Car dealership and registration/plates withheld

[justletmein]

So bit of a strange issue I just became aware of today. My son was working for a Chevy dealer here and bought a car from them. As part of the deal his down payment was to be taken out of his check weekly until paid up to the agreed amount. So he financed through Ally/GMAC and bought the car, then they fired him (I don't know the details). No biggie, he had another gig within 4 hours and is paying his loan to Ally/GMAC and payments to the dealer for the down payment. Now fast forward a couple weeks and his paper plates will be expiring soon, he called the dealer and they have his plates and registration but said they won't give it to him until he's paid in full the "down" payment. I don't blame them of course they need to collect what they're owed and he's of course paying it, my problem is that this kid is going to be driving around with expired paper plates while making weekly payments as he doesn't have the full amount owed (hence the original arrangement). Seems to me withholding registration is kind of crappy, I would think the proper recourse if he were to not pay would be to repo the car. I could of course give him the cash, but I didn't exactly approve of the whole **** thing to begin with so I'm having a bit of an internal struggle as to whether I should bail him out or let him learn life's lessons. I don't really have any questions just kinda wanted to kick it around and see what the green screen thought about the whole ordeal.

[Bill]

How much does he have remaining to pay off the down payment to the dealership?

[Fordman]

They can print him out another paper tag and just give him real tags once the loan is paid off.

[justletmein]

How much does he have remaining to pay off the down payment to the dealership?

I think he's down to like $400. Doesn't sound like much but he's 19 so not exactly peanuts for him.

[justletmein]

They can print him out another paper tag and just give him real tags once the loan is paid off.

He's going up there tomorrow to drop off another $100 and I told him to do that. On the phone they only would tell him "we'll see what we can do."

[ajm2nac]

the dealership should just be able to issue him another set of paper tags. I sold cars in college, and if the papers expired before the hard plates were in, id just make another one good for another 20 days.

[glen]

Making another set of plates although done isn't legal or at one time was not

[twistedmidnite]

Yeap, just get them to print another temp tag, we had to do this on our last car because they screwed up the registration somehow...

[Pullersboy]

Yup, get another tag issued.

[sailor]

Might I suggest....You give him the money,and let him pay you back.
Seems like he's doing the responsible thing.
Help'em out....Just a thought.

[CEO]

I'd spot him the cash. If he gets a ticket for expired tags that's a whole new financial issue. If he doesn't pay you back take the keys hostage.

[zr2chevy22]

Might I suggest....You give him the money,and let him pay you back.
Seems like he's doing the responsible thing.
Help'em out....Just a thought.

I agree with this. Help him out and make him pay you back on the same schedule he was paying them back. Ensure he learned his lesson too. Let him know if he misses a payment you will withhold the use of the vehicle until it's paid. Just my advice.

Driving around with a second paper tag (which is illegal) or without current registration will cost him ALOT more then the 400 that's owed to the dealer by the time you add court costs and what not.

[Stan R]

Sound like he is a good kid.

[easeup]

nobody done nothing wrong here.
Helping out is really the best choice here as it reassures him you are there to help him when needed and not there to point out shortcomings. It reduces his financial risk as pointed out above too. It also show that you believe in doing the right thing in life even when things are tough.

[rtp]

I would agree with spotting him the cash and if he doesnt pay you back as agreed then the car gets parked until he does.

My question is, can the dealership legally hold the plates? I mean they are paid for. The dealership made a loan agreement with him which it sounds like he is paying back as agreed to. They dont really have a leg to stand on by not giving him the plates. Im all for letting these kids figure things out but sometimes the older folks will try to bully young kids to get what they want. If that was the case, I might be there behind him when he had the conversation tomorrow.