I-Team Helps Auburn Man Get Car Title After Months Of Waiting

AUBURN (CBS) -- When Phil Joinville was leasing a 2017 Kia Optima he thought it would be pretty easy to buy it from the company. "The process started in the middle of November," he told the WBZ-TV I-Team. "We sent them a check, they cashed the check, they sent us the bill of sale, the odometer readings, but they never sent the title."

Joinville paid Kia more than $13,000 for the sedan and needed the title for his insurance company.

He started calling, looking for the title after waiting nearly three weeks. Every time he got the same response: it was in process.

Joinville learned the Registry of Motor Vehicles sent the title to Kia but, for some reason, it got returned to the Registry. Kia then had to apply for a duplicate title, something that normally takes a few weeks.

Five months later, Joinville still didn't have the title to the car he bought. That's when he called the I-Team.

"Once you spoke to them, all of a sudden, they listened to somebody. They weren't listening to me. Within a week we got the title and they sent it special mail," he said.

In a statement, Kia told the I-Team: "Customer satisfaction is extremely important to Kia Motors Finance and we are currently working with the customer to have the situation resolved as soon as possible. We regret any inconvenience this customer experienced."

Grateful, Joinville is now keeping the title under lock and key.