Ask Me Help Desk - Purchsed used a car and no title vehicle not owned by dealer how do I get money back

I purchased a used vehicle 8 months ago and still have not received the registration. I called the DMV to see what I could do. The dealer doesn't even have the title for this vehicle. The title is being held by a lien holder. The dealer was closed by DMV and under investigation as there have been other cases. I have paid a total of $3,024. To car company. What do I do now? How can I get my money back?

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitetiger212

I purchased a used vehicle 8 months ago and still have not recieved the registration. I called the DMV to see what I could do. The dealer doesnt even have the title for this vehicle. the title is being held by a lien holder. The dealer was closed by DMV and under investigation as there have been other cases. I have paid a total of $3,024. to car company. What do I do now? How can I get my money back?

Do you have copies of the paperwork that you signed at the time of purchase?

If the dealer didn't have the title when you bought the vehicle, that should have been an immediate red flag - how would they transfer it into your name without your signature on the back?

How have you been driving around an unregistered vehicle for 8 months and not been pulled over?

You will not know yet, but if they were a corporation, you may be stuck, it may well be that someone else actually owns the car, You can sue the dealer ( if you can find them, and/or try suing the person persoanlly.

It is very possible you will be out your money and out your car. I assume you paid cash for it, "NO LOAN" since you can't get a loan on a car that the titel is not transferred

I work at a car dealership and most people are misinformed when it comes to titles etc. The dealer has 30 days to transfer a title once the vehicle is sold. At the pos most paper work includes a POA (secured) which would keep the customer from having to return to the dealership to sign a title. There are several legitimate reasons a dealer would not have a title on hand. The most common is that the vehicle is floorplanned which means the floorplan company has the title in its possession. Or if the vehicle is a resale then the prior lienholder may still have the title. It is for those reasons that dealers have 30 days to transfer a title to the new owner. Here in this state we can do a "soft" or temporary transfer of a plate online at the time of the deal. So the tag (as long as it doesn't need to be renewed at the time of the sale) is basically transferred on the spot and therefore would not cause any red flags to the authorities for possibly an entire year.
The unfortunate thing in this case is that you may have a long wait on your hands for a valid title. I would not hold my breath for your money back as the prior post's stated it would be difficult to locate the dealer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hope4067

I work at a car dealership and most ppl are misinformed when it comes to titles etc. The dealer has 30 days to transfer a title once the vehicle is sold. At the pos most paper work includes a POA (secured) which would keep the customer from having to return to the dealership to sign a title. There are several legitimate reasons why a dealer would not have a title on hand. The most common is that the vehicle is floorplanned which means the floorplan company has the title in its possession. Or if the vehicle is a resale then the prior lienholder may still have the title. It is for those reasons that dealers have 30 days to transfer a title to the new owner. Here in this state we can do a "soft" or temporary transfer of a plate online at the time of the deal. So the tag (as long as it doesnt need to be renewed at the time of the sale) is basically transferred on the spot and therefore would not cause any red flags to the authorities for possibly an entire year.
The unfortunate thing in this case is that you may have a long wait on your hands for a valid title. I would not hold my breath for your money back as the prior post's stated it would be difficult to locate the dealer.

First, this thread is nearly 8 months old. As far as I'm aware, the OP hasn't returned in that timeframe.

Where are you located? I also do vehicle sales at our dealership and we have 5 business days to submit the title transfer after the sale. That's a very large window for the dealer to have, especially considering that it takes quite a few weeks just to process the paperwork.

My state also requires that I have a title in my hand before I can offer the vehicle as a retail sale; we learned the hard way that Wisconsin allows vehicle wholesale without a title, but not retail. If there is a lienholder, their number is recorded on the paperwork and submitted - when a title is printed, it lists the lienholder's name and address so that the title cannot be transferred without a lien release.