Kentucky car dealers feel impact of problems caused by the KAVIS motor vehicle database backlog

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's a big backlog and now businesses are losing money.

Car dealers are saying they're having problems with Kentucky's new vehicle information system and it's affecting drivers.

This week, state lawmakers heard from transportation officials and county clerks.

KAVIS DEALERSHIP FOLO.jpeg — Kentucky's new vehicle information system has created a backlog for dealerships and customers. (WDRB photo)

Some say the system is improving but there are still bugs and local car dealers said that's causing them to lose customers and money.

"We're still having the same problems or worse because they change the system so often on us that we don't even know how to process the paperwork anymore," said May Rogue with M&M Used Auto Sales. "And unfortunately, as you're gonna go in, you're gonna see there's a whole bunch of paperwork that I have not been able to process for months."

Rogue said right now her office is full of paperwork on cars she can't sell because they're waiting on titles.

On Tuesday, officials with the transportation cabinet told lawmakers there's a lot of misinformation which makes KAVIS an easy target because it's new.

But small dealers said they're still waiting on car titles, return calls from the state and losing thousands of dollars.

"All these vehicles that we have over here, they have a little yellow sticker that we can't sell until we actually get our papers together," Rogue said. "And so, how many cars were you selling before the switch and how many are you selling now? Before I was selling about 20 cars a month. Now we're not even selling two cars a month."

”I think it varies based on the clerk, based on the staff they have, based on the processes they have in their office, based on their constituent base their volume of transactions," said Heather Stout with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The owners of M&M Used Auto Sales said they could be forced out of business if things don't change soon.

The county clerk's office told WDRB it's dealing with a huge backlot because of the system which has left drivers waiting on paperwork for new cars.

”So, you're gonna hear discrepancies, some clerks love it," Stout said. "And are really excited to see where it goes over the next few months, and some are still struggling with it.”

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