Hello everyone this is my first post on here and hopefully not my last... so thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
So I just purchased my 1st ever mustang here in Texas about a month ago. 2010 GT 4.6l 3v thought it was a great deal body was in perfect condition only 32,000 miles and 1 owner with close to 5 thousand dollars in after market performance upgrades after checking Carfax (came back clean and clear) I was happy to put 10 grand down for this car and finance the smaller remaining portion. Well 2 days after leaving the lot I start feeling vibrations and clunking long story long. need a new drive shaft... so I do what any other person would do and call the car lot I bought the car from after being told I would have to eat the 600 part myself I went looking back at my paperwork noticed I was charged almost a grand that was not accounted for in the paperwork call the place back and of course they tell me I'm reading the paperwork wrong lol and they didn't show anything on there end well after this I decided to take a long hard look into the vehicle it self and started noticing all the interior was new but was pieced together from to separate mustangs one being standard model and the other being the premium model. I then noticed all carpet/seats/paint everything was recently replaced on the car and now I'm going to say all the performance upgrades were just what was readily available at the time.... So my question is this What the heck do I do now?
I'm about 99% sure this car is a chop shop monster the Vin has been replaced with a Vin of a similar car I know I have to go to the DMV about this but what if they take my car and I'm out 10 grand and no ride has anyone else been in a similar situation or even better anybody licenced to practice law in this state lol thanks again for your help/advice.

 

Sounds like a 'flood' car to me. Signing a 'not been in a flood' should have been shown to you when you bought it. At least up here in Tennessee it's a big thing about not buying a flood car

 

It's the same in Texas and to be honest they literally replaced anything in plain sight so runs and looks great and like I said a lot of performance upgrades Ford performance intake manifold, bbk headers, with x pipe and magniflow mufflers, Hurst short throw shifter, Airraid CAI, not to mention what I have done myself, carbon fiber drive shaft, reduction pulley, fuel injectors, throttle body, and tuned it as well so if this car has had the Vin altered it is a felony and I guess I will just have to pray they let me get my stuff off the car before taking it back.

 

Title scrubbing/washing is considered fraud. That involves taking a salvage or restored vehicle title and registering in another state that either 'A' doesn't check the previous title or 'B' doesn't have titles for those kinds of things. This scrubs the title which can then be registered in a state that does care about those things or doesn't look further back than the most recent title (which is now clean).. That by itself is a felony.

If they also scrubbed the vin by actually switching it out, that is also a felony.

I'd seek a lawyer. Be aware that even a lawyer will tell you it will be difficult to get your money back. A lot of these types of places are fly-by-night. They'll claim bankruptcy to skirt the judgements against them and start up business under a new name without liens and judgments. The only way they usually end up in Jail is if they are dumb enough to register their businesses under their actual names vs a shell corp like an LLC or PLC

At least you are in the same state as the business. Most of these types of things happen to people in one state buying from another state so trying to travel back and forth to the courthouse for the process is deterrent enough for the slime bags that do this.