A hot Rod builder friend in Tucson had a reproduction 1932 ford Chassis with a original 1932 Arizona title and the DVM would not let, dmv put their own sticker and vin # can’t transfer vin # from from another vehicle .
I agree, it gets really confusing very quickly. I would not "knowingly" buy any vehicle with a pending title issue. It's just a can of worms.
In my case, I sold my 1932 Ford Roadster to a buyer in Arizona. He went to the AZ DMV to change the registration after his purchase. They told him that there was another car registered in a Eastern State with the same VIN#. I supplied the buyer with all of my old CA Registrations, documenting that the car with that VIN# had been consecutively licensed in California for the past 12 years. In the end, AZ DMV had the power to cancel the registration of the vehicle licensed in the Eastern State, and they approved the change of ownership to my cars new owner. It was a little scary for a time.
One of the things to consider is that the modern Federal DOT seventeen digit VIN# system did not begin until around the 1980 model year. With the old very short VIN# (commonly called Serial Numbers) there's lots of potential for duplicate numbers and confusion.
I use the services of a privet "state licensed" VIN Verifier, anytime I have a out of state registration transaction, or something that is not a simple transaction that AAA will handle for me. It only costs me $35 extra, and my blood pressure remains normal.
John