Wrong VIN # on CO Title

[star kitty]

I recently realized my Colorado title for my Airstream has one wrong number in it. After waiting for about an hour to see a DMV agent, we realized it has been wrong for close to 20 years. It probably got screwed up when the previous owner titled in Colorado for the first time.

The DMV records don't go back that far and she suggested I just leave it the way it is. That didn't seem right to me as this could probably be an issue at some point down the road. Either with insurance or selling it. So she gave me a stack of paperwork outlining the steps. Its about 7 pages of steps just to have this corrected.

Has anyone gone through this process? I think I will need a law degree to decipher all these steps!

Thanks.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by star kitty

I recently realized my Colorado title for my Airstream has one wrong number in it. After waiting for about an hour to see a DMV agent, we realized it has been wrong for close to 20 years. It probably got screwed up when the previous owner titled in Colorado for the first time.

The DMV records don't go back that far and she suggested I just leave it the way it is. That didn't seem right to me as this could probably be an issue at some point down the road. Either with insurance or selling it. So she gave me a stack of paperwork outlining the steps. Its about 7 pages of steps just to have this corrected.

Has anyone gone through this process? I think I will need a law degree to decipher all these steps!

Thanks.

An accurate serial number is a "MUST".

How would you explain the difference, to someone, if the trailer was "stolen".

They would have no reason to believe you.

Get the number corrected as soon as you can, whatever it takes.

Andy

[masseyfarm]

What digit is wrong? In the last four?
Do a search to see if there is another unit with the same #?
Call Airstream?
Dave

Originally Posted by star kitty

I recently realized my Colorado title for my Airstream has one wrong number in it. After waiting for about an hour to see a DMV agent, we realized it has been wrong for close to 20 years. It probably got screwed up when the previous owner titled in Colorado for the first time.



Thanks.

[Alumaholic]

... Do it now while you have all the time in the world.
Someday you or your heirs will want to sell it.
Our 2007 came from Colorado. When I tried to get NM plates, the clerk found that the original CO title had an incorrect VIN.
It has been a six week process to get a new CO title in order to title it in NM.
Technically you don't "have title" to the Airstream until the VIN is corrected.

[star kitty]

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

What digit is wrong? In the last four?
Do a search to see if there is another unit with the same #?
Call Airstream?
Dave

The middle digit where the "J" would be from the manufacturers location....there is a 5.

Alumaholic - I do have a current title from CO in my name. It's just that one digit is wrong. I hope this isn't a big issue to correct. When I titled it at my local DMV (Denver County), they didn't question a thing. Don't know where it got the mix up. I hope I own it!

[Alumaholic]

Yeh me to. I "own it" but I can't prove it, or sell it, or title it in NM until CO corrects the error. Perhaps you and I had the same dyslexic title clerk.

[Shiny Dragon]

If it is only a digit or letter off you may try to have it verified with your Highway Patrol. I know in California you can have a Vin # verified by Highway Patrol. Most new vehicles and trailers have more then one Vin plate. Maybe yours has more than one Vin Plate. In California the Highway Patrol can attach a new Vin plate to vehicles that have had Vin Plates missing as a result of theft, ect. Hopefully your Highway patrol can do the same. I should make it clear, you just don't flag down an officer. You have to call the Highway Patrol office and get the investigative office.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by star kitty

Has anyone gone through this process? I think I will need a law degree to decipher all these steps!

Thanks.

Long, long ago I did have to get a VIN corrected, but I don't remember what I did and I do have a law degree.

First of all, you own it. The title is a state requirement to register it in some states. The title can prove ownership, but so can a bill of sale or other documents. I think Colorado does require a vehicle brought from another state to have the VIN checked by the state troopers (no longer state patrol) and you do call them and ask how to do it. I don't know if the Denver police can do it, but you can check with them if you have to do it. But this has been registered in Colorado for 20 years, so that may not be necessary. Stamping VIN'S in multiple places is a federal law and I think it came about after your trailer was built.

This happens a lot and people do figure it out. Or, the U. of Denver and U. of Colorado both have law schools. It is too late to start this semester (or whatever they call them now) but you may be able to start in the winter. When I went to law school there were no courses offered on titling a vehicle with a defect in the VIN on the title, so you may have to figure it out anyway.

It is important to have all the paperwork correct. This is especially true on vintage vehicles as collectors will pay more for something where all the numbers agree.

Since DMV in Denver often has long lines, it may be possible to do this in another county where the lines are shorter when you get all the paperwork together. I have some vague memory that it is ok to go to any county to deal with title issues, but you'd have to check on that.

Oh, from the Department of Redundancy Department: VIN = Vehicle Identification Number and thus, it is unnecessary to say "VIN Number" or write "VIN #". I have tried to teach my wife this for decades without success. She doesn't want to go to law school either.

Gene

[Coloradobus]

Star Kitty,
Windish RV service does FREE vin checks. We recently bought a '65 Chrysler Imperial where the Colorado title from Washington County (Sterling) was in error and Jefferson County wouldn't accept. So, we did a VIN verification of a Colorado Titled car to license it in Colorado. Stupid, huh! Call Kirk 303-274-9009

[star kitty]

Originally Posted by Shiny Dragon

If it is only a digit or letter off you may try to have it verified with your Highway Patrol. I know in California you can have a Vin # verified by Highway Patrol. Most new vehicles and trailers have more then one Vin plate. Maybe yours has more than one Vin Plate. In California the Highway Patrol can attach a new Vin plate to vehicles that have had Vin Plates missing as a result of theft, ect. Hopefully your Highway patrol can do the same. I should make it clear, you just don't flag down an officer. You have to call the Highway Patrol office and get the investigative office.

That was the first step listed in the six step process. I will be using the CSP in Golden. Maybe after this meeting, the following steps may be shortened!

Alumaholic - So true - we probably did have the same title clerk.

Gene - I think a law degree would be awesome but I don't know if its worth all the time and money just to be able to decipher DMV documents! I could just use you right? Ha ha.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by star kitty

The middle digit where the "J" would be from the manufacturers location....there is a 5.

Alumaholic - I do have a current title from CO in my name. It's just that one digit is wrong. I hope this isn't a big issue to correct. When I titled it at my local DMV (Denver County), they didn't question a thing. Don't know where it got the mix up. I hope I own it!

That "5" is a mistake for an "S".

The "S" simply means the trailer was built in California.

Back then it was Santa Fe Springs and then became Cerritos in late 1968.

Andy

[star kitty]

I am now 6 weeks into the process of attempting to change the error on my Colorado Airstream title.

I have done nothing but run into road blocks. Just when the State tells me I have all the necessary paperwork, Denver county says no. What a joke its been. And if you have been to a Denver DMV lately, the wait times are horrendous. I waited 2 1/2 hours to be seen today only to be once-again rejected.

I am required by the City and County of Denver to establish a title by a surety bond. This will require an appraisal by a "licensed Colorado dealer" and a purchase of a surety bond. All told, this will cost close to $600.00.

My question to you all is why should I do this? This title has been wrong since it entered the state twenty years ago. I just happen to be the poor sucker that noticed it. I corrected the VIN with my insurance agent so I'm covered there and I have a clear and free CO title. Unless you guys give me something very compelling....I'm leaving it. Wasn't my fault and the time and effort the County is requiring is ridiculous.

Ok, thanks for listening to me vent!

[Gene]

Google the governor and you'll find an e-mail address to contact his office and explain your plight. Maybe that will help.

Gene

[richinny]

star kitty

while not the same as your issue, this thread might have information on some of the same hoops you're going through. good luck!
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f352...tle-73445.html

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

That "5" is a mistake for an "S".

The "S" simply means the trailer was built in California.

Back then it was Santa Fe Springs and then became Cerritos in late 1968.

Andy

Find an old typewriter, erase the 5 type in an S and volia your done!