So this is a rant...I wasn't around for this process but here goes.

My girlfriend sold her old beat up Honda accord Sunday. The buyer was some older guy who owns a small makeshift dealership and I guess but he said it was for his daughter.

1)The car was sold for $400 cash. Clunker but it works.
2)He asked my gf to not fill in the purchase price on the title. Something about saving a few bucks on registration and she said "OK."
3)We can't seem to get this guy to give us a copy of the title with his signature.

She's freaking out now because there was no Purchase and Sale contract and she read something about the "Lemon Law" and also something about her technically being held accountable if that car gets into an accident before it's registered/insured under the new buyer's name.

The Police said that we have to get the guy to sign some type of Sale agreement but he isn't easy to get on the phone.

Anyone got advice on how to proceed? Should we be worried?
[Reply]

I know when we traded in my wifes car, we had to sign and got copies of a few forms. Power of Attorney, Transfer and Release of Liability, and Bill of sale forms. Similar to those found here ( http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures...cts/ffvr32.htm )at the CA DMV website. There may be other information at your DMV office/website on what exactly will be required.

Good luck
[Reply]

Bao, no worries Brother. A lot of my friends used to deal with used cars all the time, buy, fix sell sort of thing. Sometimes things just get held up cause the state and what not. I don't know how things work where you're at but in Jersey you hand over the titale and by holding the title, that almost gives you possession of that car.

So long as he signed the title and you signed off on it, a copy is, well, just that, a Copy. The read deal is the one they would go back to if anything happened in the time lapse.

Be sure to notify her insurance company immediately if you haven't already. This puts a time frame on the sale by a third party.

Good luck to you too but I wouldn't sweat it out.
[Reply]

Sounds to me like he's trying to skip title. In other words, not putting it in his name before re-selling it. A bill of sale signed by him would be a good thing to have, technically the car is still in your (her) name. Do the police have a record of your concerns if anything comes up in the future?
[Reply]

Thanks for the info gents. She told the Police last night about it, which is when they told her to get the guy to sign a Sale Agreement. She signed off on the title but that other guy didn't. He tried to pull a fast one over us by making a photocopy of the title and signing that versus photocopying a signed title. I'm not overly concerned about the whole thing but she's super paranoid and doesn't trust the guy.
[Reply]

Hey your from the NE, send Guido, Mario, and Luigi over with an offer he can't refuse..... Good luck on this shifty guy.
[Reply]

Long post here sorry...
My wife and I had something similar happen. We were on the other end and purchased a car with the same circumstances. The car ended up being a lemon (engine blew up within 1 week, gallon of stop leak was all over the interior of the hood) make a long story short when we tried to track the guy down who sold us the car we couldn't find him. The title our only proof of sale had the previous owner's name on it. The guy we bought it from told us it wasn't a big deal etc.etc. Guys do this to flip cars quick and keep there name off of it. So it looks like owner #1 sold it to owner #2 when there was really 3 owners. They have friends to give them inspectoion tickets. So the car is "good". So the person who buys it in the long run is hung out to dry. We had to contact the previous owner who gave us the guys name which was fake. He even sold us the car away from any residence. But it turned out the guy wasn't a dealer it was his wife's brother in law or some crap. After threatening with legal action after I spent two weeks tracking the guy down, they purchased the car back.
I guess what I'm trying to say is no matter how trivial I always now get things done by a notary(free at my bank) and always fill out legal documents honesty.
[Reply]

Thanks for sharing Frank...That explains a lot..She is very concerned about how this will come back to her in the future.
[Reply]

Yep, the guy is a shady dealer. Any probelms with the car and he's free and clear. The car is still technically in her name until the new purchaser signs the title.

Did you remove the tags when you traded it?
[Reply]

The car had no tags or insurance...it was sitting in my driveway for months not being used.
[Reply]

The story about saving money on the registration is false in MA. It doesn't matter how much you sell it to him for it's the price that the books go by for the taxes (or that might be in NH, I've changed back and forth I get confused).
Todd
[Reply]

:-)

He could save on the sales tax, but the excise tax is based on book value, so he wouldn't save anything there.

I hope everythin works out, Bao...I think you would be safe with the police knowing the details. Best of luck.
[Reply]

I hope it put things in a little perspective. I dont know how liable your GF could be held. If you or her feel like things are sketchy they usually are brother. I know my GF goes off on some wild tangents sometimes and more often than not gets all worked up over nothing I still try to support her. If she feels like something is off or doesnt seem as it is, I back her up on it.

Also, if this guy sells the car to someone else and they cut him a check or something then it's a sale between the new buyer and your GF. It will make it's way into the endless network of paperwork and might come back to bite her as unclaimed income. In Maryland if you do not fill out the purchase price on the title with an accompanying bill of sale that is notarized the DMV goes off the bluebook value and basis it's records on that. So you might have gotten 400$ for the care but when Slick Rick goes to sell it, the buyer will have to take the title to the DMV. Bluebook might be 1-2grand and you'll end up biting the tax bullet.

Just like anything in life, if it seems to good to be true, that's because it is. Same goes for people if they seem shady or what have you it's because they are.
[Reply]

True brother..very true...She's all worked up over this asking lawyers we know and stuff. All I can do is try to ease her mind. We'll see what happens.
[Reply]

Call the cops and report the car stolen.

GF is now off the hook.


:-)
[Reply]

LOl ya you left the title on the passenger seat by accident!
[Reply]

we thought about it...:-)
[Reply]

If a MA dealer sells the car, the sales tax is on price paid, not book value. Private party sales you are correct.
[Reply]

In NY you can only buy and sell a certain amount of cars in a year without being considered a dealer. Becoming a dealer has its expenses. You ahve to pay taxes on profit also. The guy is just keeping his name off the paperwork so he does not need to become a dealer.
[Reply]

But he's got a dealership though. We found this out after the fact so I don't think that is the worry for him. I'm starting to think (worst case) he just wants to keep his name off it and resell it so that there is no liability on his part if something goes wrong.
[Reply]