Selling car privately. required to check buyer DL?

[SlipperyPete]

Originally Posted By: GenSan
LE would not pursue a case where you handed a person your car keys and gave them permission to test drive your vehicle and they never returned it as 'vigorously' as a GTA. You would have to go through civil court system, per my LE friend.


I've been in LE for 22 years and your friend is wrong. If that were true West Virginia would be overrun with con artists as it would be the only place in the country where stealing by fraud or deceit was not a criminal offense.

Telling someone to pursue such a case civilly or that they can't report a missing person for 24 hours are tied for the leading indicators of a lazy officer.

 

[GenSan]

This was from NJ cop friend not WV.

 

[rjundi]

It sounds like you potentially live near immigrants or students?

I sold my wife's 96 Civic privately to a student from Peru who did not have a US license. She was a masters student in Geology and only needed the car for 6 months. I let her drive it on a short test drive with a friend.

In NH you are only required to sign over the title. However bill of sale and honestly picture of title is very helpful in case it goes arry. Having a drivers license is completely irrelevant to owning a vehicle and having title.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
I Having a drivers license is completely irrelevant to owning a vehicle and having title.


Some states really entangle things together because they assume their populace is trying to rip them off, or they like bureaucracy for its own sake.

Wife's friend in Florida (?) dropped insurance for a car because it was getting lots of work done and they went after her license because she didn't go through their rigamorale. Some places make you title the car within 30 days of purchase or you start paying all sorts of penalties.

But as a seller, the biggest risk, IMO, is the buyer (or someone down the chain) will "lose" the title or try and flip the car and come knocking on your door asking for a duplicate. This is when you can either state your price, or tell them to pound sand.

 

[doitmyself]

I always ask my DMV what I need to do to sell a used car because it varies from state to state. Michigan is very easy.

I use the simplest bill of sale template I can find on the internet, such as this one:

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
No DL no test drive, no cash, no car. I go one step further and make sure the person buying the car from me didn't pass funny money. I go with them to the bank and have the bills checked.

One last thing, make sure you cut the registration sticker off the window. A co-worker was pulled off a construction job we were working on years ago because a PU truck he sold to someone was sold shortly after to Joel Rifkin. The PU was traced to the co-worker via a registration sticker he didn't cut off the window before transferring the truck. IIRC the guy he sold it to never registered the truck. The co-worker was pulled off a job by the FBI and returned a few days later after it was determined he didn't commit the crimes.


I think NY must be the only state in the country that tapes the registration to the window. I never understood this... And it looks dumb!


Connecticut did, though I don't know if they do anymore.

 

[TallPaul]

In Michigan you only have to keep a copy of the fully signed over title, including buyer's signature, for to avoid any liability, in theory anyway.

Funny, when I sold the 1995 F150 a couple years ago the guy did not test drive it, I took him for a drive. He said he hasn't driven a stick in a while so would prefer I drive it. He did drive it home after the purchase though.

 

[MetalSlug]

I was once sell the old car private to local craiglist, after sign title over to him with a bill of sale, I take the tag off and bring to local state tax and turn in the tag and told them I sold the car, and she put a note on the tag say the car already been sold, I have no responsiblity with that car any more.

but here in texas, when you sold the car, the tag go with the car, but just go to your local state tax and told them the car is sold, they put the note on that the car no longer your and it been sold.

 

[Garak]

Well, this confirms there's a patchwork of laws all over the place. In this province, if someone asked for a DL from someone buying a car, they'd look at them like they were from Mars. A DL isn't required to register a car here, much less purchase one. Kids occasionally buy and license cars (and fix them up) before they get their licenses.

 

[rjundi]

I do recall taking my cousin to the dealership to purchase a BMW m3 with no valid US license. They did not let him drive it, saleman and I did(age 21)

. They did just ask for a passport for his id. He plunked down cash and was out the door. They seemed nervous about selling to him but still took the cash.

It was shipped abroad after he drove around for a few months.

 

[cashmoney]

Asking for cash is fine as long as price is low.

I had a seller insist on cash for a car I was buying for $22k. It was a royal PITA to go get $22k in cash from the bank and then drive 150 miles to go get the car (it was in another city). It took forever for the seller to look at and count 220 hundred dollar bills. My local bank branch did not have $22k in hundreds - I had to go to main bank branch in my city. I wanted that specific car very badly so I jumped thru hoops with the cash - 3 year old in mint condition cream puff with less than 13k miles on it. Normally I would have passed. A certified cashiers check paid at the bank it was drawn on and verified at local branch would have been so much easier and safer on everyone.

 

[javacontour]

I've had good fortune the past few cars I've purchased.

The last one, a month ago when my step son totaled the Vibe, I purchased the replacement car from a buddy I work out with. He said a check is fine. So I cut him a $5950 check for an 03 Corolla LE with all the service records and 120K miles on the ticker.

We are both former military officers. I trusted him, he trusted me. No worries.

When I bought the Vibe three years ago, I just wrote the dealer a check.

We bought and sold two other cars in the time frame by meeting the buyer or seller at the bank. I was fortunate that in both occurrences, we both banked with the same bank. So the buyer withdraws from the teller and the seller immediately deposits the same money. No actual cash is counted out. We each walk away with out car and/or receipts of the bank transaction as well as the appropriate paperwork, tags, etc.

If you can meet at a bank, that's a great place to complete cash transactions.