My wife(42f) and I(29f) bought a car from our acquaintance(46m). This car was his aunts vehicle that just recently passed away a few months ago. We paid him $300 up front and agreed to pay another $300 when I got paid again. The car was not in the best shape, and he didn’t have the title to it because it was his aunts car that is no longer with us.
Now here is where things get murky… we had the car for 3 days and my wife was pulled over and the car was impounded because it had our old plates on it that are to a different car (the plates were valid, they just weren’t to the right car) and we didn’t have a title or bill of sale to the car or anything. Idk about anywhere else, but where I live in order to get a car out of impound the vehicle must be registered to you and, of course, we can’t do that because we don’t have the title to the car.
So our acquaintance is saying that we still owe him the $300 because it wasn’t his fault the car got impounded, a deal is a deal, etc. I do understand his point but I feel like for 1) we would be able to get the car out if it had been a legitimate sale with a title, but it wasn’t. 2) the car really wasn’t even his to sell in the first place and if it were he would have the title to it and 3) we had the car for 3 days.
I really don’t know if we should pay him or not I mean I understand it really wasn’t his fault the car got impounded and it was most likely going to happen eventually bc we would never be able to get it legally registered but that was why he was only charging $600 for it and we knew the risks when we bought a car with no title.
Also the car is registered to the dead aunt’s ex boyfriend who lives 150 miles away and the plates that she had on it had been expired since 2024 and she was just driving it with expired plates.
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My wife(42f) and I(29f) bought a car from our acquaintance(46m). This car was his aunts vehicle that just recently passed away a few months ago. We paid him $300 up front and agreed to pay another $300 when I got paid again. The car was not in the best shape, and he didn’t have the title to it because it was his aunts car that is no longer with us.
Now here is where things get murky… we had the car for 3 days and my wife was pulled over and the car was impounded because it had our old plates on it that are to a different car (the plates were valid, they just weren’t to the right car) and we didn’t have a title or bill of sale to the car or anything. Idk about anywhere else, but where I live in order to get a car out of impound the vehicle must be registered to you and, of course, we can’t do that because we don’t have the title to the car.
So our acquaintance is saying that we still owe him the $300 because it wasn’t his fault the car got impounded, a deal is a deal, etc. I do understand his point but I feel like for 1) we would be able to get the car out if it had been a legitimate sale with a title, but it wasn’t. 2) the car really wasn’t even his to sell in the first place and if it were he would have the title to it and 3) we had the car for 3 days.
I really don’t know if we should pay him or not I mean I understand it really wasn’t his fault the car got impounded and it was most likely going to happen eventually bc we would never be able to get it legally registered but that was why he was only charging $600 for it and we knew the risks when we bought a car with no title.
Also the car is registered to the dead aunt’s ex boyfriend who lives 150 miles away and the plates that she had on it had been expired since 2024 and she was just driving it with expired plates.
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> 1) I haven’t paid this guy the rest of the money that was agreed upon.
2)I think I might be the asshole if I don’t pay this guy the rest of the money that I agreed to pay him.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
YWBTA. You bought the car, you pay for it. No ifs, ands, or buts. I’d also try to get into contact with the person who has the title and explain the situation to see if he’ll sign over the title or offer to buy the car back though.
Yes, YTA/YWBTA.
You not handling business led to the impound, not your friend selling you an unregistered car. You’re lucky you didn’t get arrested on suspicion of theft for putting plates on it that didn’t belong.
When you learned that this was complicated, you could have and should have backed out, but you did not.
You had the wrong plates on it? Is this a COPS episode?
ESH
You bought a car that you knew belonged to someone else and then drove it illegally. You are now trying to get out of paying the remainder of what you owe for this invalid transaction?
The car clearly belongs to the legal owner, the ‘dead aunt’s ex boyfriend’ and should go back to him.
Who’s name is on the title, the aunt or the ex boyfriend?
YTA
It’s not his fault the car got impounded. You both are old enough to know better than putting tags on a vehicle they’re not registered to.
What did you think was going to happen since he couldn’t produce the title?
YTA this feels like that video of the guy test driving a motorcycle, destroying it and being like nah this things junk.
ESH
In some states he has X days to get you the title so if you are in one of those states he did nothing wrong. He may have been working in good faith with the ex to get the title
You drove a car with illegal plates, that is on you. If he suffered damages (cost for towing or storage) you owe him those. You better hope the lot took the car and wrote off those fees. You broke the law, so you gotta pay that piece.
ESH – He had no right to sell it without the title, and you knew you had no business driving it – that’s why you switched plates.
This has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Call it stupid tax.
YTA. You (foolishly) paid $600 to drive a car around illegally until you got caught.
How long you had it isn’t really relevant. You knew it was illegal to drive it around like you were doing from the start.
Just because you hadn’t paid your friend yet doesn’t mean you don’t owe the money you agreed to pay.
Currently all you’ve gotten in a $300 lesson in how not to buy a car.
You don’t pay him anything until he gets you a clean title that you are on. (In the future, don’t exchange money for keys unless you are getting the title at the same time. I believe it is typically suggested that you meet at the DMV so all the paperwork gets signed and the title gets transferred immediately if possible. It’s not a guarantee of eliminating problems but it should help.)
That said, unless he gets it to you quickly, it will likely cost more than $300 bucks to get it out of impound. So I’d probably just hand him the keys and tell him that he knows where his car is.
And I’d expect you are already over $300 in costs. Releasing a vehicle from impound typically involves paying the towing fees, a release fee, and per day storage fee. (Plus I’d imagine if the car wasn’t titled in your name, you don’t have insurance on it and you’d need insurance on it to get it out of impound.)
ESH – So many bad decisions.
You and your wife are idiots.
Y’all are idiots, but yes, you owe him the other $300. You knew the situation going in. You weren’t scammed. Pay him. Pay that myan his money.
YTA. First saying the plates were valid just not the right car, just putting it on the wrong car makes it not valid. But if you strip this to the bare bones, you’re saying “I had bought something. But I made mistakes and they took it from me. Is it okay if I don’t hold my end of the bargain because I’m irresponsible “.
YTA. Why are you driving the car with his plates? And I’d wager you didn’t have insurance either. Also buying a car with no title- not a smart move. OP made a deal. Pay up
YTA!!! It sounds like you knew from the beginning that he couldn’t complete a legal sale, yet you took the car AND you drive it with plates you knew weren’t valid for the car… This is 100% on you, you owe him.
I don’t know why this hasn’t been said, but that age difference!?!?!?! Oh girl, she’s gonna fck your life up lol
You took plates off another car to put on the car you only partially paid for but hadn’t transferred the title yet? You knew what you were doing wasn’t legal. You shouldn’t have accepted the car until it could be transferred legally and proper registration completed. YWBTAH if you don’t pay for the car.
ESH. Everything about this, and I’m gonna say everyone involved, is sus as hell.
You don’t buy (or sell) a car without a title. No title, you’re not buying a car. The story of who actually owns the car gets murkier and murkier the more we read.
And you put another car’s plates on it?
You and your acquaintance could probably provide enough material for a full season of COPS at this rate.
Grow up and do better.
YTJ. Lay up as agreed. You know not to drive without the registration, correct tags, insurance, Bill of sale, etc etc etc. Ffs your almost 50!
Pay Up!! The situation you’ve just described, you knew about.
YTA … why would you even drive the car without it being properly transferred and registered? Not only that, you put different plates on it 🙄 now that it’s impounded, you’ll have a harder time getting it back AND will be hit with storage fees.