DMV-DIRECT Newsletter November 2016

Scenario: You deliver a new car. Your customer brings it home, only to realize their double-wide stroller won’t fit in the trunk. Now they’ve come back to your dealership to return the vehicle. What’s the next step? PROPER PROCEDURE FOR ACCEPTING A “RETURNED” VEHICLE

A customer could choose to return a vehicle for any number of reasons. It could be something as trivial as their spouse hating the color, or as serious as a factory error that the dealership’s staff didn’t catch. (And everything in between.) Whatever the reason, if the dealer decides to take back the vehicle, there are important DMV rules to know. The most important DMV rule is as follows: Once the vehicle has left the dealership, even if it only drives around the block and back, DMV rules obligate you to register and title it. This goes for new vehicles, used vehicles, plate transfers, and dealer plate issuances. If the customer selects a different vehicle from your dealership , the first transaction must be 100% completed and processed (registered and titled) before the plates can be reused. Contact your DMV office, advise them of the situation, and send them the paperwork for both vehicles, so they can complete the first transaction and then immediately process the second one, transferring the plates. If the customer chooses not to take a different vehicle , you still must complete the initial transaction, as noted above. Contact the DMV office that processes your transactions, and send them the paperwork for the returned vehicle, including a note to please surrender the plates and refund the customer’s registration fee. Title fees are not refundable. If the customer has traded in his/her old vehicle and now wishes to trade back for it , you need the following documents in order to transfer the plates back to the traded- in vehicle (again, after the first transaction is completed): • copy of the title • current insurance card • completed MV-82 • copy of the customer’s driver’s license

TIME-SAVING TIP

In all scenarios, GNYADA recommends that dealers ask their DMV office to send the title for the returned vehicle back to the dealership. The DMV often returns this to the customer by default, since they’re the legal owner; however, the dealer must have the title in order to resell the vehicle, and this eliminates the task of having to obtain the title from the customer. We suggest that the customer complete a MV-73 (secure power of attorney), a set of duplicate title papers, a copy of their driver’s license, and a note asking the DMV office to route the title directly to the dealership.

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