My 2nd Mini, a HB/W MCS is bound for these shores, so the time has come to sell my first car, a 2005 MC.

However.. the Cooper was my first car, and so I've never sold a car before. I'd like to sell it privately if possible, to make as much as I can from the sale. I would be very grateful if someone familiar with the process could list exactly what forms I need to complete for the DMV, and how I should go about the process. I have a vague idea as what to do, but I'd like to really get a handle on the process.

Also, to complicate things, I don't own the title to the car, as I'm only a year into a 5 year loan. How do I deal with the loan company and the title? Do I need to pay the loan off completely, then give the buyer the title? It's a confusing process..

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

We just did this with the sale of a car out of a lease.

First you need a buyer, adverstise in the papers and autotrader online. You will also need to find out what your exact buyout is from the finance company.

Once you find a buyer you will need to get a cashiers check made out to whomever financed your car (if you call them and tell them you need a payoff packet they will send you everything you need to finish the transaction with them)

Then you should fedex the payment to the finance company and within a few days you can get the title to the car fedexed back to you. At this point you can turn the title over to the new buyer of the car.

DMV Forms - If you go to the CA DMV site you can get a release of liability form and a bill of sale form. I also recommend you write up a bill of sale on your own specifiying that once you recieve the title to the car you will immediatly turn it over to the new owner. I copied the bill of sale form that came from the leasing company and changed some words to suit my needs.

Do not forget that the the new owner of the car will be liable for the sales tax on the buyout. If you sell the car for less than what you owe, you will need to pay the difference.

Hope that helps, lmk if you need more info

 

Thanks, that's great, I think that pretty much covers everything!

Is it common for the person buying the car to drive off without the title? I don't see any other way of doing this, but I imagine it takes some trust on the part of the buyer to hand over the cash and leave without the title in hand.

Other than that it sounds fairly straightforward. Seeing as the balance of the loan is less than I hope to make on the sale, I would assume the buyer would write two checks, one for me, and one for the loan company with the balance to be paid off?

Thanks again, that was a very helpful and concise response.

 

I know this sounds odd, but if you find a buyer who is in turn financing the vehicle to pay you (versus cashiers check or cash) and goes through their credit union or bank, the financial institution will take care of everything for you, at least this has been my experience. In my recent sale of my 03' Jetta in July all I needed to do was provide a copy of the vehicle registration and payoff information and they cut me a cashier's check for the difference of the sale price and the payoff amount. All of the DMV paperwork was processed by the credit union, as they were the new lienholder and they take care of that stuff on a daily basis. The title was then sent straight from VW Credit to the buyer's credit union. I loved that I didn't have to do anything with the DMV. Good luck!