selling a car

[bazookaman]

So I've sold a couple cars many many years ago and cannot remember what I need to do. I've got a buyer for my truck and I'm not sure what I need to do to complete the transaction. We've decided on price. I've got the title. Do i take cash? A bank check? Do i sign the title over? Just not sure of the exact steps involved.

[Paul F.]

Cash... at the teller window for your bank... deposit immediately, so the onus is then on the bank to detect counterfeit notes.

Then sign the title over, you both sign a receipt (two copies), and you go your separate ways.

That's what I'd do, anyway.



Note: any smog-checks your state requires may complicate things a bit.

[cbelt3]

Depends entirely on your state's processes. Check your local friendly DMV web site.

[Markintosh]

Depends on the state...in California:
1) In California, the seller is responsible for getting a smog certificate that is dated less than 90 days before the sale.
2) Accept cash or accompany the buyer to their bank
3) Sign over title and odometer mileage statement
4) Submit a release of liability form to DMV immediately. You can print them out online and mail them in.
5) Generally speaking, you can also provide some sort of bill of sale. While that is not required for the new owner to register the car, it's a place to document the sales price and terms such as "as-is". Bills of sale for vehicles are also widely available online.

Keep copies of everything....

[bazookaman]

Yeah. Not in California thankfully. Good ol' North Carolina.

I like the going to the bank though and getting the money.

[Speedy]

I take cash but am not concerned about counterfeiting because I verify transfer and ID at the DMV. I state in my Craigslist ad that we must go to the DMV office (which is less than four mostly-country miles away) to complete the transaction to make certain the vehicle is transferred because if the transfer does not take place I am responsible should the vehicle be in an accident. Some people will wait to transfer as long as possible to avoid the excise (sales) tax. I would also be responsible for any fines due to failure to get license plates when next due. We exchange cash at the DMV.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Speedy wrote:
I take cash but am not concerned about counterfeiting because I verify transfer and ID at the DMV. I state in my Craigslist ad that we must go to the DMV office (which is less than four mostly-country miles away) to complete the transaction to make certain the vehicle is transferred because if the transfer does not take place I am responsible should the vehicle be in an accident. Some people will wait to transfer as long as possible to avoid the excise (sales) tax. I would also be responsible for any fines due to failure to get license plates when next due. We exchange cash at the DMV.

In CA the transfer is deemed complete when the transfer paperwork has been completed by the seller and filed with the DMV.

[davester]

I don't like to carry around that much cash. Therefore, if selling a vehicle I ask for a cashier's check that I receive from the teller at the buyer's bank. I won't take a cashier's check that is simply handed to me by the buyer because those are so often counterfeited.

As far as DMV paperwork, that is 100% dependent on your state's rules. Just go to the DMV website and it'll tell you what to do.

[thermarest]

I just sold one. I have an account at the same bank as buyer so we didn't even need the cashier check. Went to teller window, transfer funds, sign title, done.

[mrlynn]

I sold my old van last summer. The buyer paid me in $100 bills; it never occurred to me to suspect counterfeit. If it were a lot of money, I'd have taken a bank check. I had him sign two copies of an "As Is" bill of sale (with an indemnity clause, as the frame was dangerously rusted), signed over the title, and he drove it off.

In Massachusetts you have to turn in the plates, so I kept them and took them to my insurance agency the next day. The buyer has to pay sales tax when he registers the vehicle; if there's no bill of sale, the Registry charges blue-book value.

/Mr Lynn