I Bought A Car, Never Made Payments, And The Car Is Still Here Over A Year Later.

Location: New Jersey

I bought a car at the beginning of 2025. I submitted all the paperwork, applied through the dealership (carmax) for a car loan and was approved by Westlake Financial. Paid the down payment, drove off the lot with the car on the same day, and sold my old car. Life was wonderful. About 30-40 days after that, before I even paid the first month’s note, I got an envelope in the mail, opened thinking it was my plates, but it was a letter saying that the financing fell through and that I had to either pay in full, or return the car. I called their 1800 number that was on the letter and online, and they said to call the actual dealership. I called them up, they asked me what I wanted to do. I told them I loved the car, but there was no way I’d be able to pay it in full, so in that case to avoid any problems, I’d simply give it back. They told me to keep the car for now, and that they will check what to do and contact me back, and asked me to just wait. They called back like twice saying they were still looking into it and for me to wait. I started getting very nervous because I had never bought a car before and was scared that this would put me in hot water in some way, as nobody I know who’s purchased a car has ever dealt with anything like this. I would call them on a weekly basis, sometimes 4 times in a week and nothing. They’d just say to keep it and wait. Months go by, they disappeared, I’ve never heard from them, and when I check my credit there is NOTHING about the car. It’s as if I had never financed anything. I have a letter from Westlake saying they provided the appropriate party with a release of interest document. It is now 1 year and 6 months after that, and the car is still sitting in my driveway with expired temporary tags on it. I obviously don’t drive the car and ended up having to buy a new car, because I had nothing to drive and need to commute for work, school. My question is… why didn’t they come get this car? Why did the bank let go of the loan? Is there anything I can do to legally keep the car? I don’t drive it, but left it insured for a long time due to being worried that something would happen or idk. Currently, it is not insured. Also, this used to be a leased vehicle, originally (Not by me).