Pointless Long Rant - got screwed on my Cutlass

[onyxxtreme]

bought the 85 cutlass on ebay in February, paid with paypal, and had it shipped to my parents.
Got back from Germany (there for 3 years) last week, and went to the courthouse to get the title transferred, and get a tag last Friday. Was denied because the seller scribbled out a couple letters on the back of the title.
Got in touch with the seller, and worked everything out to get the documents to her, and back, within 2-3 days. I Next-Day-Air'd her the title, DMV Affidavit (for the corrections), and a money order to cover the shipping expenses and more (in case the notary clerk charged $$). Last time I spoke with her is when i told her the package was on the way....
6 days later, she hasn't responded to a single email, text, voicemail, and wont answer my calls.
So now she has the title to my car, back in her possession. And I have a car with no tag, that I need to drive to my next duty station (9 hours away) before December 13th. Tag office said i could apply for a lost title, but would take a few months.
WTF could anyone do in a situation like this? Ebay or Paypal can't do anything since I have the car i bought, and it's been 9 months since i bought it.
She can't have my car repo'd with my title......can she?

 

[L92 OLDS]

I would apply for a lost title and be done with it. In Michigan, it takes a couple of weeks for out of state titles if you put a rush on it.

 

[TODoubleD]

damn that really sucks... i know that the state of New Hampshire you dont need a title after a car is 15 years old 😀

 

[pontiacgp]

If she lived in my area I wouldn't mind going to politely ask her personally for the signed paperwork. Maybe there is someone on this forum who would offer to do that.

 

[bkb97]

as a side note pint out that ebay purchase page or at least your paypal... of course she has no hurry for Your situation but if a GBody forum person is near her location it could put a little pressure on her/ with the holidays she put you on the back burner and hope thats al it is

 

[bkb97]

just a thought you could call her local police dept.. if they're nice ask for a detective and just see if someone would INQUIRE in your behalf before legal action is taken :wink: but yeah cover all the bases and file for a lost replacement...between the ebay listing and your paypal you have proof of paymt and ownership

 

[spudd]

I kind of had the same thing happen
Owner singed the title different then the name on the title( didn't put JR. In his signature )
Went through hell getting him to resign the title
After 3 months I ended up getting a bond to force him to sign it

I feel for you man Hope it works out

 

[gwhiz]

thats what scares me about buying cars anymore. to many scams, it might sound paranoid i like to give peaple the benifit of the doubt but i dont trust anyone when it comes to giving up cash. at least you got a papertrail through ebay and pay pal. hpoefully its a honest mistake and not a scam.

 

[AlamoCity210]

That sucks. Your best bet would be to go to a lil mom an pop title place. I never go to te courthouse downtown to do title transfers. They always wanna charge some kinda fees. This lil place I go to is really cool. Just tell them the situation and shell give you the corrective paperwork. Once signed and paid, boom the tile is yours. Did that for my cutlass. I always had it in my mothers name and never transferred it to mine. When she passed away, the courthouse wanted all this paperwork and money for fines. The mom and pop did it with no questions asked. 🙂

 

[RunAwayNJ]

I beleive that E-Bay and/or PayPal offer some type of buyer protection in these cases? Perhaps it's time to get them involved in the process. If not, what about local law enforcement? There has to be something that can be done.

Can you post a link to the auction and/or the seller? Someone else had a great idea that if there is another forum member close to the seller they could be of some help.