WARNING: Unlawful trade practices and withholding of title for a vehicle purchased in cash due to dealer incompetence, lost paperwork, and misrepresentations by sales staff.
Do NOT buy a vehicle here - especially if you are an out-of-state buyer or paying in full with cash.
I bought a Bronco Sport from Mullinax Ford during the first week of July. I paid for the vehicle completely in cash, had it shipped to Colorado, and paid an $817.95 "Tag & Registration" escrow fee for them to handle titling and plates. Over four months later, I still do not have legal title or plates for a car I own outright.
Instead of completing the transfer, here’s what actually occurred:
BLATANT STATUTORY VIOLATIONS & TAG ABUSE:
They blew past Florida's mandatory 30-day statutory title deadline (Fla. Stat. § 319.23) and unlawfully issued four (4) consecutive temporary tags over four months to mask their failure to transfer title, in violation of Fla. Stat. § 320.131 and Fla. Stat. § 501.976(11).
CONCRETE LOSS OF USE:
Each time a temporary tag approached expiration, I was forced to repeatedly escalate to management just to get a response. Due to dealer delays and unresponsiveness, my tags lapsed completely on two separate occasions (August 9–18 and September 9–25). I was legally barred from driving my $31,000 cash-purchased vehicle on public roadways for over 25 cumulative days under threat of traffic citation or impoundment.
LOST TITLE FILE & DECEPTION:
Two weeks ago, their title clerk admitted my paperwork had been left sitting unfiled in a pile of mail at their third-party processor and that the title application had never been submitted to the State of Colorado. Despite this, salesperson John Morales repeatedly made false statements via text claiming the State of Colorado was causing the delay. He subsequently demanded I take more unpaid time off work to redo an out-of-pocket certified VIN inspection ($75), sign a replacement Power of Attorney, and execute a replacement Odometer Statement, finally admitting they had to request a "duplicate title." They lost my original master file and attempted to shift the entire burden of their vendor's negligence onto me.
FAILURE OF CERTIFIED STANDARDS:
The vehicle was sold as "Ford Gold Certified," but arrived with engine coolant well below the minimum line and a bone-dry washer reservoir, proving the mandatory 172-point pre-delivery certified inspection was never properly conducted.
UNRESPONSIVE STAFF:
I contacted the General Manager directly and presented clear proof that his staff made false representations to cover up lost paperwork. Dealership management failed to rectify the situation and ignored formal written deadlines to deliver my title and refund my unspent fees.
Mullinax is currently holding nearly $900 of my money for unperformed registration escrow services and lost paperwork costs, while refusing to deliver title documentation so I can self-register.
I have filed formal complaints with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV Region 5) for statutory title violations and tag abuse, the Florida Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division for deceptive trade practices, and have escalated the matter to Ford Corporate Headquarters.
Take your business elsewhere unless you want to pay $30K+ in cash for a vehicle you cannot legally drive, while dealing with staff who refuse to take accountability.
