Question:

bought possible stolen car. I recently purchased a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was said not to

by Guest9549 | 12 years, 7 month(s) ago

I recently purchased a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was said not to include a title as it was suppose to be a theft recovered, salvaged vehicle with no title. I accepted this as I have dealt with salvaged vehicles in the past. The story I was told was infact possible. The vehicle was said to have been purchased through ebay and the seller produced the documentation to prove this. He ran a carfax for me and it came back clean, I ran a competing data base, autochek, and it came back clean. I then went to the state police for advice on titling this vehicle. I was, at that time, advised I had purchased a stolen vehicle. The vehicle has now been seized and is in the hands of the insurance co. I may be able to place a bid on the insurance vehicle, but as I already have a large sum of money in it. What type of recourse do I have to collect my money back. I had the vehicle exactly one week, the PO had it 1.5 years and it was originally stolen 3 years ago. I am in WV.

Tags: bought, car, Stolen

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amomipais82

Hi,
First off, don't ask the police what to do if the numbers don't match, as they aren't experts on registering and applying for titles. They are, however, experts on recovering stolen property. Just ask them to send an officer out to do a vin check. They do it all the time and will have an answer before they leave. If it's stolen, they'll take it to the impound yard. If not, you have to deal with the seller of the car to get an accurate title and you can keep the car.

Second, call the seller. You can't sell a car legally without the ability to deliver a title. They may have just accidentally given you the wrong title... that happens more than you might think. If they can't produce a title within a certain period of time, they aren't legally allowed to sell the vehicle, and in fact have broken the law. If they don't give you your money back, call the police. I think that falls under the category of either fraud or conversion, and people can be arrested for both of those.

As far as jail is concerned, you didn't know, so don't worry. Just make sure you have a bill of sale for the car. You have to have knowledge of the property being stolen to face posession of stolen property charges.

For representation, all you might need is a civil lawyer if you have to sue the seller. If not, don't worry.

As to the location of the vin, look under the hood right there in front with all the stickers for timing adjustment and engine info. It should be right there. Check inside the door jams, too. They place it on the frames of most vehicles, but not in a place where you can easily find it. That's the vin that a lot of car thieves miss.They do not, however, place it on all the parts except the screws.
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