I purchase a 2010 Nissan Altima from Lenny Downie, Owner of PHP Auto Sales and Service, in Tempe, AZ, for my son. Lenny showed me the title, although it didn't have his name or his company's name on it, and gave me some song and dance about trading one of his personal vehicles for the Nissan I was buying for my son, and for some odd reason it would be better for him to treat the transaction as a "Private Sale", kinda weird, since he is a licensed auto dealer. Anyway, he promised to get me the title, in writing, on the Bill of Sale, which was in his name. He NEVER provided the vehicle title, and I'm stuck with a vehicle that I cannot register, and cannot title in my name. Is it still a felony to sell a vehicle that you don't own, or haven't titled?
My son is super bummed out, as he was in the process of job hunting, and really needs a car.
Well, I kept calling Lenny Downie's mobile and office numbers, texting him, emailing him on 2 separate email accounts and no responses, EVER.
After a couple of days Lenny Downie blocked my texts, calls and wouldn't open his business doors the times I stopped by to pick up the title.
Another sad experience of doing business with a used car dealer.
I sure hope this doesn't happen to anyone else, although I found a few more people that Lenny Downie left hanging, without a title.
I can only surmise that Lenny Downie wanted to avoid paying a couple hundred bucks in sales tax and title fees, which is again, kinda weird for a licensed used car dealer. Business can't be that bad, can it? read more