A CAR owner expressed being very upset after selling her vehicle to a dealership and never getting paid for it.
Pasadena, California driver was extremely confused when the car dealer closed its doors forever before paying her for the 2016 Kia Soul, she sold the business.
Rehana and Muhammed Malik even spotted the automobile on a tow truck outside the dealership called Bidlane, a local NBC News affiliate, KNBC. reported.
The couple noticed it was taken from the dealership shortly after selling the car to Bidlane – the couple had already handed over the keys and title.
The dealership was supposed to send $9,700 to his bank account, but that never happened.
The company suddenly went bankrupt, hurting several drivers who sold their cars to the company.
“I think I learned my lesson the hard way at this point,” Rehana emphasized.
“I wouldn’t take that kind of risk, ever.”
She emphasized how much the situation hit her as she felt betrayed by Bidlane.
“It’s a big deal,” the driver explained.
“And we’re quite upset about it. Because we feel cheated by them.”
Some car owners who turned their vehicles over to the dealership lost even more money than the Maliks.
Marcus Cheung sold his Land Rover to Bidlane in late 2023 for $83,000.
He had high hopes as the company actually handed him a check for his vehicle.
“When I deposited it the next day, it bounced,” he said.
Cheung said he went so far as to track the car as he technically still owned it.
“I think I learned my lesson the hard way at this point. I would never take that kind of risk.”
Rehana MalikKNBC
He discovered it now belongs to someone in Texas.
He has been trying to get money from Bidlane for months, but has come to accept that he may never receive a penny of what the company should pay him.
“That’s a lot of money,” Cheung emphasized.
Unfortunately, some drivers have even gone through the process of selling their cars to Bidlane online.
The car dealership has multiple locations throughout Southern California.
Every driver KNBC reached out to about the deal said the company took their cars and never paid for them.
Together, they said they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to KNBC.
When the news team contacted the owner of Bidlane about the incident(s), he did not respond.
‘The title is your guarantee’
Autotrader’s executive editor explained that drivers should avoid selling cars to any company that doesn’t give them money right away.
“When selling a car, the title is your collateral,” said Autotrader Executive Editor Brian Moody.
“You don’t want to give someone the car and the title before you get paid.”
He added that another option is to use an escrow service.
This way, the buyer deposits the money into a third-party account.
After that, it is released to the seller when he delivers the car and both parties are satisfied with the deal.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story