Take precautions; check for fraud!

Just recently, I traded my two door car for a small truck. The owner or the truck stated the tags were 2012, and I could see the 2012 tags on the plates. Unfortunately, when I called DMV to check how much transfer and fees would come out to, they said the tags were past due. So, the owner had stolen 2012 tags off of another vehicle and put them on the truck.

Just days before, my cousin also bought a car, with stolen tags and stolen plates as well! It cost him $400 at the dmv!

Just checking on the dmv website fee calculator is not good enough. Prevent this! Take these steps!

1) Check the registration for true owner, registration expiration date, and make sure plate and VIN numbers match on the vehicle.
2) If the owner does not have the current registation, no need to worry. You can still contact the DMV before you buy/trade it; to make sure nothing is stolen!

You will need the license plate # OR full VIN #
Call your local DMV office. Typically, it will be an automated call that gives you options to say. They will not give you an option to speak to anyone. What they don't want you to know is, you can. In order to speak to someone, choose the option "vehicles and vessels" After the recording is over, and they are waiting your response, say "Speak to a technician." You will be directed to speak to a live representative. There you will tell the technician that you are interested in buying a car, and you want to check how much it will be to transfer it to your name. You can also ask information such as whether it is salvaged or clean title.

After you have OK'd the car, next you just need to decide whether it's worth your money/trade. Check out the rest of my blog for more tips on that!