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Car towed, jumping title?

542 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  cmitch 
#1 ·
Hey guys,
My girlfriend just recently got a 05 C320 from a buy here pay here lot (sucks I know) she got it by trading her old crappy car + $500 down & payments set for each month.
He gave us a bill of sale and said we have 45 days (Ohio) to transfer the tags.
Well from what I've been researching her cv joint is bad because it's grinding when you turn the wheel left. The alignment is off & caused her front tires to go flat. We had the car towed back home (on street parking) & didn't have the money right off to get the proper work done.
So the other day we wake up & notice a cop sitting behind the car & next thing we know here comes the tow truck. The cop told us he's towing it because of the flat & that he ran tag number & it came back as a different car. I explained that we traded her old car for this one & should have 45 days to transfer it. He looked at the bill of sale & said "yeah IF it was done right you would of" but apparently it wasn't. He also ran the vin number & he said NOTHING came back. We explained where we got the car & he said the guy has done this before & he paid all expenses. The cop also said he probably jumped the title to avoid paying taxes.


After the cop left she called the guy at the car lot & explained what had just happened & his response was "I got the car in New Jersey that's why nothing came back when he ran the vin because that's only state wide. He said he will get the car out for us on Tuesday (tomorrow)
Upon viewing her bill of sale it says WE have to pay $538 for tax & title.

I've never messed with "buy here pay here" before so I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. Anyone have any input or advice. What should we be expecting?
 
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#2 ·
Each state has its own laws on titling, taxes and registration. If the dealer is in the same state(and it sounds like he is) then it would be standard practice for the buyer to pay tax and title although a lot of these places that do the "buy here pay here" could have rolled all of that into the financing. So check the finance contract and if there is no mention of it then your girlfriend is probably going to have to pay it even if the slimy seller did try to jump the title past your state's DMV. I would not hesitate to report him to the DMV. In my state that is against the law and dealers can be fined or have their dealer's license suspended/revoked.

The seller's logic is really messed up. If the DMV fines him for this it may cost more than him processing the car correctly. Sorry your girlfriend got caught in the middle.

One more point and please do not take it the wrong way. Never get a MB (or any car off a used lot) without having it checked out first. The mechanical issues could have been a good bargaining point or even have kept her looking for car that was in better shape.
 
#3 ·
Not sure about thhe jumping the title thing but in our state, all motor vehicle dealers are title agents and are required by law to fill out and send in paperwork on your behalf at point of sale. When I purchased my S class in Tennessee, they filled out my Alabama title and sent it in. Our titles are relatively inexpensive here, $19.50.

As for the condition of the car, you should've never drove it off until you had it checked out. Buy here, pay here lots are notorious for selling subpar vehicles in poor mechanical condition because they know that you may become frustrated with repair costs which leads to non payment and him repossessing it. Then he will patch it up and sell it to some other unsuspecting buyer. It actually benefits them to sell you a crappy car. It happens here all the time.
 
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