Purchasing a car from a private seller. Nightmare.

1994redram said
Ive bought cars that had been "title skipped". Ive even sold cars the same way. Horrible, I know. My friend bought my dart with the intention of getting it running and selling it. I fell in love with it while helping him work on it and bought it. He bought the car from a guy that bought it from the last registered owner. So it had gone through 3 people without having the title transferred. I had no issues getting it transferred.

Yeah, but that car wasn’t stolen and you knew that

1994redram said
I bought an '89 T/A GTA for $400. Put a couple hundred in it to get it running and sold it within a couple weeks of owning it. Never put that car in my name. The buyer was aware and he didn't care. He's been happily driving and restoring it. No problems putting it in his name.

Again, you knew the car wasn’t stolen, and the buyer was aware of the title status.

1994redram said
It costs a few hundred dollars to insure a car to get the tag and title transferred. And then you have to wait a few weeks to get the title in the mail. If the car is meant to be a quick flip it's hard to sell it when you are waiting for the transfer and you have NO title in hand. Car dealerships do it all the time.

The laws that apply to car dealerships are completely different. What they do has no bearing on private sales. And they are licensed for that reason.

In most states you can register a car non-op without insuring it. Yes, it still costs money.

I’ve purchased a couple cars with a “bill of sale” that turned out to be title skipped. My experiences in getting them titled in my name have ranged from “probably too easy” all the way up “almost impossible”. Yes, I did get them all titled.

But in the OP’s case, why take the chance? The car has been misrepresented, and already looks like trouble. If there’s a way to get his money back, that’s the best option.