GT3RS2

Edited per OP request

UncleDude

What a nightmare. I’d be getting this resolved asap with the police or a lawyer, and you should ask him for the police report for the theft of the funds, if he can’t produce that you have the answer.

poofyo101

This is why you get a certified check paid to Porsche, and the balance to the seller.

justbob

Your bank sucks. They should have paid off Porsche.

Archimedes

You don’t own the car. Porsche Financial does. And I’d wager a fair sum that two things are true. 1) nobody stole the money; if there was such a person the seller should show you the police report regarding the theft. 2) those screenshots are likely phony, and the loan balance is higher. You should demand that he call Porsche Financial with you to confirm the balance. Oh yeah, you should have hired a lawyer a long time ago. Do it and just limit their initial time to advising you and sending demand letters.

Ditto the other posters, never handle a purchase this way.

sin911

Really sorry that you’re dealing with this bs and I’m 100% sure it must be very frustrating for you. I’d lose a few nights of sleep over this as well.

As Archimedes said this all looks suspicious. So his ‘employee’ walked away with $100k and he did not do anything? No police report about the theft? He just let this person ‘walk away’?

My personal opinion, he made some bad investment decisions with your money trying to make a quick buck before the stock market went sour and is now paying off the debt slowly but surely. The good news is he appears to be paying it off according to what you said.

Tell him you have been patient enough and you want the title now. Ask him to get a loan from his bank to pay off Porsche and this (his ‘employee’ robbing him) is his problem that he needs to resolve on his end.

pettelli

If there was a loan balance why didn’t you have a loan payoff demand generated by Porsche? There’s interest, potential fees, late payments. You have no idea if this guys on the verge of having the car repossessed. What do you do when they come to repo it? Tell them you bought it 7 months ago and the “owner” is paying it off? Your insurance company is good with this too? I’ve worked in a Bank for 32 yrs. This is a new one. As someone already stated, get a new bank. You’re being scammed. I’m sorry to be so harsh but who hands over $109K+ for something you have zero ownership besides a bill of sale? I would be RUNNING to an attorney and police. Technically you’re not the owner until Porsche is paid off.

RedCarrot

Step 1: Ask the seller for a copy of the police report. If he can produce one, call that police department yourself to confirm it is legit. If it is, proceed to...

Step 2: Ask him to conference you on a call to Porsche financial to confirm the remaining balance.

If the seller can/will not do both, it is a scam. If that is the case, file a police report yourself. I don't suspect the pd will lift a finger other than filing it in a folder but at least you have that to show the seller. If that is not enough to get the seller to pay off the loan within 3 days, then I am afraid your next resort is to attain a lawyer.

clutchplate

If it were me, I'd push once more for the seller to pay down the loan as much as he can. Then I'd verify the balance with Porsche Financial, pay off the loan to obtain title and sue the seller for the balance. That way you have a low 5 figure problem rather than a 6 figure problem and you'll have the title. I'd do it quickly though, if he still holds title he could borrow against the car and you'd have a much bigger headache.

PaulE

The only thing I can add is that if there is truth to the seller's story regarding an employee who stole the funds, the business may have some insurance coverage for financial fraud that could provide some recourse. The seller may not even be aware he has that coverage included in his business policy.

Zhao

Penny wise pound foolish. Hire a lawyer for consultation is probably the best money you can spend at this point. That is not expensive compared to your potential loss. Getting advice, knowing options, etc should be cheap and no one said you need to jump right to a 5 figure retainer for a civil trial. Court is the last step and there is likely other ways to put pressure on. No idea how different your country is but lawyers in mine often even give 30 minutes free for a consult.

My experience with peace officers is if you hold their hand, walk them through what law was broken and have the case already significantly laid out on your end with as much proof and statements or where to get them they are a whole lot more likely to proceed.

In the future with any car with a lien, you verify the lien amount directly yourself and then money goes directly to the lien holder. Your bank definitely does suck for not telling you this for someone doing a private sale bank draft for 6 figures. My bank still asks questions when I buy cars or wire money in the low 4 figures. Stuff like is this a real company or a person? Have you dealt with this company before (wire transfer). What are you buying?

MrFunk

Yikes.

Yeah I call BS on the employee thing.

He needs to take out a personal LOC or some Equity loan and pay off the car loan balance before Thursday. Tell him if he doesn't then a lawyer and police will be involved.
Anyone who owns (or did) a 140k car can get 30k (or whatever is left on the loan) one way or the other to pay that off...
Do you have paperwork indicating he was going to pay off the loan and provide you with title? Hopefully that was in the sales agreement... you can always take him to court with that...

I'm in no way harping on you - but this is why you always give certified check to the actual owner of the vehicle with the loan number on the check (in this case Porsche Financial). Cutting him a personal check opened you up to this situation. BRUTAL.
Man I'm sorry about this.

LISsailor

I think everyone else has very well explained what should have happened and your options going forward, so no need to reiterate. But kudos for staying calm and keeping the “influencer” private. I would have been freaking out a long time ago. I think you should be way more aggressive. This is not small money and seems to be criminal.

Archimedes

I just saw the ‘influencer’ part. Geez, that makes it easy. Tell him that he has 10 days to pay off the car before you file a lawsuit against him for breach of contract and disclose everything publicly. He has stolen a significant amount of money from you.

And, again, consult a lawyer prior to doing anything.

AlexCeres

Rising interest rates and declining values. Sadly, OP isn’t going to be the last buyer dealing with a seller way out over his skis