Man Reunited with Stolen Corvette After 39 Yrs

[al8apex]

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the dealer that sold it to my neighbor "jumped" the title
It is impossible for a dealer to "jump" title. Dealers don't put titles in there name, that is why titles have an area for dealer reassignment. It lets the DMV know where the car was between the guy that traded it and the new buyer when it is titled in his name. Now the previous owner that had it when sold to the dealer MAY have jumped title, but that is of no concern to the dealer as long as the guy selling it has a legal bill of sale and the title is signed by the owner of record on the title and itr is notorized if required.
When you buy a car from a dealer if you were able to do a title search you would only see the previous owner. If you had deeper access to DMV records it would show the dealer that sold it between you and that other owner, but you would already know who YOU bought it from.

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[b]the dealer had it "on consignment" and never touched/reassigned/whatever the title, the check was made to the dealer but the title came directly from the consignor ...

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my neighbor was out the $65k until it was awarded last week and he DID get a check from his insurance company ...
My GUESS would be that HIS insurance company will be looking to the dealer for reembursment.

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his insurance company had investigators working on it from day one, reimbursement is unknown from ??? the dealer needs to lose his bond and go to jail for tax evasion too ...

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the dealer that sold it to my neighbor "jumped" the title
It is impossible for a dealer to "jump" title. Dealers don't put titles in there name, that is why titles have an area for dealer reassignment. It lets the DMV know where the car was between the guy that traded it and the new buyer when it is titled in his name. Now the previous owner that had it when sold to the dealer MAY have jumped title, but that is of no concern to the dealer as long as the guy selling it has a legal bill of sale and the title is signed by the owner of record on the title and itr is notorized if required.
When you buy a car from a dealer if you were able to do a title search you would only see the previous owner. If you had deeper access to DMV records it would show the dealer that sold it between you and that other owner, but you would already know who YOU bought it from.

[/ QUOTE ]

[b]the dealer had it "on consignment" and never touched/reassigned/whatever the title, the check was made to the dealer but the title came directly from the consignor ...

[ QUOTE ]

my neighbor was out the $65k until it was awarded last week and he DID get a check from his insurance company ...
My GUESS would be that HIS insurance company will be looking to the dealer for reembursment.

[/ QUOTE ]

his insurance company had investigators working on it from day one, reimbursement is unknown from ??? the dealer needs to lose his bond and go to jail for tax evasion too ...

[/ QUOTE ]

No real rules for a dealer that takes consignments as they are only acting as a "salesman" and if they never owned the car then they never had title to it. The transaction in the eyes of the law was between the owner/seller and the new buyer.

No reason to sue the dealer then. I don't know the specifics and why you would think the dealer was evading taxes?

Then Your neighbor's insurance company will probably be looking to the seller for reimbusememnt for selling a stolen car. As I said previously, this usually starts a chain reaction backwards.

[MultiMopars]

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Why don't they run the VIN each time a car is titled, registered, transferred or tagged?

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They SHOULD, but there is still a hole in the system because the NCIB holds all the stolen car records for stolen insured cars and do not allow stat DMV offices access to their database. If they did these car would show up when trying to transfer title with the original V.I.N. intact.

[al8apex]

no taxes were paid by the buyer ...

[SuperNovaSS]

Jim,

Your friend had to know that the dealer was keeping themself out of the deal when he bought the car. I imagine there was a conversation involving making the car cheaper if the dealer was left out of the deal, etc., etc.

[al8apex]

he just was told that was how he could avoid paying sales tax in CA ...

the check was made to the dealer ... not the buyer

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
no taxes were paid by the buyer ...

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Did this transaction take place in Arizona or California? As an AZ. resident you certainly know there is no tax paid on a private party sale, right? This WAS a private party sale and the dealer acting as a salesman is not under any obligation to collect any tax.

If the car was sold on a bill of sale in California but DELIVERED in AZ. there STILL is no tax due. These types of deals have been taking place legally for years.

[al8apex]

he bought it in CA

He made the check out to the dealer in CA (Sacramento?)

He had it delivered to AZ

the issue came up when he had produced the paperwork for AZ DMV, they didn't match

He did not have a receipt from the name on the title, only from the dealer and there was no reassignment of the title by the dealer

[MultiMopars]

[ QUOTE ]
he bought it in CA

He made the check out to the dealer in CA (Sacramento?)

He had it delivered to AZ

the issue came up when he had produced the paperwork for AZ DMV, they didn't match

He did not have a receipt from the name on the title, only from the dealer and there was no reassignment of the title by the dealer

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I was the Director of Fleet Sales for Brown & Brown Nissan and sold 1000s of cars to autobrokers in the surrounding states. When you are trying to pay minimum tax (as taxes are different state to state) you can have a car transported to the state with the tax advantage and pay the tax there as it is DELIVERED there.

It would depend on how the receipt was written from the dealer. If he showed it as a consignment then he was simply orchastrating the passage of title for the seller. If AZ DMV had a problem with this they would have asked for a bill of sale from the owner of record. It would be up to the DMV offical to make the call. The main thing they would consider is the title and who's name it was in and if it was prpoerly signed off on. My GUESS would be that the buyer complicated things by providing a bill of sale for the car, which is not necessary to transfer the title from private seller to private buyer. Showing a bill of sale written on a dealers invoice WOULD raise a red flag for taxation in this case, but from what you have laid out here it is all "explainable."

[al8apex]

I suppose so

AZ DMV can be picky

it was difficult because of the way it was done I guess, THEN they got the news that it was stolen (39 years prior), then the police were called and everything went to "hell in a handbasket" real quick.

They weren't allowed to get anything of theirs out of the car (cell phone, water bottle, PURSE, etc) until the police arrived

the car was left OUTSIDE in the impound yard all summer (Yeah, a restored Corvette convertible sitting in the AZ summer sun and dust and monsons), apparently the inside storage is only for drug dealers cars ...