I have a 2008 acura TL/ navi for sale privately but its my first time and I have no idea what to do. Please help me answer these questions ...

Where do I obtain all the paperwork necessary ??

Is the buyer supposed to pay taxes, not me ??

My car is not payoff, so what do I give him/her if the deal is agreed on ??

Please ignore my lack of English vocabs !! I will try to rephrase if you don't understand what I say lolz

To answer your question, you can post your car in websites like cars.com and you will need your title if you want to sell. If you had a loan for the car your bank should have the title unless you paid it off or if you put cash down, you should have the title already. Once you have buyers lined up, you just have to negotiate and then go to a currency exchange and transfer the title. He pays taxes not you.

To make ^^^ answer simple:

1> you will not pay the taxes, he will !!!
2> since ur car is financed, you will still have the title and you will need that
3> if you owe $25,000 for the car and you sell the car for $20,000 then you will have to pay the bank $5000
otherwise if you owe $25,000 and you sell the car for $30,000 then you will keep $5000

I don't think the bank will give up the title until the loan is paid off. Also, you may advertise your TL in the Black Market section:

https://acurazine.com/forums/member-cars-sale-49/

You may also put the link to your thread from the Black Market in your signature.

Good luck with the sale!

^^^ depends on state laws...

I know Massachusetts doesnt, but Missouri does !!!

I just purchased my TL in December from a private seller who still owed on the vehicle. The process was a huge pain in the @$$. I saved a lot of money, but lost a lot of sleep. Do you have any attorney friends? I ended up getting an attorney friend of mine to advise me through the process and eventually draw up a bill of sale for the transaction, which in the end helped ease things between me and the seller.

Thanks for the answers guys !!

@uncmph: I still owed money on my car. I thought about calling acura finance (with the buyer),tell them about me selling my car and ask them to transfer the title to buyer's name and hear what they say so he has confidence in paying off the car with acura finance and then the title would be mail to him and the rest of the money would be mine. is it gonna be that easy ?? lol i doubt it

About the paperworks guys, do I go to DMV and get these "bill of sale" and stuff ?? how do u guys do it ??

Thanks again for all the helpful answers

What state are you in? The Department of Motor Vechicles (DMV) should have a web site that will answer your questions. The process is slightly different in each state as far as paperwork.


The lender will not release the title until the note is paid off. You probably do need legal help as you are not familar with the process. Most people will not want to give you $20,000+ until you can provide a clear title. Good Luck. The car might need a passed safety inspection or smog as well.

I sold my lexus to a private buyer a couple of years back. However, it was paid off so I have the title in hand which was easily transfer to the buyer. The "Bill of sale" is a document you or the buyer can type up and just include you and the buyer's name with the VIN# of the vehicle and the amount paid. No need to go to DMV for that as it is not an official document.

Acura finance doesn't do title transfers. They will just release the title to whomever pays off the vehicle. If your seller gets a loan and his/her bank sends the check directly to Acura Finance with instructions, the title will be mailed directly to the bank. The tricky part is that you won't want to release the vehicle until you know Acura Finance has been paid. The buyer isn't going to want to pay for a car and wait a week or more for a check to clear in order for you to get confirmation that the check was legit. That's why I ended up having an attorney friend draw up the "bill of sale" as an agreement between me and the seller that we would in good faith follow through with our agreement. With that, the seller was willing to release the car to me the day the check was mailed as opposed to waiting until the check cleared with Acura Finance.

In NC, once the buyer gets the title signed over to the buyer by the seller in the presence of a notary public (provided the buyer pays for the car and doesn't have a loan) the buyer takes the title to the DMV, pays the taxes/fees and registers the car in his/her name. A new title is mailed to the buyer.

Look at your state's DMV website first. Later, it might be helpful to get an attorney after you have a serious buyer.

I bought my TL from a private seller who didnt have the title yet. We signed the bill of sale and i took the car from him the same day, He then gave the finance company the payoff and then mailed me the title a couple weeks later. You can also put your car on craigslist to avoid spending extra money to list it on ebay or other sites. You can obtain a bill of sale from online that both of you sign with a witness. Hope this helps

what state are you in- that will help us answer your question better
In general - the buyer agrees to a price with you

If its the balance due on the loan- then you both go to a bank working with the lender
He gives you a check which you deposit as payment and the lendor signs their release of ownership of the car- so now you can sell it- you really own it

Never trust anyone who want to send checks here and there, or have representatives see the car, want it shipped or want to give you more money and you give them back cash for the extra--All SCAMS to steal from you

you dont speak the LEGAL definitions in contracts so get some help from DMV- or your bank- car loan place
Call you lendor as they will know exactly whats required

If you sell the car for more than you owe- buyer can write a check to the bank for loan balance and the other to you for xxx dollars
Rare to come out ahead on a sale, the bank usually gets it all

In some states you are responsible for the car- tickets etc until the new owner transfers into their name
Ask your DMV about how to do that, like go from the bank to the DMV
If one of you belong to AAA you can do registration changes thru them

for more general advice do an internet search on `selling your car`

take the car to Carmax- they may give the best price on a good car- they pay off the loan and give you a check for the differance
Big companies have a deal with lendors to do that

Small places may rip you off with the same deal- then resell your car and not pay off your car!