I thought I've seen it all. I was wrong.

[pancepance]

Im at wits end so instead of getting myself into trouble I figure I'll vent on the web for a while because I have nothing left to do.
I"ve been buying vehicles for 20+ years, at a rate of about 8-10 per year give or take. I'd thought in my time that I had seen just about all the nonsense and horsehi*t that could be found when dealing with car dealers.
I admit that this one is a new one even for me.

After deciding that the new Tundra was just not that great and certainly not new I would try a GMC. I'd had a Sierra 2500 in the past and a couple 1500's way back. Its been a few years since I had a sierra. I had heard good things about the new Sierra and so I figured I'd give it a shot. As luck would have it, the one I wanted was not anywhere. Literally nowhere. I went so far as to have GMC try to locate what I wanted but none existed in the country at the time they did the search. I wound up ordering one just the way I wanted it. The truck arrived quicker than I expected which was a pleasant surprise. On the 31st of April the dealer called me every 5 minutes trying to get me to come up and "sign the papers". I had not planned to go to the dealer that day but mostly to stop my phone from ringing, I went up to see them (3hour drive one way). In the process of signing the paperwork I started noticing some errors in the numbers. I found 4 mistakes in calculations (none of which were benefitting me). Sitting in the finance mangers office I tried to be as polite and friendly as possible even as I found more errors in accounting. Part of the paperwork was the registration which is where things went bad. Because I was buying from a dealer not in the state where I was registering the truck I offered to register the vehicle myself before I signed the paperwork (this was a few days before April 31. I was quickly and sternly informed that under no circumstances could the buyer register the vehicle on their own. Because I was financing about 20K of the purchase the dealer insisted that they had to register the vehicle.
During the paperwork process they presented me the DMV form from my state which I've seen about 100 times before. I checked all the necessary boxes for the transfer of registration. I tell them that the DMV is very specific and they need to make sure all the information is entered correctly in the form. "no problem we will take care of it, just keep signing". I asked them again if they wanted me to register the truck before I signed everything and again they tell me that is against the rules and cannot be done that way.
So I sign everything and go home. They promise me they will have it registered the very next day exactly the way I instructed them to do. They say they understand that I want standard passenger plates for the truck and that I know already they can do that as long as they fill in the correct information. The next day comes and goes, not a single call from the dealer. The next day (2 days since paperwork signed) I call to ask whats going on. They tell me the person who went to dmv didn't have the proper identification and would be returning that day to get the registration. I ask again if there are any issues and remind them how I want the truck plated. They tell me no problem. The next day I wait patiently until 2pm. I call and speak to salesman. I ask how its going. He tells me his guy is doing the paperwork now and will be back in an hour or two. I ask him is he sure the plates will be correct. He tells me absolutely, he already spoke to his guy there and he is just finishing up. I say to him "maybe you should have him call you when he is finished just to make sure its all correct". He said he will and we hang up. 4:45 he calls me and says the truck is on its way to me being delivered by the driver. I ask if the plates are correct to which he says "no they are not what you wanted, they are commercial". I ask if he is kidding and he says no. I find out that the dealer put the wrong weight in the area required which the DMV then automatically categorized as commercial. The laws of the state are very clear. Under 5500lbs the vehicle can have passenger plates. Somehow the dealership put the truck weight at 7800lbs on the form. The driver arrives about 15 minutes later and I tell him to take the truck back because I have no use for it with commercial plates. Today the manager calls me after I leave multiple messages and tells me there is nothing he can do at this point. He tells me that the dmv wouldn't let them do what I had requested. I tell him he made a mistake on the weight of the truck. He agrees that they made an error but still says there is nothing more he can do.
My problem is this:
Where I live I cannot park a commercial plated vehicle in my driveway overnight as part of the association rules. I also cannot drive on over half the roads in the area because they do not permit commercial vehicles. Basically the truck is useless to me. I cant park it at my own house, and I cannot drive it anywhere. As far as I'm concerned its a truck with 3 wheels because that is how much use I can get out of it.

I also stated clearly when signing the paperwork that I needed the registration to be a certain way. Nothing against the rules just wanted to make sure the plates were the way I needed them which was within the regulations of the state.

The manager tells me since I signed the paperwork I own it now and its on me. I ask if he will just take it back and cancel the deal which he says he will do but it will cost me $5,000.00.
The truck has about 50 miles on it I assume. I never accepted delivery of the truck but because I signed the paperwork I cannot get out of it.
The interesting this is this: If I had not signed the paperwork they would not have registered the vehicle. How could I possibly have prevented this? The dealership would not register the truck first. I had to sign the paperwork before they would register. They would not let me register the vehicle myself and insisted they do it. I don't see what options I had. It was their responsibility to register the truck as they would not permit me to do it. They would not register the truck until I signed the paperwork. I signed the paperwork because they required me to do so. They were unable to register the vehicle properly. They now say its my truck and its my problem. What the hell am I supposed to do? I've never in my life had such an issue with a vehicle before.
I'm trying to remain calm but its been a few days now and I have no truck because its at the dealership. I wont pick it up because if I take it home I will start getting fines on it every night its parked in my driveway because of the commercial plates. I had no options I could have chosen during the process which would have been different. The dealer will not take the truck back and cancel the deal. basically I have $50K truck sitting in a dealership that I cannot use for the foreseeable future. The only way out is to pay another 5 grand. I will also lose the 2grand in tax money paid to the state.
Am I missing something? Being that I couldn't have registered the truck myself as per GMC rules, shouldn't they be responsible for doing it to my satisfaction? If they cannot do so am I really supposed to just write off the thousands to fix the situation? I'm not asking for anything more than just to walk away but to do that I will lose a lot of money for what I can only see as no reason at all. If I want the truck I have to park it in a commercial area which I don't even know I can find.
This has been a nightmare.
That's my venting for now. I'm going to go get drunk and pass out and hope I wake up from this bad dream. Goodnight

[diannabill]

Geez what a mess! So they acknowledge that they made a mistake on the weight and screwed up the registration and the DMV won't allow them to correct it? I don't doubt what you're saying, but something just doesn't make sense. I'd be raising all kinds of hell.

[NitroDatsik]

Sounds like your neighborhood and surroundings are way to picky. This is what I say to my fellow HOA everytime they stop by and start writing on their little paper about my lawn cus the grass is 1/2" to thick. "you don't pay for this house, so take your yearly payment and stfu"

 

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[diannabill]

Sounds like your neighborhood and surroundings are way to picky. This is what I say to my fellow HOA everytime they stop by and start writing on their little paper about my lawn cus the grass is 1/2" to thick. "you don't pay for this house, so take your yearly payment and stfu"

 

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Yeah I noticed on your picture that your grass looks a liiiiiiiiitttttle too long but I didn't want to say anything.

[diannabill]

I'd play hard ball. I'd say I'm not taking possession of a vehicle that is clearly not the same vehicle as listed on the registration. The vehicle on the registration weighs at least a ton more than this one, so it's not legal for me to accept it without the correction.

[NitroDatsik]

On the real though, that sucks about your deal with the dealer. Effin ass-holes, my dealer got me too. Truck was going for 33 and I got them down to 31 and they ended up selling me some polyshield crap for 2grand saying is necessary or the bank won't finance. Bs they just wanted to get their 33 for the truck.

 

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[Rocky5000100]

Take front plate off truck, reverse in, win?

 

But that's a crazy mess. Good luck

['01LS1]

Would imagine GMC Customer Service is going to say they manufacture vehicles & do not control nor deal with specific State laws with regards to registration & wish you well.

Just a guess & that guess goes for all mfg's.

 

Dealer is unwilling to take the vehicle back as it is now registered & will be a "used" vehicle regardless if they are at fault in their mind or not.

 

The only option I can think of is to get the shipping weight of your specific truck & go down to the DMV yourself with the paperwork the dealership has already acquired.

Explain the situation & you may have to pay for plates twice as seemingly most States cannot pronounce nor understand the term REFUND.

Maybe get the dealer to comp some service work for the cost difference/severe headache?

[Ventilator]

The GVWR is only 7100 on my Double Cab 1500 4x4 Z71 5.3L 3.42, and it says the Crew Cab is the same in my brochure, which is slightly different from the calculator below. The Max Payload for my truck is 1974, Max Curb Weight at 5323 LBS. Yeah that math is a little fuzzy too. How the heck did they come up with this 7800 number?

 

I'd be going up there and put a boot in somebodies arse, and I have two boots if needed. Sounds like you might want to take a couple more pairs of boots with you in this case.

 

Unbelievable! I would go straight to the owner of the dealership, his managers and gopher are obviously incompetent idiots. They do this stuff for a living, and still cannot get it right. Don't give in, go over their heads.

 

Then I would do what '01LS1 says above. Just show the DMV what the actual weight of the truck is.

 

Here is a site that lets you pick the truck body style, engine, etc., and calculates out all the relevant information.

 

http://www.gmc.com/sierra-1500-pickup-truck/features-specs/capabilities.config%3Ddouble_cab_standard_box.html

[Silverado Steve]

Sounds like you need to go to your local DMV in person and sort this out. Second this situation has nothing to do with GMC...they're not in the state tax paying and registration business. Check out your state's laws on registering and titling, if you buy out of state, it's usually on the purchaser to work out titling and tax issues on their own within their state, most dealers only know their own local laws.

[SLESierra]

also contact your financing bank to correct the information and find out about the 2K plug because that is ILLEGAL to require a conditional purchase to finance ANYWHERE

[KARNUT]

That's why I moved from NJ to Texas, can't park a pick up with commercial plates in your driveway I just can't get pass that.

 

 

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[Spurshot]

That's why I moved from NJ to Texas, can't park a pick up with commercial plates in your driveway I just can't get pass that.

 

 

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I can come up with a lot more reasons to not live in NJ than that. LOL. Of course, my state of Kalifone-ya ain't a whole lot better.

[Silverado Steve]

That's why I moved from NJ to Texas, can't park a pick up with commercial plates in your driveway I just can't get pass that.

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There's a reason NJ is shaped like an armpit.

[ram1067]

What a bunch of crap! My dealer takes care of everything.....just bought a blazer for my son paid cash and left with

The new plate and title in my hand. Well the title will be mailed from the state of MI.

 

I NEVER HAD TO GO TO THE DMV AFTER BUY A CAR/truck new or used from my dealer.

 

Sorry to hear about your terrible experience.