trouble.
Know the Value of What You Need
The first time I bought a paperless donor vehicle, I needed a clean rear quarter panel for a Volkswagen Rabbit convertible. Countless junkyard visits turned up nothing worth the effort, in part because I lacked the equipment to cleanly remove a donor in the field. I needed to do the removal on my own time and in my own garage.
Fortunately, a friend who also had VW projects had just gutted a Rabbit sedan for its engine and transmission. He had no use for the shell but warned me he didn’t have a title for the car either. He sold me the carcass for the value of the quarter panel and his problem became mine.
I took my time cutting that rear quarter off the donor in the comfort of my garage, and without feeling rushed. Those two factors had their own intrinsic value beyond the mere cost of the sheetmetal I needed. In the end, I got a decent price on the bodywork I needed, but the hassle of dealing with a titleless car wouldn’t have been worth it if I’d only needed a bolt-on fender or the windshield.
Have a Plan for After You Pick
The cut-up shell sat on a trailer in my garage for weeks after I got what I needed. The problem, of course, was that I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do with the remains. I couldn’t just drive it to a junkyard, after all. They would have wanted a title, and I obviously didn’t have one.
In the end, I rationalized that as long as it was intact the world saw it as a car, but if I’d cut it into pieces, it would just be a bunch of scrap metal. So I busted out the Sawzall and started making smaller slices of Rabbit that went down the curb in my recycling bin.
Turns out even a small car has a lot of metal in it, and all that cutting takes a lot of time and blades. By the time I had gotten the roof chopped off and reduced to bite-sized pieces, I realized I just needed to unload what was left. I talked to the friend I bought the car from to see if he wanted what was left. He declined (can’t blame him) but gave me the heads up that a local VW yard wouldn’t think twice about crushing the car in its current shape. He recommended I make an “after hours deposit” in the company’s lot, which I’m embarrassed to say is how I eventually rid myself of that problem. The moral here is to plan first.
Understand the Total Cost and Return on Effort
I already mentioned that what I paid for that entire VW donor car was essentially the value of the fender I needed. On the surface, I got a fair deal. But there were hidden and unexpected costs. Mostly Sawzall blades in this case, but also an inordinate amount of time cutting out the required panel as well as chopping up the car to dispose of it. All of that is time that I could have spent working on the actual project vehicle.
I also had to borrow a friend’s trailer and tow vehicle. Twice. And while I didn’t pay for that assistance with cash, it cost me in the form of friendship capital. I felt the weight of taking his trailer out of service for weeks while I worked on the car in place. Don’t worry, I made up for it later.
In this case, the car had nothing left to give after I got my parts, so I only laid out cash. But several years later I picked up a wrecked but complete and running Land Rover for $500 bucks. I got easily that much in parts out of that vehicle, then sold off a bunch of components for several hundred more. When I got tired of pulling odd parts, I called a salvage yard who gave me a couple hundred dollars for what remained. They also towed it away. The difference, of course, is I had a title for this one.
Know the Seller and/or the Vehicle
Sometimes the deal seems just too good to pass up, especially if there’s a chance of coming out ahead financially. After all, one person’s parts bin is another person’s annoying old junk. A lot of sellers have long ago lost the paperwork for their older vehicles and just want to see them gone. I’ve talked to several over the years that just aren’t willing to go to the trouble and expense of getting a duplicate title for their car.
If you’re going to take the plunge on a paperless donor, it’s best to know the seller. In the case of the Rabbit, I bought it from a friend who only dealt with VWs. He was so well known for buying, fixing, and reselling Rabbits, Jettas, GTis, and Sciroccos that cars magically found him. People called him all the time offering up their old beaters, often for free if he’d just come pick it up. The fact he had an old donor with no title was hardly a surprise, and I knew he wouldn’t risk getting involved with questionable acquisitions.
It can also be reassuring if you know a little about the car itself. Perhaps a car you’ve always seen in a neighborhood driveway suddenly gets relegated to the back yard. The opportunist in me knows that’s often a sign to swoop in and make an offer. I’ve been keeping an eye on a driveway ornament Range Rover for more than eight years. I stopped and talked to the owner once; his elderly parents can’t find their California title and never got it registered, so it sits there. I would buy that in a heartbeat with no title, as the original roof rack and brush guard alone are worth as much as the truck itself. The point is, I feel reasonably assured at this point the vehicle is legitimate, even if the owners aren’t interested in getting their documents sorted. The risk is low, the potential reward is high. (I need to make another visit, come to think of it.
Do Some Research, Get a Bill of Sale
If all else fails and you choose to buy an unknown vehicle from an unknown seller, do a little homework before handing over your cash. These days, a CarFax report should be a first step once you have a VIN. If that doesn’t provide you any comfort, the National Insurance Crime Bureau has VINCheck, a free lookup service that allows you to check for theft claims or salvage title reports.
At the very least, request a bill of sale from the seller that states their name and address (and validate this information), the vehicle ID number and a statement that the vehicle is being sold in good faith without a title. You may also be able to start the process of requesting a lost title with this document. Of course, possession is famously 9/10 of the law, so any documentation you can get (and probably a good lawyer) will be helpful if you end up with a surprise down the road.