Ok back in March of this year me & my wife went to drive time to check out their used cars. We ended up getting a 06 Impala LT which we were very happy with. Until it was time for our courtesy oil change that they pay for. We ended up going to Sears automotive 4 times before we finally got approved for our oil change. Me & my wife started looking into all this hassle & came across some info that changed everything. The VIN# on our car (impala LS) does not match the VIN# on any of the paper work or registration from the car lot! On top of that, they have given us 4 30 day temp tags for the car bcuz we bought it in a state that we do not live in. Which is BS in my opinion! What can me & my wife do? We have a completely different car from the one in ALL the paperwork we got from the dealership. Please Help with Info?!
On top of all that. The car we have is a Impala LS (base model) The car on the paperwork &tied to the other VIN# on the paperwork is a Impala LT (few more luxuries than base model). Two completely different models!
Go back to the dealer and get your money back. It sounds like they could have legal troubles on their hands if not.
Go back to the seller and have them check to see if somehow the VIN number in their records was incorrectly transferred to the sales documentation. Give them a chance to make it right before you lower the boom on them. But be prepared to do just that if they can’t prove that the car has a clean title.
if the vehicle listed on the title is a better car I would go back to the seller and tell them that they gave you the wrong car 
It`s probably an honest mistake, they probably have the LT model too and someone gave you the LT title instead of the LS title by mistake.
so, call them and tell them they gave you the wrong car, I bet they will clear up the title real fast.
I think they would rather switch titles than to switch cars and It seems that legally if you have the title and the paperwork for the LT than the LT model is yours.
if the LT is sitting in a junkyard somewhere,well that would be bad because then you would have to take them to court to get your money back.
it could be as simple as someone gave you the wrong impala paperwork by mistake
You didn’t make something clear. Did you end up with the car that you test-drove and that you thought you were buying?
The dealer clearly has a problem on his hands that he needs to resolve, and the state attorney general’s office can “drive that point home” if he balks, but of this is the car you test drove and you and he came to a satisfactory sales agreement than I don’t think you got screwed.
If the dealer cannot show you exactly what the error was and how it happened, and correct it at no charge, than definitely go to the AG’s office. Don’t be shy about forcing him to show you. You just might be driving a stolen vehicle, and if you get stopped by a cop you may have more trouble on your hands than you can imagine.
We had a guy in Bedford, NH a few years ago that specialized in “classics”. Turns out, most of them were stolen. He disappeared back to his home country when he realized they were “on to him”. I don’t know if they ever caught up with him.
Yes i thought that it could be a honest mistake also. But after I added in all the BS they’ve been giving us about getting our own tags it really makes me think that something shady is going on. I mean, they have had us come back to the car lot every 30 days to get a new temp tag.(for 4 months!) We’ve had 4 temp tags which is illegal in itself. Also we’ve researched this “dispute” between the 2 states concerning car registrations & we can’t find any proof that this is true. We did get the car that we test drove however the car fax they provided that day was the history of the OTHER car VIN# & not the one we bought & that they said it was for. So they decieved us about the entire history of the vehicle. I am going to confront them about it but i just wanted to have all my bases covered concerning my options & rights in this situation. Because we are not going to make anymore payments on the car until all this is figured out. How can they repo it if its not even the car they “sold” us to begin with. As far as all the paperwork is concerned. I really just dont know what to do about this mess!
A lesson to all: verify the VIN. At my last (new car) purchase I watched the salesman check the VIN on his paperwork against the car (base of windshield) but I never thought to do it myself before leaving the lot. Used car lot, out-of-state…“Danger Will Robinson.” (If you’re not old enough to know what that refers to, never mind.)
“insightful” was that what u call insight? I am old enough sir & i have been through alot in this lifetime to know better. However when u go purchase a car from a “reputable” dealer.(not a hole in the wall car lot) u don’t really expect for something like this to happen. They went to great lengths to conceal this VIN# conspiracy. If a person walks into Ford,Dodge or any multi franchise dealer, u don’t really think that they would pull such a criminal stunt such as this. I try to have faith in people on certain occasions so we was very surprised once we figured this out.
Call the dealer and tell them that you can`t register the car in your state because they gave you the wrong car and ask him when you can come and pick up the car that is listed on the paperwork and the title, see what they say.
if you went to court the judge would force them to give you the car that is listed on the paperwork and the title, because according to that legally binding contract you bought the car that is listed on the title and the paperwork for the price listed on the paperwork.
If the other car is a nicer car I would insist that they give me the other car since you already have a signed and binding contract for the other car.If the other car is more expensive than the one you have, the dealer will just have to eat the loss because they made the mistake with the paperwork.
I think legally the dealer doesn`t have a leg to stand on no matter what they say or try to pull.
Thanx for that advice tardrex. This has been very stressful & its good to read a positive point of view. From my perspective that is. Im calling my attorney first thing Monday morning because this has morphed into a legal issue. Either they tried to con us to get our down payment & subsequent payments or they messed up accidentally in which case the ball is still in our court. I just hope they don’t try to repo it & pull a switch-a-roo ya know? But i don’t think they can legally repossess it with the VIN #'s not matching, do u? But Thanx again.
Good idea to call a lawyer because it seems to me that whoever has the title for the car you have can come and get the car whenever they want since they are the legal owner.At the same time though it seems that you should be able to go and get the car that is listed on your title and sales contract whenever you want,since you are the legal owner of that car,with the paperwork to prove it.
Maybe the dealer has realized the mistake of selling you the more expensive LT model for the price of the base model LS and now they don`t know what to do about it.Legally they have to give you the LT for the price that is listed on the signed contract.
Salesman:… oops!, hey boss I got a problem I sold the LT for the price of the LS.
Boss:… Damn! ok dont panic lets just give them the LS and maybe they wont notice that the title and paperwork we signed is for the LT, until we can figure something out.
Here’s some insight: Lose the thin skin.
Testy Bugger!!!
Skin is only thin when people say smart remarks out of the blue for no reason.
so you insult everyone?
Why don’t you go to the Sheriff and find out who actually owns the car you’re driving? Maybe they’re looking for it. I don’t know but Drive Time, Sears, dealer financing? Your radar has to be up and double check everything from these outfits. Then throw in out of state and just complicates it even worse.
The dealer needs to resolve this. Worse case is they committed fraud. But more and likely it’s a clerical error. There should be no way you can register the car (legally) where the sales slip doesn’t match the vehicles actual vin number. Same for insurance.