Hey guys,
I have a friend at work that doesn't always use his brain. For the past few weeks he has been on a search for a fun car. He bought a 98 Corolla VE about 4-5 months ago as a fun car(I thought that car was the polar opposite of fun when he bought it) that he could use to commute with instead of his Element. Well he has not been thrilled with the Corolla,and was on the look out for a CRX Si like the one he used to have many years ago. For some reason he wanted one with an engine swap,and go-fast ricer goodies on it already because he doesn't know much about cars,and would rather have the work already done. I though tthis was dumb,and suggested he look at other cars like the all-mighty Miata.
He thought that was a good choice,and started the CL search. Well it turns out that even worn out 1st gen cars around here(New England) garner a fair amount of money. I suggested looking into a 94-95 model because I was pretty sure they had the larger rear end,and the 1.8 litre engine. I found one for him in RI that fit that description,and agreed to look at it with him when I had the time if it were still available.
Fast forward to today,and he calls me telling me he bout a 92 in Boston for $4000. It's black with tan interior,and top. The top I guess is a couple of years old,and has the glass window in it. He told me last night while bringing it home that the car was vibrating badly at 65mph(he only test drove it at 55mph,and lower). He isn't sure what it could be,and neither am I without sitting in it,and experiencing it.
The biggest issue though is the title. I swear you have to be really dumb to have this happen to you,but the guy signed the title in his name on the back,but the title is in his wife's name. Also he apparently filled out his address in the buyers address section which is a big no-no as far as I know in MA. The kid called the guy today to see what he could do about this title issue,and maybe even bring the car back,but the guy gave him a story about how last night after my friend left with the car he went to a dealer,and put the money down as a deposit on a new car for his wife. This is BS in my book as my friend said he left at around 9pm. What dealer is open that late?
So now my friend is stuck with maybe a suspect Miata,and no easy way to title it in his name. All because he didn't wait for me to go with him to look it over,and not looking at the title before bringing the car home. What would you do? By the way he didn't get a Bill of Sale either which is pretty much SOP in MA.
Chris
