TRACKING PREVIOUS OWNERS

[bergy]

PA claims to only save records for 10 years (15 years for police searches), but the old info is still in the files (microfilm). I was recently able to get all ownership periods for my '69 Camaro sent to me on PA DMV letterhead. It takes a lot of persistence, knowing who to talk to, talking to supervisors - the archive researchers can get the info.

[bergy]

Doesn't Canada provide ownership history routinely? I wasn't too concerned with the ownership history of my Canadian Pace car (since I had the GM of Canada docs), but a print out of the previous few owners was shown on the Canadian registration docs that I got with the car.

[Keith Tedford]

We are in Ontario and when we bought our 396 car in '97, vehicle owner history still went back to day one. Now, apparently, it only goes back something like 15 years. I haven't checked this out myself, just what I have been told. I understand that the information is still on file though if it is required.

[wisemanz28]

Wow great story, I've had a similar story trying to locate the original owner of my 1969 Camaro Z28. I got close, I found the owner that had it in the early 70's, and he had a small car lot in Janesville, Wisconsin and he bought the car as a stolen recovery vehicle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I tried the Wisconsin B.M.V. and got the results similar to yours, thats where the search has ended. I know what you mean about your search, it was exciting talking to previous owners about my car, everyone was so suprised knowing the car was still around. I sent letters and pictures to some of them. I'm dissappointed that my search has been stalled out, but your story has given me hope. If you have any tips, man I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Jeff Wise

[mockingbird812]

Paul, Great detective work and tenacity!

[CUSTOMD2]

ANYBODY IN THE VA AREA THAT HAS A POLICE FRIEND???
THIS WOULD BE A EASY TASK,ID APRECIATE THE HELP IF SO.

[William]

Coppers generally need a reason to run a VIN. Later on somebody may ask why they ran it and if the car was ever stolen, could be trouble. All they will able to get is current info. NCIC is no longer easily accessed either.

Nothing ventured nothing gained but owner history is no longer easy to acquire. No one keeps records 40 years.

[Xplantdad]

Paul-cool stuff!

See you in January! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[resto4u]

There are ways around the privacy act, but it is a grey area of the law.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

This is true as each state adopted the Privacy Act differently. Some essentially 'shut down', while others simply ask for a notarized form or they will cross out the personal info on their response. It all depends on the state.

I'm pretty sure that all states have the info, and they keep it on microfiche or other electronic media. It all comes down to 'who is asking', and if they warrant the extra work to retrieve the info. If there was a federal indictment involved, trust me - the info would be found.

There are some cases where the state will reply that the records have been lost - PA for example claims to have lost the records for early 1969. I'm not sure what to believe then, but I trust that since they took the trouble to reply - and kept the money - that they indeed searched.