Bought a vehicle, was not given a title

[ds_reselling]

I bought a truck for 28,000 through a dealer on ebay.  It was a month ago.  I never received the title.

The seller says they sent it to the wrong address.  They then said they would get a duplicate, that was two weeks ago with no contact since.

I contacted ebay, and was told "tough sh*t".  Basically the only advice was to work it out with the seller "Ebay is a listing platform only" and "in the future, check the sellers ratings", fyi the sellers reviews are fine.

Now im not sure what to do besides a lawyer, they told me the vpp doesnt apply to titles.

[fab_finds4u]

I'm thinking the seller  had to pay the vehicle off before they mailed him a title and that's what he is waiting on.....

No, eBay won't  help until the VPP Administrator contacts them.

VPP is managed by an independent service provider (the VPP Administrator) that is not affiliated with eBay Inc. VPP requests will be processed by the VPP Administrator.

VPP What's Covered

d. You did not receive a title from the seller (and a title is requjred by both your state and the seller's state) and it's not possible to obtain a title from the appropriate DMV.

How did you pay? The following has to be met.

The buyer, the seller, the vehicle (on the purchase date) and the financial institutions making and receiving payment are all located in the US or Canada. 

There are other requirements like it has to be your first VPP request in 180 days.

You have to submit a request no later than 45 days after the purchase date, however for title problems you have 90 days.

pages.ebay.com/motors/buy/purchase-protection/

[tony1963]

This is likely a case of the seller still not having the title.  Often, vehicles are "sold" with title attached at the auction and the auction has 30 days to receive the title or the deal can be undone.  If the seller has already realized a profit from the sale, they're unlikely to recall the vehicle and return.

As a former dealer, this happened to me once and I was transparent with the customer.  I offered to return the vehicle but they wanted to keep it.  In Alabama, they could get tags from the title application and they also were able to insure the vehicle.  Eventually, the seller turned in the title.

The seller was holding the title hoping I would return the vehicle because he decided he let it go too cheap.  I told the auction and seller on a 3-way call that I would NEVER EVER return the vehicle, so I invited the seller to live out his life without the car and without the cash (auction was holding my check until the title came in). 

The next day the title got turned in.