William Kisselstein

Found a G20 conversion nearly identical to the 1991 I loved for years.

What I don't understand is why it has an Oregon salvage title. It's not in Oregon and has never been to Oregon. It's on the east coast. I ran a free vin check and it shows as titled for the state it's in last in March this year, then this Oregon title literally a few days ago. It was being used some, it got about 6000 miles in that time.

From what I can see there's no reason for it to be totaled, it's old and rough like the ones I have had but no signs of wreck or flood - and even then why not a salvage title for the state it's in?

mountainmanjoe

all great questions for the Oregon DMV

tsoleno

One would assume that ownership existed in Oregon anyways. An Oregon salvage title to me would say that at the very least the insurance co was based there that paid the claim. Once they paid the claimant and off to a salvage auto auction it went. It doesn't take much for an older vehicle to be totaled.

William Kisselstein

Title history shows it was titled March 4th 2020 in the state it's in now and turned 6400 additional miles when it was titled 12/29 with the Oregon paperwork. Based on where it's listed for sale it's been at that New Jersey location since around Thanksgiving.

We sold an old non-title in my state car to a guy in NJ and they gave him hell for not having a title on it, I guess they're so difficult to replace a lost title on that guys will title them in Pennsylvania first. That's what he ended up doing. In this instance I would think the last owner could just go on DMV website and order another copy, but maybe they didn't want to be bothered.

Oregon DMV website was pretty much useless, I went there first to look into it. But thanks for the great tip.

I may have to pass on it, while it's likely it will sell for very little, for me to buy it there's a ton of fees and I haven't even looked at what games I have to play to title it in my state.

mountainmanjoe

I would call them, rather than just look at the website.

William Kisselstein

I am fairly certain the title just got lost somewhere and I know from past experience the state it's in is really rough on lost titles, we sold a car that is non-title in my state to a guy down there and he complained some later on that they treated him like a criminal over it, he finally ended up going through a friend in another state to get a title there.

Why they picked Oregon for the replacement title, is a question for the company selling it, and I did drop a note to them. My guess is it's like when I apply for a registration in my state for non-title cars, they never actually look at your vehicle, just give you the paperwork and maybe check the VIN against a hot sheet. I didn't read through all the search results but articles seemed to imply you could retitle like flood cars from other states there and get them on the road if you wanted to risk it.