Buying a car

Hi CarinaSM,

I suggest you to post an ad in the Cars for sale in Puerto Rico section, it might help you as well.

Thanks

Priscilla

Good morning, Carina!  How did you move go?  Are you all settled in?  Good luck on the car search

Go to clasificadosonline.com to look for a car. Also everywhere you go there are cars for sale lined up along the roads. It shouldn't take long to find what you are looking for. And remember the old saying "buyer beware".

Clasificadosonline.com is your best bet but you want to only buy from a reputable dealer if not able to find a buyowner kind of deal. Again buyer beware.

Yes Buyer beware!!!!! We purchased a mini truck using the classified add via online here in Puerto Rico. We met the guy, and a deal was made. We met again, handed him the money and he gave us the registration for the vehicle plus a bill of sale. We were to meet him on another day to go to the DTOP office to finalize the sale of the vehicle and register it in our name. Well, his grandmother died we were told, another time he was out of town taking care of family business due to the death of his grandmother, all understandable and we waited, and waited and waited. Calls were left unreturned several times and finally we set a date to meet at the DTOP office once again, we showed up, he didn't.
So now we were left not knowing what to do, this is our first car we bought here in Puerto Rico from a private party. Found out there were over 5000.00 dollars in fines from the toll on this vehicle!!!!!! long story short, we went to the police, they sent us here there and everywhere. Went to court and they could not find him to serve him, although he has an address, drivers license number and they could not serve him. So where are we, vehicle sitting in driveway.....anyone have any ideas on how to get this registered????? thank you

Where do you live?  try going to a service that will register the car for you.. I am sure there are these services in different areas... it will cost you some $$  but might make it easier to navigate.  there is one in Condado in the Supermax building, second floor.  one of them speaks English.  They are usually helpful.

If you are looking for a car: remember the roads here are TERRIBLE and cars take a beating.  I have had luck on CRAIGS  list.  usually someone leaving the island looking to dump a pretty good car.

Oh, no!  I'm so sorry you are dealing with this, how horrible.  I hope someone has some ideas for you and what your options are.  Maybe start with an attorney?

Will she have to pay the fines?

Check Craig's list.... people leaving the island looking to get rid of their cars....lots of good bargains and if you have cash, you can usually make a deal.

I'm selling a 2007 Ford Taurus, SEL (leather, full power, climate control, 95,600 miles (a bit less), for $3000. Strong engine & transmission. I'm not leaving the island, but got another car. Any interest, pls contact me. I live in Rincón.

Buying a (used) car from a dealer isn't always a good plan.. I bought a used one year old car once from is big, well known and respected dealer. When I asked if they did anything to the car they told me that it was washed a couple of days ago. Not even an oil change was done!

In Germany where I lived before I moved here a dealer will only sell a used car that has gotten all the manufacturer required services, an oil change and the buyer gets a good warranty. Here in PR you buy the car as seen and you're on your own once you drive out of the gate.

The only way to buy a car that's good is getting yourself a new car with manufacturer's warranty.

I lucked out I bought a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport that was for sale on the side of the road. Only thing I had to put into it was a fan motor for the a/c. Ran like a champ otherwise. I lucked out on that one.

sharonlynn913 wrote:

So where are we, vehicle sitting in driveway.....anyone have any ideas on how to get this registered????? thank you

You need a lawyer/notary.
There are two issues: 1. the fines and 2. the registration.

1. With the bill of sale I would assume that a lawyer can help making the fines disappear for you. This should be sorted out before you start the registration procedure.

2. Getting the car in your name is relatively simple, a lawyer/notary will help you with that. Find one who is close to your DTOP office because they know how to handle this.
You will need to send a certified letter to the previous owner at the address in the license. Most likely the letter will not be accepted and will be returned to you. Go to the lawyer/notary with the returned letter and he/she will prepare an affidavit with which you can go to DTOP to start the registration process. They will give you the papers you need to go to an inspection station where you have the car "inspection"  done for 11 bucks. Next you will need to take the car and the inspection certificate to DTOP where one of the agents will take a look at the vehicle and check the VIN number.
When everything is OK you will obtain a title in your name, a marbete and a license.
Be prepared to spend the best part of two days in the DTOP to get this done. If one of you is over 60 use the "old farts" line and save 4 hours on each visit.

Great information, Gary, you are so very helpful!

Thank you. We have a lawyer we are seeing tomorrow. We've done the certified letters, all returned of course. Went to court to have him subpoenaed,  but they could not licate him to serve hhim.....so they said.

I hope the lawyer can help with the fines issue.

If that can be separated from getting the car in your name you could move on and use the car within a couple of days.
I went to this procedure with a car I bought from a friend who left PR before we had the title transferred. After I found out how to do this it took me 4 days to get the car in my name.

We did talk with a laywer on Monday,  he was very nice and is willing to help, no promises. We are to call him back around the 12th of Jan., there is a law on the books that would made the registered owner responsible for all fines via their drivers license...which is on the registration. He is waiting to see if it passes, if it is signed, its smooth sailing for us, if not we just don't know what next step will take us. Fingers are crossed that the new law is signed. Will update as things progress.
Lesson learned the hard way by trusting someone (seller) to keep his word.....

Oh, I hope it all works out for, good luck!

I hope that law will become effective. It's already so that unpaid fines surface when one renews the driver's license and nothing goes before the balance is paid.

Good luck with the procedure!

Thanks, I am crossing my fingers. If it all fails, I guess we could sell it in pieces.....

Well, the attorney we wenr to seemed like he could help with this problem. We were asked to call him after new year,  we did n all he could tell us was look in the manual of DTOP/auto express. ......nothing, back to square one. I believe the real reason is because this guy racked up ovet 5900.00 in fines.....help

Well, that attorney was not helpful, sheesh!

Yes, when buying a car here, look for "title in hand" and before anything is exchanged (money for title), at the DMV (Obras Publica here), make certain there are no fines.

It's not clear to me yet if the main problem is that DTOP wants you to pay the fines or that you can't get the car registered.

If the fines are the problem I suggest that you talk to a lawyer who is specializes in these kind of cases. The lawyer who helped me years ago had an office very close to DTOP in the same building (in Caguas)  and seemingly did a lot of car related cases.

If the fines are not the problem then you should go the route that I described in my previous post.

Gary wrote:

2. Getting the car in your name is relatively simple, a lawyer/notary will help you with that. Find one who is close to your DTOP office because they know how to handle this.
You will need to send a certified letter to the previous owner at the address in the license. Most likely the letter will not be accepted and will be returned to you. Go to the lawyer/notary with the returned letter and he/she will prepare an affidavit with which you can go to DTOP to start the registration process. They will give you the papers you need to go to an inspection station where you have the car "inspection"  done for 11 bucks. Next you will need to take the car and the inspection certificate to DTOP where one of the agents will take a look at the vehicle and check the VIN number.
When everything is OK you will obtain a title in your name, a marbete and a license.
Be prepared to spend the best part of two days in the DTOP to get this done. If one of you is over 60 use the "old farts" line and save 4 hours on each visit.

@sharonlynn:

Did the attorney charge you?

No.....thank goodness

The fines seem to be the hold up.......We will try an attorney by DTOP, hopefully that will help. We have sent certified letters, all returned. We have been to court, they couldnt find him to serve him, so they said......we did what ever was asked of us n still on square one. But I wont give up....

So, what finally happened?  Its been 10 months since your last update.

We bought a vehicle in Aug 2014 from a car dealership . It's been more then a year and we are still waiting on our title . At this point we were ready for our inspection at the end of Oct. My husband went back to the dealership again .They have us some papers because now our sticker is out dated . We have been waiting now for 17days and haven't heard back from the dealership. We have out papers to ensure we won't get a ticket for the expired sticker .So I will update of any progress

I'd recommend to go to a lawyer. You should have received the title within three weeks after you bought the car.
Driving around with an expired marbete can get expensive. If the cops stop you you're in trouble..