Toyota: Privacy Law

Does anyone know if there are any new "privacy acts" that prevent
dealers from disclosing previous owners names and numbers. I had a
dealer in Virginia tell me he couldn't disclose that information due
to a new privacy law. Anyone heard of this?

On 3 Sep 2003 16:30:29 -0400, someone who calls themselves
DMS.cwru.edu (Bob Hetzel) wrote: 
 
 

Hey, Bob - Nice load of shit you're pushing there... ;-P In other
words, spoken like a used car dealer who has something to hide.
(You may not be, but that is how it comes across.)

If Don (the original poster) has a legitimate reason to contact the
previous owners, the dealer should not interfere. If the dealer is
going to cite "a new privacy law", I would only accept that bafflegab
answer with a statute number to refer to, or better yet a copy of said
statute.

And as I said previously, you can get the same prior owner
information (probably no phone numbers but at least name and address)
from a title search at your State's Department of Motor Vehicles. And
if they have a reason to not give you the address, they usually will
accept your letter and forward it to the person.

There are many reasons why you, as the new owner of the car, might
need to get in contact with the previous owners. You might have a
concern about why the CARFAX report you just pulled (too late) showed
the car had 120,000 miles at the last annual inspection, the car was
traded in to the dealer with 130,000 miles on it, and sold to you with
80,000 miles indicated, and you want the old owner's cooperation to
get the dealer busted for Clocking the odometer. Or you find that the
"Creampuff" car you bought with a clean title had been branded with a
"Salvage" title from flood or accident damage in another state. In
those types of situations the dealer would have a /very/ strong
incentive to not help you - and to lie about why.

You could have found something under the seat or stashed in a deep
corner of the trunk that you want to make sure gets returned to the
rightful owner, and not tossed (or kept) by the dealer 5 minutes after
you leave. Things like:
A wedding ring.
An heirloom watch or other jewelry, like one diamond earring.
A priceless old family picture.
Videotape of a child's graduation.
A pound of marijuana or a big bag of pills... Never mind - for that
one, you call the cops. They'll be sure to trace down the prior
owners of the car, and it won't be a courtesy call, either... ;-)

--<< Bruce >>--
--
Bruce L. Bergman, POB 394, Woodland Hills CA 91365, USA
Electrician, Westend Electric (#726700) Agoura, CA

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