Too bad there is no bank loan on car. You could tell bank your not going to pay for loan since car is tainted. Maybe bank would get involved.
The bank would get involved alright. Stop making payments and you’ll hear from local debt collector… and when you go for the next loan, you’ll discover that your credit rating is shot. The bank has absolutely no interest in the car itself, only in the loan. And if you continue to not make payments, you’ll wake up some night to the sound of your car being dragged up onto a tilt-bed, being repossessed. And if the bank cannot sell it at auction for the full value of the loan, you’ll STILL owe them the difference. And they’ll STILL keep chasing you.
Stopping payments is the absolute worse thing you can do. Calling the bank ahead will make no difference on that.
At one time the bureau of motor vehicles here in Indiana was under the control of the political party to which the governor belonged and a certain percentage of the money taken in went to the party. In 1968 we went from a Democrat governor to a,Republican. The new,party took office on January 2, so the Democrats kept tbe license bureau branches,open on New Year day.
Okay, Rest Of The Story.
Late last week, the VIN Expert (hereinafter noted as VE) answered his phone and said he would be in the local DMV office Monday morning, FROM 9:00 to 9:30. My son showed up at 8:45. At around 9:25, he had enough waiting and went home.
On the way home at 9:38 he got a call from VE wondering why he wasn’t there. He explained. VE said, I said BETWEEN 9 and 9;30. So, they made another appointment for today.
My son showed up a few minutes early. He sat in the waiting room for about an hour and a half, more or less. No VE.
Finally, the different woman who happened today to be sitting in the chair used by the woman who originally turned him down for bad rivets and told him to just drive it, and plan on buying another car, walked over and asked him why he was waiting.
He explained the whole sad story. She said, “I want to look at whatever the problem is.”
They went out, and she was totally shocked. “There is nothing wrong with that plate nor its rivet.” She said, “Lets go in and we are going to register it.”
They went in and while doing the paperwork he noted a small sign that seemed to be her boss. He asked if that were the case, because he wanted to write a letter telling her boss how well she had treated him after all the hassles involved, over those rivets.
She said, “My boss is in today.” Son asked if he could talk to him then, instead of writing a letter. She happily agreed.
When he explained to the boss the whole story, the boss also said he wanted to go out and see what on earth the problem was. He also was totally outraged when he saw the car. He asked a lot of questions trying to find out what dummy had a problem with a perfectly normal VIN plate. He was furious.
I told my son you can be sure he knows who it was. In a small office there are few surprises.
Oh, the boss also called up VE and cussed him out for not keeping his appointment today as promised.
So, as several of you assumed it was one woman who was the flower of her family. i.e,. a Blooming Idiot. And, V.E. also.
Living in Mexico has made me somewhat more cynical than normal. This sort of stone-walling in Mexico would be an attempt to induce a bribe… Just saying. V.E. is Mexican, hee, hee.
Thanks to all for taking time to type in tips and suggestions.
Total cost of registration was around $400. Almost what a high mileage car is worth…,
@irlandes
Your son is the man!
I think the whole cartalk community is relieved that he was finally able to sort out this stupid mess
I feel kind of bad, because I suggested your son go to see VE in person. I didn’t think that person would be as lousy as the DMV clerk. But I was wrong, and I’m sorry for giving bad advice.
I hope the boss of that DMV office “punishes” that stupid clerk in some way . . . perhaps one week of only answering the phones. Or maybe she has to clean the break room for a week
Perhaps your son should make a surprise visit to see that stupid DMV clerk and shove that registration in her face and tell her that nobody has a problem with the VIN . . . except her. But maybe they’re all wrong, and she’s right. Maybe everybody else is retarded, but she’s a genius.
After all that trouble, he should really rub it in, I say
I’m very happy to hear your diligent son got to the bottom of this and went to the trouble of personally informing the DMV manager about the situation too. Hopefully this will prevent this same thing from happening to somebody else.
I looked at the VIN plate rivets on my Corolla yesterday, and sure enough they have a 4 point cross pattern to them. I’ve never heard of this rivet thing before, so the thread has been informative in any event. Thanks for posting the result OP.
Congratulations on your son getting this sorted out. Bureaucracy in action.
Yes, I, too was glad he got it done. He thought to write a letter giving more detail. I suggested he has accomplished everything already, and not to beat a dead horse. That manager may well know more than my son thinks. It is unlikely this was the first time that employee pulled that stunt.
I do not wish to get into politics, but much of the Constitution was developed because the Founders well knew such things could happen and they feared that one gov’t employee could have that much power and this was not a good thing.
“pulled that stunt.”
sheer incompetence is a better description
Glad it worked out.
I guess I’d forget it and not rub her nose in it. One little click on the keyboard can send him back to DMV never never land. Remember the story about the airline baggage handler that got chewed out by a customer. Another asked him how he could be so calm and he said he just sent the lady’s bag to cleveland . . . but she was going to Dallas. Its not just government employees. Many low level employees have the ability to make your life miserable.