Vent: Bought a used car and the dealer ghosted me on the title transfer

Picked up a 2015 Honda Civic from a small lot in Denver three months ago. Paid $8,500 cash, drove it home fine, but the temporary tags expired last week. Called the dealer like 15 times and they just stopped answering. Had to file a complaint with the DMV and now I'm stuck waiting for a hearing. Has anyone else had a dealer disappear after a cash sale?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.luna12d ago

Oh man that is a nightmare! I had almost the exact same thing happen with a used Subaru I bought from a random lot near my place a couple years back. Paid cash, drove it for a week, and then the dealer just vanished into thin air when I tried to get the title sorted. No calls returned, no nothing. I ended up having to go through this whole mess with the DMV too and it took like four months to finally get a hearing. It's honestly such a scam, these little lots know they can just take your money and run because chasing them down is such a headache. I really hope your hearing goes better than mine did, because I had to bring all my paperwork three times before they finally approved it.

sandragrant12d ago

Did you ever find out if that lot just reopened under a new name?

victorhernandez12d ago

Three months and forty seven phone calls later, I finally got the answer - that lot just reopened as "Premium Auto Sales" two blocks down the same street. Same guy, same crooked smile, same stack of fake paperwork. I drove past there last week and saw him selling a minivan to some poor family, probably running the exact same game. I swear these guys change their business name more often than I change my socks. At this point the DMV should just hand out bingo cards for all the different lot names we have to chase down.