QuestionQUESTION: My son bought a used 1987 Nissan from a buy here pay her place because he had no credit. It was bought as is but three weeks later the engine locked up on him. So contacted the car lot he bought it from and he did put him another car but he add what he still owed on the Nissan to a 1997 Dodge Intrepid and the this car was as is as well but my son only drove this car for 3 days and now two head gaskets are blown What can my son do now?
ANSWER: Understanding that I currently run a car lot that is "KIND OF" like a buy here pay here place, but what I do is a step above. I say this because I hear these type of stories ALL THE TIME and I assure you I can direct you in the right direction, whether or not you will like what I have to say may yet to be determined but I need to know a little bit more about the situation. First, are you in a position (credit wise or monetarily wise) to help your son with a vehicle purchase? Is this buy here pay here place, a place that REALLY can build his credit? Most of them are not, the only credit you are building up is with them. The extreme majority of buy here pay here places do not report to a credit bureau. For this simple reason, if they did, and you paid your car well, on your next vehicle purchase you would more than likely NOT be buying from them, because with better credit, you can buy a better vehicle, which is normally not the case with true buy here pay here places. They usually have the lowest quality of vehicles around, usually bad cars that they have patched together and just try to make them run. Your example is a perfect example as well, if you had inquired with me about which vehicle would be a better vehicle, the 87 nissan vs. 97 intrepid, I would have OVERWHELMINGLY picked the nissan, the intrepids are just junk, and it really doesnt matter what condition they are in. I personally try to avoid putting them on the lot unless they are the V6, the one you have is probably the 4cylinder, and they just are no good. Now with all this negative input I have for buy here pay here places, there is a market for them, and they do what they can do in the situation. For Instance at the lot that I run, we have a $1000 Minimum down payment, period, no exceptions. For those people that cant come up with that type of money, they have to go to buy here pay here places, and that is understandable. And stories like yours are all to common.
If you could provide me with a little more information about the car lot you are having these problems with, your situation as whether you could help him get a better vehicle, and let me know what other dealer options are available in your area, I will point you in the right direction. What I am going to advise you is probably not what you are going to think I am going to say. So give me a little more information, and I will assist you.
Thanks,
Jay
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QUESTION: Well this car lot is just a small one owner lot and my son did have to put down $350 on the Nissan. I can not buy a new car for my son but I can be a co-signer for him another car. I thought I would try and find a dealership that would be willing to the amount my son owes into a loan for a newer car. My son owes over $4,000 for both cars. Any assistance you can give would be wonderful.
ANSWER: Okay....understand this is my opinion.......just walk away from that whole situation! If the guy does not report to the credit bureau, which is probably the case, it will not affect his credit. If the dealer decides to get legal, which is probably not likely pending what kind of a person he is, then he may have a money judgement on his credit, which is a bad thing, but if you can help him get financed on another car, when he goes to purchase the next vehicle, the finance institution should understand why he has that mark on his credit, and understand the situation...because like I said before, there is an extreme amount of situations like that. If that type of thing happened at my lot, I would not get legal on them, simply because I was the one who was selling faulty products, but each person is their own. My point being it will take a while for it to hit his credit, and if you can assist him in getting a car now, and getting him in something that will actually run the term of the note, his good pay history on the good vehicle will overide the bad mark on his credit, for being sold bad vehicles. My reason in telling you this is because pending your credit, it is going to be extremely difficult and maybe impossible to find someplace willing to finance your son, with you as a cosigner, carrying $4000 of "bad" money if you will...I mean if the car is junk, no dealer is going to give anything for it which means instead of going into the situation with money down, he is going into the deal with -$4000, which is going to be extremely tough to do, and even if it was possible, why put yourself through it, there are good car lots and banks that will still finance him as long as he pays the good car on time and takes care of business like he should. Basically the bad mark on his credit in the long run would be easier to get around than trying to carry that $4000 plus any interest that will be tacked on as well. You may think I am crazy saying this, and it is something I try not to advise people, but I have been doing this type of work since I was a kid, and I gaurantee you it is the best option....in fact...I did the exact same thing myself in a different scenario, because I had a banker who understood, offered to work with me and as early as 1 year after filing bk, He authorized me $100,000 floor plan to start another business with my dad. They say it takes like 7 years to get stuff off of your credit, and that is true, but if you find the right banker, and treat them right, it aint that big of deal. The car business and resale value is a very unstable market, I mean on a domestic car (ford, chevy, dodge), a person purchasing a brand spanking new car will lose $10,000 to $12,000 IN THE FIRST YEAR...so putting yourself in a situation to add $4000 to that is just crazy.
You should be able to find a bank or a good car lot that will overlook his misfortunes on something he had no control over, and get him in a decent vehicle to get him going in the right direction. There are a lot of factors that I may be unaware of that may prevent this, but just from what you have told me, I feel it to be in your best interest. I probably write 10-15 deals a year for people in those same situations, I will approve everyone of them as long as they have the down payment, decent co signer, or good job time. Well I hope this does you well, and I am curious to hear what you think about what I recommend. If you are still unsure ask me more questions and I will keep guiding you in the right direction, that is in YOUR best interest.
Jay
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QUESTION: Thank you for you assistance and you just clarified how I was feeling about the whole thing. So what would you say I should do with the cars that I have now? I thought I would take them back to the guy but I didn't know if that would be a good thing to do. My son hasn't even received any paperwork to get his plates for either one of the cars so even if he did get one working he would not be able to get plates for it.
ANSWER: Well it really depends on what kind of guy you are dealing with. If he seems reasonable you just call him up and state the obvious that both of the cars he sold you are no good, and you would like to return them to him. If he is courteous about it, maybe he has a wrecker that he can use to come and get them for you, save you the expense of having them towed to him. If he is not very nice about it, I would just get with a wrecker company and have them deliver them to his car lot after hours and wait and see what he tries to do. Has he given you any kind of feedback to indicate how he would react to you just walking away from the whole situation? What state are you in? How do they do the "Titling" of vehicles there?
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QUESTION: I live in Indiana and here is what is required to title a vehicle here.
* Properly assigned certificate of title (showing seller signed title over to you)
* Odometer statement (usually on the title)
* Bill of sale
* Verification of Social Security number
If you purchased your used vehicle outside of Indiana, you'll also need to have a VIN inspection completed. The inspections are done for free at the license agency. Or, a police officer may charge you up to $5 to do the inspection, using State Form 39530 (you may download the form to give to the officer).
Titles or MCOs do not need to be notarized if they are signed under penalty of perjury. However, the state may require that certain out-of-state titles be notarized.
Generally, you will receive your Indiana title in the mail anywhere from one to four weeks from the application date. New motor vehicle and most duplicate titles are usually available within seven to 10 days.
Title Ownership and Driver's Licenses
This guy is not a very nice person and he stated that if we had it towed to his lot then he would tow it back to us because it was not his vehicles. Then he said that if we did leave them there then he would charge us storage for the vehicles. Then towards the end he said it was my sons fault and that if he did have to deal with it then he would take them to a auction and sell them and then my son would have to pay the difference.
ANSWER: Well that is sad that he has to be that way, but it takes all kinds to make the world go round. Each state has their own rules and regulations, you might also confer with the Indiana Used Car Commission, and see if maybe the dealer has a history of bad reports. How long did your son have each car before they blew motors? I just cant believe he can not be more helpful, how long has he been in business?
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QUESTION: My son had the Nissan for 3 weeks and then the Dodge he only had for 3 days. What is the Indiana Use Car Commission?
AnswerNow that is ridiculous. That says all I need to know about that dealer. Okay...here in oklahoma the used car dealers are governed by what is called the Oklahoma Used Car and Parts Commission. And basically whenever customers have issus pertaining to a dealerships practices and procedures, they turn in a complaint with the Used car commission. Here in Oklahoma they take it very, very seriously and they will send a representative out in a very timely manner. I dont know the name of the place in Indiana, I tried to look it up on the internet but this is a number to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (317) 615-7335, hopefully they can help you.
Let me know how that goes and let me know if you need anymore help. As far as the vehicles, I would not do anything with them yet, you want to make sure you have your back, legally, as much as possible before you take any action. You may end up getting an attorney, because I feel like you could actually win that in a court of law, pending what the Indiana Rules and Regulations are. But in a worse case scenario I would just put the vehicles in your yard, where they are accessible to a wrecker, dont make any payments, and when you become delinquent enough, he will end up having to come and get them. But like I said call around and try to see if you have any protection from the state of Indiana. If not you may consult with a dealer in the area who is more aware of Indiana's laws and statutes.
Let me know how this goes and let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Jay
