5 months later and still not able to register car..need advice

[tradewife4SVT]

Hello,

My wife and I bought a used car from a very reputable Ford dealer here in Denver in Aug of last year. Fast forward 5 months and we still don’t have permanent tags for our car. The dealership has now given us 3 temp tags so that we can drive the car.

The temp tag we had expired so I called the dealership to see what the issue was and to get another tag for the car. The dealership said that they got the car off an out of state trade in and that They are still trying to get the pervious owner to sign a power of attorney for the car. The previous owner is unresponsive to the dealership and has not returned their calls. So here I am 5 months later with no tags and the title still in the pervious owners name. I have been making payments on our car this whole time.

My questions are:

A. Shouldn’t the dealership have squared all this away when they got the car in on trade?

B. What happens in the event that the dealership is unable to get the power of attorney signed? I asked the dealership this questions and they said that they would take care of it.

PLease help if anyone has any info on what To do, The local DMV is no help.

 

[DaleM]

Hello,

My wife and I bought a used car from a very reputable Ford dealer here in Denver in Aug of last year. Fast forward 5 months and we still don’t have permanent tags for our car. The dealership has now given us 3 temp tags so that we can drive the car.

The temp tag we had expired so I called the dealership to see what the issue was and to get another tag for the car. The dealership said that they got the car off an out of state trade in and that They are still trying to get the pervious owner to sign a power of attorney for the car. The previous owner is unresponsive to the dealership and has not returned their calls. So here I am 5 months later with no tags and the title still in the pervious owners name. I have been making payments on our car this whole time.

My questions are:

A. Shouldn’t the dealership have squared all this away when they got the car in on trade?

B. What happens in the event that the dealership is unable to get the power of attorney signed? I asked the dealership this questions and they said that they would take care of it.

PLease help if anyone has any info on what To do, The local DMV is no help.

Drop it off at the dealership and tell them to get you proper plates.and registration. Until then stop paying.

Chat with a lawyer before you do anything I tell you. I am retired and do not care what my credit rating is any longer.

Sent from my hairy pimpled buttocks using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[OETKB]

State attorney general offices have a consumer protection group. I've used mine before to recover a loss.

https://coag.gov

 

[Smooth]

It looks like you would trade your wife for an SVT Soooo, maybe have the wife drive it off a cliff...2 birds, one stone. Or, follow Dale's advice.


Seriously though, I'd give it back for a full refund.

 

[Smooth]

State attorney general offices have a consumer protection group. I've used mine before to recover a loss.

https://coag.gov

Yeah, bla bla whatever.

 

[OETKB]

Yeah, bla bla whatever.

$13K from six states away. It's hard as hell to attach assets from out of state, but I got my money back. Didn't cost me a dime to do it. Just a well placed call to my state AG's office.

 

[DaleM]

Another option is to take it in and have them set you up with another vehicle and take that problem child off your hands. Yes, it is something they should fix, period.

Sent from my hairy pimpled buttocks using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[BigPoppa]

Hire a lawyer and have him send them a letter on his letterhead asking them how they intend to handle the situation for his "client".

 

[Coiled03]

The hell? How does that work? Doesn't the bank need the title before they'll provide financing?

 

[DaleM]

The hell? How does that work? Doesn't the bank need the title before they'll provide financing?

Good companies get screwed over too, but should never pass that on to customers.

Sent from my hairy pimpled buttocks using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[me32]

I dont understand how you can be making payments? Who financed it?

 

[GNBRETT]

So the dealership purchased a car with no title? and then sold u the car with no title? lol yea thats sorta illegal.

that is NOT a civil matter this is a criminal matter. I would go down to the dealership and have a Police officer meet u there and have a detailed report made and ask the Police officer to ask the dealership for a copy of the title and purchase order.

They won't be able to provide one obviously. The dealership is betting that u just stay ignorant about the situation and they are buying time to get a Title another way and there are other ways but U are the one injured here.

The DMV will be the one with the teeth here as far as licensing goes. The Police have no authority with licensing but they have every authority as far as FRAUD goes.

Yes, this is a case of FRAUD. Its illegal for any dealership to purchase a car either from within or outside the state without a Title and then turn around and sell it to a consumer.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

@13COBRA

Thoughts/input to how the hell this happens?

 

[Machdup1]

OP, call these folks and discuss the situation:

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/enforcement/filing-complaint-auto-industry-division

Best answer is be patient and to work with the dealer to bring the matter to a mutually agreeable conclusion. Go down to the dealership and meet with the GM and/or owner (do not meet with an underling) and politely, but firmly tell them your concerns and express a desire to bring the matter to resolution. Then ask them what they are going to do. That answer will dictate your next steps.

 

[13COBRA]

My questions are:

A. Shouldn’t the dealership have squared all this away when they got the car in on trade?

B. What happens in the event that the dealership is unable to get the power of attorney signed? I asked the dealership this questions and they said that they would take care of it.

A.) Not necessarily. Customers sign a legally binding contract to provide title of their trade in, which gets the dealership off the hook in these circumstances.

B.) If they can't get the power of attorney signed, then you don't/won't own the vehicle. I can't speak for all states, but in the state of Missouri the consumer DOES NOT own the vehicle until the title is delivered. If that's the case, you don't own the car in the eyes of the state. Yes, you've been making payments on it, but no you don't own it.


My advice: I would take the vehicle back to the dealership, and tell them you want out of the contract. Your contractual obligation is to pay for the vehicle. Their contractual obligation is to provide you with a vehicle; part of that includes providing you with a title that you can use to register the vehicle.

At this point, you shouldn't receive much blow back from the dealership unless they made a bunch of money on you and don't want to back out the deal. Since it's a pre-owned vehicle, it won't hurt them to take it back (it's never been registered in your name, so it still has the same number of owners). The only thing might be how many miles you've driven it. 5-7k, I doubt they say a word (assuming it's a normal DD car, and not a specialty car)...but anything over 10k, they may want some mileage compensation, which honestly, would be fair for both parties whether you like it or not.

So the dealership purchased a car with no title? and then sold u the car with no title? lol yea thats sorta illegal.

that is NOT a civil matter this is a criminal matter. I would go down to the dealership and have a Police officer meet u there and have a detailed report made and ask the Police officer to ask the dealership for a copy of the title and purchase order.

They won't be able to provide one obviously. The dealership is betting that u just stay ignorant about the situation and they are buying time to get a Title another way and there are other ways but U are the one injured here.

The DMV will be the one with the teeth here as far as licensing goes. The Police have no authority with licensing but they have every authority as far as FRAUD goes.

Yes, this is a case of FRAUD. Its illegal for any dealership to purchase a car either from within or outside the state without a Title and then turn around and sell it to a consumer.

It is not fraud. It is not criminal activity.

Dealerships sell vehicles that they can't provide a transfer of title all the time. I bet I do at least 5-6 times a month. I trade for a car on Saturday, and sell it Monday. Very few customers bring their trade title in with them at the time of sale.

With that said, I've never gone past the 30 days and not delivered title; like I mentioned before, in Missouri, the consumer DOES NOT own the vehicle until they take delivery of the title.



What I think happened:

Customer traded in the car at the dealership. Since it was an out of state title, I would venture to guess that the customer only made that single trip to the dealership. The salesperson did not get a good/correct phone number for the customer. The customer forgot to sign the back of the title when they traded. Now the dealership is stuck with an unsigned title and unable to get a hold of the customer to get a power of attorney for them to sign the title acting as his agent.

Is that a reasonable excuse not to provide title for 6 months? No. At this point, depending on how far away it was, I would have someone do a house visit and speak directly with the customer.

At this point the customer who traded it in did not hold up their end of the contractual agreement, as theirs was to provide a trade in and a transferable title. More or less, both the OP's and the original customer's contracts are void and null.

 

[Never_Enough]

Very few customers bring their trade title in with them at the time of sale.

I don't understand why people do not go into things prepared? If you know you are going to a dealer to likely trade your car in, you bring the title with you. Common sense. Much like dopes going to court without the paperwork they know they need to prove their case.

 

[CobraBob]

Not necessarily. (A) Customers sign a legally binding contract to provide title of their trade in, which gets the dealership off the hook in these circumstances. (B) If they can't get the power of attorney signed, then you don't/won't own the vehicle. I can't speak for all states, but in the state of Missouri the consumer DOES NOT own the vehicle until the title is delivered. If that's the case, you don't own the car in the eyes of the state. Yes, you've been making payments on it, but no you don't own it.

My advice: I would take the vehicle back to the dealership, and tell them you want out of the contract. Your contractual obligation is to pay for the vehicle. Their contractual obligation is to provide you with a vehicle; part of that includes providing you with a title that you can use to register the vehicle.

At this point, you shouldn't receive much blow back from the dealership unless they made a bunch of money on you and don't want to back out the deal. Since it's a pre-owned vehicle, it won't hurt them to take it back (it's never been registered in your name, so it still has the same number of owners). The only thing might be how many miles you've driven it. 5-7k, I doubt they say a word (assuming it's a normal DD car, and not a specialty car)...but anything over 10k, they may want some mileage compensation, which honestly, would be fair for both parties whether you like it or not.

It is not fraud. It is not criminal activity.

Dealerships sell vehicles that they can't provide a transfer of title all the time. I bet I do at least 5-6 times a month. I trade for a car on Saturday, and sell it Monday. Very few customers bring their trade title in with them at the time of sale.

With that said, I've never gone past the 30 days and not delivered title; like I mentioned before, in Missouri, the consumer DOES NOT own the vehicle until they take delivery of the title.

What I think happened:

Customer traded in the car at the dealership. Since it was an out of state title, I would venture to guess that the customer only made that single trip to the dealership. The salesperson did not get a good/correct phone number for the customer. The customer forgot to sign the back of the title when they traded. Now the dealership is stuck with an unsigned title and unable to get a hold of the customer to get a power of attorney for them to sign the title acting as his agent.

Is that a reasonable excuse not to provide title for 6 months? No. At this point, depending on how far away it was, I would have someone do a house visit and speak directly with the customer.

At this point the customer who traded it in did not hold up their end of the contractual agreement, as theirs was to provide a trade in and a transferable title. More or less, both the OP's and the original customer's contracts are void and null.

Read Nick's comments VERY carefully. He is a dealer and is pretty much the best source of explaining your situation, how it likely happened, and what you need to do at this point. Listen to his advice and proceed to having the dealer take the car back (that you don't own). The sooner to do this the better.

 

[13COBRA]

I don't understand why people do not go into things prepared? If you know you are going to a dealer to likely trade your car in, you bring the title with you. Common sense. Much like dopes going to court without the paperwork they know they need to prove their case.

You'd be surprised. I bet less than 5% of the vehicle sales from last year, the customer had their trade title with them. Out of those 5%, I bet half of them only had them because they forgot they were in their glove box.

Read Nick's comments VERY carefully. He is a dealer and is pretty much the best source of explaining your situation, how it likely happened, and what you need to do at this point. Listen to his advice and proceed to having the dealer take the car back (that you don't own). The sooner to do this the better.

Thanks Bob.

 

[08mojo]

I don't understand why people do not go into things prepared? If you know you are going to a dealer to likely trade your car in, you bring the title with you. Common sense. Much like dopes going to court without the paperwork they know they need to prove their case.

Here in GA (and other surrounding states), you don't get a title unless you own the car free and clear. So, I've never showed up to the dealership with anything other than a pen.

You'd be surprised. I bet less than 5% of the vehicle sales from last year, the customer had their trade title with them. Out of those 5%, I bet half of them only had them because they forgot they were in their glove box.



Thanks Bob.

What the heck is a trade title? I've cycled through a lot of cars over the years, and unless I owned the vehicle outright, I did not have a title of any sorts.

What I have done is sign power of attorney for the dealership to act as my agent to pay off the loan and to receive the title directly, in their name, from the bank financing the car.

 

[Never_Enough]

Here in GA (and other surrounding states), you don't get a title unless you own the car free and clear. So, I've never showed up to the dealership with anything other than a pen.

I was talking about folks that own the car outright they are trading in.