If you are a Dave Ramsey/Financial Peace University fan, you'll know what "stupid tax" is. It's when you "pay tax" for being stupid. Well, I am here to tell you of the stupid tax we paid recently.
I had thought some of just pretending it didn't happen, but maybe some of you out there can learn from our mistake. Remember our very good deal we got on a pop-up camper in April? Well, it turns out that the camper was stolen and we just had to give it up today.
We had looked for months--years, really--on Craig's List and ebay for pop-up campers and finally found one on Craig's List for a good price that wasn't too much of a "fixer upper". We jumped at the chance to go buy it, all the way across the Valley, a 2-hours' drive away from us. Once we got there, the man selling it said that it didn't have a title. We didn't particularly like *that* detail, but we knew if we didn't buy it then & there, we'd miss out on our chance, and besides--who wants to drive all that way again when we could just get it right away?
So, we were stupid. We paid cash for the camper, feeling oh, so smart for not borrowing money! The next day, once I did some online searching, I realized that the camper was a Jayco that somebody had obviously taken great pains to make look like it was not a Jayco. I went to the MVD and they told me it would need an inspection, in order to get it registered in our names. We began to feel we had bought a stolen camper.
I went online and did a search, which showed the camper was stolen in 2004. I called the police, and an officer came over and said it pulled up as a "salvage" title, but that I'd have to have the MVD inspect it to get it into our names. We took the camper in today and they called the police in that city, who said it was indeed stolen. They had to seize it, very apologetically, and here we are without the camper.
I'm not feeling sad right now. We had already mentally detached ourselves from the camper, and it didn't feel like it was "ours" anymore. But I do feel stupid.
I had thought some of just pretending it didn't happen, but maybe some of you out there can learn from our mistake. Remember our very good deal we got on a pop-up camper in April? Well, it turns out that the camper was stolen and we just had to give it up today.
We had looked for months--years, really--on Craig's List and ebay for pop-up campers and finally found one on Craig's List for a good price that wasn't too much of a "fixer upper". We jumped at the chance to go buy it, all the way across the Valley, a 2-hours' drive away from us. Once we got there, the man selling it said that it didn't have a title. We didn't particularly like *that* detail, but we knew if we didn't buy it then & there, we'd miss out on our chance, and besides--who wants to drive all that way again when we could just get it right away?
So, we were stupid. We paid cash for the camper, feeling oh, so smart for not borrowing money! The next day, once I did some online searching, I realized that the camper was a Jayco that somebody had obviously taken great pains to make look like it was not a Jayco. I went to the MVD and they told me it would need an inspection, in order to get it registered in our names. We began to feel we had bought a stolen camper.
I went online and did a search, which showed the camper was stolen in 2004. I called the police, and an officer came over and said it pulled up as a "salvage" title, but that I'd have to have the MVD inspect it to get it into our names. We took the camper in today and they called the police in that city, who said it was indeed stolen. They had to seize it, very apologetically, and here we are without the camper.
I'm not feeling sad right now. We had already mentally detached ourselves from the camper, and it didn't feel like it was "ours" anymore. But I do feel stupid.
So, if you buy a used vehicle or camper, please make sure there is a clear title on it. Even if it's late at night, far from home, and too good a deal to pass up. Or maybe *especially* if it's a deal like that!
I'm not sure what will happen at this point, but we have the police report numbers and the police have our contact information, and we'll try to see what happens next. And, I'm going to call the man who sold us the camper.
I'm not sure what will happen at this point, but we have the police report numbers and the police have our contact information, and we'll try to see what happens next. And, I'm going to call the man who sold us the camper.
3 comments:
Oh no!!! So sorry. We sold our car to a guy back when we were first married, that didn't ever give us the full payment and we didn't realize the whole process we needed to follow through with the DMV (naive) and we ended paying a $200 fine because he abandoned the car and it was still in our name. Adam calls that stupid tax too.
Anyway..I really came here to say Hiya and reply to your message. :) I tried to IM you a few months ago when I thought you were online. Are you by any chance on Facebook?
That is too bad! Some people have no morals. Hopefully you will eventually be able to find another good deal that is legit!
Becky
Hi Roberta,
Bummer about the car deal. :( Thanks for saying "hi"! I have three email addresses... so chances are good that I *was* online when you tried to IM me, and I had just signed out to check the other email!
I am on Facebook... not very often, but I do have a page, and I enjoy it. :) If you want to add me as a friend, let me know and I'd love to have you as a Facebook friend! :)
Hi Becky,
Yeah, maybe another good deal will turn up. But at this point, maybe the camper would come back to us if it turns out that the title was cleared, after all. The police officer who helped us didn't know much about stolen vehicles and said he was going to pass the info on to the officer who handles that.
At the moment, this all makes me want to load up the van with our tent camping stuff and go north for the weekend to tent camp! The thought of buying another pop-up kind of makes me feel sick right now. I guess I'll get over it after a while, though.
Amy :)
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