Teenager Is Out Thousands After Unknowingly Buying Stolen Craigslist Car

A teenager from Ypsilanti, Michigan says he worked hard to buy the car of his dreams. Daniel O’Bryan has been working his job at a grocery store for the past two years until he saved up enough money to buy a 2008 Trail Blazer from a man on Craigslist. Only to find out the car he had bought was registered as stolen.

It came as a shock since O’Bryan and his family thought through their research.

“My husband checked all three spots on the car to make sure the VIN number matched with the title that the gentleman had, and everything came back fine there were no red flags or anything,” O’Bryan’s mother, Kathy O’Bryan said.

It wasn’t until they took the car to the Michigan Secretary of State that they found out the car was listed as stolen. It turns out, the rightful owner of the car is Sal’s Auto Parts out of Detroit. The owner said he lent the car to a business partner at M&G Repair, and the car was stolen outside the workers’ home.

O’Bryan says the man who sold him the car is not returning his calls. “Probably the most hurtful part was seeing my car being towed away and I didn’t even get to drive it yet,” O’Bryan said.

A spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State provided these tips for buying a car offline:
Exchange money at a police station so there are nearby cameras to ID the seller
The buyer and sell should both go to Secretary of State to get a new title
Check the seller’s ID and compare it to the title