Vette_Fan

Hey gang,

I am looking to buy a C6 from out of state. The owner doesn't have the title in hand; car has lien on it.

Can someone explain or recommend the process???

As always, Thanks in advance!!!






p.s: Looking to get back into a Vette after over a year ago, when I was involved in a terrible accident and my C5 just disintegrated. I had owned it for 12 Yrs &80K miles without any issue.

ruxvette

Meet the seller at the financial institution that holds the lien. Pay it off and walk out with the title...and the car.

rkj427

this method works perfectly as it should.............

only delay is the financial institution getting discharge of lien document completed once the loan is paid................... that delay is all of about 15 minutes for them to get everything typed up and entered into their system before they finally hand you the title..................

jaybee924

I did this when I sold my 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS Supercharged. The credit you main address is way up north that keeps all the titles and I live in Tennessee. If your dead set on buying it tell the seller to go to the financial institution and ask for the Title to be transferred to where he will meet you at and if they do it right you can buy the car and have the title on the spot. My Credit Union had a hiccup and the title didn't make it in time cause they dropped the ball but he paid me, I paid the car off with him right there and when we got done they shipped him the title so I never seen the title cause it transferred over to him. Hope that helps

S.C. vette

hogfanandy

I assume you may be paying cash although the original post didn't specify. I'll tell you what I did recently that worked well, but took a bit of faith by all parties...

Car was for sale about 6 hours from where I live. I had asked enough questions that I knew if I drove 6 hours and it was what I wanted, I wanted to get it and drive it home that day. Here was the scenario....owner had a lien, but title at main branch of bank several states away. I was also financing the car through my bank. I won't use real numbers, but agreed upon price for car was $30,000 and owner owed bank $20,000. Here's what I did.

1. Got a cashier's check from my bank for $10,000 made out to owner (I agreed to buy car and gave him $10,000 (his equity)....I had my bank get his payoff so I knew what his equity was.
2. We signed a bill of sale and each got a copy
3. I took the car that day
4. Next day I signed papers for loan of $20,000 that I was pre-approved for at my bank. My bank sent cashiers check to pay off vehicle to his bank holding the lien.
5. His bank sent my bank the title, which I picked up and took to my DMV for it to be registered in my state with lienholder being my bank.

It was a bit of a different approach, but it worked well and saved me another trip 6 hours.

Vette_Fan

It is about 5 states away, so I'll fly there - get the car checked out at a local reputed shop. Then I will pay cash or cashier's check. I intend to reach there in the morning, get everything wrapped up by late afternoon and begin driving back. It's a 3 days drive back, so I don't wanna waste any time during the transaction or having to stay at a hotel there.

15 minutes, no problem..

I would pay directly to his bank to attain the title. NOT sure what's a Lien Release card



That's great, but I don't wanna be in that situation. I want to walk away with the title, bill of sale, and anything else that's part of the ownership of the car. And I want to do all this on the day I arrive there, so I can begin driving back.

ByRiver

What State you live in, or what State the car is located is immaterial as far as purchasing it. The issue is where the lien holder is located. If you aren't local to the office where the title is kept, you will be at there mercy or time frames.

I purchased my GS from an owner who still had a Lien with Ally. It took about ten days just to get the payoff amount in writing. I needed that to calculate how much my bank needed to send Ally, and how much I needed to give the seller. Once my bank sent the check, it took a week for them to acknowledge receiving the check, and another week to send a payoff notice to the seller. He wouldn't release the car to me until he knew the lien was paid. I then gave him a check for the balance and drove the car home. This took almost a month. I was in IL, and the seller was in MO. The office that processed the paperwork was in KY, and the title was in a different office in NY. It took another week to get the title with the lien released.

The most screwy process ever. The seller was afraid I was going to bail on him because it took so long. I was afraid someone with cash was going to buy the car out from under me.

J3TVETTE

A lot of you guys here sure made it sound easy. I purchased 3 cars so far that had lien's and it was never as simple as that. The bank's who were financing the cars told me (the buyer) that it would take up to 15 days for the title to release not 15 minutes as stated. Many of the banks did not hold the title in hand and it was actually in their main branch in whatever state their headquarters is. I had to wait an average of 2-3 weeks to get the title released each time. Just throwing my experience for what its worth. Call their bank and speak to them about the process before flying out.

mikecronis

It's a very easy process. I've done it 8 times over the years.
Pay the bank (lien holder). Have him write you a bill-of-sale. Arrange for vehicle pickup. Have title sent to you. Done.

C6_Racer_X

I'm also skeptical of the 15 minute claims. That's theoretically possible, but rarely actually happens.

Who is the lien holder? If it's a bank or credit union, ask the seller to contact them and arrange for the documents to be in a local (to him) or local to you office. Also ask the seller who the bank/credit union is, and call yourself to verify that the documents will be available. Expect to hear that "We keep the titles for our car loans in our Abu Dabi office. It will take us 2 weeks to get them here." I'd call again a day or two before you travel to verify the documents have actually arrived. On your first call, you can also ask about what happens if you (as a buyer/new owner) pay off the loan, and pay the seller and get a bill of sale. Can the lender send the clear title (with lien released) directly to you in that situation? If the answer to that is "Yes," then don't worry as much about where the title is. If you pay off the loan and they give you something in writing that they are sending the clear title (with their lien released) to your address¸ that's almost as good as leaving with the title certificate.

The risk you have is, if you've paid for the car, paid off the loan, and the seller gets the clear title, he can take it to the local "TitleShark" office and get another "loan" on the clear title before you get it, and you'll be screwed. If the lender will send you the title after the lien is released, that avoids the risk there.

If you bring the vehicle home on a "Bill of sale" and some documentation from the lender saying they will send you the clear title, it's also a good idea to get a limited power of attorney (limited to the sale of the specific vehicle, identified by VIN) from the seller. That ensures that if there's any complications, you can sign for the seller and clear the matter up yourself.

If the title is currently at a "title pawn" or "title loan" shop, then it's more likely that the documents will still be in the local office. It's also possible that the title certificate they hold doesn't show the lien recorded. That's a big red flag. Some less scrupulous "title sharks" will record the lien with the state, but keep the original title certificate. When the borrower comes in and pays off the loan, they hand them their old "clear title" back, and they think all is well. When they sell the car, the buyer finds out when they try to transfer the title that the title shark has an unreleased lien on the title.

The title certificate you get should show a lien on the back side, and it should have the lien release section filled out and signed by the lien holder. It should also have the seller's signature and your information as the buyer. That's what you'll need to file with your state to get your title certificate, registration and tag. If there is no lien recorded, and no lien release filled out on the back of the title, I'd walk away, especially if the "lender" is a title-pawn type lender.

maustin195

I made a motorhome purchase not long ago. Went to the bank branch with seller and watched as he paid off the loan. Happened to be $17000 more than selling price. Recieved payoff notice but the bank took 4 weeks to get me the needed clear title. I had to wait all that time before it could be registered and plated in my name.

ruxvette

I should have said "walk out with the title and/or proof of ownership".
I have purchased 3 vettes and an suv with loans and walked out with the title twice and loan satisfaction documents with ownership reassignment papers twice.

AORoads

I guess I've lived a charmed life. Probably a result of having title in hand both for selling and buying used cars. And using a dealer most of the time.

Thanks tho to rux and C6 Racer for all the good info if I ever go down that road of buying, which I hope I don't have to. Far too many things to remember and be careful about.

However, I'm sure many here will do as I did and copy/paste your info
into a file for future.

Tonylmiller

It is easy, but be prepared to do some waiting. I brought a bank certified check and still waited an hour.

Z0SIS

If the title is held physically at the branch, then the whole process can be done in about an hour. Typically, credit unions hold physical titles. You can always have the seller arrange to have the title pulled at the branch where you are transacting to make it easier. Also have him confirm the bank holds titles physically.

In the case of bigger banks, then 7-10 days is a pretty accurate wait time for a title as they are either electronic or need to be processed. That said, I've done out of state on both ends multiple times and never once had an issue. Just use your head and common sense and you will be fine.

stingray71

I did this process and the credit union that held the lien had to order a copy of the title first so there was some lead time of a few days to them to order and receive it.
Once they had the title, I flew up and met the seller and we went to the credit union together. I brought a certified check and the transaction took about 30 minutes or less.
I took possession of the title and car and drove home.

myfunz

Very simple no tickey no shirty!

zrracer

Don’t forget to deal with the plate issue. That was the problem for me doing an out of state buy. Call your insurance company also.

FAUEE

My advice is to not do it. Huge risk, for what? Save a bit of money? The car is probably not in that great of shape, causing the lower price. Personally, I don' think it' worth the hassle and risk.