- Oct 9, 1999
- 15,216
- 3
- 81
I bought a truck off CL for $3500. The truck has high mileage, but it runs good.
Anyway the problem we noticed after we made teh sale (after we got home) is causing me a headache.
1. The title VIN matches VIN on the truck (I checked that when we bought it), the plate on the title does not match the truck.
2. The title was signed, the guy who sold it to us hands us a signed title. I only checked the signed name and first two letters, didnt notice the date of 5/11/2011 .. we bought it last night ...He was impersonating the seller I think. The problem is 'the buyer' portion has no signature. So that title we have in our hands was never turned into the DMV.
3. The plates that are ON the truck, carfax, does not find anything. He didnt give us a registration, but its registered to 2014...
A) So trucks plates are either stolen or truck is not titled in CA. I dont know how to handle this. The title is an older title. It had commercial title (before) and now has a different plate.
B) The mileage is a bit off but thats fine (few thousand miles) - aka: whats on the title vs. whats on the truck. I cant figure out what happened there. How can the DMV issue new plates..
The truck will be going out of state its for a friend (going to AZ). Everything else checked out, the one thing we didnt check was the title sign off name and date.
The good thing is I have a picture of the guy who sold it to us, and his drivers licence.. so we can identify him. However his name does not match the title owners name.
how big a boo-boo is this one? I know that guy will be in trouble but yeah.. bloody hell.
UPDATE - May 20, 2013
Went to AAA office this afternoon, that after I dropped the truck off at the local mechanic to give it a once over. AAA states everything is correct. Turns out, yes it does have a new plate, yes its registered, and yes the title is correct. So apparently the guy managed to change it from a 'commercial' plate to a normal plate without turning in the title. But apparently everything checks out, so its a matter of him signing the title and turning it into the AZ state DMV office.
So that is a huge relief. Even though the guy who sold it to us is not the guy who's name is on the title. It shouldnt be a huge issue though from what AAA said.
On the flip side, to make the truck work the way it should (we're doing a precautionary replacement of fluids / parts), it will run my friend another 1500. Still for under 5000, not a bad driving truck. I took it this morning to the LA port area to drop off a consignment package, and the truck did fine with the AC on and 500 lbs of stuff on the back.
Anyway the problem we noticed after we made teh sale (after we got home) is causing me a headache.
1. The title VIN matches VIN on the truck (I checked that when we bought it), the plate on the title does not match the truck.
2. The title was signed, the guy who sold it to us hands us a signed title. I only checked the signed name and first two letters, didnt notice the date of 5/11/2011 .. we bought it last night ...He was impersonating the seller I think. The problem is 'the buyer' portion has no signature. So that title we have in our hands was never turned into the DMV.
3. The plates that are ON the truck, carfax, does not find anything. He didnt give us a registration, but its registered to 2014...
A) So trucks plates are either stolen or truck is not titled in CA. I dont know how to handle this. The title is an older title. It had commercial title (before) and now has a different plate.
B) The mileage is a bit off but thats fine (few thousand miles) - aka: whats on the title vs. whats on the truck. I cant figure out what happened there. How can the DMV issue new plates..
The truck will be going out of state its for a friend (going to AZ). Everything else checked out, the one thing we didnt check was the title sign off name and date.
The good thing is I have a picture of the guy who sold it to us, and his drivers licence.. so we can identify him. However his name does not match the title owners name.
how big a boo-boo is this one? I know that guy will be in trouble but yeah.. bloody hell.
UPDATE - May 20, 2013
Went to AAA office this afternoon, that after I dropped the truck off at the local mechanic to give it a once over. AAA states everything is correct. Turns out, yes it does have a new plate, yes its registered, and yes the title is correct. So apparently the guy managed to change it from a 'commercial' plate to a normal plate without turning in the title. But apparently everything checks out, so its a matter of him signing the title and turning it into the AZ state DMV office.
So that is a huge relief. Even though the guy who sold it to us is not the guy who's name is on the title. It shouldnt be a huge issue though from what AAA said.
On the flip side, to make the truck work the way it should (we're doing a precautionary replacement of fluids / parts), it will run my friend another 1500. Still for under 5000, not a bad driving truck. I took it this morning to the LA port area to drop off a consignment package, and the truck did fine with the AC on and 500 lbs of stuff on the back.
Last edited:
