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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
CN: I am not pleased.

>>>>>

[Sales guy #2 who inherited the deal from sales guy #1 who exited the building mysteriously] (and copying [elided] the GM)-

I got back from vacation today. No IL temp tag extension in my mailbox. My CO temp tag, extended twice (the second time for 10 days due to the DMV taking pity on me) expired on the[sic, whoops] July 30. No notice from the DMV saying the title paperwork is complete.

As of yesterday I cannot legally drive this XC40 with a lease date of 5/9/18 through no fault of mine. I'm going to be paying to Uber into work as of tomorrow and have to modify my schedule and activities to accommodate this inability to drive the Volvo.

It's time to discuss how we proceed, how Grossinger makes me whole after this. I've spent several hours on the phone since May on the phone with Volvo Car Financial Services, and over 2 hours over 3 fruitless visits to the DMV to try to get this car registered... and there's still no end in sight and I have a car in my garage that isn't legal to drive. As far as I can tell it's still legally Grossinger's vehicle due to the rejected VCFA paperwork, too.

I'm a reasonable person but this has crossed from being a mildly annoying amusement to affecting my life directly.

-[me], [my phone number]
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,236
20,019
Sleazattle
CN: I am not pleased.

>>>>>

[Sales guy #2 who inherited the deal from sales guy #1 who exited the building mysteriously] (and copying [elided] the GM)-

I got back from vacation today. No IL temp tag extension in my mailbox. My CO temp tag, extended twice (the second time for 10 days due to the DMV taking pity on me) expired on the[sic, whoops] July 30. No notice from the DMV saying the title paperwork is complete.

As of yesterday I cannot legally drive this XC40 with a lease date of 5/9/18 through no fault of mine. I'm going to be paying to Uber into work as of tomorrow and have to modify my schedule and activities to accommodate this inability to drive the Volvo.

It's time to discuss how we proceed, how Grossinger makes me whole after this. I've spent several hours on the phone since May on the phone with Volvo Car Financial Services, and over 2 hours over 3 fruitless visits to the DMV to try to get this car registered... and there's still no end in sight and I have a car in my garage that isn't legal to drive. As far as I can tell it's still legally Grossinger's vehicle due to the rejected VCFA paperwork, too.

I'm a reasonable person but this has crossed from being a mildly annoying amusement to affecting my life directly.

-[me], [my phone number]

Drive it to the local volvo dealer. Walk away, or e-bike.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Updates:

>>>>> from their GM to me:

Hi [me],

We will get an answer and a resolution right away. I am very sorry about all of this. We will proceed on this with extreme urgency.

<<<<< my reply

Thanks for the reply, [GM].

Given the circumstances, namely that I can’t legally drive it until an uncertain future date, would it be unreasonable to ask that Grossinger cover the cost of a local rental from now until the date that the Denver DMV states they have title paperwork complete? (From that point any delays would be on me in making time to go to the DMV another time to finish registration.)

If that is reasonable then I’d propose Enterprise Intermediate SUV class, as one of my main uses for the Volvo is to transport me and my bicycle around and a rental sedan won’t allow for that.

-[me]
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
And now I just got a call from them. Apparently they found the title (wtf?) and are signing it and overnighting it to me. They also volunteered to reimburse my registration fees when I get to that. This all doesn’t make sense to me—who issued this title then, Illinois?!
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,379
12,533
In a van.... down by the river
And now I just got a call from them. Apparently they found the title (wtf?) and are signing it and overnighting it to me. They also volunteered to reimburse my registration fees when I get to that. This all doesn’t make sense to me—who issued this title then, Illinois?!
I gotta say, this whole process has provided WAY more :popcorn: than I EVER anticipated. And I anticipated a lot. :D
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
So I was going to snag the wife's Fiat-Chrysler minivan for early morning riding tomorrow instead of my illegal Volvo, but said minivan's charging system has apparently shit the bed. She's arranging for a (free) tow to the dealer now.

Ah, cars.

 
Last edited:

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,236
20,019
Sleazattle
So I was going to snag the wife's Fiat-Chrysler minivan for early morning riding tomorrow instead of my illegal Volvo, but said minivan's charging system has apparently shit the bed. She's arranging for a (free) tow to the dealer now.

Ah, cars.

An FCA product needing to be towed?

Unfathomable

Charge it noaw?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
5B5E05C5-54A2-4829-9456-955CE3A942BF.jpeg


Since we suddenly find ourselves with 0 functional vehicles I rented a Ford Escape or equivalent from the local Avis. Got this.

:notbadobama:
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Hopefully you completed the needful last night??

:D
Sold off what I could last night, circa 7500 per BTC. Found out that I had about half my holdings in the Bitcoin vault, which has a 2 day redemption delay, so the needful hasn’t been completed.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Updates:

1) Minivan problem was from completely dead 12V battery, apparently related to some recall that hadn't been done. Ok. Fixed now and we can pick it up tomorrow.

2) Dealer FedExed me… the Manufacturer Statement of Origin. This is necessary (and apparently not amongst the original paperwork sent in) but not sufficient to register the car, and makes much more sense than the "title" they were supposedly sending me.

I'm going to FedEx it right back to them.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Jeff, Ramzey-

I spoke with Jeff's assistant yesterday, who said that the "title" would be FedExed. That arrived today. It's the Manufacturer Statement of Origin. This is necessary but not sufficient to register the car, and is supposed to come from the dealer to the DMV, not from me.

Per the DMV the following need to come from your dealer to the DMV (Denver DMV, Dept of Treasury, 4685 Peoria St #101, Denver, CO 80239-4819):

1) Complete application for title form. Per Ramzey's email on July 16 this was sent, but what was sent was apparently a printout of the photo I took of the incomplete document with my phone. Please locate the original (and complete what was incomplete--see highlighted fields in the attached scanned document) or redo it (with your agent's signature) and send to the DMV.

2) Complete sales tax receipt form, CO DR 0026. Again this was sent per Ramzey on July 16, but this was also sent as a printout of a phone photo. Please find the original of this form and complete it (missing was vehicle info, lessor CO sales tax account number, amount, payment info from the worksheet) or redo it (no signatures needed) and send to the DMV.

3) Actual MSO should go to the DMV. I will FedEx it back to you so that it can be part of the complete re-done application packet including the above. By itself it does not help me.

4) Odometer statement signed by the seller and by me. I am pretty sure I signed this with the original lease documents. Please locate the original of this and send it to the DMV. If you cannot find the original you have my permission to use my initials in the buyer's field on such a form if redone.

5) The DMV also says "need loan documents". I am not sure what they require for this–some VCFS paperwork? Please clarify with the DMV: Denver 311 has a DMV line for banks and dealers that can probably assist. 720-913-1311

I am reattaching the scanned printed out phone documents from Ramzey's July 16 email for your reference. This also includes the DMV letter stating everything that I describe above. These documents did not constitute a complete registration application, even if the phone picture quality was sufficient: missing MSO, missing odometer statement, missing these "loan documents".

To reinforce that these documents are supposed to come from the dealer to the DMV, not from me, please see this web page:

https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-motor-vehicle/register-a-vehicle/register-a-new-or-used-vehicle/dealership-purchases.html

"The dealer will forward your title paperwork for processing to the motor vehicle office in the county where you reside."
"After the title paperwork has been processed by the Denver Motor Vehicle Division you should receive a Title Complete Notice* via U.S. Postal mail service indicating that you can purchase license plates and register your vehicle."

Summary points:

1) I have no idea what was sent originally in May or June, but what was sent in July was incomplete (lacking the MSO, odometer statement, "loan documents").

2) I will return the original MSO to you, so that a complete application ideally with original forms rather than the phone pictures submitted in July can be resubmitted.

3) I haven't been able to drive the XC40 legally since July 30. The DMV has a lag time of a week for processing documents, so even if I get the MSO back to you on Monday August 6, all of this required paperwork is magically compiled and sent that same day, arrives there on Tuesday August 7, their "title complete notice" won't go out until at least August 14. Therefore I'm out a functioning vehicle at least half a month from now.

4) I appreciate the offer to cover registration fees (relayed via phone from Jeff's assistant). That won't help me until I can actually register the vehicle, though, and per the above that'll be at least half a month.

-Toshi Clark
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
31A31D35-A58C-4174-AB0A-B5826057D527.jpeg


Yuna is definitely my child. She loves her toy vehicles. Blame the 5 year old for sticker placement issues on some of them.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
I figure I’ll give them August to get their shit together. I’ll lawyer up in September if the vehicle is still unregisterable.
Reaching out to a random local law firm found via Google to see if I can get the ball rolling now:

To whom it may concern-

I’m a Denver resident. I leased a new Volvo from an Illinois dealer in May 2018. Per Colorado rules the dealer is responsible for sending in title paperwork to the county DMV, after which the DMV notifies the lessee that the title paperwork is complete. Until this happens one can’t register the vehicle.

I picked up the car with a 30 day Illinois temporary registration. The paperwork was not completed by the dealer by its expiration. I was able to obtain a 30 day Colorado temporary registration due to the error being on the dealer’s paperwork being incomplete. The paperwork was not completed by the dealer before this second tag expired. The dealer claimed that everything was sent in near the end of this period so the DMV gave me one more 10 day temp tag in case this was the case, to allow for latency in the DMV’s paperwork processing.

This last temporary registration expired July 30, 2018. Again I leased this vehicle in May 2018. I cannot drive it legally and there is no clear endpoint at which I’ll be able to.

My non-lawyer’s take on this is that the dealer has violated the implied warranty of merchantability: cars that cannot be registered aren’t suitable for their intended purpose.

Do I have a case? What recourse can I pursue? The dealer is well aware of this issue, as I’ve been keeping them apprised in writing along the way, and they’ve been consistently incompetent in this fundamental task.

Thanks in advance.

-[me]
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
A few posts back I mused about riding WR before work. I gave that idea a whirl today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1747124391

I was a bit late in getting moving, thus 6:19 time at start of ride. I still would have been at work on time. Success.
Pre-work ride again today:

https://www.strava.com/activities/1753814851

Wasn't my fastest on individual segments, although I was still right below 50 min for the whole short loop (which didn't register as a segment on Strava likely due to GPS error showing me off the trail somewhere). I jammed my left wrist in the lower rock garden on the way up, which is not that surprising since even Trail Mode in technical terrain is super awkward: my pedals are always in the wrong position like some n00b. I took it easy on Longhorn as a result, and I think that trail is actually harder when not hitting everything hard. The million-and-one small drops grow tiresome.

I also was late for work: accident at York St leading to stop and go traffic from about Sheridan to there. No big deal rolling in at 8:15 but feeling rushed and taking a minute long shower before throwing on clothes at home isn't fun.

Wednesday and Thursday are my other riding days this week. I'm thinking Mountain Lion on Wednesday and maybe DR/RR on Thursday?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Updates:

1) Apparently it'd have to be an Illinois lawyer due to the contract being from that state.

2) Dealer reached out to me today. Office manager told me that she'd talked with the Denver County DMV and verified that everything required was in hand, and that she'd FedEx that off today. (A familiar story, this.)

She reiterated that the dealer would cover my registration fees, when that happens. She also stated that she'd talk with my sales guy and the manager regarding my request for them covering a rental car until I'm able to register the Volvo.

3) Overall it's looking more like I'll have this Volvo for the duration after all, but ask me again at the end of this month how it turned out...
 

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,147
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
2) Dealer reached out to me today. Office manager told me that she'd talked with the Denver County DMV and verified that everything required was in hand, and that she'd FedEx that off today. (A familiar story, this.)

She reiterated that the dealer would cover my registration fees, when that happens. She also stated that she'd talk with my sales guy and the manager regarding my request for them covering a rental car until I'm able to register the Volvo.
Why would the office manager need to explain/aproval from the sales guy/sales manager?
isnt the the boss?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Why would the office manager need to explain/aproval from the sales guy/sales manager?
isnt the the boss?
Other manager in this sense is the General Manager of the dealership. I think he's the boss ultimately.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
A new project: watch through the Marvel cinematic universe in canonical order.



https://www.cnet.com/how-to/marvel-cinematic-universe-timeline-avengers/

Current status is halfway through Captain America: The First Avenger.
Captain America: The First Avenger. Thumbs up. Surprisingly entertaining, and the WWII/Nazi era setting was solid.

Iron Man. Always entertaining, even though I've seen it perhaps a half dozen times now between plane flights and the like.

The Incredible Hulk. Ok, but not up to the quality of the first two.

Iron Man 2. Excellent, although the final fight scene was weak. "I need a partner!" <zap!>

Thor. This one was crap. I never watched the show, but I imagine Thor's quality is on par with Xenia: Warrior Princess. Seemed very made for TV, and not in a positive way.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,032
7,553
Recent rentals post-Transit sans suffix:


2018 Dodge Grand Caravan GT. 3k miles from Alamo SEA.

Pros:

- always liked the Pentastar
- power doors and hatch
- navi! unexpectedly
- great visibility

Cons:

- Garmin based headunit looks 20 years out of date
- no fancy modern safety things at all: adaptive cruise, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, auto brake all absent

Verdict: Quite ok for a rental.


2018 Volvo XC90 T6 Momentum. Also 3k miles, from Avis at a local Denver outlet.

Pros:

- looks gorgeous
- familiar interfaces to me
- decent power, as quick as my XC40 T5 (smaller vehicle with less powerful engine)
- a bit quieter road noise than the XC40, both on 20”s
- all the safety tech one can imagine

Cons:

- weird 4 red light HUD-ish thing nagging me when following too closely (but not really). I felt like Picard. “There are... four lights!”
- key fob randomly dead so I couldn’t lock it! and could only run it with the dead fob in one particular center console cup holder marked for just this reason

Verdict: I’d rented an Escape or equivalent. Very pleased with getting this for that rate.


2018 Ford Explorer XLT. Similarly about 3k miles, from a local Denver non-airport Avis.

Pros:

- very quiet, on par with the wife’s PacHy
- adaptive cruise, blind spot warning, and auto brake all present
- long cargo area when 2nd and 3rd rows folded

Cons:

- dashboard and wheel buttons are an aesthetic nightmare
- gutless non-Ecoboost V6
- thickest A pillar bases of all time and medium high beltline
- high cargo floor and narrow between rear wheel intrusions, making getting my (long, wide, bulky) bike in tough
- questionable build quality: trim piece on 3rd row already broken despite being barely used, but there’s no upside to me reporting this (still works to recline the row, just flopping about)
- adaptive cruise is not stop and go. Cuts out when traffic slows below 12 mph and can’t resume until 20 mph

Verdict: For this one I rented an Explorer or equivalent as that was exactly the same price as an Escape or equivalent. I’ve had far worse rentals.