Purchase from Granger Ford in December Title Delay

[CRS]

I don't post here, so please forgive me. Background: I ordered my '26 Maverick Hybrid AWD on Oct 27th and was scheduled to pick it up on Dec 29th. Everything went great until Late Friday before picking the car up on that Monday morning. If I had not read the email and closing statement I would not have known. Our numbers did not match. I called Granger to clarify the discrepancy. Granger did not follow their titling process as the agreement stated. The process as they originally explained to me was that I would get the sales paperwork at time of delivery documentation to take title and registration in my state and I would file there. Instead, they explained to me that they have a new process and now use a 3rd party to process the paperwork in my state. In addition, this was the first time that I was told that they would not take my personal check and needed to bring a cashier's check. I had literally 4 hours on Saturday to get to my bank and get a cashier's check as I had to leave at 6AM on Monday morning to get to Granger.

Moving forward, at delivery I paid them for tax, title and registration and their additional fee of $105 above what it would have cost me to file by myself. I received a 15-day transit permit. As of 1/13/26, that has expired. I went to my DMV and they say my vehicle is not in their computers yet. I cannot get a temporary plate without the vehicle being in their computers. I am getting no response from phone calls and emails at Granger on where my paperwork is hung up. They say I cannot get another transit permit but I should simply drive the Maverick with the sales documentation on the expired permit. My DMV says I cannot drive it, which makes sense legally.

So my question is, has anyone else run into this documentation hiccup since Granger changed their out-of-state titling process in mid-November? And if so, how long did it take you to receive your state's temporary tags? Or did you just drive on the transit permit and hop you wouldn't get pulled over by your police?

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[MavStangVa]

That is why I bought IN STATE!

 

[Pointyears]

That is why I bought IN STATE!

I bought out of state a month ago and after 3 weeks I got my registration and a refund on my registration fees that they didn’t need to spend. Out of state isn’t necessarily bad and in state isn’t necessarily good.

 

[cclark]

@Granger Ford, Zach has been great resource and help to MTC for years. I'm sure if you contact them through this site, they'll help.

 

[corrugatedbarn]

I had a similar titling issue with a dealer less than 10 mi from my house. My brand new Prius was sitting in the driveway because the temporary tags expired and I was driving a car with a gas tank leak! The resolution required me contacting the NH Attorney General. A big hassle to obtain a paid for vehicle 's title!

I'm following this because I have an order with Granger in the works!

 

[carolynann831]

I don't post here, so please forgive me. Background: I ordered my '26 Maverick Hybrid AWD on Oct 27th and was scheduled to pick it up on Dec 29th. Everything went great until Late Friday before picking the car up on that Monday morning. If I had not read the email and closing statement I would not have known. Our numbers did not match. I called Granger to clarify the discrepancy. Granger did not follow their titling process as the agreement stated. The process as they originally explained to me was that I would get the sales paperwork at time of delivery documentation to take title and registration in my state and I would file there. Instead, they explained to me that they have a new process and now use a 3rd party to process the paperwork in my state. In addition, this was the first time that I was told that they would not take my personal check and needed to bring a cashier's check. I had literally 4 hours on Saturday to get to my bank and get a cashier's check as I had to leave at 6AM on Monday morning to get to Granger.

Moving forward, at delivery I paid them for tax, title and registration and their additional fee of $105 above what it would have cost me to file by myself. I received a 15-day transit permit. As of 1/13/26, that has expired. I went to my DMV and they say my vehicle is not in their computers yet. I cannot get a temporary plate without the vehicle being in their computers. I am getting no response from phone calls and emails at Granger on where my paperwork is hung up. They say I cannot get another transit permit but I should simply drive the Maverick with the sales documentation on the expired permit. My DMV says I cannot drive it, which makes sense legally.

So my question is, has anyone else run into this documentation hiccup since Granger changed their out-of-state titling process in mid-November? And if so, how long did it take you to receive your state's temporary tags? Or did you just drive on the transit permit and hop you wouldn't get pulled over by your police?

Im glad I didnt buy mine in Louisiana. The last time I bought a car in Shreveport was 25 years ago. I live in Texas. No problems then. I have a coworker who lives in Louisiana. Bought a car last year in Texas, anf no issues. Guess that doesn't help you. Since Texas no longer has temporary paper license plates, I received a letter from my dealer explaining I'm waiting for my license plate if I got stopped. Go to Granger and ask for a written statement stating that and find out what is going on. Maybe they can give you contact info for the company taking care of this.

 

[Carlitos_92]

@Granger Ford, Tim and Sarah have been a great resource and help to MTC for years. I'm sure if you contact them through this site, they'll help.

"Tim and Sarah" are at Long McArthur in Kansas.

 

[CRS]

That is why I bought IN STATE!

After my purchase, I found that the Iowa lemon law does not cover an out of state buyer and my state's lemon law does not cover an out of state purchase. There is federal coverage, but it is often not as strong as state laws. I hope that I never have a need for it. It may be of interest to others contemplating out of state purchase.

 

[cclark]

Totally my bad...I need to pay more attention. At least I got the Granger site right and it's Zach@Granger.

 

[CRS]

@Granger Ford, Tim and Sarah have been a great resource and help to MTC for years. I'm sure if you contact them through this site, they'll help.

I did send a PM to @Granger Ford on this site explaining my situation last week. I did not ask for assistance. I did so just to let him know.

 

[CRS]

I keep checking my state's online status and the VIN number does not show up.

I contacted a company that AI says Granger Ford may be using for out-of-state title processing. I asked them about the status. So far, no reply but it is less than 24 hours.

I am about ready to contact both the IA and my state's AG for their help, possibly after contacting Ford's Customer Relationship Center at 1-800-392-3673 to see what they can do. I haven't decided yet. At least, it should have been presented to my state's DMV. That will be 4 weeks after my purchase! I'll wait until Tuesday to decide, letting Monday's business hours catch up.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

After my purchase, I found that the Iowa lemon law does not cover an out of state buyer and my state's lemon law does not cover an out of state purchase. There is federal coverage, but it is often not as strong as state laws. I hope that I never have a need for it. It may be of interest to others contemplating out of state purchase.

Great information Chuck.
I would have never thought about that.
Thanks for posting.

 

[uga]

Granger might want to address this issue here in this forum ASAP ! If not, folks might think twice before making a non refundable deposit or purchase....................................

 

[CRS]

Granger might want to address this issue here in this forum ASAP ! If not, folks might think twice before making a non refundable deposit or purchase....................................

I'm not trying to dis Granger as much as I am trying to move forward and get my Maverick on the road again.

 

[YV1227]

I live in Florida so it might not help much, it took 5 trips to the DNV and me about to start yelling for them to let me talk to a supervisor that knew how the system works and fix it for me.
I showed ChatGPT all the paper work I had and it immediately gave me the instructions on what form to fill and what to ask for, printed it and walked to the window, Clerk response was it can be done, Supervisor came looked at it, she said is not usual but it can be done and she did it for me, walked out with a plate and the registration.
It seems what is unusual is the fact that according to Florida my car is not new, it had a temporary Iowa title, so it had to be physically inspected and the miles corroborated.
It took half an hour of me complaining and one hour filling up paper work.
By the way my car has a lien so it made it more difficult.
Sadly those are public employees, the don't care and their metrics more likely are measured by daily processes, they just don't want the trouble and will say it can be done.
As soon as you start raising your voice the supervisor will show.

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