Headine "Man buys stolen car from Dealership" - Now the rest of the story....

[XDCX]

A Portland TV Station ran a story about a disgruntled customer who bought a vehicle from Rustom Nissan of Portland and was later contacted by police and told the vehicle had been reported stolen. The Portland Police Department took possession of the vehicle and the customer reported that the dealership was unwilling to help. Makes for an interesting news story. Here's the link - click here

But the truth of the story isn't conveyed in the headline. Turns out the vehicle was sold to a dealership by the person the title was issued to. The dealership wholesaled the vehicle at auction which is how Rustom Nissan came into possession of the vehicle.

So who reported the vehicle stolen? The original owner's father who didn't know his son sold the vehicle. (The Jalopnik website indicates the father was on the title too, where the Portland TV story suggests the son was the only owner on the title.)

In my opinion the dealership is getting a "black eye" for something that is clearly not their fault. The fault either lays with the father for filing a false police report or perhaps the son for forging his father's signature on the title.

I am surprised that a spokesperson from the dealership indicated they didn't know the vehicle was stolen due to a "mis-communication" with the auction. If the auction had a clear title how would they know the vehicle had been reported stolen?

While this is, of course, a rare circumstance, I can't think of any way a dealership could protect themselves from this happening unless they ran all of their used cars through some stolen vehicle database.

[birch3x]

Title laws vary frpm stste to state, but one thing is the same everywhere. People will lie and cheat to get money. In this business it's a regular occurance to get a vehicle traded that needs a second buyer's autograph on the trade title work. As long as you see who's actually signing, it's usually OK. I know of a dealer who got a late model car in trade, allowed the husband to take title work home for his 'sick' wife to sign, then bring it back. As it turns out, they were separated and when the stste returned the title work because the signature didn't match what was in file from the original transaction. When she was finally contacted by the dealer she told them it could not have been her that signed it because a) she never would, and b) she went blind after they bought it.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by birch3x

Title laws vary frpm stste to state, but one thing is the same everywhere. People will lie and cheat to get money.

Great point. A Dealer really has to be on top of his/her game to prevent from getting ripped off by deceptive customers, employees and vendors.

As I mentioned in a post a long time ago, when I first started in the car business I couldn't understand why some of the older Dealers were so cynical and skeptical. After a few years I started to understand how a lifetime of watching people/corporations trying to take advantage could alter a person's perspective.

[Tony Evans]

The best way to prevent anyone to be a victim of this scam is to look for the best and reliable dealership. CarDealExpert.com is a good site I came across that can help you get pre-approved for a new vehicle. It can even assist you in finding the vehicle you would like to buy at a dealership near you.