I want to bring a car dealer to small claims court. I just don't know how and if I should. I paid 4,000 for a used 2001 Nissan Altima. I wanted to register it myself but he said he HAD to do it. He held the car for me for about 3 weeks because I had to get my license restored. So on July 10th I gave him $514 for him to register my car. That was for the taxes $240 the registration fee $125 and his fee of $150. That day I also gave him a copy of my license and my insurance card. It is now August 3rd and my car still isn't registered. He claims he went to the DMV several times but always has some kind of problem. He lets me use the car occonaly. But I am paying for insurance on a car I only can drive when he lets me use it. So I'm fed up and I told him he needs to give my my title, bill of sale and odometer reading but he refuses he says he HAS to register it. What should I do?

You are being played with definitely. What you have written is totally outrages but it is the car lots duty to register the car, etc. but it should have been done when you bought it. I would call your local chapter of the Better Business Bureau and report him.

Its certainly possible that he needs to file the resgistration, but there is no reason it should be taking this long.

I would be willing to bet that the dealer is trying to stall you because he has not made the payoff for that car, and does not have the title yet.

Someone probably traded it in, and he will have to payoff the existing loan in order to get the title.

The more pressure you put on him, should move you closer to the head of the line.

Next time you speak to him, tell him that you are going to contact the DMV and the State Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division.

Did you sign the title when you purchased the vehicle? Was there a lienholder's name on the title and did you ask for proof of the lien release? Did you receive a copy of a purchase agreement which should have been signed and dated by both you and the salesman? There are a lot of extenuating circumstances which could affect the accuracy of the advice people are giving you.

As for the salesman needing to personally mail in the paperwork, I just had a situation that was similar. My customer wanted to take the paperwork in himself; I contacted the DMV who told me that I was required by law to send in the paperwork.

The other part is that it's only been 1 month, which seems like a long time but really isn't. I don't know what state you're in, but if you had bought the vehicle here, I would be required, by state law, to mail in the paperwork within 7 days of the sale. Here in Wisconsin, it takes a minimum 6-8 weeks to get the paperwork processed after it's been received by the DMV. Do you know if the paperwork was ever mailed in or is he just sitting on it?