Complaints pile up against car dealer facing fines in multiple states, including Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – There is an update from a News4JAX I-TEAM investigation into car manufacturer Carvana.

Local complaints are mounting after our investigation uncovered potential violations of state law earlier this week.

Several pilots have come forward saying that they too have been waiting for more than six months for their title and registration, which should be provided to them in 30 days.

Carvana client Angela Herrin says she found herself in a horrible situation. She needs the Volkswagen Jetta she bought in May to get to her doctor’s appointments, but she can’t get her car fixed. She says her steering wheel and airbags began to malfunction, which are usually very expensive repairs covered under her car warranty. But the car warranty refuses to pay for the repairs because on paper it says the car is not legally theirs.

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″ I had three temporary tags. I’ve been pulled over four times and my tax collector’s office told me I shouldn’t drive my car on the road because the 30-day limit has been exceeded,” Herrin said.

Seven months after buying the Jetta from Carvana, Herrin says she still can’t drive the car she paid $21,000 for. Since May, she said, Carvana has issued her two temporary Florida license plates and one temporary Arizona plate.

“It’s happening month after month after month, and they’re telling me the paperwork is being processed,” Herrin said Friday. “And it’s eight months later, December, and I still haven’t received my tag, but because, as I was told yesterday, it’s still being processed.”

According to Georgia Ministry of Revenue law, a car dealer cannot issue an additional temporary operating license, nor can the customer drive the vehicle legally with an expired temporary operating license issued by a dealer.

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Florida law is similar. Auto dealers have up to 30 days after the vehicle is sold to submit title and registration information to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

On the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website, it states, “It is a violation of Florida law for a dealership to issue a second temporary Florida tag.”

Herrin, whose husband is legally blind, says she needs his vehicle to take him to doctor’s appointments and is beyond frustrated.

“They treat me like somebody on the street who gave them all this money and they were like thanks and didn’t care to do anything with it,” Herrin said.

Herrin isn’t the only Carvana customer the I-TEAM spoke to on Friday. Two others say they were arrested by law enforcement for having an expired tag.

We contacted the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Georgia Department of Revenue – who have this advice:

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• Be sure to file a formal complaint with the agency in the state you are in. In Florida, it’s the FLHSMV. You can file a complaint with FLHSMV here. In Georgia, file a complaint with the Used Motor Vehicle Commission through the Secretary of State’s website.

• Be sure to keep a copy of this complaint with you in your vehicle (that way you can show it to the law enforcement officer, who may very well be aware of this growing problem).

• You can also request that the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issue special authorization for a temporary tag for you, while issues with Carvana are being resolved.

Carvana has still not been able to provide News4JAX with an explanation of why the company is having issues getting customers their titles and recordings beyond the delays due to COVID-19. The online car retailer is on probation in Michigan, banned for six months from selling cars in Raleigh, North Carolina, and has already been fined in Texas and Florida.