Story time. I was looking to buy a 911 in the past. Found one at a dealership. The car was 3 years old, just off lease, in good condition, and with no accidents shown in Carfax.
I searched the VIN number in the state’s DMV car registration database. Well well. The car had an expired tag and had high thousands of dollars of unpaid taxes, fees and penalties against it. The owner had never bothered to pay any taxes and fees over the years. I would have to pay all those when doing the car transfer at DMV.
I was kind of pissed and disgusted. I then searched the VIN number on the web. Found the VIN in a post in a car forum for an attempt to sell the car. It had a phone number!
I searched the phone number. Got the name of the guy and his company. He was the founder and CEO of a startup.
DMV doesn't care who pays it. They won't process the title transfer of the car as long as there're unpaid taxes or fines. Imagine I've already paid the money to make the purchase, and later going to DMV to transfer the car title but find out I couldn't due to unpaid fines. What could I do? Either paid the outstanding fines or sued the owner to revert the sale. Headaches all around. I didn't go through with the purchase at the end.
I talked to another car dealer and asked him about it. He said this kind of car was usually sold to people in another states, where their DMV won't enforce California's taxes and fines.
The lesson here is be sure to check for a clear title on the car, including DMV fees and fines, before making a purchase.
I searched the VIN number in the state’s DMV car registration database. Well well. The car had an expired tag and had high thousands of dollars of unpaid taxes, fees and penalties against it. The owner had never bothered to pay any taxes and fees over the years. I would have to pay all those when doing the car transfer at DMV.
I was kind of pissed and disgusted. I then searched the VIN number on the web. Found the VIN in a post in a car forum for an attempt to sell the car. It had a phone number!
I searched the phone number. Got the name of the guy and his company. He was the founder and CEO of a startup.