Screwed over by used car dealer posing as a private seller on craigslist.

dishdude said:   Al3xK said:   So he called me back and sounded like a pretty genuine guy, but who knows if his story is legit or not. Turns out he doesn't live in Oregon now, and has to fly back to meet with the investigator because of the report I filed. He set up the corp so that his retired father could have something to do, and he said he sells a couple cars a month.

It was one of his father's first sales apparently and he didn't know how to transfer the title to his name. This would make sense because with 0% sales tax, it should have only cost around $20 to transfer the title to himself instead of the $630 it'll cost him now.

I'm going to tell his father to meet me at my office and just drop off the cash and I'll give him a letter that says the confusion has been resolved so that he can keep operating. He is still going to get a bunch of grief from the state. I've honestly only had to put in maybe 1-2 hours of work and for an extra $100-200, it could really sour how smoothly this might go over...so I'm content with the $630 cash.

Sounds like a pretty genuine guy? His father has you contact him using a GV number and then disconnects the number to evade you? I think it's more like he knows he can be in some pretty serious trouble unless he makes you go away. I'd ask for an even $1,000. This gives you a couple hundred for your troubles and is a pretty fair number, considering.

Actually I know a few people that use GV when selling anything via craiglist. Then close the GV number after the sale is done. Mainly so they don't get marketing calls and/or random "is this still for sale" calls. They never give out their direct number if they don't have to.

dishdude said:   Al3xK said:   So he called me back and sounded like a pretty genuine guy, but who knows if his story is legit or not. Turns out he doesn't live in Oregon now, and has to fly back to meet with the investigator because of the report I filed. He set up the corp so that his retired father could have something to do, and he said he sells a couple cars a month.

It was one of his father's first sales apparently and he didn't know how to transfer the title to his name. This would make sense because with 0% sales tax, it should have only cost around $20 to transfer the title to himself instead of the $630 it'll cost him now.

I'm going to tell his father to meet me at my office and just drop off the cash and I'll give him a letter that says the confusion has been resolved so that he can keep operating. He is still going to get a bunch of grief from the state. I've honestly only had to put in maybe 1-2 hours of work and for an extra $100-200, it could really sour how smoothly this might go over...so I'm content with the $630 cash.

Sounds like a pretty genuine guy? His father has you contact him using a GV number and then disconnects the number to evade you? I think it's more like he knows he can be in some pretty serious trouble unless he makes you go away. I'd ask for an even $1,000. This gives you a couple hundred for your troubles and is a pretty fair number, considering.

This is a great point...if hes using Google Voice number what were his motives exactly? Most of my dealer friends you can contact day or night for any issues to be resolved. My friend who is a very reputable dealer just put a 100 dollar check in the mail to resolve a power window motor issue on a 2k dollar car.

dishdude said:   Al3xK said:   So he called me back and sounded like a pretty genuine guy, but who knows if his story is legit or not. Turns out he doesn't live in Oregon now, and has to fly back to meet with the investigator because of the report I filed. He set up the corp so that his retired father could have something to do, and he said he sells a couple cars a month.

It was one of his father's first sales apparently and he didn't know how to transfer the title to his name. This would make sense because with 0% sales tax, it should have only cost around $20 to transfer the title to himself instead of the $630 it'll cost him now.

I'm going to tell his father to meet me at my office and just drop off the cash and I'll give him a letter that says the confusion has been resolved so that he can keep operating. He is still going to get a bunch of grief from the state. I've honestly only had to put in maybe 1-2 hours of work and for an extra $100-200, it could really sour how smoothly this might go over...so I'm content with the $630 cash.

Sounds like a pretty genuine guy? His father has you contact him using a GV number and then disconnects the number to evade you? I think it's more like he knows he can be in some pretty serious trouble unless he makes you go away. I'd ask for an even $1,000. This gives you a couple hundred for your troubles and is a pretty fair number, considering.

I almost want to post the voicemails from the father/son. It's painfully obvious how far over a barrel I have them...they are completely aware of the magnitude of their mistake, the agencies coming after them, and are very accommodating. A lot of "yes sirs".

I could definitely get more money out of them, but I just don't feel right about it. Remember, $430 is the true tax I was wronged, $630 is a total of all taxes, so I'm getting an extra $200 out of it that I should have paid no matter what.

So far, the things I've put in motion might not be able to be stopped is the other thing. I'm meeting the father today and giving him a signed letter of fact that just says basically what happened and the mistake the father made not transferring the title to his name first.

Welp now that I'm dealing with the father, it's becoming a pain again. He wants me to meet him at a bank to get the document notarized. If they want to get out as cheap as they can he better just drop the money off at my work and I'll sign the document. If they want me to meet at a bank and wait for their notary, give my DL#, etc, I told him I'm going to need extra for time & trouble.

I now know the father/son's full names and address and the dealership's address. I can just take them to small claims and sue for treble damages (who cares if I don't get it) and make it a nightmare for both of them and get their business shut down. I might have to make them aware of the barrel I have them over.

I wonder if I would sue them both at the same time, or the son first, and make him fly to AZ, where the incident happened. If he doesn't show, no problem because I can submit the suit to his surety bond.

Finally over. He delivered a cashier's check and left. I contacted the Oregon dealer complaints department to withdraw my complaint, contacted AZ's dealer investigations unit (serious business here) and told them that it was a paperwork mistake and they paid for the over charges, and I told them I "withdrew my complain with the Oregon Department of Justice" even though it's actually in an envelop on my desk...I never had a chance to send it because I couldn't find any stamps and they already wanted to resolve it...lucky for them, that complaint would have been a bit harder to withdraw. I also closed the claim with the surety bond. I feel made whole, so I'm happy.

To anyone else with a gripe about being screwed over by a dealership, don't hesitate to file complaints with the dealer divisions as I did above because the states take it very seriously. I know of one case personally where a guy almost got a 500-million dollar GM dealership shut down by GM itself and the state because they screwed him and told him to pound sand and thought they could get away with it. I'll see if I can get him to post his story on here as it is a very cheerful read.

Op is also more intelligent and resourceful than 95% of the car buying public to even find out all this info, let Alone actually pursue it

Sure hope it's a real cashiers check

Green to the OP for resolving the situation amicably and starting the paper trail. Now if someone else complains the relevant agencies know it's a pattern and not a paperwork mistake.

donotdrinkPBR said:   so did the check clear?

Yup. Literally just cashed...ended up actually being Chase cashier's check, which I'm very familiar with. Has a bunch of little hairs on it and you can see holograms through it and it changes colors if you touch a spot.

That'd be the worst thing they could do is give me a fake check.

As to finding the dealer info, for those who don't get it looked up, the DMV will pretty much always give it to you. It's pretty much like saying "who sold me this car"...not private info.

SUCKISSTAPLES said:    but there's no way you're getting paid for your time/hassle

You should use that line in more FW threads.

thriftyy said:   brucehornsby said:   I wouldn't let him off as easy. I have a dealer's license in OR. It's illegal here to pose as a private seller, as well as to sell a vehicle at a location other than your "lot"(we don't have a distinction between wholesale and retail in Oregon - you're either a dealer or you're not - you still have to conduct business at your registered commercial location). We have a huge problem with this due to there being no sales tax, plates stay with the car and often times people don't transfer the title to their name until the tags expire. I'm a small dealer without a typical lot and mostly do it as a hobby, but because of shady, and illegal, activity like this it's the honest dealers(yes, there are some) and the consumers who end up paying the most.

It's apparent his intent was to never have to be in contact with you again, likely because he's doing something illegal or he anticipated issues with the truck. My guess is he's done this many, many times and knows how to play the system. I would say he has probably been banned from getting a dealer's license in Oregon due to past misconduct and now he's using his son's name.

Hi all. This was a great thread and I have a related question I want to ask here since I'm kind of in Brucehornsby's neighborhood. I'm in WA and found a used Benz on CL from someone in OR. He's offering it at wholesale, about 5k less than a dealer near Seattle for a slightly newer comp. He says he's a private seller who bought it for his wife six months ago, but that he has a dealer's license for his boat export business. Said the previous owner was a Benz dealer's daughter either in WA or OR, although the "one" owner line and his own short-term use (added 4k miles) sounds like a dealer. I'm thinking of offering 10% below his asking to cover an extended warranty purchase, or am I missing something completely? Thanks.

Can't hurt to offer less. Sounds like a small time car flipper more likely. That new of a Mercedes, he probably bought to just drive some and make a few bucks on. What he's doing is such a grey area, but I'd assume his volume is so low that no state is going to go after him.

Can't hurt to offer less. Sounds like a small time car flipper more likely. That new of a Mercedes, he probably bought to just drive some and make a few bucks on. What he's doing is such a grey area, but I'd assume his volume is so low that no state is going to go after him.

That's what I figured. I was concerned about going to the DMV and discovering something like a tax lien against it.