Signing over a vehicle title

[Jdeere562]

How do you do it, just sign and hand it to them?
Last one I sold was to a coworker. She had a boyfriend at the time. I looked him up on Iowa Courts Online.
Had a couple tickets for no registration or proof of insurance.

Due to that alone, I made the trip to the courthouse and made it all official there together.
He thought I was being a jerk and said everyone else just signs over the title.

I just knew I wanted MY name off that vehicle, before they start driving it.
No way I wanted drug into that, in case they had an accident.

 

[Analog-1]

You did the right thing. Don't second guess it.

 

[bullwinkle]

Biggest thing is taking a pic of the signed over title with their name on it, & getting your plates off it. Not sure how it works in IA, but here in OH you're off the hook once it's notarized with their name on it.

 

[Elkins45]

I printed out a bill of sale when I sold a car last week but I forgot to fill it out. I’m not too worried about it here in KY because the signature on the title has to be notarized and the notary keeps a record. Besides, I have the plate and a record of our communication, so it probably wouldn’t be hard to convince law enforcement I sold it.

 

[Bud_One]

Do what ever you can do get you name off of that vehicle.
Take your plates too.
I sold a 99 Civic to a coworker a few years ago.
Two years later I receive a letter from the Texas DMV.
They were charging me for damage to light / telephone poles in Amarillo that the 99 Civic hit while evading police .
Seems my coworker sold it and never took it out of my name.
Person in the vehicle was running drugs and my name was still tied to the registration.
It was a mess but I proved I no longer owned it and had sold it.
Never again.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Depends on your state. Here you keep the plates. You take them to the dmv and they fill out a form saying you don’t own it anymore so you’re good to go. You definitely want off the database as owning it.

 

[javacontour]

How do you do it, just sign and hand it to them?
Last one I sold was to a coworker. She had a boyfriend at the time. I looked him up on Iowa Courts Online.
Had a couple tickets for no registration or proof of insurance.

Due to that alone, I made the trip to the courthouse and made it all official there together.
He thought I was being a jerk and said everyone else just signs over the title.

I just knew I wanted MY name off that vehicle, before they start driving it.
No way I wanted drug into that, in case they had an accident.

Here in IL the title has a "coupon" you can send to the Secretary of State. It has a barcode of the title and you fill in the buyer and seller's info for the sale. Send a copy of this to the SoS for the sale. I still have the scan of the one for the sale of the '99 MGM I sold on 7 August 2020.

I usually bring two copies of the Bill of Sale. One for the buyer so they can take it with them. One for me. Both are signed by each of us. BoS has the standard boilerplate. What's being sold, sold As-Is, buyer had an opportunity to have it professionally checked out, etc. How much, VIN, mileage statement, date and contact info for both buyer and seller.

If it's a big transaction, say 5 digits, we do it at my bank. A big plus for this arrangement is I deposit the money right away instead of walking away with a wad of cash, vulnerable to a set up. Once they say the money is good, I sign the title and the BoS, they sign as well and we are on our way.

I take my tags, etc and give them all keys, title, BoS and wish them well.

I would hope most states have a means to record the sale.


Edited to add, in IL that form is VSD 703 https://www.ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/vsd703.pdf

 

[dishdude]

I sign it over, generate a bill of sale and get a picture of their license. In AZ you can go online to the DMV and mark the vehicle as sold.

A few years ago a friend of mine sold a car, a few weeks later around 1 AM got a knock on the door. Cops were there asking him about the car he had sold a couple weeks ago, he had the buyers info and gave it to them. He asked what was up and they said "let's just say he didn't stick around after the accident". Never heard anything after that.

 

[cptbarkey]

In Texas, if you dont report it to the DMV you are liable for tolls that the new owner almost always blow through after the sale.

 

[eljefino]

Two big complicating factors:

-- States like TX and CA where the plates stay on the car. If I lived there I'd absolutely do everything mentioned in this thread.

-- Notaries. I don't need them either. It's common to give a buyer a blank signed bill of sale and title, trusting them to "fill in the rest" where I live. It helps that insurance is cheap and most people get it, at least initially to register, LOL.

 

[JTK]

In the PR of NY, you turn the plates in and cancel the insurance on the vehicle first. Then sign the title over to the new owner.

Although I do have a relative that did the above, but failed to scrape the registration sticker off the inside of the windshield. The women he sold the car to never legitimately registered the vehicle, got into an accident with it and my relative was sued.

 

[atikovi]

Ownership transfers at the time of sale. In exchange for the money, they get the title and bill of sale both of which are filled in with the buyers name and you make a copy for yourself. No handing over just a signed title. A crook could easily cause trouble by either or both putting down a price twice what he paid or mileage way less than actual, and a week later come back and say there is a mileage discrepancy, I want my money back, double what he paid you because he wrote down double what he paid.

As for getting the title out of your name. If you trade in to the dealer, 9 times out of 10 when they sell it they just reassign your title, and when the buying dealer sells it, he reassigns it to the buyer. That buyer could just as well be driving it around for years on bogus tags and no insurance.

 

[Elkins45]

@JTK What ultimately happened with the lawsuit?

 

[mclasser]

Another vote for drafting up a bill of sale to CYA, just in case.

I once private party sold a car and the next day, the guy angrily texted me saying the transmission was slipping. Mind you, the transmission was completely fine when I had this car. It was also fine when we went on an extended test drive together.

I told the guy the transmission was fine at the time of sale and IDK what he did to it in one day. After also reminding him he signed the bill of sale accepting as-is condition without any guarantees or warranties, I blocked his number.

Def. take pictures of the title signed by both parties and the buyer's DL as additional CYA.

 

[JeffKeryk]

www.dmv.ca.gov and click in the sale.
I always take a pic of their driver's license and fill out the pink including mileage.

Easy peasey

 

[doitmyself]

Hmmmmm, it was 13 years ago, but I had a similar bad experience as some others here. We sold our van to a man that stated it was for his elderly mom. He bought it, paid with a receipt of proof. We signed the title over. Kept our plates.

He never took the title to the DVM to complete the deal and get new registration and plates. He installed plates from another vehicle and let his mom drive it unregistered AND uninsured. She was prevented selling it 2 years later because it was still registered at DVM under us! We met with her at the DVM and straightened it out. Her son never told her what he did. A lawyer we consulted after the fact said that we were NOT liable for any mishaps that could have happened while they were operating the vehicle unlawfully. Scary. Live and learn.

 

[JTK]

@JTK What ultimately happened with the lawsuit?

It took him a few years, but it eventually got dropped.

 

[GMBoy]

Here in Texas this is what I do to protect myself:

Sign title and fill out the transfer of title paperwork with the buyer so they have everything they need to make the transfer.

Then I go online and there is a form you fill out that tell them you sold the car on this date and time and you are immediately documented that the car is no longer yours. Then I take my plates and toll tag off the glass as well as anything else that is tied to me.

 

[TiGeo]

How do you do it, just sign and hand it to them?
Last one I sold was to a coworker. She had a boyfriend at the time. I looked him up on Iowa Courts Online.
Had a couple tickets for no registration or proof of insurance.

Due to that alone, I made the trip to the courthouse and made it all official there together.
He thought I was being a jerk and said everyone else just signs over the title.

I just knew I wanted MY name off that vehicle, before they start driving it.
No way I wanted drug into that, in case they had an accident.

I just have always signed it, they sign it, it's theirs...I always let them drive with my plates on and then they returned them when they got it reg'd. No drama. Leins, at least here in VA, don't preclude this but the title will say lein until it's paid off. Oh and I always have a bill of sale as well. I think folks overthink this/worry about too much. If you sell the vehicle, he drives it off with my plates and robs a bank, I have no connection at that point.

 

[atikovi]

I just have always signed it, they sign it, it's theirs...I always let them drive with my plates on and then they returned them when they got it reg'd. No drama. Leins, at least here in VA, don't preclude this but the title will say lein until it's paid off. Oh and I always have a bill of sale as well. I think folks overthink this/worry about too much. If you sell the vehicle, he drives it off with my plates and robs a bank, I have no connection at that point.

You're way more trusting than most people. What if he got a dozen camera tickets? What if got in an accident? Yea your insurance may cover it but your rates are jacked or policy cancelled.