Dave, read about his car, he wants to document mileage

You don't have to claim exempt if you don't want to as long as no one has before you.
Yes, don't have a single thing blank on the title when you take it in or they will throw it back at you and tell you to have a nice day. If all the original owner did was sign it and no other information has been filled out (date of purchase, mileage, purchaser, etc.) I personally would put my current info in as purchaser, current mileage, sign and date it as if I bought it last week, load it on my trailer and head for the tag office

(not the one I called for info

) If it is dated, just follow what they told you, but yes, don't have anything blank when you go in, that's a BIG nono...