Orginal Title

[gldskr]

TTKO

Didn't I advise to tread carefully?

[Shoonra]

A very serious misunderstanding of the purpose of a car's pink slip.

The State doesn't own your car. You do. But, as with tracts of land, the State does maintain a file of deeds showing the transfer of ownership of cars. Unlike tracts of land, cars do not get transferred into perpetuity but probably for only about 20 years at most.

Each time the ownership of the car is transferred, by sale or gift or inheritance, the new owner sends in the previous pink slip and gets a new one in his name. That way the State has a record of the car's history.

The certificate of manufacture serves as the first pink slip. It is presented with a brand new car. This is proof to the first purchaser that there was no previous owner. This certificate is sent in and the owner gets his pink slip as the car's first owner.

But is it required to get the State involved?

[Shoonra]

Just as the State is the authoritative repository of land deeds, so with the automotive equivalent of the pink slip.

A car represents the second biggest investment (second to a house, so for non-homeowners it might well be their Biggest investment), an expensive commodity tempting to thieves, and an implement which may somehow be involved in a crime. The combination of reasons justifies the State maintaining the authoritative documents of a car's ownership and history.

[mrg]

Originally Posted by TheTreeOfKnowing

Who are you talking to.

Try not to start a solo sentence thought with a conjunction.

but

[Middle English, from Old English butan; see ud- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: But may be used to begin a sentence at all levels of style.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Who are you talking to.

What, grammatically, are you expressing in your incomplete sentence fragment above?

And why?