This is a bit odd but I’m hoping somebody went through a similar situation so I’m posting it on here.
I bought a CPO BMW X3 from a dealership back in 2008 and since I just leased a new vehicle I’m looking to sell it. It dawned on me that I never got a title (not uncommon since a lot of my mail goes missing due to living in a town where the zip code belongs to another town). I sent into NJ DMV to get a duplicate title and got this message back from them:
Your title request cannot be processed due to the following reason(s):
Our records indicate an encumbrance for the above referenced vehicle. We require the lien-holder to proved an original lien satisfaction on their letterhead describing the year, make and VIN of the vehicle and must state the contract or encumbrance has been satisfied. Lien satisfaction must also include the name of the owner, date satisfied and must be signed by authorized officer of the lending institution. Please note that if banks have merged this too should be stated in the lien release.
I paid for the vehicle with a bank check at the time of purchase so their was no financing. The problem is the dealership has since been purchased by Penske auto group and is no longer the same dealership.
I pulled a VIN report and it shows the dealership as the last one to title. There was no title created transfer on or around the date I purchased according to the report.
Where do I go to get this resolved? The dealership, BMW or somewhere else? Anyone have any ideas?
The dealership would have had the title - unless a previous lender kept it (which isn’t likely).
Penske would have kept any old files.
Start by calling the office manager their and tell him/her about what your situation is. They will pull up the deal on their end and work it down from there.
Penske should have them. Dealer records are pretty tight. In CA, dealers have to file vehicle sales paperwork every night to the DMV. I had to apply for a dealership “license” to sell scooters (long story) and they told me I have to file every sale on the same day. Good and bad news is that we made 0 sales in 4 months and shut it down … maybe should have kept it for the dealer plates
Lol, same story here. Myself and a few friends had the bright idea of selling cheap Chinese/Korean scooters out of our garage. We would ship in 10 at a time in big crates and flip them fast. We sold 35 in the first month, then the Sheriff came a knocking saying we just did a big booboo, oops. Had to immediately get a Dealers License to avoid felonies, even had to lease a store front since you can’t have a dealers license registered to your garage. They even made go so far as to make signage for the building. We made $10k of those first 35 scooters, and spent $15k going through the hoops to get the license to avoid charges, lesson learned. (apparently the Sheriff’s office has a deputy just for dealer violations).
Been through this before with BMW and NJ. Call BMW financial services and they will send the NJ DMV a letter. There is a form at the DMV you need to fill out…and once the title release arrives at the DMV, the DMV will call you
I called the dealership, they don’t have an office manager so they sent me to the CPO manager. I got his voicemail. I left a detailed voicemail and am wondering if I will get a call back.
… maybe should have kept it for the dealer plates