Car history for my oldtimer

[dirks1408]

Hello,
my name is Dirk, I`m living in the Black Forest ( near Stuttgart ) in Germany and I have a 280 SL from 1970.
I want to know a little bit more about the carhistory. From the moment, the car was reimported to Germany in 1995
I have all informations. I also got a picture that shows my car near Los Angeles. How can I get more informations about the car during his staying in USA from 1970 - 1995 ?
regards
Dirk

[Richard Madison]

Not sure it will work but here is a link to a form to request a Vehicle History Report from the California Motor Vehicle Department.

The CA DMV website might have more information about registration history reports.

http://dmv.ca.gov/forms/inf/inf70.pdf

Richard M, NYC

[Atazman]

Thank you, Richard, for this link.  I've been wondering how I can get some history on my car.  I have the forms filled out and ready to send in.

[dirks1408]

Thank you, Richard, for your link.
I`ll try it, but I don`t know if it will work, `cause I am staying in Germany.

[zoegrlh]

Dirk,
Please let us members know if you do get any information from CA. concerning your car history.  I have a Euro specs SL and was able to get the entire history of my car from Germany sources, the Kraftfahrzeugbrief, and thru Daimler-Benz for maintance records.  In fact, my last trip to Germany to visit our friends near Heidelburg, we contacted the second owner of the car (first owner had died).  Where as in USA, much of the title history of a old car is hard to find until recent years, now you can now do a CarFax search, again but for only newer made cars.  Good luck.
Bob 

[gugel]

Robert, can you give a bit more detail on how you traced your car's history?  For example, whom did you contact at Daimler-Benz to get the maintenance records?  How did you find the identity of previous owners?

I too have a Euro spec SL, but have only been able to trace the history since the time it was imported to the US in 1985.  I visited the original selling dealer in Reutlingen and the German Classic Center, but the German privacy laws prevented them from giving me any info, or even sending a letter to the first owner.

Chris Earnest
'65 Euro 230SL

[Pawel66]

Robert, if there is a working link to get this kind of information - it would be very valuable. It is, n general, an issue - from Daimler you usually get no answer... I would try to get some info on my Pagoda as well.

[49er]

I would also be surprised if the California DMV gives out any info. I have always wondered what ever happened to my old 250SL and would interested to hear if anyone has success in tracking their car down to through the DMV.

John

[dirks1408]

Bob,
I got an answer from the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento. It took some time,
but now I know for instance the last owner in USA from 1984 - 1995, when the car was shipped to Germany.
They give me the Previous Licence number too, so I can start the same requestion again with the new Licence number.
I hope that I get an answer, whrer the car was staying the first 14 years in USA.

Dirk

[Benz Dr.]

We have privacy laws here as well but when you want to sell a car you are supposed to provide the buyer with the vechical history which is provided by the Ontario government. If the car was not sold new here and was imported from the USA or somewhere else, there is no information provided for those years of ownership nor does it state where the car came from. The car could come from another country or from anywhere in Canada other than Ontario and you wouldn't be able to find out.
This information states the previous owners names right back to the MB dealer who sold the car if it sold new here. The date the transaction took place and where the previous owner lived is also provided. No address, phone numbers, purchase price, mileage ( which is odd because you have to provide that info every time you buy new sickers ) or any other info is provided. It wouldn't be that hard to find some owners as long as they haven't moved to another city.

I know my 230SL was sold new in Italy and somehow found its way into the Sates. I bought it from a dealer in NC and he bought it from a guy in Virginia. I imported the the car into Canada in 1993. If I were to ever sell this car the used vehical package would show me as the only owner since 1993. As the car changed hands in future years the owner history could be traced back to me but not beyond that.

It's nice to have this information but it's not as usefull as you might think. Most former owners won't have sellers remorse and some of them care little for cars, so don't expect them to tell you much if anything to a total stranger.

[Tom Colitt]

Gratuliere. Du hast mehr Infos bekommen als selbst wir hier in Kalifornien jemals von der DMV bekommen :-)...

John: (49er). Do you really expect to find a lot of sympathy on this board for a guy who sold his Pagoda and now is wondering whether it's well-cared for? ;-).....  (Unless it was under severe duress. As in, "gun-to-your-head" or wife :-)....

[49er]

Hi Tom, if you read my intro, http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=529.msg92844#msg92844, you will see why I no longer own that 250SL:-(

John

[Tom Colitt]

Ahh. I understand. First love. Those ARE mitigating circumstances. I hope you can track her down :-)....

[zoegrlh]

Dirk,
Chris Earnest has asked how I found the history of my Euro Spec SL.  I bought my SL from a man that was in our MBCA Virginia Section.  He sold it because his age was getting on.  He had the car 14 years, and was the person that imported it to USA.  He was the third owner that worked for US Government in Germany during late 80s.  I also worked in Germany in late 80s and looked at several W113s to bring back to USA, but to no avail.  Anyway, by knowing him for years, and knowing the car, and how he maintained it, I jumped at the chance to own it.  The SL came with many papers (all service/maintance records for over 18 years) and the original Kraftfahrzeugbrief.  This brief had the two, (first and second) German owners listed. 

So a couple of years ago, my wife and I visited our Germany friends (who both work for Daimler-Benz).  I thought it would be nice to search, while there in Germany, for the first two owners.  The brief told me the German towns that the SL was titled in.  The first owner was a Professorenhaft Arztlich (medical Doctor), and titled the car in Ledreinger, the second owner is a Diplomiert Musiklehrer (music conductor) and titled the car in Tuttlingen.  We had our friends help in our search, so we went to the internet for our search for the two Germans.  We found that the doctor had pasted on, but we got lucky with the second owner, we found him on his internet web site for music instruction in the very same town the car was titled in.  We telephoned him and told him that I own his old SL, he was surprised that it was still on the road, and that it was in the USA.  I got his e-mail address and he sent me pictures of the SL back in the 70s when he owned it.  We exchange e-mails from time to time to let him know of car show awards the SL now gets.  Note, he met his wife with this SL, and they took their honeymoon in it.

So as you can see, I was lucky to find the complete history of my SL.  Currently, our friends back in Germany are currently looking thru Daimler-Benz files to locate service records of those first two ownerships.  By my conversation with the music conductor, I know the towns where the Daimler-Benz service facilities are located, now it is a problem to search records (no records were in the DB computer/microfiche).

Anyway, Chris, please let me know your progress on your history, and by the way, my SL also was delivered to Reutlingen.

[Pawel66]

Robert,

What a beautiful story!

I am sure there could be many more of them!

I wish I could discover something similar about my car...

Pawel

[dirks1408]

Hello all,

there is still the question, what happened with the car the first 14 years. I got from the Vehicle Department of Sacramento I guess the former licence number, but it seems to be not California number.
The number is  1 IIDM 905 ( see appendix ).

Is there a chance to get figured out with this number who was the first owner ?
I have now a comntact toTte last owner in USA , and he told me, he bought the car without licence plate from a mercedes dealer in the LA area.

Dirk

[Tom Colitt]

It's very hard (to impossible) to get that kind of information here. Your only hope would be to contact the dealership where the car was sold. The number you listed looks like a number issued in Ca in the early 80s, probably after someone gave up the original plate and mounted personalized plates for a few years. Something is wrong with the II in 1IIDM 905. There should only be 7 digits. Maybe it was 1 HDM 905 or 1 UDM 905?....

Tom Colitt

Hello all,

there is still the question, what happened with the car the first 14 years. I got from the Vehicle Department of Sacramento I guess the former licence number, but it seems to be not California number.
The number is  1 IIDM 905 ( see appendix ).

Is there a chance to get figured out with this number who was the first owner ?
I have now a comntact toTte last owner in USA , and he told me, he bought the car without licence plate from a mercedes dealer in the LA area.

Dirk

[dirks1408]

Hi Tom,
thanks for your help. I guess I start a next request to the Vehicle Department of Sacramento with the number 1 HDM 905.
Perhaps I am lucky with a further step of the cars history.
Dirk