Lost title

[Voodoofalcon]

Do many of you have Experiance buying classic cars that dont have a Title. Been looking at a car that came from the south where titles are not required for cars older than 1985. Owner has registration from the south and he was able to get a Washington registration. Just wonder how big of a pain it is to file for lost title. I know I would need to take the car to WSP the. File. Sounds like it can take up to 3 Years to get a title. Any advice ?

[Gitanesteel]

When I bought my Falcon last year the owner couldn't find the title. They went to the county and filled out the affidavit for a lost title. I got the replacement in about 3-4 weeks.

It is a little different with your situation since it came from out of state. With the owner having a Washington registration did the state also give them a title? It would seem to me they would have issued one.

[BadBird]

This can be a horribly frustrating exercise. I was looking at a 1948 Ford Pickup on craigslist in Tucson. They said it didn't have a title but had the registration. I talked to our licensing lady by our house. She said to be very careful and mentioned I could talk to the company that insured my Falcon.
I called them, and they recommended not getting involved with a vehicle without the title. She told me that a couple of years before a guy in California bought a 32 ford hot rod without the title and wanted it insured.
They wouldn't insure it until they did a title search and found the owner in Georgia year later. He said the car had been stolen a few years before out of his barn. He wanted the car back.
Problem is, the guy in California spent $40,000 on the car and didn't want to give it up.
They finally worked out a plan where the guy in California kept the car and paid the guy in Georgia $5,000 for the car.
After that, I decided to only look at vehicles with titles.
I did run into the same thing with a 49 ford truck in Kansas where the owner told me they didn't keep titles for that age vehicle.
I was told by the licensing agent they would do a search and try to get a title transfer, but it usually took at least a year. I wasn't wanting to wait that long to start the project. The truck owner wasn't going to wait either, so walked away.
I am sure it can be done, just be careful. Larry