craig_vette

I hesitated to make a thread about this but I guess it's better to err on the safe side. Long story short, there was a slight (3K) mileage discrepancy on the seller's title. Apparently back in 2006 one of the service shops recorded the wrong mileage (looks like they entered 71K when they should've entered 61K), so now the Carfax shows the wrong mileage on the car. The actual mileage is 68,500 miles but the Carfax shows 71K. Worried that the seller was guilty of rolling back the odometer, I did some investigating and called the shop that had performed the car's oil changes over the years. The oil changes are compatible with the seller's claims so it turns out that it indeed was a misentry on the Carfax. The seller sent the Title off last week to get the mileage corrected on it so when I arrived today to pick up the vehicle, all the seller had was a Bill of Sale. The seller assured me he'd send the Title to me asap (it's supposed to take 2-4 weeks to get mileage corrected on title).

Anybody ever ran into a similar situation? Should I be worried? I don't have bad vibes with the seller but I don't want to be an idiot either. I have a bill of sale with his signature + another form he had to get notarized (for my state). Since all of this went down today after the bank closed, I suppose I could call my bank first thing Monday morning and tell them to stop the check until I get a title but I know the seller would be greatly pissed.

Edit: The title is in the seller's name. I don't doubt that.

1Willy1

I wouldn't give them more then a small deposit, $100-$500 until the title was ready to go

What if theres a problem with getting the title back, what if he moves, dies, what if hes lying

This is an easy one man, don't buy a car with no title

craig_vette

I have a copy of the title (seller's name is on it, matches VIN#), but not THE title.

CQRT

Except he already had possession of the car so all of this is a little late.

Hope it works out. I wouldn't stop the check since you have the car. But you better insure it...but I wouldn't really driuve it until you have clear ownership co veyed by the title.

1Willy1

Well then theres nothing we can do to help, hes now at the mercy of this seller

How can he get a car he doesn't own insured?

Maybe the laws are different there, but here in Canada that car wouldn't be able to be registerred or get insured.

OP hopefully your gut feeling about this guy is right, and hes honest , just give it some time to see.

craig_vette

It's already insured. I got it insured before I picked it up. The seller forwarded a copy of the title to my credit union (my credit union provided the copy to me as well) before the creidt union gave me the check to hand to the seller.

1Willy1

That's good news, but is it a permanent insurance?

I can go buy a car and be covered by my insurance company for like 10 days or so,until all the paperwork is done, maybe even up to 30 days maximum if I really needed, but without title in my name I will not be able to get a real policy under that car.

Hope it works out man

Thanks for the info, pretty much the same here

dadaroo

How in the world does Carfax and a shop affect what mileage is on a title???? I have only seen mileage recorded on a title when ownership is transferred.


Mr. Sam

92GA

How's that? My insurance company has no idea where the title is for my car. I just bought a motor home out of state and had full coverage insurance on it before I even paid for it. Had I not had insurance on it the dealer wouldn't have released it to me even though I had paid for it.

v98roadie

If your bill of sale is signed by the owner of record (better yet notarized) and you have a copy of the front and back of the title showing no outstanding liens you're in good shape. If there is an outstanding lien that hasn't been cleared you would have to deal with the lending institution if the owner failed to sign over the title. If you have the car the owner would have no reason to cause you an issue unless it is a stolen vehicle. Sounds like you ruled that out. The mileage thing is a bit odd. Good luck, enjoy the ride!

ronwc

There are so many red flags to this story, hard to narrow it down to just one. First of all, just because someone has possession of a car and a "copy" of a title, doesn't mean they own it. Just as one example, what if he "accidentally" erased the lienholders name off the copy. And a written bill of sale means very little. Having bought well over 75 cars from private owners (7 corvettes), I've heard all kinds of stories. Bottom line, I never paid for a car until I had title in hand.

I have heard of understating mileage for obvious reasons, but have never heard of overstating, and oil change places and or carfax have nothing to do with either as far as title is concerned. Another red flag with sellers story.

You can bet he is going to be down at the bank first thing Mon morning to cash that check, after that all you have is a car with no title and a piece of paper, he has cash in hand. I would put a hold on that ASAP, and let him get pissed. In fact, if it were me, I would call him and tell that you are bringing car back and will leave a small $200 deposit until title comes in.

The whole thing may be perfectly legitimate, but you will be the one paying the price if it is not. If it is for real, the seller should not have a problem holding a deposit until title comes in.

As far as insurance goes, they will be glad to take your money as long as you can give them a VIN. However, I would park the car and not drive it at all with or without ins, it's not legal anyway since you have no title or tag in your name.

In the end, I hope all works out well for you.

rrwirsi

Insurance: Your current auto policy automatically covers you with the same coverage’s for a new private passenger vehicle as long as you ask your carrier to insure it within 30 days after you become the owner (Bill of Sale date).
Title: If you bought the car at a stealership and paid for it by check, they would not give you the title (but let you drive it off) until the check properly clears. Unless cash is given, I do the same when selling my cars privately whether it is a bank or personal check.

c4cruiser

It shouldn't. Here in WA, mileage on the odometer is supposed to be recorded on the Bill of Sale and the seller's copy of the Title when the seller signs it. But our laws don't require mileage reporting on a car that's over 10 years old. I would think that most DMV's shouldn't really care about a 3K error in mileage. The seller probably should have used the Carfax mileage and called it good.

The mileage difference the OP found shouldn't be a big deal as he could easily make that mileage up by driving the car. Dealers report some things to Carfax, but independent shops usually don't.

A signed copy of the Bill of Sale showing the names and addresses of the buyer and seller, the VIN, license plate number, selling price and date and the seller's registration should be enough to show ownership. Getting it notarized is a good idea if not a requirement in some states.

zachaeous

I went through a situation when buying a Corvette in North Carolina. I live in Illinois. When talking to the seller on the phone he assured me that he owned the car free and clear.

My mistake was trusting him. He claimed he was a dealer also. Not only did he not have the title, it was being held at a financial institution on a 30 day note.

He needed my money to pay the car off. I forced him to go and pay off the car and get me the clear title. He did this, but I had to waste a whole day waiting for this to take place.

I think you will be fine in your situation if you trust the seller to do the right thing.

On a side note to legally drive the vehicle out of North Carolina you had to obtain a temporary transit tag. You had to have the title to the car to get this.

I hope every thing works out for you.

craig_vette

To clarify, I'm the 3rd owner. In 2005 when the 2nd owner bought the car, I suppose the DMV inspector wrote 71K miles on the title instead 61K miles. On the Carfax, it shows 71K miles in 2005. Since that time, the car has been serviced but not at a shop that reports their services to Carfax. Thus, the last reading on Carfax is 71K miles from 2005. That obviously looked crazy so I contacted the service shop and sure enough, they had records from each oil change dating back to 2007. This cleared up the mileage discrepancy for me. The seller (per my insistence which I almost regret now) is trying to get the title changed to the current mileage. It's supposed to come back from the gov in "2-4 weeks" with 68K miles shown on the title. That title will then be signed over to me.

None of this would've be an issue if the seller was closeby. I would've just turned around and waited till the title came back. But I drove 8 hours there and it's like "well I have everything else, I've got his signature, it's a contract." My credit union unverified there were no liens on the car before they issued the check to me.

Weck86

OP, I think you will be just fine, eventually. I haven't bought anywhere near as many cars as ronwc, but I have bought over 45 in my lifetime and in my travels have had the so called pleasure of dealing with DMV'z in Illinois, Indiana, Connecticut, California, Arizona and Texas.

It's always, always best to take ronwc's advice and get clear title in hand, saves time and frustration. But in your case I think you have all the paperwork you will need to eventually get clear title. In Texas we have a DMV form that gives power of attorney to the buyer (in your case probably to the credit union, the form they made you get signed) to transfer title. If the seller signed such a form he effectively gave up ownership of the vehicle.

Try to sleep sound, you'll be ok. Maybe some hassle ahead, but you'll be ok. Take it as a learning experience, no title, no money to the seller, no matter how much you want the car.

old cars are cool

In Connecticut they don't issue titles for cars over 10 years old. You just use a bill of sale. If the car is from out of state they require a vin verification. you come in and a inspector looks at the vin.

1Willy1

Yes a temporary insurance, I can get that as well without a title for a period of time until the paperwork and transfer is complete, but once the paperwork is done they need to see the title with your name on it, to finalize the policy on that vehicle.

if you have an insurance company that doesn't care whether or not you even own the vehicle your insuring id consider them a half assed company.


Out of 20 or 30 posts you seem to be the only one saying it like it is.

We all hope this works out for him, but if it doesn't hes the only one who will be suffering.

What scares me is that the seller didn't seem to tell him before he drove 8 hours to meet, that oops, I sent off the title to the government and I no longer have it.

Also I HIGHLY doubt the government would ask him to send off the only title he has, in the damn mail, to have it reviewed and changed, all they would need is a copy , and then they could reprint a new one.

Ask anyone who has found themselves in possession of a car with no title , how incredibly hard, if not impossibly hard it was to get a new title made in their name.

In some cases its not possible and the car becomes a parts car.

I remember my grandmother had possession of someones old Suzuki sidekick, It was given to her, but they forgot to leave her the title, in the end she had to have the car towed up to her summer camping grounds so it could be used as a utility vehicle, because it was never able to get legally transferred and registered on the road.

Yet we have 20-30 people telling him its ok, he has nothing to worry about , its horrible advice man, if you can put a stop on the check id do it, until this title appears in your hand.

92GA

SO you have always paid cash for all your vehicles and have shown your titles to the insurance man. I call BULL hit. I have never in my life had to show a title to get insurance on any vehicle, and I've owned a bunch of them. I'll bet you are the only one on here that has had to show their title to get insurance on their car. The only cars my insurance man has seen is my classic Trans Am and that's because I have stated value insurance on it, still didn't ask to see the title.

1Willy1

Good to hear, so maybe things are going to work out for the OP, here in Canada its different, but looks like his story is turning out to be credible so far if that's the case

Wow, so your telling me now that the united states is so incompetent, so inept, that they will insure vehicles without any proof of ownership ?

What the **** does it matter if ive paid cash for all my cars? What the **** does that have to do with anything?

Yes anytime ive bought a car, I am automatically insured, and I have 30 days or less to show that the ownership and registration has been transferred to my name, otherwise im sure they would pull the insurance on it, they would have too, since I cant prove the car is legally mine !!!!!!