CWS530

This is worth a day off work. When you said the vehicle was listed as "non-operational," all I could think was Salvage Title. Hope not.

nomis_nehc

Nah, the car is not a salvaged title. I checked it out with carfax, etc. prior to making the purchase.

I am thinking I will drive down to San Diego tomorrow and demand this to be sorted out. It's giving me all sorts of headache.

Any SD people want to come with me and kick their door down? lol

adjmcloon

I'll just echo what others have said, and say again - Go hire an attorney. The longer you wait, the higher your chance of losing your money. You do not own the car you are driving yet!

mhs525

Without directly accusing anyone I would use words such as "Lawyer", "Fraud", "Attorney General", "Revocation of dealers license"

Good luck...

sholaesq

Well, if you don't have the title, that is a big problem. You need to demand the title immediately. If he does not get you a title, then get an attorney to sue him for fraud. There may also be a specific state statute that obligates him to get you all you registration documents within a specific time. It does sound as if this will be easy. When they start blowing a customer off, that 's an indication of a big problem.

nomis_nehc

Well I spoke to my buddy that knows more about this stuff, he says that in California, unless it's a private sale, you don't get the title from the dealer.

You get it mailed from DMV after registration has been processed. Can anyone confirm?

pkancel

First off, do exactly what DMV told you, but I would call them back and ask for a Supervisor and ask if they can make further recommendations. To answer Nomis question, yes the title comes directly from DMV, but thats after the dealer has taken the title to the DMV to do the transfer. Typically they get the car, the car, the title is issued to them and then they have to issue it to you via the DMV. If the DMV has no record of the title, either they havent done anything with it at all or they either lost it themselves or they didnt get the title from whereever they acquired the car.

My recommendation would be to go to DMV and ask if they can help you research where the car came from? Did your dealer ever put the title in their name. If not and they never received the title from whereever they got the car, then they cant legally sell you the car. Do you have a temporary registration? An Attorney would help if you can get them to at least write a letter to scare them, but if this is their practice or they are shady, then the letter wont help. Better Business isnt going to do anything for you, but I would push their buttons in as many ways as possible. Contact the local media, SD news that has a consumer watchdog, they will investigate it and potentially get you some help. I would contact the District Attorney in SD and ask for their assistance. Not getting the title after 5 months is a huge deal and as someone else stated, you gave them money and right now you dont own the car. Might also contact your iinsurance company and see what they recommend too. Let us know how it goes.........

nomis_nehc

Very good advice above. I will definitely keep you guys posted.

I am still contemplating if I should go down there tomorrow and basically demand an immediate resolution.

TakmaN

Good advice already posted in this thread but I agree you need to get that title ASAP. First thing I learned in researching how to buy used cars is never purchase the car without receiving the title or having it transferred in your name on the spot (aka you signing the title and mailing it to the DMV). If they are just lagging in getting you the title that's one thing, but if the dealer doesn't even own the car or have the title or still owe on the car, then that's a major problem.

Hope everything pans out and you can just enjoy your car!

v_therussian

Take the time off work and go there.

Do go there.

Ok, first allow me to "flash some credentials" here: I used to manage a used car lot and through no fault of mine (because the owners were crooks, actually), the lot often held back the registration and title to a vehicle. In the case of these guys I worked for, they were dishonest businessmen and they ended up getting arrested and the place closed down. Again, I managed the lot, so I was not a part of their scheme, but after they got arrested I learned a great deal about what they were doing and why.

The only reason a dealer/seller can ever hold back the title and regi is because they don't have the title. This could be for several reasons. In the case with my former bosses, they simply held back the payment for the cars they bought to dealer auctions as long as they could (often long after the cars were re-sold to customers) to maintain an inflated cash flow, so the auction house did not release the titles. They often stretched it so long that the cash flow they were keeping would get spent and they literally had no money to pay a car off. Which is one of the reasons they got nailed in the end, actually.

Another reason they don't have a title is they bought a car from a Gov't auction and a new title has to be issued for the vehicle, which often takes ridiculous amounts of time - this would actually be a preferable scenario in your case. If this is the case, you'll have to invade your DMV and basically annoy them until they get a move on. All other reasons include all kinds of schemes, scams, theft and so on - you don't wanna know, trust me.

What do you do? Well, its not simple, as I'm sure you've guessed by now. My advice is to go to the seller physically and demand your registration. Say you won't leave until they give you the regi or your money for the regi back and the title, so you can register the car yourself. Do not take no for an answer and make sure that they pay attention. You'll probably need some kind of "liaison" for this one - like the kind that will convey some fear to these guys - they are obviously bullies, so if you have a friend who is a cop who owes you a favor... all I'm saying is you need to make sure they stop giving you the run-around, basically. If you cannot get the registration from them (which means no title either, bc title is sent to you from the DMV once the car is registered), you'll have to collect all your papers that prove you paid for the car and any additional papers necessary (find out through your local DMV which ones, in NY you need a bill of sale, proof of payment and the requisite IDs and so on) and go to the DMV to have a new title issued, which will allow you to register the car. I'd also make sure the car is tucked away where it cannot be stolen, bc the seller may actually have the title and a duplicate key. Try proving to your insurance company that the car was in fact in your possession without a valid registration or a title - I'm guessing you'll not have too much luck.

This has a potential to become a VERY ugly situation, so my advice to you is, again, to go there as soon as you possibly can and start to resolve this. If you need some coaching on how to handle these guys, I can provide some more advice - PM me and I'll give you my phone number so I can talk to you about it. And in any case, keep this thread updated with everything that's going on - hopefully, this will be painless and quick.

Really hope that none of what I've said above applies to you and its just an honest mistake, but better be safe than sorry.