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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / General Car Topics / March 2005buying a car from a private seller - please help
I want to buy a car from a private seller. Never done that before. What do I need - just the Certificate of Title signed by the seller on the back side ? How about the tag, do I keep it ? Also, what happens if the seller has a loan on the car ? Do the seller need to get a release of lien before I buy it ? Thanks, Bumbrlik >I want to buy a car from a private seller. Never done that before. > >What do I need - just the Certificate of Title signed by the seller on the >back side ? The title, without lien, or lien discharged. Signed by seller (all sellers, if there is more than one name on title.) If all sellers are not there to sign it, walk away. You will not get a title back if all signatures are not correct. >How about the tag, do I keep it ? Depends on state, some yes, some no. >Also, what happens if the seller has a loan on the car ? The seller then won't have a title for the car (the lien holder will have the title). The lien will *have* to be paid to get the title. Don't trust the seller to pay off the lien and send the title! If the lender is local go there and pay off with seller. If not local, get payoff value, pay seller difference and send payoff directly to lender. Get a bill of sale, notorized. > Do the seller need >to get a release of lien before I buy it ? Yes. Absolutely. No lender will allow the seller to sell the vehicle without paying off loan. No, auto loans are not assumable: you cannot pick up payments. If the seller suggests this say "no thanks". >Thanks, >Bumbrlik I will only add a little to Peter's thoughts. I am in Canada and went to buy a Cherokee. The 'owner' had all the right papers, but the MTO or motor vehicle place gives out the vehicle history which the seller is 'supposed' to have. I had to get it myself and it showed a lien on the vehicle. I had to call the bank and get the lien discharge papers before it was safe to buy. If I had of just taken the registration and a receipt I could have 'legally' still bought the damn thing only to have a bank come repossess it! It is also a very good idea to have a mechanic give it a safety before you buy it. That could be the best $50.00 or $75.00 ever spent on the vehicle. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's > >I want to buy a car from a private seller. Never done that before. > > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > >Thanks, > >Bumbrlik Good points. In the US, the lien holder (lender) is always sent the title by the DMV. They then hold that title so they can take and resell the car. I just remembered an unusual fraud that has come up, though rarely. The owner gets the vehicle without a lien. He then applies for a duplicate title (lost title) for the car. Then the owner takes the second title and gets a loan on the car. Finally the owner sells the car to some sucker using the original 'lost' title... This stunt is usually good for 2 to 4 years in the big house, but it seems that dishonest people rarely think they will be caught! >I will only add a little to Peter's thoughts. > [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >> >Thanks, >> >Bumbrlik No matter what you may hear or read to the contrary, a Motor Vehicle Title signed by the owner, is no longer a valid title unless the signature of the owner(s) is notarized. Do not accept any title until you know the person(s) listed as the owner(s) are indeed the one(s) that signed that title. The ONLY legal way is to do so in the presence of an authorized title agent or the DMV, period As to the plate that depends on the state. Some states follow the vehicle others do not. A phone call to a local law enforcement agency will get you the proper determination. As to a finance contract. If the owners has a valid title in his possession there is no loan recorded against that title. If there was a finance contract the lien holder would possess the title. I would suggest you contact you local DMV or an authorized transfer service before giving anybody your money. mike hunt > I want to buy a car from a private seller. Never done that before. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Thanks, > Bumbrlik >I want to buy a car from a private seller. Never done that before. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Thanks, >Bumbrlik ================== You need to state in which State both you and the seller live in... In Maryland... I would want the LEIN FREE TITLE signed by the seller ....if the seller has a loan on the car...the title will say so... and no way would I accept that... unless he had a written release from the leinholder... Again IN Maryland the tags stay with the owner...they are his/hers......not the cars... So you must let the original owner return the tags to the MVA... SO you have to be inventive in how you get it to you garage... BUT each State does things differently and require different things... Done this plenty of times...both buying and selling and it is not hard. Lots of luck... Bob Griffiths |
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