OT: Looking for advice re: vehicle purchase saga

[87Xfer]

So last summer I bought a used vehicle (Toyota Tundra) from a guy in San Diego. The seller was a nice guy. Everything was transacted online and went smoothly. I wired payment to seller and paid a transport company to deliver the truck to me in CO. No issues, truck is pristine as advertised. Seller paid off his bank loan, got the title and texted me a picture of it, and one of the USPS Priority Mail envelope when he sent it to me.

Well, the title never got here – lost in the mail. Seller initiated the process with the CA DMV to get a duplicate title. But he is in the Navy, and within a few days he deployed at sea somewhere. Fast forward 7 months, and I still have no title, and thus can’t register the vehicle. I have called, emailed and texted the seller, but haven’t heard a peep from him since Aug. 6, 2020. Through a bunch of Googling public records, I found a woman of roughly the same age as Seller who has shared his address. I managed to find her on LinkedIn, tracked down a phone number and called a few times. She answered after several tries, and turns out it’s Seller’s wife.

She was super nice, apologetic, and over the course of a few conversations she figured out that the duplicate title request was never processed by the DMV. So she said she would re-start the process. Then she decided to ghost me too. I haven’t been able to reach her by phone, email, or through LinkedIn since early December.

It's not like they have some sort of scam going here - the vehicle is in my driveway. They have no reason to not cooperate, and they both seemed like genuinely nice people. But this is pissing me off. The CA DMV will absolutely NOT share any info with me because I'm not the vehicle owner of record. Any advice on where I go from here? Get an attorney? Is there a way to contact deployed military personnel? Send a thug to the wife's office?

 

[CTBasketball]

That’s why the postal service is literally trash.

I used to flip video games and other small electronics on eBay, USPS would lose like 1/20 orders or so. Can you wait for the guy to come back and respond?

 

[Dogdeacon]

Definitely hire a lawyer, a 'personal reminder to help you' could solve if you lived nearby but bringing a 3rd party into equation obviously has to be done legally.
If you want to save money and get cute maybe send them a strongly worded letter on attorney letterhead via certified mail.
Tell them in either case that they need to pay your damages and expenses.

 

[87Xfer]

That’s why the postal service is literally trash.

I used to flip video games and other small electronics on eBay, USPS would lose like 1/20 orders or so. Can you wait for the guy to come back and respond?

I can continue to wait, but I have no idea when he'll be back. In the meantime I have a really expensive hunk of metal in my driveway that I can't drive or sell.

I would have assumed that deployed people would have access to email or text messages. And i have no idea why the wife stopped responding.

 

[87Xfer]

Definitely hire a lawyer, a 'personal reminder to help you' could solve if you lived nearby but bringing a 3rd party into equation obviously has to be done legally.
If you want to save money and get cute maybe send them a strongly worded letter on attorney letterhead via certified mail.
Tell them in either case that they need to pay your damages and expenses.

Thanks. I assume a lawyer in CA would make the most sense? If so, any idea how I find an appropriate one?

 

[8893]

Sounds like some kind of scam to me. It could be a salvage, stolen or maybe they sold it before it was repossessed? Have you run the VIN number?

What about calling their local police department local and reporting it?

Seven months is ridiculous and with the wife ghosting you now it certainly sounds like something is up.

 

[temery]

Why isn't a photo copy of the picture he took good enough?

 

[87Xfer]

Sounds like some kind of scam to me. It could be a salvage, stolen or maybe they sold it before it was repossessed? Have you run the VIN number?

What about calling their local police department local and reporting it?

Seven months is ridiculous and with the wife ghosting you now it certainly sounds like something is up.

Yeah, the VIN was clean. The seller was an active participant on a Tundra forum, which is where I found it/him. Guy sunk a ton of money into the vehicle and obviously loved the thing. It's just really weird. I may try the local police thing and see what they have to say. I mean, I've got a copy of the guy's driver's license, have his SS #, his bank account info, home address etc. I just don't get it...

 

[87Xfer]

Why isn't a photo copy of the picture he took good enough?

Because he didn't take a picture of the back where he signed the title over to me. And my local DMV needs the actual document to issue a new title to me so I can register it here. In the meantime all i have is a temporary registration that expired last year.

 

[temery]

Because he didn't take a picture of the back where he signed the title over to me. And my local DMV needs the actual document to issue a new title to me so I can register it here. In the meantime all i have is a temporary registration that expired last year.

How long is a temp registration good for? Stupid question, but can you sell the car to your wife and have her get another temp registration?

 

[JMick]

Was the title in his name?

 

[87Xfer]

How long is a temp registration good for? Stupid question, but can you sell the car to your wife and have her get another temp registration?

I want to say the temp was good for 60 or 90 days from the date on the bill of sale. When the first one expired, CO let me renew it, which got me into Dec. But that was the end of the line.

I can't sell the vehicle to anyone, because according to the DMV it's still owned by the guy in CA.

 

[87Xfer]

Was the title in his name?

Yes.

 

[JMick]

Yes.

idk man. I have seen a lot of sales like this go bad. It could just be the DMV holding everything up or you were scammed.

 

[superjohn]

Sounds like some kind of scam to me. It could be a salvage, stolen or maybe they sold it before it was repossessed? Have you run the VIN number?

What about calling their local police department local and reporting it?

Seven months is ridiculous and with the wife ghosting you now it certainly sounds like something is up.

Whenever people act that strange they have bad intentions. If this was all on the up and up they would stay in constant communication until it's dealt with and wouldn't let you sit there with a car you can't use for over half a year. This really sucks for @87Xfer and I think he'll have to get the law involved.

 

[August_West]

That’s why the postal service is literally trash.

I used to flip video games and other small electronics on eBay, USPS would lose like 1/20 orders or so. Can you wait for the guy to come back and respond?

I doubt he sent it.

 

[Fishy]

Buy three plane tickets to San Diego.

One is for you, and the other two are for a pair of gentlemen I will be sending with you.

Just drive them to the address and they will negotiate the surrender of the title for you. Wait in the car.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'd look in to contacting the regional Naval legal office for San Diego. They can get your info and find out info about sailor's status. They won't be able to provide you all the info but they can initiate contact with his command.

Yes, the sailor has sporadic email/internet while at sea, it is inconsistent.

If I were a betting man at some point wife and sailor talked and he told her to clam up.

Also, several states have enacted protections for service members preventing foreclosures or seizures while they are deployed.

 

[87Xfer]

I'd look in to contacting the regional Naval legal office for San Diego. They can get your info and find out info about sailor's status. They won't be able to provide you all the info but they can initiate contact with his command.

Yes, the sailor has sporadic email/internet while at sea, it is inconsistent.

If I were a betting man at some point wife and sailor talked and he told her to clam up.

Also, several states have enacted protections for service members preventing foreclosures or seizures while they are deployed.

Hmmm, this is interesting. I may give it a shot.

 

[XLCenterFan]

This is why I don’t conduct decent sized transactions via mail/online. Especially with a private individual. You couldn’t have found a similar car in person?

 

[JMick]

This is why I don’t conduct decent sized transactions via mail/online. You couldn’t have found a similar car in person?

well it's a little late for him now

 

[87Xfer]

I doubt he sent it.

He gave me tracking info that showed that something was delivered to our subdivision mail boxes, but I never received it. I honestly think he sent it. The whole thing should have been no big deal - just request a duplicate. It's the radio silence that's so weird.

 

[JMick]

He gave me tracking info that showed that something was delivered to our subdivision mail boxes, but I never received it. I honestly think he sent it. The whole thing should have been no big deal - just request a duplicate. It's the radio silence that's so weird.

I spent months trying to buy a car and the unfortuante reality is that a lot of people just don't care about you. to them, everything is complete. they don't have the car, they have the money, now you're just an annoyance. Unfortunately you may just have to escalate it to regain their attention.

 

[87Xfer]

This is why I don’t conduct decent sized transactions via mail/online. Especially with a private individual. You couldn’t have found a similar car in person?

I searched near and far for several months, believe it or not. Searched ebay and Autotrader for anything within a 6 hour drive. Had dealers looking for me. Nothing. I've bought and sold a bunch of vehicles on line and have never had an issue until this one.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Hmmm, this is interesting. I may give it a shot.

That is the official channel and it's a free phone call for you.

They'll let you know are your rights and what rights the sailor has going forward.

 

[NJHusky]

He gave me tracking info that showed that something was delivered to our subdivision mail boxes, but I never received it. I honestly think he sent it. The whole thing should have been no big deal - just request a duplicate. It's the radio silence that's so weird.

Lesson learned...for important stuff. Only use FedEx. I shipped a pair of skis back after a trip. The tag got separated from the ski bag. Called them when I didn’t get the skis. I described the bag and within 10 min guy in the lost shipment warehouse found them. Contrast that with the post office...send a priority mail envelope but had the zip code off by 1 digit... gave the tracking number but all they could do was say its in philly. Never got my package delivered or returned

 

[dennismenace]

In the future I would suggest having any kind of paperwork of importance sent by certified mail return receipt requested. It is worth the expense and if you're the sender it establishes evidence that you sent it and they received it. If someone is sending something important to you make sure it gets sent the same way even if you have to pay the expense. No loose ends and avoid Murphy's law or worse (scams).

Best of luck in getting this resolved. We have good days and learning days.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Better call Sal.

 

[gtcam]

IF you have his banking info - drain the account

 

[Northbound]

@Chin Diesel has a very good way forward.

There's ways in certain states of getting a title from a surrendered car (Cars that are abandoned for example) or washing them through a state that doesn't need a title for cars of a certain age (typically 15 years) which I'm sure your Tundra is too new to qualify.

I doubt you got scammed, you have the property. I had a similar situation but it was me having a hard time picking up a vintage wrecked automobile. Finally said we'll get attorneys involved and that encouraged action on the sellers part.