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Not sure how it works in tn but... I bought my car from a very legit guy (becoming a lawyer, went to his house, selling the car because of gas and la traffic and needed a family car because his wife was pregnant), i got the bill of sale and a paper for a duplicate title (stamped by the dmv). It turned out that the car was from wa and that the guy never released the original wa title. So i couldnt register the car even tho the car already had ca plates and registration. I was told i need to either get the original title or put down like a 5k deposit with the dmv to start the process to get a new title. And the process is a b|tch and takes a long as time. Luckily i called the guy and he had the title, so i was able to get my car registered.
In short you NEED that title. Without it, its probs cheeper to buy another sc then register your current one. Again i am in CA so things might be a bit different in tn but still... sorry dude.
I was trying to identify the VIN number on my Lexus as well. It turns out that you can pull the VIN from the ECU but not with a cheap scanner. Also, this article has a list of locations where you can find Lexus VIN.