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Buying used sled with bill of sale only


mnstang

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Seeing if anyone in MN has any tips or tricks for this.  I've ran into problems with this before and have heard about problems from other guys with this.

Scenario is buying a used machine from someone that owned it but never registered it in their name.  It does have MN registration from another previous owner but current owner can't remember the name m

My experience is that they usually want the seller's name to match who it was last registered to, otherwise they won't let you do it at all.  So if you don't know the person's name who it was registered to, is there a good work around?

I know bontz has said before you could register it in wi, even being a MN resident, and then transfer it back to MN.  I'd rather not do that amount of hassle.  I had one this year where I tried to transfer it in Mora thinking they'd do whatever but they turned me away because it didn't match up.  I called the seller and he gave me a name of who he bought from and I useful that at my local DMV and it worked.  I'm not sure if the names matched or if my local DMV is more lenient.  I know they are pretty lenient though.

I was wondering too if I could just say I bought it out of Wisconsin or Iowa or wherever.  Even if it was registered here 10 years ago, that doesn't mean it didn't change hands and get registered out of state.  

Thoughts?

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I don't know about doing this without having a registration card signed over with a matching name.  As far as registering it in WI, I certainly have done that with my new sleds (as well as several riding buddies of mine who ride in WI primarily) ... in fact, we used to "dual register" to avoid trail passes but now that trail passes are required everywhere we just register where we primarily ride.  Anyway, that's besides the point to what you're asking.

Having only the bill of sale, without a registration card that matches the owner ... and the way MN is with their License Bureau stuff?  I dunno man - seems like a trainwreck waiting to happen.  Can the DMV at least tell you who this latest sled was registered with so you can get their signature?  That, to me, seems like the only legit option unless you've got a good contact locally that's ... like you said ... lenient.

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11 minutes ago, Bontz said:

I don't know about doing this without having a registration card signed over with a matching name.  As far as registering it in WI, I certainly have done that with my new sleds (as well as several riding buddies of mine who ride in WI primarily) ... in fact, we used to "dual register" to avoid trail passes but now that trail passes are required everywhere we just register where we primarily ride.  Anyway, that's besides the point to what you're asking.

Having only the bill of sale, without a registration card that matches the owner ... and the way MN is with their License Bureau stuff?  I dunno man - seems like a trainwreck waiting to happen.  Can the DMV at least tell you who this latest sled was registered with so you can get their signature?  That, to me, seems like the only legit option unless you've got a good contact locally that's ... like you said ... lenient.

Could be a trainwreck.  I'm not set to buy this sled but there is one 10 minutes from me but he never registered it so I've been holding off on it.

In my experience, they do not tell you who the previous owner is.  They probably figure you would just make a fake bill of sale then.  But it's dumb, as long as it's not marked stolen, I don't see why it has to be so difficult.

I suspect my local license place lets things through.  When I did the sled this summer, she was looking a little funny at the screen and asking me if I bought it out of state.  I told her I didn't and she still pushed it through.  That's why I wonder if I said yes, that would be the play.  I did buy one out of wi last year so obviously they didn't have any history on that sled and it went fine.  My buddies say that my local office is the one to go to.  But it's still a gamble and I don't really want to end up with an unregisterable sled.

 

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I hear ya ... for something that's legit, it sure can be a pain in the ass.  A buddy of mine went through the same/similar thing with a trailer he purchased and the original owner (that it was still registered to) wasn't the guy who sold it to my buddy.  FFS - the DMV told my buddy his best option was to go to small claims court to get it figured out.  It was one of that WTF?!?! moments.

Good luck - hopefully, if the deal is a good one on this sled, your local DMV can work with ya to make it as smooth as possible.

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I've been through this - The DMV chicks at my local place know me, they've seen me dozens of times in there, so they took my word on the "faked" Bill Of Sale I wrote up, because they have told me if you have that, we can process it. 

Now, I don't know how all of the DMV's do that, I've seen it done differently over the years, so good luck.

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I've sold and bought a number of sleds out of state and some can be tricky if the sled your selling or buying is not registered to the buyer's seller's name.  Wisconsin is ease to get a sled registered so depending on the sled if I was going to keep or sell it I would just register it in Wisconsin.  If it was a parts sled wouldn't register it.  I sold 2 RXL's to a guy in South Dakota and one of them I had replaced the tunnel so the stamped numbers didn't match the registration.  Before he would buy the sled I had to got to the DNR to reregister the sled with the matching tunnel numbers.  All that I had to do was write the current tunnel registration numbers on the form and when I get the card it all matched.  If I hadn't done that he would have not been able to register the sled in South Dakota.  Another sled I restored for a guy and had to put a NOS tunnel on.  A NOS tunnel has no numbers stamped on.  I have the correct font stamps and restamped the tunnel before I had the chassis powder coated or he won't have been able to register it.  He was from Michigan.    

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8 hours ago, Zambroski said:

Call DNR (or other) and see if it’s been reported stolen. Otherwise, the only way I’ve sold the last 4-5 is with a bill of sale.

Selling is not a problem and bill of sale isn't a problem.  But for the buyer registering it.. if the seller name on bill of sale doesn't match who it was last registered to (in MN), they are not supposed to let you put in your name and then you're stuck with a sled you can't register.  This is regardless if it's stolen or not.

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2 minutes ago, mnstang said:

Selling is not a problem and bill of sale isn't a problem.  But for the buyer registering it.. if the seller name on bill of sale doesn't match who it was last registered to (in MN), they are not supposed to let you put in your name and then you're stuck with a sled you can't register.  This is regardless if it's stolen or not.

Ahhh….I didn’t know that.  Course, I don’t usually bother to register my sleds either.  This year was the first in probably 10 years.

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1 minute ago, Zambroski said:

Ahhh….I didn’t know that.  Course, I don’t usually bother to register my sleds either.  This year was the first in probably 10 years.

It's stupid.  Like, I'm trying to give you my money.  Government go figure.

I like to just be legal for less to worry about.  But if they won't take my money, I could always buy duplicate stickers for one of the other sleds I do register and put them on the unregisterable sled.  I think it's 5 or 6 bucks for some duplicates.

But it would be more of a pain in the ass when I do go to sell it.

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11 minutes ago, mnstang said:

It's stupid.  Like, I'm trying to give you my money.  Government go figure.

I like to just be legal for less to worry about.  But if they won't take my money, I could always buy duplicate stickers for one of the other sleds I do register and put them on the unregisterable sled.  I think it's 5 or 6 bucks for some duplicates.

But it would be more of a pain in the ass when I do go to sell it.

That reminds me, I ran into a DNR guy at Menards a few weeks ago, he saw my SX pullover and struck up a conversation in line.  Told me they are going to be out and about a bit more this year and really cracking down on registrations and trail passes.  Also said the excuses that let people off with warnings are over.  Registrations AND NUMBERS will start being unforced.  I mean, wtf?  But..nice guy just giving me (us) a heads up for the season.

I just put the numbers on my sled today.  Well, second set…I hated the first.  :lol:

 

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28 minutes ago, mnstang said:

Selling is not a problem and bill of sale isn't a problem.  But for the buyer registering it.. if the seller name on bill of sale doesn't match who it was last registered to (in MN), they are not supposed to let you put in your name and then you're stuck with a sled you can't register.  This is regardless if it's stolen or not.

My brother ran into this situation with one of his Bearcats. He registered it in sconny, used it for one winter that way and then transferred it to MN. Only other thing is if you know any LEO'S they could run it and find the name it's registered in. The dmv will put you into contact with someone at dnr and they will send something to original owner but most times that is a dead end.

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1 minute ago, Sled_Hed said:

My brother ran into this situation with one of his Bearcats. He registered it in sconny, used it for one winter that way and then transferred it to MN. Only other thing is if you know any LEO'S they could run it and find the name it's registered in. The dmv will put you into contact with someone at dnr and they will send something to original owner but most times that is a dead end.

Maybe I'll look at the sled in question after the holidays.  

There's a 92 440 panther in the cities on marketplace with a rack and reverse (RR??)  Looks mint says it doesn't run right.  Easy fix, you should buy it $550obo

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On 12/22/2021 at 8:04 PM, mnstang said:

Selling is not a problem and bill of sale isn't a problem.  But for the buyer registering it.. if the seller name on bill of sale doesn't match who it was last registered to (in MN), they are not supposed to let you put in your name and then you're stuck with a sled you can't register.  This is regardless if it's stolen or not.

This is what they are supposed to do. The last dmv I talked to Sam d the dnr is really checking this. I learned if you talk to a police/sheriff about how you bought the sled and you need to contact the owner or check of it's stolen. Ask if they will do a report and get the report number. You can request the report later and it will have the last registered owners info. 

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