A vehicle title is very important especially if you have just purchased the car. If it is a new car without a previous owner, then it is your responsibility to get a car title for it. If there was a previous owner, the title or what is also known as the “pink slip” will be handed on to you by the seller. Whether or not it is a brand new car that you are about to purchase, it is still necessary to learn the basics of getting a car title because you never know when you are going to need this knowledge in the future.

The auto title contains such valuable information that is necessary to pass onto the next owner of the car. It contains the car owner’s name, the address, the name and model of the vehicle, and the year that it was sold. It is usually kept in much secured places in order to ensure its safety. It is what is otherwise known as a proof of ownership.

If you are buying the vehicle from a previous owner, there are certain steps to take in order for the ownership of the vehicle to be passed on to you. For an easy and successful grant of the pink slip, follow these steps to ensure that the vehicle is now legally yours.

The Department of Motor Vehicles in the US is responsible for any actions towards the ownership of any kind of vehicle. You need to know this because when it comes to getting a pink slip for the car you are about to purchase, you will be doing business with them in order to complete the process.

Locate the office of the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state. Some states may not have this, or in cases wherein you cannot seem to find their office, you may go to the local tax department.

The night before you decide to go to the office of that department, you may want to prepare the Manufacturer’s Certificate of Origin which will be used by the representatives of the department to process your file. Don’t have any ideas where to get this? Ask your dealer and he or she will be the one to provide it to you.

You might want to bring along some information about the previous owner, or what is referred to as the “lien information”. Also make sure that the all signatures of the previous owners are already in the required documents if there are ever documents that need to be signed.

This process does not come free, of course. You are going to have to pay some standard fees for the entire process. When all is completed and you have paid for the services, you may have to wait for up to a month in order for the new pink slip to be given to you, or in most cases, mailed to you and the previous owner. Congratulations, you are now the legal owner of a new car, thanks to the vehicle title.

For more information, visit