Car not registered, options?

[kutch98]

So I got my car in April 14, registration expired April 15. I was lazy and cheap and never renewed it. Filed for buyback, now they say because it wasn't registered by the September date that it's not eligible for buyback. I've had the car the entire time. Made the car payments. Paid the insurance. Just didn't re register it. What options do I have? It's on lease so it's about to get turned back in and I'll bite the bullet.

Looking for options on what I can do, not lecture and comments about registering a vehicle.

 

[Airpizz6]

To be an eligible vehicle it had to be registered 'as of Jun 28, 2016'. I see no way ahead for you. You probably saved some money by not registering your car, maybe more than the settlement would have gotten you, so don't complain.

 

[LogicBomb]

Should have registered it prior to submitting your paperwork for the buyback.

Perhaps you can try it again with an all new submission, and pay to register the vehicle now? That's probably the only chance I see at you getting the "payment", and that's a stretch because they've probably marked your VIN down as "non-eligible". But if your going to try it, I'd hop on it now, as they're inundated with submissions and you might get lucky.

 

[jims2321]

sounds like the OP, continued his insurance payments as if the car was registered. That is a tough break though.

 

[atomicfront]

So I got my car in April 14, registration expired April 15. I was lazy and cheap and never renewed it. Filed for buyback, now they say because it wasn't registered by the September date that it's not eligible for buyback. I've had the car the entire time. Made the car payments. Paid the insurance. Just didn't re register it. What options do I have? It's on lease so it's about to get turned back in and I'll bite the bullet.
Looking for options on what I can do, not lecture and comments about registering a vehicle.

Register the vehicle and contact the plantiffs attorneys. They can give you better advice than anyone here.

 

[uncle fishhead]

I let my registration expire Oct 1, 2016. But I had no paperwork that showed the registration for the period from Oct 1 2015 to Sept 30 2016.

When I realized I needed a registration to submit the paperwork....I registered the car on Oct 12th. My documents were accepted (with a registration that was issued on the same day the documents were accepted) and I'll be selling the car back on 12/2.

Technically, I did not need the new registration if I had any paperwork for the old one (since it was registered on the dates that mattered and was unambiguously legit). But, I don't believe that there was any mechanism that would have "caught" me if my registration had been expired for 9 or more months.

The fact you tried to "file for buyback" before having it registered may stop you.

 

[Airpizz6]

I
Technically, I did not need the new registration if I had any paperwork for the old one (since it was registered on the dates that mattered and was unambiguously legit). But, I don't believe that there was any mechanism that would have "caught" me if my registration had been expired for 9 or more months.

It is not difficult to determine if an individual vehicle was registered at any point in time. The real question is whether VW is actually checking records like the process says they will. The court documents define an 'eligible vehicle'. VW should therefore be able to access relevant records to verify that vehicles meet the requirements of the settlement.

 

[k1xv]

As you did not register your car, it was not legally "on the road". As a result, there is no reason to pay you to take the car off the road, which was the purpose of the buy back and fix program.

As far as the court and VW are concerned, your car was in the back yard being used as a chicken coop.

 

[HBarlow]

Just think of all the money you saved by failing to register your car and probably not maintaining liability insurance.

 

[kutch98]

Actually, I was paying the insurance. Still have the loan from the bank for the lease. So no. I didn't save that much money, maybe 400 in 2 years worth of registration. So basically it sounds like what I knew, I'm gonna be out more money by terminating the lease early. I'm over my miles so the cats been sitting for over a month, already got. Replacement vehicle.

 

[PacCoastFwy923]

How did you communicate to VW the vehicle wasn't registered? There's no "not registered" certificate. So was it just the omission of a reg card? Did you somehow state to them it wasn't registered? I think the others are right, that a simple Carfax style VIN search would turn up a gap in registration, but do you want to take a gamble on how thorough VW is going to be?

 

[kutch98]

It's worth the shot to register and try to resubmit. I just hate to lose out on $200 if it doesn't work.

 

[jhinsc]

Since VW still requires you to maintain all lease terms, it's likely VW will require the registration is caught up to current before you turn it in to cancel the lease. The state will want their money, and your state will likely have a penalty for late registrations as well. You might be able to take care of it at the dealer when you turn it in. My guess is it will delay your official turn-in date until this is cleared up because VW will not take possession until the registration is valid and current. The gap will show up anyway when the vehicle is reregistered back to VW when the transfer paperwork is filed with your state. Your state might allow the non-registration if you can provide proof the car was not driven on roads during the time period in question, but I think that will be impossible for you to do.
The problem I see in your case with VW is since it wasn't currently registered in your name, VW can't validate you had possession of the vehicle since Sept 2015. Even though likely not allowed in the lease terms, they could assume you had sub-leased the car to someone else, who paid you the lease and insurance amounts for you to make the payments. Lease and insurance payments don't provide validation, only the state registration does.

 

[kutch98]

So basically I need register it anyway. Might as well take a shot then at trying to do the buyback. If they reject it, they reject it. Then just bite the bullet and turn it in early.

 

[PC Passat]

My registration is up at the end of the month. I was planning parking it at the dealership on the last day of the month and just keep insurance till turn in day. Emissions test is required and by definition I shouldn't be allowed to pass that anyway. Right hand left hand situation.

 

[juicy bits]

From the vwcourtsettlement.com FAQ's:

Your vehicle does not need to be currently registered to be eligible. In order for the vehicle to be eligible, it must have been registered in the U.S. at some point between September 18, 2015 and June 28, 2016, but the registration need not have been in your name. In order for you to be eligible, you must have registered the vehicle in your name at some point after September 18, 2015.

If you are a non-Volkswagen Dealer in the United States or its territories, you may provide a title or bill of sale in place of a registration.

 

[duratitus]

What if the car was for sale at a dealer between September 18, 2015 and June 28, 2016?

 

[Freeze Plug]

as long as it is a non VW dealer it would be fine

 

[beerandon]

My registration expired 8/2015 and the car has been off the road since shortly after that. They denied my registration document, but I called and they told me to resubmit it, that they had changed their policy on registration. VW accepted the expired registration the second time.

Don't waste your money registering it.

 

[jason_]

Just think of all the money you saved by failing to register your car and probably not maintaining liability insurance.

Not sure about you, but $90 tags and $28 a month PL in Michigan....


And to op, try it again. If it fails, get it registered and try again.

I never keep my old paperwork, and neither did you.

Sent from my S-Off'ed HTC One...

 

[AlanTDI]

My registration expires at the end of November, turn in date is Dec.7 will they give me a hard time?

 

[duratitus]

My understanding is that the car registration need not be current.

Here's from the claim's website,

My vehicle is not currently registered. Do I need a current registration to be eligible for benefits?Your vehicle does not need to be currently registered to be eligible. In order for the vehicle to be eligible, it must have been registered in the U.S. at some point between September 18, 2015 and June 28, 2016, but the registration need not have been in your name. In order for you to be eligible, you must have registered the vehicle in your name at some point after September 18, 2015. If you are a non-Volkswagen Dealer in the United States or its territories, you may provide a title or bill of sale in place of a registration.

 

[Yngsj]

I'm fuming! I just paid $280 to renew my registration because they told me it had to be current.

 

[HBarlow]

"They told you?" Who is they?

You should have spent some time reading here before you spent your money. You would have saved yourself $280.

 

[JHawk88]

I have the same issue

So far, it does not look good. Which is ridiculous to me. I bought the car in 2013, the tag expired in 2015 and I was lazy to get it re-tagged because I had been moving around. Then the scandal breaks out and I think to myself, not sure why I would register this because this car is apparently illegal. Turns out... it had to be registered to get anything out of it which is complete bull****! So, even though I've owned a car that had bugged software and has been lying to the government for 4 years, that apparently means absolutely nothing because the car wasn't registered when they found out about it. The judge who approved this needs to get his A** sued!

 

[Rico567]

So far, it does not look good. Which is ridiculous to me.<snip>

1. Congratulations on resurrecting a zombie thread.
2. You act surprised, but the car being registered has been required all along.
3. I will pay you $100 (which you can apply toward your fine for contempt) if I can be there if you decide to say that to the judge.

 

[tadawson]

Not to mention, with a trivial amount of effort, it would have been easy to determine that no TDI has been considered illegal and unregisterable in any state at any time to date . . .

- Tim

 

[jibberjive]

I'll bring this up here, as I posted it in a similar thread, but just an interesting thought: it looks like they removed the 'registration' language from the 3.0 settlement that the 2.0 settlement had. Which makes me curious if the 3.0 need to be registered in the owners name at all (ever), and can be turned in with just the title with reassignment.

More of my thoughts here http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=5267454#post5267454