years ago, [late 1980's] i bought a 64 belvedere post car in virginia.
i assembled all the necessary paperwork needed here [pa] at the time. when the virginia owner and i went to the DMV, the lady behind the counter looked at me like i had three eyes !
as there was WAY more paperwork involved in pa for title transfer [especially for an out of state vehicle] than she was used to doing, she was slightly rattled.

then, there is california.
my brother moved there when his employer promoted [? ] him. when it came time to sell his pennsylvania "free rust", er, rust free, oldsmobile, all that was required by california law, was to have the seller [my brother] sign "on the dotted line". no notary required...........
well, it seems that was a BIG mistake !
for the next couple of years, my brother was deluged by the cali DMV calling, writing, and personally visiting him because of incidences involving his former ride ! every time, he told the DMV he had sold the car long ago, [luckily, he wrote down the date, who he sold it to, and their address] and it wasn't his fault the title wasn't transferred. he even spent hours at the local [to him] DMV explaining why there seemed to be issues with his former ride.
the last issue he had with that thing was a phone call. it seemed the car was impounded for some reason, and if he didn't IMMEDIATELY show up at the impound lot, the car would be disposed of ! he said : "HAVE AT IT !"
never heard about that car afterward.............

When I left there in 94, to avoid the issues he experienced, it was recommended that you notify DMV of a sale providing the buyers name vehicle info etc. A simple 1 page form. Failure to do so would result in your being liable for parking tickets and such as you were the last known owner.

yes sir ! after he filled out the paperwork at the DMV, it absolved him of any monies owed, but he still got that final call, which ended that "educational experience" for good.

I bought a car last year with this notification as an actual requirement - his DMV even made it easy by providing the required form as a perforated "tear-off" slip attached to the original title. Upon transfer of ownership to me, he failed to tear this part off the title and send to his DMV as notification of sale, along with taking off his old plates. His mistake became very useful when he failed to come through with the extra original car parts he *said* he'd include with my purchase, but never produced, he just kept making excuses.

So I held onto the Notification of Sale Document and old plates. One day, months later, he texted me about that form, and that he had found the extra parts.
What a tool.
- Art

Some DMVs are great though -

I bought our '65 Satellite in NY, running condition about two hours from my house. A buddy drove me down there for the final purchase and drive home.
I had insurance, cash for sales tax and registration, everything I needed to plate the car and drive it home. All we needed was to bring the docs to the local DMV.

The seller had the Bill of Sale ready, however the title was from the prior MA owner, with ownership transferred to my seller, NOT left blank for me to fill out as the new owner.
So we had no document that would transfer ownership to me.
The DMV was only 10 minutes from Seller's house, in the basement of the Town Hall.
We all showed up and presented the woman with our docs and situation.
She looks things over, turns to her colleague for a short discussion, then comes back to us:

"No problem" -

She handed my Seller a NY Application for Title Transfer, he fills it out and hands it back to her with the prior owner's MA title.
Then the woman typed out a Temporary Transferrable NY Registration in my Seller's name and hands it back to him.
My Seller signs the Transfer of Ownership on the back of his Temp Transfer NY Registration.
I fill out the rest of my info on the Seller's Temp Transfer NY Registration and hand it back to the DMV lady, along with Bill of Sale, Proof of Insurance, and sales tax.
She hands me an Application for NY Registration, which I fill out and hand back.
She types up a Temp NY Registration in my name, a Temp Inspection Sticker, and hands it all back to me with a pair of NY plates.

That was an amazing day at the DMV.

Cheers,
- Art

Some times you just need to talk to someone. My 51 Plymouth has a title that uses the engine serial number not the vehicle serial number, TX law for pre 55's, except Fords. I have the original engine that matches that number in the car.

However, I am building a warmed up 230 from a 52 Dodge to put in the 51. The engine serial number will now no longer match and that is supposed to be checked every year during the safety inspection. So when I renewed my registration this past August I asked the clerk, she wasn't sure so she went to ask for help. A few minutes later the County Tax Assessor (that is who handle this kind of stuff here) herself came out with the paperwork and information I needed.

Due to the peculiarities of Texas law in this regard, I can get a new title with the new engine serial number on it but if I ever want to put the original back in I have to retitle it.

Or I can play swap the engines every year to get it inspected then swap back.

Or I can get antique plates and do the swap after that, which means no more yearly inspections but limitations on when and how I can enjoy my car.

This post reinforces what i have said many times, When buting a car out of state, get pictures of the vin and title> take the to your local DMV or inspection station and verify they are acceptable for transfer. I advise getting the persons name that approves it and deal with them only.
Failure to do so can result in getting stuck with a vehicle you can't register, drive, insure, or sell and LAWYER fee's. If the seller balks have him send the pic's info directly to the individual at DMV via email or Fed ex o'nite.
Some here may think I'm being a bit paranoid, but if you knew the issues some of my customers have encountered you may change your mind

Sniper, You might ask about the possibility Of having them to issue a state assigned VIN with a new title to avoid the issue with the motor swapping/ vin issue. It really cleans things up for you and any subsequent owners. just a suggestion

Yes, that might be an option. Thanks

especially if anything looks weird.. or that gut feeling.
- Art

A PA title is printed in color on non-white paper. Also, when you photocopy a real PA title there are watermarks that appear on the copy that say invalid or something like that. I can post an example later.
PJ

you are correct. i posted something earlier about the title showing something on it if it were photocopied.