Getting a Deposit Back

[anmajon1]

I purchased a car in texas in Sept. I had just moved here and I paid 1500 down to a buy here/pay here dealer. when i went to try the car out he gave me 15 minutes to try it and i had to sign a paper that said if i wasn't back in 15 minutes he could consider the car stolen. naturally i only had the car for 15 minutes. he had promised to fix the rotors because they were thumping so bad. after i had the car for a couple days i found alot of things wrong with it. some of them were safety issues which i don't know how he even got it inspected. the temporary plates were good until the 17th so on the 18th i called to see where the new plates were and he acted like he had no idea what i was talking about. i also had made an appointment for the car to get fixed but when i brought the car there he was busy and asked me to wait so i did. the next week i was sick and missed the appt. the payment was due and i had called him because our check from moving had gone to the wrong house and we were waiting for it to arrive. i called him several times to inform him that i would be in as soon as i got my money. another payment date went by ( they were bi weekly) and i told him on a wednesday that i would definitely be there on friday to pay him and then heard nohing from him. the next day he showed up wanting to take the car and he told me that he would have it fixed byt friday and we could pick it up when we paid him. we called him and he informed us that we couldn't ride for free so he took the car. the vin number was the wrong vin number on all the papers that i signed and it took me over an hour at the ins co to get insurance because they couldn't find the number and when they called him he stated he was eating breakfast call back. i informed hiim of the wrong number but he never changed anything. not knowing the laws in texas i didn't say anything to him.the deposit was transferable but not refundable. a couple days after he took the car he was driving it around so why would i want to pay him for putting miles on my car? i don't even know or even know how to find out if he is riding on my plates from the registry or if he even got them. i would like to know what rights i have and is there anyway to get my deposit back from him? thanks

[Mr. Knowitall]

Your situation is complicated enough that if you want an analysis, you need to take all of the documents to a lawyer's office and have them reviewed.

If you wish, sue him in small claims court and see what happens. If you never received title and the vendor didn't own the car identified on the contract, he had no right to "sell" you a car he didn't own. But whatever the status of the contract, he may have a counterclaim for the reasonable value of your use of the vehicle.

[anmajon1]

I never received the title or plates. I believe he owned the car but with the car being so misrepresented and then letting me try it out for 15 minutes I think morally he is wrong. It's obvious he didn't want me to find out what was wrong with the car because I wouldn't have bought it. I had no idea if that was legal in Texas but I also needed a car very badly and he took advantage of that. Thanks for the advice.