I Test Drove A Toyota Pickup, Got A $240 Ticket and I Have To Appear in Court, All Because The Dealer Didn’t Attach A License Plate To The Vehicle

My sister brought her new jeep (paid in full)back to the Jeep dealership to be fixed as it was having engine problems right off the bat. they were only supposed to have it for a few weeks. Three months later, she gets her car back, fooled filled with mold and undrivable. Her insurance marked it as totaled. Jeep refused to reimburse her the money she spent on repairs and on the new car, Instead told her they could discount another new car if she purchased it.

Timing cover replacement on 2016 Tacoma after three times timing cover leaks. Dealership technician found cracks on Timing cover and I had to pay over $900 Dollars to replace it. I ask how can that happen when technicians are the only one that work on it. No help.

As a retired police sergeant. I can pretty much guarantee you, that someone at the dealer, screwed over someone at the PD, prior to this.

I treat drive a RAV4 at a Toyota dealership in Maryland and they also forgot to attach a plate. Luckily I wasn't pulled over and only realized there wasn't a plate when I returned.

It’s not the customers responsibility to ensure the dealership operates properly. Poor discretionary decision by Officer to issue ticket to customer for a non moving violation. The dealership should be contacted by DMV/law enforcement to rectify the issue.

He drove the vehicle, he's responsible for it.

Displaying tags in the rear window is not legal in all jurisdictions.

Make the dealer affix plates in the proper location before going on any test drives.

Yes. The driver is responsible for the vehicle being in roadworthy condition as well as paying the traffic laws. Your friend loans you a car. You will get the ticket for a light out or unsafe tires etc. That how it works. That's obvious when commerical drivers are required to do pre trips. They are responsable of the vehicle isn't safe or is missing equipment.

I'm wondering if the plate ticket was a way of on the site downgrading another offence. Test drives are easy to do silly things like forget to signal or speed. Different vehicle and different roads that you may normally drive. I can totally see an officer pulling someone over for one of those and only giving them a hassle about the plate. It saves the driver on insurance and may be done at times in good faith as a warning on the other offence since it may be an honest mistake. The officer also has to call in the no plate at time of stop. So it's on record. Would have to go to court to see about lesser fine or having it dropped. Not public media or the officer on the side of the road.

I'm not sure of Texas law but in my home state of NJ the ticket would goto the dealership

I feel bad for this guy because of the loss of his son. And it is obvious that dealer salesman or whomever gave this guy the 'OK' to drive the vehicle dropped the ball. But ultimately.... it IS the operator of the vehicle that is responsible for displaying the license plate. Whether you are test driving a brand new vehicle from a dealership or borrowing a friend's car because yours is in the shop, as the operator, it is your responsibility to see that it is roadworthy and legally allowed to be on the road.

YOU as the driver ARE responsible to see if there is a plate or not on the vehicle.

I bought a used truck from a dealer out of state which became an issue because the dealer would not send the paperwork to my states dmv long story short had to keep getting me renewed drive out tags then of that the sold me a truck with a bad motor told me its cause they just redid the top end which was a lie. over half of the lights did not work delayed my trip home a whole day almost cause I wanted them fixed.

Longo Toyota will say or do anything to get a sale. Lied to me, in writing.

I paid cash for a used Truck, said they still had to run my credit but it was a soft hit. I explained i was closing on a house and nothing could be show on my credit, salesman reassured me that it was only a soft hit and would not show.

Unfortunately, it was a hard hit. I questioned him by email and he stated again it was only a soft hit. So I escalated to the Director of Finance, he apologized, had a meeting with all sales staff but did nothing to actually help me and have the inquiry removed.

Like they're the only one. You shouldn't be able to sell a car that isn't street-legal in the state. I had the same thing happen after I bought a BMW years ago. The car was parked too!!

Yes, the thin blue line has a problem with a dealership and attacks citizens. These thugs with guns have no compassion for citizens that believe they are just shopping, so the police punish innocent people because their ego needs stroking." Land of the slave home of the fine." - James Freeman

My daughter bought a used car from a car lot in Bellevue Washington. Two weeks later her car just stopped running. It was due to the loss of compression. The used car salesman said they would pay for the parts or the labor to fix the issue whichever was less. So she just paid 6k for the car and it was going to be another 2.5k or more for it to get fixed. So basically she flushed over 6k away for 2 weeks of semi reliable vehicle. Left her and her 10 month old son stranded on the highway.

Drivers are supposed to some sort of circle check on their vehicles prior to driving, this let's them know if there is any reason not to drive said vehicle. Like it or not this is the drivers fault.

That's what you get for test driving a Tacoma

It's always the drivers responsibility to make sure of these things. To bad so sad... you also cant get away with my husband didn't tell me there was no insurance

I hope this will make you feel better my friend. In Feb of this year I bought a ford 150 lariat with safety. Two hours after I got the truck the motor blows took them 18 weeks to change the motor only to put a other old motor in it witch I've been put in the shops over and over to get safety repair and motor repairs done at my cost in ten mounts of howing this truck i may have had the joy of driving it for a total of one mounth the rest of time in shops as it is still sitting in a shop now for the last 6 weeks. I hope that this helps some of you guys feel better.
Conclusion be very carefull when buying on line from drive with steave or is partner drive town Ottawa. If this was a isolated incident i be ok with it but 3 trucks here I'm my community came from drive town and wee all have same issues.not good at all .worst part there not even trying to fix the problem or did they even give a longer till it's fix. Witch I have to pay. Hope you feel better friends.
From Ontario canada

It is the drivers responsibility to check the vehicle they are about to drive for safety and legal reasons.

The moral of the story for me is move out of the State of Texas. That is the definition of insanity.

In 2015 I went to Toyota wanted to purchase a SUV. The salesman showed a gray Rav 4 I asked to give it a test drive and he said the vehicle was in an another lot. When the vehicle was brought in to 47 Cedar Street New Rochell, NYC, I asked to give it a test drive again the salesman refused. The first night I drove the car home there was a very loud noise coming from the engine. I brought the vehicle back within a day or two. I kept complaining about the noice from the engine. The noise sounded as if I was driving a 18 foot truck. They were so uncooperative. I also complained to them about the gas gage. In the winter months I would have to do alternative sides in parking, I would have to sit in the car wait for the Sanitation truck to clean the street. While sitting in the car, and having to warm up I would have the car on with the heater on and the gas would be getting less as if I was driving. I brought this the attention of Toyota company, they would ignore me. So I got so discouraged with Toyota car dealership, that I returned the car back. They were so uncooperative to help me. I would never recommend anyone to purchase a vehicle from Toyota.

Sincerely
Judith Harris

It might be Texas law, but in my opinion that is total bs. Both the law and the dealership made this happen. That poor guy is another victim of Government overreach. What a pantload. Local law enforcement should be ashamed. I hope the judge is smarter than they are. Wouldn't take much.

That's on the test driver for not making sure it's on there. You can't drive an unlicensed vehicle with no plates.