buying a car with no registration papers

so i have noticed a frw good deals out there but they always seem to have no papers, so how do you know if the buyer is the true owner? i.c.b.c. won,t let you know who the owner is before buying and don,t what somebody coming looking for their car later on

ying a car ..... is that some sort of Chinese phrase ?
If the car is truly the sellers car, then get the seller to go to ICBC and get the reggy for it ...
unless it was an out of province car, then Mark Zomar ( M-azing Ent. (604) 937-7128 ) can get papers for it.

In the event that the car has been previously registered in B. C., all you need to do is do a search through ICBC which will cost you $7. This will provide you with sufficient information to register the car. However, ICBC may well require that you get the safety inspection done BEFORE they will allow you to register it. If there is no previous record of registration in B. C. and you know which province the car came from, do your search there also. Should you find no record in that province, keep that information (in writing) to show that you have done your due diligence.

Should you still wish to buy the car without registration - and this happens all the time - the BILL OF SALE will trump all else. Make sure the bill of sale is filled out with all possible information, particularly the serial number, and the full name, address and contact information of the seller (phone number and email address). Back this up with photographs of the car. If there is no serial number, ICBC will assign one for you.

You should ask the current owner to do the search in B. C. for you - if they are in B. C. If they are out of province, do it yourself.

ICBC will eventually ask you for a notarized statement concerning the purchase of the car if there is no previous record of the vehicle, which frequently happens with older cars. Make dead certain that you are factually correct with every detail regarding the sale/purchase.

If the car has not been registered previously in B. C., and you want to register it here, you still need to do the search anyway.

It used to be that you could obtain a "temporary on hold registration", but that is no longer available.

There is a lengthy thread here on my efforts to get reggie for my '35 Chevy which started life in Saskatchewan, then went to Alberta and finally here. I had very direct contact with the brass at ICBC so this information is up to date.

As a newly minted rep of the SVA of BC, I try to keep current with these goings on. Bob Kelley and myself had a meeting with Todd Stone, our minister of highways recently, and we are slowly gaining ground in our efforts to try and get all this sort of thing simplified. Our current focus has to do with collector plates. Once ICBC has completed their computer updates - which apparently were some 40 years old - we will go after changes in the registration process. You wouldn't believe some of the problems that exist in trying to sell an unfinished, unregistered vintage vehicle! We are going to try and get that addressed.

Walk………no, run as fast as you can the other way.

It is just not worth it, the registration is worth at least a thousand dollars in time and stress.

Keith, you should add your comments from this thread to that OTHER thread if you have not done so, so its up to date.

Old Ray said:

Walk………no, run as fast as you can the other way.

It is just not worth it, the registration is worth at least a thousand dollars in time and stress.

Click to expand...

Yes, that is probably quite true. And no doubt that is why cars which DO have papers cost a lot more.