Buying a Car with no papers ?

Nanfeishen

Nanfeishen

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Ok, so what is required , needed or important to know about buying a car with no papers ?

I have seen a few cars around on gumtree and junkmail for sale, and one or 2 state "no Papers" , what is required of the seller in a these cases, and what is required of the buyer WRT paperwork?
Who is required to have what papers for purposes of the sale?
Does the year model count WRT to certain paperwork, i.e pre 1960 model cars ?
 
Far as I know "no papers" implies does not exist as far as the traffic department is concerned. In other words, good luck getting it on the road legally ever again...
 
enigma243 said:
Far as I know "no papers" implies does not exist as far as the traffic department is concerned. In other words, good luck getting it on the road legally ever again...
Click to expand...

Thats just it, knowing what papers to have , where to go and how much "grease" i need for the right palms in the right places. ;)
Not so much an exercise in futility, but an exercise in bureaucracy.
 
I bought a bike before without papers and to get it registered is really not worth the effort.
 
My Mother in law and her family often buy cars/bikes without papers. They know who to phone and what to do and they still struggle. they bought a maxima with front damage and fixed it almost a year ago. They still dont have the papers because the original owner died and the papers are held in the will. They bought it from the recipiant of the will but there is something holding the whole thing up, so they are still fighting more than a year later for the papers of the car.

Not worth it unless its like R5k and you want a challenge....
 
First you need to take it for police clearance, to make sure it is not stolen.
Then you need to weigh it at a weighing station, and put it through road worthy.
then you can re register it.

A lot of work, and about 3 days where you are just going to wait in lines. But it is do able, if you have the time and patience.

Alternatively if you have receipts for engines, chassis, labour and parts you can register it as a rebuilt car. (most classic cars gets one this way, I did it with my mini, and it wasn't too much of a hassle. It is code 3 then though.)
 
Gargmel said:
First you need to take it for police clearance, to make sure it is not stolen.
Then you need to weigh it at a weighing station, and put it through road worthy.
then you can re register it.

A lot of work, and about 3 days where you are just going to wait in lines. But it is do able, if you have the time and patience.

Alternatively if you have receipts for engines, chassis, labour and parts you can register it as a rebuilt car. (most classic cars gets one this way, I did it with my mini, and it wasn't too much of a hassle. It is code 3 then though.)
Click to expand...

Yep that is the procedure.
Neighbour wanted to sell me a trailer with no papers and no stamp on the trailer itself. Contacted a Traffic Officer I know who looked up on their database to the registration number that was on the trailer to discover it was sold a couple of years ago, number changed and this trailer belongs to someone else, obviously another trailer and the registration number that is on the trailer belongs to some BMW.
His comment was this just gets curiouser and curiouser.
I phoned around and saw that it was going to be a mission to get this trailer in my name so I left it.
According to the Traffic Officer you will need to get a Police Clearance using affidavits in order to start the ball rolling before you can take it for roadworthy and the rest.
Too much trouble with no help from the neighbour. I suspect the person who did buy it will drive the trailer around as is and some poor guy who owns the BMW will be getting traffic fines with a picture of a trailer attached. Not my problem.
 
Last edited:
Gargmel said:
First you need to take it for police clearance, to make sure it is not stolen.
Then you need to weigh it at a weighing station, and put it through road worthy.
then you can re register it.

A lot of work, and about 3 days where you are just going to wait in lines. But it is do able, if you have the time and patience.

Alternatively if you have receipts for engines, chassis, labour and parts you can register it as a rebuilt car. (most classic cars gets one this way, I did it with my mini, and it wasn't too much of a hassle. It is code 3 then though.)
Click to expand...

Ok the time and patience thing are easy, and the code 3 doesnt really bother me either.

I subsequently also discovered that there are vehicle registration consultants
who actually offer to do pretty much most of that for you.

BTTB said:
Too much trouble with no help from the neighbour.
Click to expand...
That is the impression i get from some of the sellers, is that they are too bloody lazy to re-register the vehicle themselves, and would rather dump the hassle on the new owner.
 
Just for interest's sake, what car is worth this much hassle? And at what price? I trust it's something at least moderately collectable?
 
enigma243 said:
You are hereby excused.
Click to expand...

Thanks

Cars today are boring, those old cars, had style and panache, the trick is to find a runner, not a rustbucket I have to build up.
As one old enthusiast told me " Find one that runs and is still on the road, you can always work on it, but you want to enjoy it at the same time. Anything that is in someones garage gathering dust, is only going to gather dust in your garage"
Figured it was good advice.
 
Nanfeishen said:
Thanks

Cars today are boring, those old cars, had style and panache, the trick is to find a runner, not a rustbucket I have to build up.
As one old enthusiast told me " Find one that runs and is still on the road, you can always work on it, but you want to enjoy it at the same time. Anything that is in someones garage gathering dust, is only going to gather dust in your garage"
Figured it was good advice.
Click to expand...

OK...I was about to call you an idiot, but you are excused :p YES!! A 47 Chevy without papers is definitely worth fighting for whilst you are busy restoring it!! :D
 
Dear Mr/Ms

I would like to ask or if you can help me

I brought a build up car from a friend

and now I want to change the ownership of the car to my name what must do?

I have got the traffic registration for the previous owner
and the registration certificate of the car
and the yellow form completed


Kind regards
 
youngaf said:
Dear Mr/Ms

I would like to ask or if you can help me

I brought a build up car from a friend

and now I want to change the ownership of the car to my name what must do?

I have got the traffic registration for the previous owner
and the registration certificate of the car
and the yellow form completed


Kind regards
Click to expand...

1. Has your friend had police clearance for what he has done?

2. If he has, then the NATIS document, and blue form filled in by you should be OK.

3. If no police clearance, then your friend will have to get it.

4. Don't forget that the car will have to be Data Dotted as well before you can try and get a roadworthy certificate, and you won't get any of this without going through all the steps.

5 Proof of Residence plus ID is also necessary.
 
All cars in SA would have been registered at some point in time, be it on the old paper system or the Natis system. If on Natis, it would be much easier to trace it back. If not, you need to find the old registration authority. Cars without papers would be two kinds of either of these. Those that have been scrapped or those where the owner just stopped paying. A scrapped (Removed from the road because of various reasons, but stated to not be roadwothy anymore) vehicle are the best to buy with papers, or the better one without papers to find. It means, from the date of scrapping, no license fees were applicable. A vehicle that the owner just stopped paying license would still have been liable for license fees.

Two examples I can give you here. I bought an old 1970 Honda motorcycle that was scrapped, This one had papers too. It can easily be registered in the new owner's name without penalties. If I did not have the papers, it could still have been traced back to the original licensing authority (ND plates). Copies of papers could be obtained and then registered without penalties for arrears license fees.

A friend bought a 1964 Ford F100 without papers and without tracing the registration or doing homework, thinking he would do it when he has built it up. It is almost done now after spending R80k on it. He traced the chassis number back and was informed the vehicle was never scrapped. Arrears license fees and penalties amount to R59k. Big surprise this late into the build.

Most vehicles will have a VIN, engine or chassis number that can be used to trace it back. The process could be costly, and then you might find out about outstanding fees. As stated above, if it is not a vintage/classic vehicle with significant value, then buying it for spare parts is the only viable option.

My 2c.
 
Someone help me please. 4 years ago my Uncle worked for a company which gave him a company bakkie. The company didnt pay him then he decided to keep the bakkie for non payment. Everything is fine but the original owner doesnt want to give him the papers for the bakkie. I want to buy the bakkie from him. So how do i go forth since we cant get the papers thru the ex-owner.
 
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