Anyone legal experts here. Need help with a TITLE FRAUD issue.

[laserspeeddemon]

If any platform of car would have owners that are also in the legal field, it would be this one.

This story can be a bit...protracted, so I am going to do my best to make it as short as possible.

The short, short version is that someone sold me a car posing as a private seller was actually a straw seller for a used car dealer. The car came back with a clean CarFax, but I have proof that the car was sold by an insurance company at an auction in Maryland. And I found tons of evidence that the car was flooded.

The short, detailed version is that I found a 2005 BMW 545i for sale on Facebook with a blown water pump. The seller said that he owned the 545i for about 10 years and he had a 550i already; so when the water pump went out, he didn't want to put any money into fixing it and he was just looking to get rid of it. We conversed a little more about the car and I asked him to send me video of the car running and he sent me a video of him driving down the street and parking it on his driveway. I ran a CarFax and I asked him some questions about it, but he could explain all the small entries. I pulled codes with my code reader and it had a code, but he came down on the price based on the code. The battery was dead, but the seller had an excuse for why that was. We jump it and get it on the trailer. The engine was shaking, but he told me it was because the battery was low and the car had no coolant in it, so the ECU was not sending the correct amount of fuel (this actually makes perfect sense).

I get it home and swapped the water pump and noticed nothing seemed wrong with the water pump; it ended up being the coolant transfer pipe. This is when I started to find indications that the car was flooded; yet I had no proof. Everytime, I would fix something, it would seem that I would have another problem and as I would go through those problems, I would find more indications that the car was flooded; mostly all electrical issues. I think I have sorted about 13 different DTC codes at this point.

Finally at work (I work for a car electronics place, just started), I was playing with the VIN part look up tool and I put my VIN the tool as well as Google. Google sent me an advertisement about buying a report on the auction regarding my vehicle. I clicked on it and it said that my vehicle was recently auctioned. I bought the report and it stated that an insurance company sold the car at an auto auction in less than a year before. Insurance companies only sell cars at an auction when total out a car. The pictures on the auction show very little damage on the car, but the car did not drive and the engine did not start. The car was 14 years old. Insurance companies don't cover mechanical failure on 14 year old cars. There is only one reason an insurance company pays out for a car that has no damage but doesn't run and has a blown motor: flood damage.

Believe me there are a lot more details, that explain more about my actions and thoughts, but it's a very long story.

My questions is what reprisal do I have? According to Maryland Transportation Section 13-506, the insurance company has to report the vehicle as being totaled to the MVA and apply for a salvage title. Obviously that didn't happen. So the insurance company has a huge liability here. Also, the auction yard had to know that a flooded car can't have a clean title if it is being sold by an insurance company at any auction. They would have to been willfully negligent to pretend they didn't know what was going on. Obviously the used car dealer and/or private seller have committed fraud here as well. My end goal is to have the guilty parties foot the repair for the remainder of the bill. I don't want to have them buy the car back, I want them to pay to fix it.

Thoughts?

[jclausen]

If you knew the insurance company I would contact them if not is would contact the state insurance department, the automotive bureau and contact a local television consumer affairs, they all have them and I would think it would be the perfect subject for them. I was attached to a bankruptcy from an ex girlfriend and I call my local cbs tv station and the next day I had direct phone numbers to all the credit reporting company's it took a few months to resolve but it worked

[Stück]

Just because it was run through IAA doesn't automatically mean its a flood car. IAA also auctions clean title vehicles, and the photo shows some damage to the right rear suspension possibly and the right front corner. Post the VIN and alot more info can be produced...

Fixing one thing and then another breaks is characteristic of a hammered wore ass out 2005 545i, that really describes 90% of them left on the road. At the end of the day you bought a 14 year old used car that comes with all the expected issues inherent to the model. These are cars -to be avoided- Those problems now belong to you. You have no realistic recourse but to fix or junk the car. (I'd recommend the later)

[laserspeeddemon]

Just because it was run through IAA doesn't automatically mean its a flood car. IAA also auctions clean title vehicles, and the photo shows some damage to the right rear suspension possibly and the right front corner. Post the VIN and alot more info can be produced...

Fixing one thing and then another breaks is characteristic of a hammered wore ass out 2005 545i, that really describes 90% of them left on the road. At the end of the day you bought a 14 year old used car that comes with all the expected issues inherent to the model. These are cars -to be avoided- Those problems now belong to you. You have no realistic recourse but to fix or junk the car. (I'd recommend the later)

My bad, I thought the VIN was in the pictures. WBANB33545B088665.

It's not that a it was sold at an auction. It the fact that an insurance company auctioned it off and how much water I have pulled out of the air in this things. I used DampRid bags, 3 of them. And it each bag is good for up to 6 months. But all three bags were full in about 10 days...Car smelled a lot better after that, tho'. If I can prove that this thing was totaled and auctioned off to the dealer that hid it and sold it to me. I will DEFINITELY have a case. It's proving the connect. I'm having fun digging into it tho'

So I taught myself how to speak BMW-nease. I learned how to use INPA and NSC-Expert (Dummy). This has GOT to be some kind of record. 73 Error codes.

[laserspeeddemon]

Also good call VIN. I ran the VIN through google again and got more hits.
https://poctra.com/2005-BMW-545-I/id...AINS-MD/Photos

[ross1]

pick up a copy of Hemmings Motor News, a collector car enthusiast's magazine, there are folks who offer car specific legal services.
Good luck

[laserspeeddemon]

I already heard back from a lawyer. Probably should keep the public comments to a minimum at this point. If anyone can find any information, it would strengthen my case and I would greatly appreciate it.

I promise to follow-up once the case comes to a conclusion so others will know how they got around the laws, others ways (other than CarFax) to protect yourself and what to do if you find yourself in my situation.