I don't consider MYSELF a "collector" but when I was looking into selling my 78 Pace Car I talked to a couple collectors who were interested.

One guy was a little concerned that my Illinois title was BLANK where the odometer reading would be. Not "exempt" but blank.
I told him that's Illinois, 10 years or older they didn't care about mileage. I actually did ask them to put the mileage on the title when I transferred it into my name back in 03. They simply ignored me

Anyway, he told me I could get the info put on the title, and sure enough I checked and he was right.
I would get a "corrected" title with the mileage stated.
I need to have a form filled out and signed by a "law enforcement officer" and send that and my title into the Sec of State, plus the $95 fee of course.

Is it really worth it? Anyone's thoughts?
Would the new title branded "duplicate" be a negative? I've photocopied the original title to have on hand if an explanation is ever asked for.

I think anyone could see that the Vette does in fact have the low miles without referring to the title.
Plus I have copies of all previous titles, the last one before mine showing 16 miles and the present 25 miles on the transfer info on the back.

Oh, I have decided to keep it for now anyway.

 

your right Il does not care about miles after 10 years, I would keep the title as original. a duplicate title could raise questions down the road.

 

Neither does Colorado on these older cars. The DMV expempted mine at some point in the 3 previous owners but I still have the original miles on the Title when I purchased it. At least when I title it again I can still have the mileage on the car. They do this because on these older cars once they turn over 99,999 it is impossible to track the mileage.

My 1977 had 43,260 miles on it when I bought it and it was recorded with an exemption on the Title.

 

Not to me. Is it worth it to you?

If the buyer wants it on the title, let him/her go through the rigamarole.

 

So would the mileage be todays mileage or the hypothetical mileage from back in 2003? If you had them put the 2003 mileage on it today, that seems awfully "honor system" oriented.

Although I doubt you have inspection records for the past 10 years, I would think that if you did, that would be far superior documentation than having something added on to the title now.

 

I just posted my thoughts on this in another thread. I got fooled and surprised here in Florida. I moved here a little over two years ago, and just assumed the Florida DMV titled cars and reported odometer readings like they did back home in VA.

Florida does the same thing, doesn't record the Odometer on older cars. When I bought mine, the PO informed me after I paid him of this when signing over the title. (My fault for not learning this in advance!) Which means the claimed 88K was probably complete BS. I was pretty mad, and went ahead with the sale because the car checked out, but it was something that almost made me consider ending the sale. A duplicate title probably would of scared me away from the car, worrying that there was something else in it's history.

I'd say good documentation, along with being upfront about the fact the title is blank will help most buyers/collectors. They know what they are getting.

Nothing worse than the "SURPRISE" no milage on the title, maybe I'm lying, maybe I'm not, you'll never know feeling.

 

"Reported" mileage doesn't mean 'squat' to me. I do a thorough check of the car (inside, underneath, etc) and a good test drive to check out all the mechanical aspects of the car. With some experience, you can tell whether the car has 38K miles, 138K miles or 238K miles on it.

And, I wouldn't pay extra for a low mileage car anyway, since I want to drive it. If I were putting it in a 'museum' so that the miles stayed low, THEN I might pay for a real low-mileage car. Otherwise, why bother? A car with HIGH mileage can be brought back to almost-new condition with repairs.

P.S. A low-mileage car that is 40+ years old still needs to have nearly everything rebuilt.

 

I'd argue the only ones that usually don't are those random finds that sat in some dealership show room for the last 40 odd years. But.... you won't be paying 10K for that anyways.

 

Titles only establish ownership and I wouldn't pay the least bit of attention to the miles. Most times the DMV either exempts it or takes my word for it. Its pretty easy to wash a title through another state anyway, more reason not to waste your time/money. The picky buyer might walk away, but it would be their loss

 

Well, I think I'll put this on hold for now.
Just was motivated to maybe act quick on it because the Ill. Sec of State's office had a booth at the university I work at yesterday doing license and plate renewals.
Talked to the head honcho and she gave me her card and told me to send the paperwork to her attention and she'd make sure it got done
Besides, I almost sold it last month before backing out.
The buyer was very understanding, and after being reassured I was keeping the car and not selling it elsewhere told me to call him first if I ever change my mind. Seems he has several pace cars already. And he didn't seem concerned about the odometer/title thing.