Help, please. Title, Registration issue.

[christian888]

I got my Ct125 at the beginning of the month from a Honda motorsports dealership in New Jersey. I’m from New York. Drove out there in the morning, picked it up, no problem. The salesman told me that the owner of the dealership needed to sign off on the title information and they’d mail it to me the next day. Everything seemed above board. (I’m also new at this motorcycle/vehicle purchasing thing).

A week goes by, no title in the mail. I call up the sales guy I’d be dealing with, no answer. Calls me back two days later, says they had an issue sending it to me. They’ll send it out as soon as possible. Two weeks have gone by, he says they’re sending it out, and i should expect it with a tracking number. I never get the tracking number, I never get the package. Ten more days go by, and they say it was never sent with a tracking number, and the new girl in reception “messed up”. It’s been “lost in the mail”. He says it’s a problem, he apologizes. They’re going to contact Honda for a new original title for me to receive. I’m angry about this situation because I can’t register my bike, and I don’t know what the deal is…i don’t trust it.

So now it’s been almost a month since I got the bike. I have the vin number, official looking Honda papers with names, signatures and legalese saying that I own the bike, but I do not have the title yet.

This is supposed to be a legitimate Honda power sports dealership, but I’m getting a bad feeling about this.

Can you help with some advice? Is this a scam that happens?

 

[dmonkey]

This just sounds like an awful dealership. Have they been around long, do they have reviews online? If you got the bike new then it seems like they're an authorized Honda powersports dealer. At this point you shouldn't be talking with sales, but with management. I'm not familiar with how things work in NJ or NY, but every state I've bought a new vehicle in the title was mailed to me by the DMV or secretary of state after the dealership submitted the details of the sale to them, it didn't come directly from the dealership.

 

[MisterB]

Like dmonkey I only know what my states have done, but I take the bill of sale and the papers from the dealer, go to DMV, break out the checkbook, and the state sends me a title in the mail.

 

[christian888]

This just sounds like an awful dealership. Have they been around long, do they have reviews online? If you got the bike new then it seems like they're an authorized Honda powersports dealer. At this point you shouldn't be talking with sales, but with management. I'm not familiar with how things work in NJ or NY, but every state I've bought a new vehicle in the title was mailed to me by the DMV or secretary of state after the dealership submitted the details of the sale to them, it didn't come directly from the dealership.

They’ve been around since the early 90s, according to their website. The bike is brand new. Zero miles when I picked it up.
I’m fairly certain the salesperson is part of the management. It’s a very small, family operated dealership. At this point I was told the papers would be sent out within the week, but I may take your advice, because I’m not trusting the situation and I’ll reach out to ask for the owner/manager to put a little more pressure, considering the situation.

 

[STUBBORN]

New to buying a motorcycle myself,
I made sure that I scanned all of the paperwork.
I did not have a loan so the paperwork was not as lengthy.

At the dealer
You took a picture right? (No excuse. Most people have a phone today...)
I got receipts from both the dealer and town clerk. The dealer sends the title and registration paperwork to the state for the title, affixes a temporary plate and an inspection sticker on your bike. *I am taking the precaution of ordering 2 extra keys.

At the town clerk
I got receipts from both the dealer and town clerk. The Town Clerk makes a copy of your license. You hand one copy of the title and registration paperwork plus a check to your town clerk. You keep one copy and The town clerk also collects any town tax and hands you the registration, a regular plate with a yearly sticker affixed.

If you wanted a custom or veteran's plate that would have taken longer.
The custom or veteran's plate comes from the state about 4 weeks later in the mail.

Title
The title comes from the state about 4 weeks later in the mail.

Motorcycle Insurance
The insurance people want copies as well as the VIN and the picture plus a lot of other data to allow you to get as many discounts as possible.

I tried comparing 5 insurance companies before settling on the not lowest priced one based on the "what we do not cover" in the fine print. The insurance people are very
clever (sneaky). You need to be very careful about the fine print. There is one page of what is covered per price per line item and 5 to 10 pages of what is not covered.