Is a bonded Texas car title bad?

[lukedukem]

     As the title states (pun intended). i have a 70 dart i am thinking about selling to help fund the 69 super bee build. Here are the circumstances i bought it under: the guy selling it was in charge of his brothers estate. his brother sadly pasted last march in a car accident. he had a lot of cars, but he never changed the titles over to his name from the PO's. so i went to tax office and they had me send a letter to the PO trying to contact him about the car, i did and the letter came back certified and unanswered. then i got cops over to run vin and make sure it wants reported stolen ever, it wasn't. so i got a surety bond for the car from the insurance agency and it made it a bonded title. if someone where to come after the car, they wont get the car, but the value the state put on the surety bond, 4k dollars. after 3 years the title becomes regular Texas title. if i sell within the three years the bond transfers to new owner. I'm just unsure if it hurts the value of the car to have a bonded title on it, or if people avoid these titles. what do you all think, any one from Texas deal with this before? Here is a pic of car


Luke

[70 sublime]

Think if I as looking at a car with this type of story on the title it would have to be very cheap for me to buy and take a chance
I do not think you would get top dollar for it until your 3 years are up as it is not a special car and I would just look for something else in my price range

[Daytona R/T SE]

I wouldn't touch it.

[RCCDrew]

I just had to do a bonded title for my Charger because the existing title had an extra character in the vin. I would be cautious buying a car with a bonded title just because there is a slight chance someone could have a title dispute with the car. The prospective buyer may have no issues buying with a bonded title.

[daveco]

 Look at it this way,
Two essentially identical cars. One with clear Texas title, one with bonded Texas title.
Pretty easy to say I'd expect the bonded title car to be substantially discounted over the clear title car.

That said, rarely are two vehicles directly comparable and a lot depends on the personal attitudes of the buyer.

[HPP]

Its  a calculated risk to buy such an animal, but if someone wants it to sit in the line of project cars, it may not be a deterent. However, I'm betting most buyers would leverage that info to reduce the price.

[6bblgt]

how far into the 3 year process is it?

[lukedukem]

how far into the 3 year process is it?

Two months. 

I just got all the titles back. The super bee is legit and good. But it's the one I'm keeping. But I guess now I'm keeping all three till Christmas 2019. Maybe I can look for a small block for it and make a cruiser out of it for now.  But then I might get attached. 

Luke

[lukedukem]

Thanks for all the replies too guys. I thought it might have some effect on it. But i look at it this way. I've done the leg work. If one were to buy the car without title, then they would've had to go through all the crap I had to.

Luke

[Aero426]

Thanks for all the replies too guys. I thought it might have some effect on it. But i look at it this way. I've done the leg work. If one were to buy the car without title, then they would've had to go through all the crap I had to.

Luke

This is true.    But it still has "a story" to a prospective buyer in that it has a bonded title.   It isn't clean.

Even though you have done everything you can do, a buyer will not be willing to assume potential title problems without a discount.  

[moparnation74]

Thanks for all the replies too guys. I thought it might have some effect on it. But i look at it this way. I've done the leg work. If one were to buy the car without title, then they would've had to go through all the crap I had to.

Luke

This is true.    But it still has "a story" to a prospective buyer in that it has a bonded title.   It isn't clean.

Even though you have done everything you can do, a buyer will not be willing to assume potential title problems without a discount.  

Couldn't agree more........One has to assume all risk until the bond matures.......Hence, hard sale or low ballers

[cdr]

when I was lookin for a car before the one I have now, I past on some pretty nice cars because they had bonded titles.

[lukedukem]

Thanks for all the replies too guys. I thought it might have some effect on it. But i look at it this way. I've done the leg work. If one were to buy the car without title, then they would've had to go through all the crap I had to.

Luke

This is true.    But it still has "a story" to a prospective buyer in that it has a bonded title.   It isn't clean.

Even though you have done everything you can do, a buyer will not be willing to assume potential title problems without a discount.  

Couldn't agree more........One has to assume all risk until the bond matures.......Hence, hard sale or low ballers

That's just it, I don't know what risk a new owner would be having. Let say for example someone buys this dart. From me. If someone from the last registered owner came forward to claim it's theirs, all that would happen is the surety bond gives them 4K. That's it, no court bull crap, no fighting. That person will never get the car, just money.
But it's a big if, and I still understand were y'all are coming from. No matter how I explain it, the cars will have that issue and never bring full amount. So I will keep them for now. I'm not in a bind for money. It would have been nice to free up some extra cash for the super bee, but it'll be fine. I'll just work more. Hopefully in three years there still a need for a 70 dart. Or maybe in three years I can make it drivable and make it easier to sell when the time comes.
Thanks for all your replies, I value everyone's opinion


Luke

[paironines]

It is a risk but better than no title. Food for thought, you cannot register a bonded title in Indiana. Other states may be the same.

[ODZKing]

IN NY State, there is no title necessary if it is a pre 73 vehicle.  So it doesn't matter here. Just a bill of sale! 

[HPP]

It is a risk but better than no title. Food for thought, you cannot register a bonded title in Indiana. Other states may be the same.

It varies from state to state.

I had a very similar situation on a '70 Road Runner I picked up a few years back. In my state, I had to demonstrate an attempt to contact the person listed on the title and show either their new signature authorizing me to take possession or the returned certified letter attempt. Combine that with a vin inspection provided by our state patrol and I got a regular title issued because the vehicle was over 25 years old.

Sounds like Texas did that, and then issued a bond title. Maybe you should have tried titling it in a neighboring state.

[lukedukem]

I was gonna try a title company, but was told the results would be the same. A bonded title. I did the same but for Texas it's different. Not sure how to use a neighbor state to try to title. Sounds like a pain. But if you have an idea, I'm all ears.

Luke

[DougMN]

If the bond company has to pay out, they then go after you for the money paided out.

[lukedukem]

If the bond company has to pay out, they then go after you for the money paided out.

The way I was explained and this is in Texas, not sure other states. That is why I have a surety bond. It prevents that. The state of Texas decided the car is worth 4K. So they tell me to go to my insurance company or any one who does surety bonds and get one for 4k on the car, cost me 100 bucks. After that I take the paperwork to the state and they give me the title and they log it down as bonded. Now if anyone comes forward and tried to take the car form me then the (surety bond) insurance company pays them 4K, not me. But the person has to prove the car is theirs.
Just like you have insurance for your car in case you get in a wreck, this is insurance just in case someone tries to claim the car. Aftert three years Texas gives me a clear title. Unless I was told wrong.

Luke