Beware used cars with liens..

[Quantico]

Found a used toyota sequoia with tons of miles that I think will work for me. Found several problems that need repair but the price was still good.
I asked the seller if he had the title and was told yes.. but the car had a loan on it. So I made up a sales agreement and put down a deposit and asked the seller to get me a loan satisfied document from his lender. He did. But he could not find his title..
I found out in wisconsin starting in 2012 you dont get a title . Only the lender has it electronically. So after the loan is paid they contact the state to send out a clean title. And because wisconsin has allowed the dmv to stay shut for two years you cant get a title in person.
So my situation hopefully will work out soon. But its a 10 day to 2 week process at minimum. I dont want to wait longer than 2 weeks ...with a deposit hanging out.
So i was not smart enough to demand to see a title in hand.. i dont think the seller is a scam guy...just not very organized. But learn from my mistake when your buying a used car or truck..
I have several repairs to make my truck useful and will lose a couple weeks of time getting it serviced before winter.

 

[Anon9283]

Found a used toyota sequoia with tons of miles that I think will work for me. Found several problems that need repair but the price was still good.
I asked the seller if he had the title and was told yes.. but the car had a loan on it. So I made up a sales agreement and put down a deposit and asked the seller to get me a loan satisfied document from his lender. He did. But he could not find his title..
I found out in wisconsin starting in 2012 you dont get a title . Only the lender has it electronically. So after the loan is paid they contact the state to send out a clean title. And because wisconsin has allowed the dmv to stay shut for two years you cant get a title in person.
So my situation hopefully will work out soon. But its a 10 day to 2 week process at minimum. I dont want to wait longer than 2 weeks ...with a deposit hanging out.
So i was not smart enough to demand to see a title in hand.. i dont think the seller is a scam guy...just not very organized. But learn from my mistake when your buying a used car or truck..
I have several repairs to make my truck useful and will lose a couple weeks of time getting it serviced before winter.

Kinda similar but I sold my 2013 Explorer to my friend and it took a week or two to get him the title and he was annoyed to have to wait. Wasn’t anything I could do just had to wait on the bank to release it but it worked out. Hope it does for you too

 

[atikovi]

My only title problem with a private seller involved duplicate titles. I found out the title he gave me had duplicate issued months later making that one void. He finally sent the correct title, but it's a good idea to run the history report and make sure the date on the title you are getting is the same as the last one issued in the report.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

If you're interested in a used car and the seller doesn't have the title in his hot little hand, walk. Dealing with anything that needs a title and it's unavailable is a real pain. Don't even bother.

Several years ago I had to dispose of a sailboat someone had given my late father. The "donor" had no paperwork. I finally junked it, but I had to give the state proof later that it had been junked because a surprise title was on file.

 

[tyman]

Next you'll tell us beware of vehicles with prior accidents.

 

[atikovi]

If you're interested in a used car and the seller doesn't have the title in his hot little hand, walk.

Majority of late model cars have loans on them and the owner wont have the title.

 

[Hall]

Majority of late model cars have loans on them and the owner wont have the title.

Still applies .... walk away.

If they're selling a car they still have a loan on, you have to wonder why it's not paid off before they tried to sell it.

 

[atikovi]

Still applies .... walk away.

If they're selling a car they still have a loan on, you have to wonder why it's not paid off before they tried to sell it.

Umm.... most folks aren't as wealthy as those on this forum. Most don't have the money to pay off the loan and often don't have the money to keep paying for it as well, which is why they are selling it in the first place.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Years ago I sold a car with a lien. We both had copies of both our ID's, signed sales agreement, the payoff, and copies of the cashiers check. He had the keys and the car and I had verified issuance of the cashiers check. Title came in about a week and I FedEx it to him the next day.

 

[Hall]

Umm.... most folks aren't as wealthy as those on this forum. Most don't have the money to pay off the loan and often don't have the money to keep paying for it as well, which is why they are selling it in the first place.

You're missing the point. The advise of "walk" or "walk away" still applies.

I'm not made of money so that is not what I'm referring to.

 

[JTK]

I suppose in an extreme case I would be willing to go with the seller to his lending institution to be part of the loan paying-off process, so I could get a lien-release letter directly from them.

Other than that, unless the seller has a clear title along with the vehicle they're selling. No thanks. Who do you think I am, atikovi? (I'm kidding with you @atikovi )

 

[fsdork]

Umm.... most folks aren't as wealthy as those on this forum. Most don't have the money to pay off the loan and often don't have the money to keep paying for it as well, which is why they are selling it in the first place.

I agree - selling it privately and paying the loan out if you're facing financial hardship seems like a smarter approach than rolling negative equity into yet another car deal.

 

[AZjeff]

I suppose in an extreme case I would be willing to go with the seller to his lending institution to be part of the loan paying-off process, so I could get a lien-release letter directly from them.

Not easy if the lending institution is Toyota Financial or GMAC etc. , the dealership has nothing to do with them. Selling used cars privately over $10k isn't so easy unless the perception is that it's a smoking deal.

@atikovi, have you raised your prices 25% this year over last year?

 

[jagdriver727]

Years ago I sold a car with a lien. We both had copies of both our ID's, signed sales agreement, the payoff, and copies of the cashiers check. He had the keys and the car and I had verified issuance of the cashiers check. Title came in about a week and I FedEx it to him the next day.

Exactly. It's not that complicated. I've bought and sold dozens if not over a hundred cars privately, not nearly as many as some people here but still a lot.

Nearly all states have an official motor vehicle bill of sale form. Fill it out, do it before a notary if that makes you feel better. 99.9% of the time, that's more than enough to protect both parties.

Buyer pays seller, seller pays lienholder who will release the lien, seller forwards title to buyer upon receipt. Prepare for delays if any step involves electronic transfer of funds. A lien would not scare me away from an otherwise good buy, so long as everything was in order to clear said lien.

 

[Hall]

A lien would not scare me away from an otherwise good buy, so long as everything was in order to clear said lien.

I bolded the important part which isn't always the case in used car sales. In case "everything wasn't in order", what do you do ? Walk ?

 

[javacontour]

My only title problem with a private seller involved duplicate titles. I found out the title he gave me had duplicate issued months later making that one void. He finally sent the correct title, but it's a good idea to run the history report and make sure the date on the title you are getting is the same as the last one issued in the report.

That's a good tip! Thanks

 

[eljefino]

Nearly all states have an official motor vehicle bill of sale form. Fill it out, do it before a notary if that makes you feel better. 99.9% of the time, that's more than enough to protect both parties.

What? No. A title in hand protects both parties. Seller is going to have to do the legwork on this, he's competing with 100s of other sellers who are competent.

Seller should call up his bank, request a paper title at location X, then meet buyer there and everyone leaves that day with what they showed up for.

A notarized contract is no good if someone disappears.

 

[atikovi]

You're missing the point. The advise of "walk" or "walk away" still applies.

I'm not made of money so that is not what I'm referring to.

Then I guess I don't understand your point. Most private sellers of late model cars have a loan, so if you walk away from those not having a title in hand, you'll find pretty slim pickings.

 

[atikovi]

@atikovi, have you raised your prices 25% this year over last year?

Only sold a dozen so far this year, and none of them late models, so can't really say. I got reasonable prices for most of them.

 

[Hall]

Most private sellers of late model cars have a loan

You can't assume anything like that at all.