Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina
We bought a car on Ebay from a dealer in NC. We are also from NC. Apparently without us knowing they placed the car for sale on an auction without it passing the state inspection. We have since learned that a dealer can not offer a car for sale unless it has a valid NC State Inspection. When we went to pick up the car they told us we could not get it yet because they had to inspect it, but they would deliver it after it passed inspection later that day. Later that day turned into later that week, which turned into later next week. It has now been over a month and we still do not have the car. And no idea when it might be ready. It will not pass inspection because of certain codes which I believe they knew prior to offering it for sale on Ebay. I think they hoped someone from out of state would buy it and it wouldn't matter if it did not pass a NC Inspection. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
2 Answers from Attorneys
File a dispute with Ebay, get your money back if you paid and move on to a more reputable dealer.
My suggestion, which may lead to a quicker and better result, is for you to contact your local NC Division of Motor Vehicles License and Theft Bureau and file a complaint. The License and Theft Inspectors are sworn law enforcement officers who have authority to regulate dealer conduct and can file criminal charges against dealers who violate the law when conducting transactions. There is a criminal statute that makes it illegal to sell a vehicle without a valid inspection. I believe you will need to contact the License and Theft Bureau that covers the county in which the dealer's business is located. The L&T Bureau office covering Wilmington is in Fayetteville at Eutaw Village North, 831A Elm Street,
Fayetteville, NC 28303; Phone: (910) 486-1331. If you need to locate a L&T Bureau office in another area visit the following DMV webpage: http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/contact/. DMV may be able to exert leverage such that the dealer delivers your vehicle sooner rather than later. The dispute with Ebay may or may not amount to much for you since they typically say transactions are between buyer and seller and Ebay does not have liability.
If the dealer is outside of North Carolina you should contact an attorney in the county or state where the dealer is located.
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