tercel near Seattle...cheap but not clear on condition

[Pavel AK]

http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/pts/361217814.html
14xK for $300
wrote the seller and she replied:

The title to this car was lost about 10 years ago when the previous
owner
died. The car cannot get current tabs without current registration and
that
cannot be transfered unless there is a title to the vehicle. At least
that
is my understanding of. I have never filed anything of that nature
therefore I am not clear on how the whole process works. I know I have
a
car that needs quite a bit a of work so I'm selling it for parts or as
a
major project. Personally knowing nearly nothing about mechanical
things
and not having another Tercel, I do not have a need for this car. To
legally move it you would need to purchase a trip permit or ideally tow
it
since it does not drive well.


I was asking about her saying it needed, "a State Trooper Inspection".
Not sure what you need to do to get a title reissued in Wash. or changed over from a dead person, ect. In Alaska you can do an "Abandoned Vehicle" title and get it in your name. If I knew it was driveable(right now or with very little work and for, say 2,000 miles or so) I'd be tempted...but it seems a little too much unknown...course if you are near Seattle that might be something else. A real find having only sat for ten years? or a real bomber have been driven to the ground at which point the owner died...
good luck

[Petros]

you can get a title by applying for a "provisional title", pay $80 for a safety inspection and you get it in your name. The old owner has two years to make a claim on it, after that you get full title. During the two years you own it, drive it use it and can sell it with the provisional title. That is how I got my tercel (it was abandoned by the owner in a repair shop since replacing the trans was more that the car was worth).

It seems to me there might be another way if the person who owned it was passed away, you get title through the executor of the estate. If it is a messy estate (law suites, fighting siblings, etc.) and you need a lawyer,. It might be cheaper to pay for the inspection and wait out the two years.