Rights as a Cosigner on a Car

I am looking for opinions and advice.

About 2 years ago, I helped a friend secure a car loan on a used vehicle. When the financial institution put the loan through, instead of putting him through as the primary and me as a cosigner, they reversed it so that my name appears first on all of the loan documents and registration papers.

I have asked this person many times to try to refinance and secure a loan in his name for this vehicle to free up my credit. Every time, I continually get another excuse as to why he cannot do so.

My question is this: do I have the right to refinance the car into just MY name, and do what I want with it? If I do secure a loan for the vehicle in just my name, how do I go about getting the vehicle back from him? And what if routine maintenance was never performed on the vehicle - can I take this person to court for not taking care of a vehicle that he "borrowed"? How long of a time frame do I legally have to give him before i can refinance the car in my name?

Bottom line _ I a mtired of excuses and getting a runaround.