Buying a Mercedes W115. But it has no paperwork. Help?

[sad:)]

I have a situation here. I want to buy an old car, infact a very old one (mercedes W115 for restoration). But the problem is that this car has no clear documents of the owner ship. I want to know the procedure involved in buying such a car and getting all the documents done from RTO. I tried looking every where for any such info in this community..but i could not find one...

Can any one please guide me in this process?

For now, All I know is the RTO Registration number of the car. The person who own it now also has no information on who is the actual owner.

[canonball]

Do an RTI with the RTO where it is originally registered and the current owner should apply for new set of papers. Its odd though that it is being sold without papers in which case it has ton's of road tax due on it. Also the orignal owner may be someone else and the one selling it to you merely having physical possession of the car tricky stuff watch it!

[Naren4140]

painful dont get into it

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Naren4140

painful dont get into it

+1. Such cars are bought only for parts at dirt cheap prices.

[manishk123]

I too was offered an abandoned merc like this one. The process I found out from the local police station was that you report that the car has been abandoned. The police will tow it away and take it to their yard. It is then auctioned to the highest bidder after giving a notice i the newspaper. You have to manage the guys at the time of auction to get the car at your price. Then its legally yours.

[JayD]

Stay away! Technically, the car will never be yours, so one day after you finish all the work on the car, if someone claims it to be his, you are done for. i've read somewhere that such a thing happened with another classic in india.

I rejected a W115 Automatic with power steering in fair condition, just due to the fact that it had improper papers. ( The reg details were of a W111)!!

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by manishk123

You have to manage the guys at the time of auction to get the car at your price. Then its legally yours.

You serious of this. That's creating even bigger issues if you know how it works.

The car can never be legal the way you say it. And if it does you are probably being taken for a ride.

Can somebody confirm that the Police can auction deserted cars? I will be surprised if it is done.

[sad:)]

Originally Posted by manishk123

I too was offered an abandoned merc like this one. The process I found out from the local police station was that you report that the car has been abandoned. The police will tow it away and take it to their yard. It is then auctioned to the highest bidder after giving a notice i the newspaper. You have to manage the guys at the time of auction to get the car at your price. Then its legally yours.

I will, not to get into this process for sure !!!

Originally Posted by canonball

Do an RTI with the RTO where it is originally registered and the current owner should apply for new set of papers. Its odd though that it is being sold without papers in which case it has ton's of road tax due on it. Also the orignal owner may be someone else and the one selling it to you merely having physical possession of the car tricky stuff watch it!

I can try to find out who is the last registered owner of this car by the registration number from RTO. and then try if i can track down the registered owner.
I never thought about the road tax due I will surely check for this info from RTO..

Originally Posted by Spitfire

+1. Such cars are bought only for parts at dirt cheap prices.

Yes, the car is no more in use. The current owner is offering the car for free. So thats the reason, why i want to give it a try.

Originally Posted by JayD

Stay away! Technically, the car will never be yours, so one day after you finish all the work on the car, if someone claims it to be his, you are done for. i've read somewhere that such a thing happened with another classic in india.

I rejected a W115 Automatic with power steering in fair condition, just due to the fact that it had improper papers. ( The reg details were of a W111)!!

Yes, for sure it is not a good idea to restore a car if you cannot own it.
But what if no one claims it to be owner, can such cars be used on roads, will it lead to any problems? traffic police ?

[sad:)]

I also heard about a rule that vintage cars (more than 40yrs old) done need any documents. Is this TRUE ?

I guess it is not. If so, I am a little confused, anyone can get any vintage car without any documents transfer.

If it is TRUE, then this car may be 40 yrs old in a few years

I tried looking for this info in Karnataka RTO website, but could not find anything.
Is any one aware of such rule.

[Spinnerr]

Do you by any chance have an Automobile Association membership?

If yes, just go over talk to them, they will take care of all the paper work, they know the right path, and guide you in case there are any legal hurdles.

If No, why dont you become a member, its just INR 3000 for a life membership, and as long as you are a member, they take of all your RTO needs. If not this car, may be for the next car that you buy.

Automobile Association of Southern India - AASI Services

They have an office at St Marks Road
House of lords,
Unit no . 305, Door No 15 & 16,
St.Marks Road, Bangalore 560 001

22111561 / 22111486 / 22111561

Ps: I am not a member yet, I got an application form, planning to become one this weekend.

[canonball]

Best of luck with Police auctions. I belive the cars are sold as scrap when they are finally sold as the process is so slow that the car rusts into the ground before you get it that to as unregistrable scrap. Check it out if you like. Giving a car in your posetion to the ploice for this is like going into the dragons dungon Like the rest said Parts car is your best bet

[the mole]

IMHO an unregistred W115 is not worth all this effort. And the owner should clear all the papers before selling the car. But ofcourse if the car is comming free then it is another story.

[AltoHoncho]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

You serious of this. That's creating even bigger issues if you know how it works.

The car can never be legal the way you say it. And if it does you are probably being taken for a ride.

Can somebody confirm that the Police can auction deserted cars? I will be surprised if it is done.

Its not like this exactly, the abandoned vehicle must fall in either of the two categories i.e. salvage or junked, in both cases as said previously, the sale is conducted by state police in the presence of respective model dealer, insurance folks, lawyers etc. who conduct checks on the vehicle before being sent for sale.
In case of a salvage, the vehicle must be declared irrepairable as per insurance guys and then it can be put up for sale. in case of junked, the vehicle is checked for any previous title ownership by the police and lawyers and if the owner doesnt exist then only its put up for sale.

Its actually a sale and not auction.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by AltoHoncho

junked

Its actually a sale and not auction.

Thanks for making it clear.

Now can a junked vehicle be re - registered?

[AltoHoncho]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Thanks for making it clear.

Now can a junked vehicle be re - registered?

Yes it can be. If the owner is declared non-existent, then the formal process of a NOC, Title preparation and registration begins. tedious though but fairly possible. If the owner exists, then an in-court / out-of-court settlement happens before the registration. Court comes into picture because the police had procured the vehicle as abandoned, so it neither belongs to the owner nor to you.