Moderators, I know this topic belongs in "off topic" but I was afraid not enough people would view it to get a response.

I am considering selling my '06 TL with 16,500 miles because I'm about to move into a new house and don't really need the car. I still owe quite a bit of money (too much to just pay it off to get the title). Has anyone sold a car while the lender held the title of the vehicle? Is it an easy process? I have no idea how to do this since more than likely the buyer will be financing the car as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

do you owe on the car more than its fair market value? If not, then you may be able to get the new owner to apply for loan with your bank, and simply reassign it to him if approved. But you have to call your bank first to see how its done...

 

I owe no more than $24,000 on it and KBB and Edmonds price it around $28,000. I'm going to try to get $28,000 but no less than $27,000.

My plan is to call my lender to see what they say. But before i did that I know the members of this forum are very knowledgable and could help me out too.

Thanks for your reply.

 

I purchased my car from a guy that owed more money on it that he sold it for. I checked out the car, agreed on a purchase price, and filled out his local (California) DMV bill-of-sale downloaded on the internet. We each took copies of all paperwork and identification. Next we both drove over to my bank to get the money. I already had secured a home equity loan, so the total purchase amount was in my account. I pulled out a cashiers check for the entire amount made out to his lender complete with his account number. He took the check, and gave me the car. He even let me keep his plates so I could drive the thing back to Nevada.

He still owed another $2k on top of what i paid him, so he had to send his own check along with mine to his lender. Once paid off, he had to take his lean release to his local DMV (California) and order his own title. Once he received his title in the mail, he signed it over and mailed it to me. I then took the car & title to my local DMV (Nevada), had the car inspected, registered, and ordered my own title & plates.

The whole process took about a month after I actually took possession of the car. It was certainly worth it though as Nevada doesn't have sales tax on private party vehicle purchases. Plus I got it for WAY less than my local KBB private party value. It did take me a while to figure out how to get the car in one trip though since I had to go out-of-state for it (no 6MTs in Vegas). This meant an Auto loan was out of the question. The home equity loan gave me the cash in hand so I could purchase the car at will, on the weekend, without help from lenders or lien holders...

 

94eg! Thanks for the info. I was worried mostly about title transfer. I know i would personally feel worried if I left someone with money and didn't have a title for the vehicle. I'll call my bank, see what advice they have for me and then post something on craigslist or whatever to feel around to see if I can snatch any buyers.

Do you think asking $28,000 for a pristine '06 auto, non-navi, redondo red with 16,500 miles is too much? I think it's definitely worrth no less than $27,000. Trust me, if they didn't refresh the car it would look brand new inside and out. Plus I have all season mats and the carpet ones, i have a wood grain shift knob, the wood grain console trim and rear wood trim as well as wheel locks and a trunk tray.

 

get a copy of their drivers license... have a bill of sale written up that you both sign, and have it notorized. In the bill of sale state what each party agrees to do. You should be ok.

 

The hardest part will be finding someone that wants to buy it while you don't have the title. So many people want to SEE the title for some reason. I've bought 3 vehicles from people that still owed money on them. It's a longer process, but I've never had any problems.

 

I think each state has different sets of guidlines. I read somewhere that notorization isn't necessary, although one shouldn't believe everything they read off the internet.

What do you guys think of my price? Do you think it's fair?

 

The price is decent I suppose. You should really check places like Autotrader.com to see what others are asking in your area of the country. Set the search range for a couple hundred miles from your home, and sort by year & mileage. This will tell you what the price will take to be competitive in your area...

As for the notory, it's definitely a good extra layer of protection with a 3rd party witness on a cash/check transaction. Other than that, all you can do is try and be a decent judge of character and have a little faith.

As for not having the title on-hand, It will make it a little harder for someone paying cash/check like I did with my home equity loan. This is because they won't be able to register the car until after you to get your lien release, then your title, then you sign it over to them. But that is just the price you pay for not financing. NOT YOUR PROBLEM!

If the buyer is financing the purchase, it will be easy as pie. Their new lender will simply contact your lender and they will transfer all the papers & funds for you. Then your lender will send you a check for the difference if you not upside down on your loan. And since your selling for $27-28k, chances are the buyer WILL be getting an Auto Loan...

 

I honeslty think you are asking too much for an 06 with 16k miles. I mean not to be rude or anything but I can buy an 07TLwith 4K MI on it for $29.9. If you are really considering selling the car then you should be a little reasonable. I think you will sell the car faster if you were to ask around $26K or so.

 

Yeah, I know there are some pretty good deals to be had out there from dealers trying to move models. I figured i start at 28 and go down trying to get at least 27K because of all the little extras I have.

 

28K is definitely too high of a price for a 06 non-nav with 16k mi, I would say you're looking at 25.5 on low side to 27k on high side, if lucky. That way you owning 24K on it and what you make out of the whole deal and walking out with only 1500 may not worth it, cause you cant buy anything with that money.

It is going to be hard finding someone to buy such a car because many ppl that have that kind of money will rather buy a brand new one or from a dealer, so there has to be a price incentive for them to get it from a private party...means if you're serious about the sale then you have to price very aggressively.

Just had a situation similar to what you're describing, but here's the seller has the upper hand legally: it does not matter if the buyer will pay for the car and you'll get the Bill of Sale notarized. You give the buyer the keys, but legally, that Bill of Sale isnt **** until the loan is still in your name, you can call the cops and come reclaim the car....the buyer will only have to fight you in court...he may win, but this can be a drag. I would not wish to be in a situation of having to buy a car from someone who doesnt have title on it, and would recommend against it....way too risky

 

For a good idea of what you can sell it for try Carmax. Add $1500-2000 to what they offer you and that will give you an idea of what you might get.

My local Carmax is advertising an '06 TL with 10k miles for $30,998 or an '04 with 19k miles for $26,599. I was offered $24,000 for my 05/Navi with 31k about a month ago by them. They are located in the block next to our only local Acura dealer. This in a city of 500k residents and the next Acura dealer is about 50 miles away. Our local dealer does not deal very much which is why the resales are so high.

 

I sold my A4 that I stilled owed a few grand on before I bought my TL-S. The car was worth more than I owed on it though...

All said and done, tt was a fairly simple process. The guy that bought it got a loan for the amount we agreed on. His loan company wrote a check directly to the company I was financing through to pay off the title and the rest he gave to me as cash (they gave him a check for the difference). We used a contract I found online and I called the bank that issued the bank check during the transfer to verify the check/funds were good. Afterwards, the title gets mailed out and you just sign it over to the buyer or whomever their loan is through and it's a done deal. I was able to sell my car for nearly $5k more than any dealer had offered - I definitely recommend that route.


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Anything over $20k can be hard to sell. Your target market for the $20k-$25k is generally women and "well off" children getting graduation presents or a "back to school" ride. In my experience, nearly 8 of 10 calls on my car fell into that category and those were the most serious buyers. May be different in your area.

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Check to see what the N.A.D.A. value of your car is. Most (if not all) lenders will only loan up to that amount to anyone looking to finance the purchase of your car. If you find a cash buyer, it's less of an issue, but most people with $27k of ready cash in their pocket aren't buying used Acuras.

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