supergthang

iTrader: (2)

I have done a search, but i think this scenario is a little different.

I am in the midst of purchasing a car from a memeber on this board. Currently, we have negotiated a selling price. I would pay out his lein from Nissan, and give him the remainder. In turn, he would leave the car with me the day i pay him and send out the cheque for the lein. The title would then be mailed out to him, and he would have to sign off on it. We are going to a notary to have our bill of sale/ contract signatures verified.


Is this safe and is there anything that i am missing. Accordign to Nissan and teh DMV, this probably the only way of doing this. We will fill out the required forms from the DMV to transfer the paperless title and what not.

The difference here is that he is willing to leave the car with me...The trust component is there, but we both want to be safe as well.

Also, i am from Canada, and he is in Cali, and i do need the original title.

All of your thoughts are apprecaited.

Thanks

Navygolf13

iTrader: (5)

With it being notarized, I think it is safe. I would talk to the lien holder and see if you can set up an escrow account maybe. Then you would put money into the account and when the escrow account is funded then the lienholder can release the title....maybe, similar to a home purchase.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

I think you have everything covered. BTW how do you know the exact pay-off?

Equinox

iTrader: (2)

Some lienholders/banks will allow you to deal directly through them. For example, one of my previous cars I sold was done like so.

- I owed $15,000 to the bank for the car.
- Buyer wanted to pay $18,000 for it.
- Buyer sent payment of $18,000 directly to the bank with instructions that title be sent directly to him.
- After bank received payment from buyer, they issued me a check for the leftover amount, $3,000.

Good luck on your transaction

supergthang

iTrader: (2)

The current owner of the vehicle gave me authorization on his Nissan Finance account to inquire on the exact payout. Too bad its an electronice title!


Thanks for your help.

bailey bill

Uhh...If you can't see the problems with that scenario, you're not thinking very clearly!

Your going to 1) pay off the sellers loan AND 2) give him cash to boot.

And 3) a few days later, HE gets a clear title to the vehicle.

His loan is paid off, he has cash in his pocket, and a clear title in his name to the vehicle.

See the problem???

That definitely is NOT the way its done in the the US!

bill

JDMFairladyZ33

iTrader: (37)

+1 I would look into this or spend some $ and buy a one way ticket to Cali, go with him to a Nissan dealer, have them process the payout and issue the title to your name, and then drive the car home. You can even ask him to split the difference of your plane ticket. Your original idea is not the best way to go. If he wants to screw you, not saying he will or could, flying out will save you a ton of trouble and give you a piece of mind. That's something I am willing to pay for.

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Good. I think you have all the bases covered.

supergthang

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for your post, Bill. I see what you are saying. I am going to see him this wknd, and take possession of the car. On the other hand, i will have documented proof that indicates we have made a purchase and sale agreement, and that i have carried out my part.

With respect to the other post, i am going to fly there, however, Nissan Finance cannot just issue a title. We have to mail a payout, and go from there. Its not as simple as going to the dealer.... Again, the car will be in my possession during the title transfer/issuance period. He has agreed to mail the title to me. I don't see why he would need to hold the title, its of no use to him, he won't have the car. I don't think that he will want to go litigation for no apparent reason.... Plus, he won't know where the car is going to be either. Hope this works!

Thanks for your opinions.


Apparently, i cannot do this any other way unless the buyer can pay out his own lein (which in this case, its not an option). I guess certain lein holders do things certain ways, and this is the way Nissan and the DMV have both recommended.

Day-Day

A couple of things to look out for:

1. Make sure there is not a 2nd lien holder
2. Make sure there is not a joint owner (e.g. wife + divorce = bad)

I'm sure there are some other issues that could come up. I'm still at a loss as to why Nissan can't have the title transferred and mailed directly to you.

Since you may not need the title for Canada, this may not be a big deal.

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

Bailey_bill just about covered what I was going to say. I am actually going through a similar situation where I am selling my car to which I do not own the title. The bank does. The way we did it is I pay off the car, produce a title and the buyer buys the car from me and I hand the title over to him right there, right then. To protect myself, I took a deposit which I keep if he backs out so if he does, I get some money to justify the risks to me in case I pay off the car and he walks. All of this is written up in the bill of sale.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the payoff amoutn changes DAILY. By mailing the check out, you're taking a risk that you may miss that amount. If you're off by a penny, they will not release the title to you. I believe you can get the pay off schedule and mail in the worse case scenario, about 1 week ahead or so. This way you won't miss the amount in case your checks takes an extra day or 2 to get there and you will get the check for the difference in the mail. Just something to be aware of.

supergthang

iTrader: (2)

Hi Ziggy, thanks for your reply. I have verified with Nissan Finance, and according to them, the payout is valid for 10 full days. This is due to the mailing system, since they will not accept payments over the counter. I was quoted a payout yesterday, valid until April 26, 2007. I am going to Fedex overnight the cashiers check. I would have the buyer payout the lien, but he is unable to produce the funds (and for this reason, i am taking the car the day i send the cheque to Nissan).

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

In that case, I think you're in good shape.

I think your arrangement doed dictate some amount of "trust" between 2 parties. Yes, you have everything on paper and legally, you are covered but if the person doe decide to walk, you'll have no choice but to hire a lawyer to set things straight. Odds of that are small and risks are minimal. I think you did fine the way you did. My situation is a bit different because I had the means to pay off my car before I sold it. Now if only the registry would get off their dumpers and mailed me the title a little sooner, I'd be done with this deal now

ZsDaBest

Sorry to bring up this post back from the past - but I have a related question. Responses would be appreciated.

What is the original owner owes more money to his bank than what he is selling the car for? I assume he is responsible for paying off this difference? What if he does not have the 'difference' funds available right away? (Since the Lien won't release the title till the amount is paid off?)

Please let me know if you have the info.
Thanks!

Ziggyrama

iTrader: (15)

Than either he has to 'sell' you the car with the lein on the car or you just walk away. I am not even sure if he can sell you the car this way since he does not own it technically. Obviously, this is the seller's problem, not yours. You could get creative but in the end, this has to be worked out by the seller, unless you're willing to pay more to account for the difference. I'd just walk away from the deal with the seller. If the seller expects to just walk away clean from the transaction where he owes significantly more than the selling price, he/she needs to readjust their expectations. It's not realistic. You can't borrow more, sell for less and expect to walk away at the end without owing anything.

Even if you LOVE the car and are willing to pay the extra to account for the difference which will cover the lein, you may have issues with financing, if you're going to finance the car. Banks dont like lending out more than what the value of the car is. You can get around that by dropping some extra money out of your own pocket to bring the total financing amoutn down to keep the bank happy but at this point, you're REALLY working hard to make this all happen. May not be the best financial decision for you. Obviously, you have to be the judge of that.

ZsDaBest

Well, first of, I hope i understand the meaning of the term 'walk-away'. You mean, shun/abort the deal?

Second, obviously I won't be paying the difference (It is not a small amount. It is close to 4k). It is like telling the seller 'oh, sell me the car for X+4K instead of X').

I think I answered my own questions - but wanted opinions/suggestions. So basically I request the seller to pay the difference (difference between payoff amount and sale amount) and then 'I' go to my bank and take a loan for the balance (sale amount), cut out the check and send it to the seller's bank guys.

This will be smooth if and only if
1. The seller agrees to make the difference payment right away (before the ' payoff good thru date expires' AND
2. My bank sends the check to the seller's bank (again, before the ' payoff good thru date expires').

That way, the first lien's requirements will be satisfied and will send the title to my bank. Correct?

(I might have to 'walk-away' if the seller says, 'I can't afford to pay the difference amount up-front'. Unless I am willing to wait a few more months so that the seller is able to make higher payments and come down to the sale amount (as put in the Bill Of Sale). (Which I don't think I'll be doing).

(Damn - this should be a good post for future reference. I think it covers a lot of scenarios!)

Thanks!

bailey bill

Short answer:

Unless someone satisfies the lien, the lender is not going to release the title.

bill

davidv

iTrader: (2)

So how do you like the 350Z?

davidv

iTrader: (2)

Excellent.