I was looking for a used car, found one one craigslist. Got a cashiers check to pay for it received the car and title payed with the check. Tried to get a temporary tag from the dmv but the car was never registered to the guy i got it from.
You should never pay until after the title check and a mechanic has taken a look at the car. Then you don't have to worry about this type of problem.
What are my options? Am i just out of luck?
You have the same options that you'd have if a dealer did this to you: sue. Although if I were in your shoes and the check never cleared, I'd just park the car in the guy's driveway, drop the title & keys in his mailbox and walk away.
But basically, we have different priorities. You feel this isn't stressful. I would find having to validate the title to be stressful.
Clearly we do. A title check is just a stop to the DMV website. It's no more or less stressful than online shopping.
I've had good luck with warranties. Most have been close to break-even.
If I had such experience, I would probably feel differently. But, seriously, I can't think of a single time that I actually used a warranty on anything I had. It's all just burnt money.