I purchased a new Pacifica in July for my wife. We had the car two weeks and she had an accident (about $7k worth of damage). The car is still in the shop and will not be ready for at least another week.

I got a call about a week and a half ago from the dealer. All of the original documents for my car had the wrong VIN number. The car has been titled in the state of Maryland. Here is the kicker the VIN number that is on all of my original document is another Pacifica same color inside/outside with all the same options.

What would you do?

Options:
1. Sign a new contract with the new VIN number.
2. Claim the other Pacifica and fight with the dealer.
3. Refuse to sign the new contract and walk away from the deal.

 

does that VIN screwup mean you have the option of just returning the car??

 

Do you still want the car? Esp. now it has been wrecked.
if not you might want to lawyer up, cause opt. 2 & 3 sounds like you will need it.
Personaly I would choose opt. 3

Good luck with this let us know what happens.

 

Get out and buy brand new again... even though fixed why would you want damaged goods.

 

They're misatke, not yours.
Option # 3!

 

This is a tough one,

If you refuse the deal, they'll argue since the car was crashed they can't accept the car,

If you return the car and claim the new one, they'll argue the car wasn't returned in the same way it was bought being that it was crashed

And i'm sure they being the stupid dealers that they are would rather have a new contract made up and have you sign that.

i'd like for you to go with option 3, but like someone else said, bring your lawyer!

 

The dealer screwed up, & didn't give you the car you bought. I would think you have every right to demand your car, no matter what the condition of the current car is in. I'd opt for 2.

 

Wait wait wait: Did the dealer give you the wrong car, and the correct van that you looked at's VIN is on the paperwork? Or do you have the right van, they just put the wrong VIN on the paperwork? Does the VIN of the van on the paperwork exist and do they have the van?

 

damn i had to read this 5 times! :P

 

I don't see how "walking" will relieve you of the contractual obligation to pay for the van. You could wind up paying for the other van while it got dragged through the court system. Not good. Not paying would hurt your credit. Not good either. I'd say option 3 isn't really an option.

I think option 2 is pretty risky also. Someone wrecked a van with XXX vin #, and it wasn't the dealer. I think a court would decide that YOU wrecked said van and were therefore responsible for the repairs. Now wouldn't it be a bitch if your Insurance company played the VIN game too and claimed the van with the vin # on your policy had never been wrecked, therefore they were not responsible for the wrecked one sitting at the dealer, leaving you solely responsible for paying for the repairs.

So, First I would check with your Insurer to make sure that they are going to accept the VIN# correction. If they do, I would swallow my anger and go with option 1. If they don't, go with option 4 and run stright to your lawyer.

 

Indeed

 

Damn, that's a tough one.

Do the right thing. The legality and hassle of getting over is probably not worth it.

 

I can’t believe you’re trying to get a new vehicle out of this just because of a paperwork error.
Let’s take an angle look at the OTHER side of the situation.

Technically the car you were driving hade NO INSURANCE on it in your name.
You crashed the DEALER’S vehicle.

So I guess they DO still owe you the vehicle you paid for, but you crashed the one that wasn’t yours and had no insurance.

I say fix the thing, re-write the paperwork and THEN decide what to do with it.

Shawn S

 

My insurance company is going to pay for the repair of the Vehicle that was in the accident. I know that if I claim the other vehicle the dealer is going to fight me for it. The dealer cannot force me to sign the other contract that would correct the VIN number. I have beaten this thing from every angle to include talking with five different dealers not involved. I know that the ethical thing to do is sign the new contract and take ownership of the correct vehicle.

The problem that I am running into is that the car has been in the body shop for two months now and every time I call I get the same response,"it will be done in one to one and a half weeks". All of the parts arrived about two weeks ago, and my wife wants her car back yesterday.

I am in the process of contacting a lawyer for legal advise.

 

DO IT! (lawyer) You need proper advice (legal counsel)

 

if you can, go with #3

 

Sign the new contract. The dealer delivered to you the vehicle that you wanted. Why try to take advantage of the dealer based on a typo?