My father recently passed away and I'm personal representative of his estate and have a notarized letter of authority(non-supervised) from the Probate Court.
I now legally own his 2012 GM Truck that has below 50,000 actual miles and it's in "very good" shape. Clear title, he owned it out right(so it's now mine).
The dealer I took the truck to gave me a great price(he typed the VIN into Kelly Blue Book) and I had also did my KBB at home beforehand as well to get the value. He quoted me just $500 below the KBB value for some wear and tear in my truck's bed liner. Otherwise, it was a great offer.
I explained the situation on why I needed to sell the truck and it seemed like they hadn't dealt with a customer before that had a Personal Letter of Authority of an Estate. So he went to "his titling manager" and they asked me if I could go to the Secretary of State to get the title put into my name. I told them I could but generally understood that dealerships can handle that portion when it's a free and clear title while saving me a trip to the dreaded Secretary of State. He told me it would be easier on them for me to get the title in my name and I told I could and that'd I do it first thing this coming week.
The Dealership rep explained to me that once I got the title, to bring it back along with the truck and that I would "sign off on the agreement for the price they're giving me for the truck" but that I'd have to wait 48-72 hours for them to get me a cashier's check as they had to send the paperwork to "their corporate owner/district manager" to sign off on the agreement and send a cashier's check back to them to give me for the full agreed upon amount.
All this he explained while THEY KEEP MY TRUCK and I only walk out with a "purchase agreement". I told them I had never, ever heard of this before and why wouldn't they just cut me a cashier's check on the spot, hand it to me and then I give them the keys to the truck. He cited "it's our dealership policy" again.
So I told him to hold on and went outside and called my Estate Attorney who's handling all my legal matters and my estate lawyer told me he had never heard of this practice before either(he's been in practice for over 40 years) and didn't understand why they wouldn't give me payment on the spot as soon as I provided the title with my name on it, etc.
I told my attorney that I'd fax him a copy of the "purchase agreement" for him to review before I signed off on it and he said absolutely and that I should expect some clauses in there where the dealer could conceivably "pull out of the deal" I signed with them ie: they find more damage, etc.
I told him that I had already fully disclosed EVERYTHING with the truck, the slight issues which they had already looked over(and had taken it out for a quick test drive) and said no problem and that they had ran the VIN number so they know all the options along with them pulling a "Carfax" report. At which point my Attorney said it still "sounded strange" to him.
So going forward, I will be getting the title transferred over to my name at the Secretary of State(obviously taking all the proper paperwork to get it switched over to my name).
However, I am just not comfortable signing off an a "agreement" for the dealership to buy my truck for the agreed upon amount while they make me wait 48-72 hours for the cashier's check and they take possession of my truck immediately.
My plan going forward is a) getting the the Secretary of State to get the title in my name b) calling back the dealer and telling them I have the title in my name. c) telling them I will only sign the "agreement" if they give me instant payment before I give them the keys or I'll sign the agreement but I KEEP the truck in my possession until my payment "comes back from Corporate in their 48-72 hour time frame" at which time I'll drive the truck back up there, get my payment and hand them the keys and title.
If they balk at that, I walk away.
So any other Reddit Lawyers or Car Dealers who can give some guidance here as well? Is that now a "normal practice" for a dealer to buy your vehicle from you, take possession of it but then make you wait 2-3 days until they actually pay you while they KEEP YOUR VEHICLE?
Thank you so much anyone with advice/tips and I love and miss you dad.
-Ultrazilla
P.S. for anyone recommending "why don't you just keep the truck"? We already own two vehicles and I have other family members I have to share inheritance with. Thanks again!
Submitted June 03, 2018 at 11:15AM by ultrazilla https://ift.tt/2JaiJIR
