Can you sell your car while financing?

cdnav8r · October 10, 2003

I'm just curious. If you were still financing your vehicle, whether you have a few months left or a few years and you didn't have the money to pay off the remaining amount left in the financing.....are you still allowed to sell your vehicle? I am not talking about a lease, but an actual finance.

So, after you sell the vehicle, you would take that money and pay off the remainder of the money owed from the financing contract. Is that possible, or would you actually have to completely pay off the financing contract before you can legally sell the vehicle?

MacADaYear · October 10, 2003

How you gonna sell without a pink slip?

Lance Link · October 10, 2003

We just ran into the same problem, actually. We bought the new Yukon but wanted to sell the Grand Cherokee outright instead of trading. This would not have been a long-term solution, but considering the Jeep will sell fast we just put the remaining loan amount on our credit card so we could get the title. When the Jeep sells we'll pay the credit card off. That would also work with a home equity line.

MarkD · October 10, 2003

Usually, the sale and the payoff are done at the same time. If you are selling to a private party, they may want to go to the bank with you to assure them that you are paying off the lien. The title will have to be re-filed in their name anyway. As long as you give a bill of sale, the vehicle is legally theirs until the title is transferred.

Threejaws · October 10, 2003

I agree with MarkD.

seadoons · October 10, 2003

I agree. If there is a lien against the vehicle, you can "sell" it outright, just take the money, maybe along with the new buyer, and go to the bank and payoff the loan. Then get the title and have it transfered.

The SPEEDY · October 10, 2003

I also have a question concerning this type stuff.

How do you sign over the title when you are buying from a private seller? My dad has never purchased a car from an idividual and I have never baught a car so we are wondering if there is anything that we should watch out for. The car is in Shreveport LA (Louisiana title and registration) and we will need to change all that stuff over to Texas title and registration.

Don't mean to steal the thread, just looks like the question has been answered and what is the point of opening a new thread.

CMNTMXR81 · October 10, 2003

I've done this many times. They pay you, yuo pay off the remaining loan, they send the title and "release of lien" memo and you sign over the title to the new buyer.

I also write up a quick contract both parties sign saying that I am doing this, that there is still a balance owed on the vehicle and the funds the purchaser is paying me will be used to pay it off. Any remaining balance is my profit. When the title comes, I will contact purchaser and we complete the transaction.

In many cases, unless you have your loan through a local bank, having them go to the bank with you may not be an option. For instance, most of mine are through Bank One. Bank One HQ's are in downtown Chicago. Well I sold the car on a Saturday, driving 35 miles downtown to get it wasn't an option. So I went in on Monday when I was downtown, payed it off and even then, they had to get the title from their loan processing department and it took a few days for that. You'll encounter a wait also if you have a loan through GMAC, Ford motor credit, or other lending corporation (I.E. not a bank).

scooter70 · October 10, 2003

The issue is really when the buyer won't give you the check without the title. There either needs to be a level of trust, or they have to go to the bank with you. I sold a Grand Am a while back that was finianced thru GMAC. The buyer didn't want to give me the money without the car and I wasn't about to give him the car without the money.... We ended up meeting at the GMAC office an hour from my house so that he could pay off my loan. What a PITA. When I sold my Z28, I just paid the car off with my personal savings since I knew that the car was going to be sold and paid for the next week. Having a loan thru a local bank is definitely a help.

CMNT's "Bill of Sale" is required in some states, not in others. I do it regardless (it's not required here in MI). It's just added documentation just in case something goes bad in the deal.

cdnav8r · October 11, 2003

Thanks for the info. I guess I didn't really understand if you could still sell it and use that money to pay off the loan right away or if it needed to be outright owned by you before you could do something like that.

I think the replies cleared things up a lot

Lance Link · October 13, 2003

Sold the Jeep today- everything worked out well. The guy showed up with $9,100 in mostly $20s, some $100s and $50s. He didn't say and I didn't ask. I'm just happy to have sold it. The money was on my credit card for 11 days.