Nashville area car dealer Fraud
Location: Nashville area
Hello, I am very desperately trying to figure out what I can do about this strange situation I am.
I was in the market for a specific 2014 car and saw one I liked online, so I went to the used car dealer and bought it for $7,000, two weeks later a title is sent to my home.
The online ad, the bill of sale, and the title they sent me all matched with the same 2014 vin. HOWEVER, the actual car in my possession is a 2013 of a different trim package from what I was sold on paper. The website, dealers, bill of sale, and title they gave me was all for this 2014. I thought it was a 2014 when purchasing it. The dealership admitted to me through text message that there was a mistake, but no effort was made for a resolution. They assured me that they were going to figure it out and get me the correct title so I didn't think too much about getting some repairs done. Some of the repairs took place before I found out the title was incorrect because the car was nearly undrivable so I had to get repairs ASAP. The coolant reservoir was a jerry-rigged Captain Morgan bottle.
Meanwhile I cannot legally register the car and can only drive with the issued temp tags from the dealer for 60 days. For months I tried to communicate with them but they dodged me constantly and every time I called they would say the boss isn't there and would never call me back. The car was in atrocious condition when i bought it, I knew that but didn't know to the extent how bad it was. I signed and "as-is" clause in the bill of sale, however the bill of sale I signed is invalid since it was not the correct car thus invalidating the contact. My plan was to put some money it and get her running. Anyways I put in around $11,000 over a 7 months period, in documented basic repairs to get the car running, but now I cant drive or insure it and they stopped sending me temp tags. They have yet to confirm or deny if I will ever be able to have the correct title. They have been stringing me along for almost a year and it has been infuriating. About 6 months after the original purchase they offered me back the original $7000 for the car, which I declined since I was into the car for around $20k, also I cannot drive it back to them since it is not insured, registered, or legally mine.
It has been a nearly year long nightmare dealing with this and it has left me without a vehicle that I can drive for work and for living a normal life. I had to get this car towed 4 times in order to get it to the mechanics, and wasn't able to work on it in my apartment complex parking lot. And the complex is strict about towing cars with no tags. I barely put any miles on it and I have had to make a million phone calls and emails, the stress is very bad. This whole thing happened at horrible time in my life and has contributed to my downfall substantially. This time in my life was quite chaotic coming off a divorce, and losing my dog and home, financially and mentally this has been bad bad bad for me. I bought a car almost a year ago and still the dealer has not given me the title. DMV rejected my registration attempt due to the VIN mismatch. That's how I confirmed the car in my garage was not the car I legally purchased. I have no idea where the actual 2014 car is.
Can anyone say for sure what laws were broken here? I reported this to Nashville PD and their fraud unit said there's no crime committed here, its just bad business practice, unless it happens again to more people they are not interested in prosecuting. I asked if it is against the law to sell someone a car and not give them title for that car, but they refused to answer in a meaningful way. I asked if it is against the law to misrepresent the 2013 car I was given as a 2014 in the online ad, but no response. I have a car in my garage that I did not legally agree to buy or sign a bill of sale for. I cannot drive or insure it and I put in around $20k.
This whole thing happened at horrible time in my life and has contributed to my downfall substantially. This time in my life was quite chaotic coming off a divorce, and losing my dog and home, so financially I just cant afford to pay an attorney to fight for me unless its a "pay after you win the case" type situation. I am losing faith in law and humanity as a whole. It seems like nobody cares and nobody wants to hear my sob story.
edit: I asked for a refund and was ignored for 4 months. They offered the refund after I had left the state and already got a bunch or repairs to make it drivable.