GREENSBORO, N.C. — Carter Boles went looking for a car last year. He did this from the convenience of his own home.
“I was just scrolling through Facebook and found a car I liked,” Boles said.
The 2014 Ford Mustang GT checked all the boxes. So, Boles decided to meet the owner and take it for a test drive.
“We met up and everything looked good,” Boles said.
The car had several owners, but Boles did his research. When he discovered it had been in a crash back in 2014, it appeared minor, and the car appeared to be in good shape.
“I did all my research with Carfax. I work at a dealership, so I used all my resources there as well to check (the car out),” Boles said.
A few days later, Bolles paid $32,000 for the car and then took it to the DMV to register it. He had the title and waited in line to register the car.
“I gave them the paperwork and they (said) are you aware it is pending a salvage title,” Boles said.
At that moment Boles knew there was a major problem. If a car has a salvage title, its value is much less than a car with a clean title.
That accident back in 2014 was bigger than Boles thought or found when checking the Carfax and other websites. The information that Boles would later learn from the DMV employee in North Carolina is that the car was in a major accident and was listed by the insurance company as a salvaged vehicle.
The problem is that the DMV employee in Texas failed to check the proper box, so the car was listed with a clean title. The NC DMV employee caught the mistake by checking the insurance records associated with the car.
“It is upsetting of course because now I have a big loss on my hands,” Boles said.
Boles said the car is probably only worth half of what he paid and there’s really nothing he can do. He checked with DMV and contacted some attorneys, but the reality is he’s stuck with the car as is.
What’s even more frustrating for Boles is that the car has been sold three times since that accident back in 2014 and every time it is listed as having a clean title. One of those transactions took place in North Carolina and yet Boles has no recourse.
Unfortunately, the person who sold him the car believed the title was clean, so he technically did nothing wrong or illegal.
We reached out to NCDOT and asked if anything could be done, and the bottom line is there is nothing Boles can do at this point. The car belongs to him, and it will now come with a rebuilt title.
While this is a rare case, Boles warns anyone buying a car to not only check the Carfax but also have DMV check insurance records to make sure the car you’re buying does have a clean title.