Just wondering if anyone on the board had requested title/registration information from Arizona and if their old records were on microfilm.
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Re: State of Arizona DMV
Arizona does have old records on microfilm but there is no way to search them. You need to have the last title issued from Arizona that has a record number on it, then the previous title can be located. For instance, if a car with an Arizona title is moved out of state and a title in the new state is issued, you would need to find that old Arizona title information in order to work backwards.
As an example, I own a 66 El Camino that a friend of mine owned and I know the previous history of the car (sold new in Phoenix), but the EC was moved to Illinois for a couple of years and returned to Arizona. Arizona could not locate the previous title information or MSO because the title chain was broken, and Illinois could not provide that Arizona title information for me.
Another example. I accidentally located a 66 Corvair that a buddy of mine owned while in high school (1968). My friend lives a few blocks from me and still had previous registration information dating back to 1973, but the title was lost by an owner previous to me, and I could not get a duplicate title because the link was lost. I will have to get a bonded title.
If you can come up with a copy of a previous old title for the car, then I would think Arizona would be able to go back one title at time all the way to the MSO if the car was originally sold in Arizona or if there is no other break in the chain. -
Re: State of Arizona DMV
I have been attempting to deal with Arizona DMV with no success. I have the Title number from 1976, but they they tell me those records don't exist. I doubt they destroyed them. The problem is finding someone who knows where they are.Comment
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Re: State of Arizona DMV
I just looked back at one of the emails from the DMV directors office that says "nor do we retain this information on microfilm more than 10 years"
I don't belive them. I have tried every avenue with them.
I just wanted to know if others are being told the same thing.
I can tell I've bugged them enough now so that they won't even answer anymore emails. My state has all the vehicle records stored from the beginning of time.Comment
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Re: State of Arizona DMV
Well, the gal from the directors office did finally answer my last email. I had asked how they were able to discard/purge records and how they would handle proof of ownership and future titling of old cars. This is what I got.
"When a vehicle has not had any activity on our database we purge it from the system after five years. After 10 years under Arizona Statute we then purge the record. If a person does not have the necessary ownership documents, we have a process called bonded title to assit constituents however the vehicle has to be physically in this state, this process has several checks that would need to be run to insure that it is not a stolen vehicle."
My only chance now is to hope a miracle happens and the 1973 owner starts to remember something on the guy he bought the car from.Comment
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Re: State of Arizona DMV
I went to the DMV yesterday because I started worrying about the old titles on my 62 Corvette (title dated 1974) and my 66 El Camino (title dated 1983) because I haven't registered either one of them in over 20 years. I also wanted to add my wife to the title.
I had no problem with the titles even though I was told both records had been purged years ago. If I had lost one of these titles then I would have had to get a bonded title.
I got a new "Title Only" for both of the cars since I don't have either registered and don't keep insurance on them. The new titles are in Arizona's computerized system, but when I asked about purging, I was told that these new "Title Only" documents would be purged in 5 years if there was no registration activity on the record.
Looks like we are getting the same information from the DMV. Sure a big change from what I was able to do in the mid eighties when I got all the history including MSO for the 68 Corvette that I owned. I'm dissapointed though that the old microfiche files may have been lost. I'm wondering if the new purging policy applies to the new computerized files? I am still going to try and get some information for my latest 66 Corvair that I have a copy of an old title for.
By the way,I was allowed to keep the actual old titles for both cars to put in my files. I had to pay an extra $5 for each title (to create a duplicate first) and I got a photocopy of that duplicate for my file also.Comment
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Re: State of Arizona DMV
Bruce,
I'm glad things went as well as they did for you. It sounds like they get purged from the computer after 5 years of no activity and discarded permanetly after 10.
What a shame. All that history lost forever.Comment
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