Educate me on selling a car private party

[Joemonkey]

So I have my 99 Jetta for sale in the autotrader (shameless plug) and i've gotten a few calls about it. However, I never really thought about how to transfer ownership and guarantee I get the money and the person buying it doesn't rip me off.

1. What are the only payment methods I should accept? I still owe $6300 so i'd have to pay it off with the money given to me for the car before we can actually transfer ownership right?

2. Do we have to go to the courthouse to transfer ownership? I've heard of both of you signing the title and getting it notarized works if you don't want to do that. (I'm in KY if that matters)

3. Should I tell him about these two things right off the bat: When started, 1/3 of the time the starter will make a very loud whine, like you've tried to start the car even though it's already started, and the A/C smells kinda like decayed rubber and condensation for the first minute or so it's on.

as far as the starter whine, i've found all kinds of stuff on vwvortex, and they all pretty much say "yeah it is annoying but doesn't hurt anything"

is there a way to clean out my vents? spray some kinda smelly good stuff down in them?

Also, I may be driving to NY soon to buy a car private party, how does insurance while driving it back and transferring it over if it's a weekend and stuff work?

TIA

cliff notes:
selling and possibly buying car private party, need help with payment methods and how to xfer ownership

 

[Joemonkey]

wow no one offering help today huh

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
wow no one offering help today huh

was in the mood yesterday...but today.. nah

 

[Rallispec]

if you still owe money on the car -- then i guess technically the bank actually owns your car, or at least is holding the title. In which you'll have to give them the money before they'll give the title to whoever you're selling it too.

not sure how all that works though, i've never had to deal with it before. I've never heard of having to go to the courthouse to transfer ownership though, I think you can just sign over the title, and then when you go to the DMV you can get it registered in your name.

 

[Joemonkey]

i physically have the title to my current car, so do we just sign the back and have it notarized and thats it? i mean, if he gives me cash, and i give him the car, how do i ensure he transferred ownership so next time taxes come around i don't get the bill?

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
i physically have the title to my current car, so do we just sign the back and have it notarized and thats it? i mean, if he gives me cash, and i give him the car, how do i ensure he transferred ownership so next time taxes come around i don't get the bill?

i believe most cases (at least in virginia) you just have to call the DMV (i think they evenn do it online) and report the car being sold (or purchased if you buy from a private owner)

again, i've never actually done this personally. If i were you, i would call your local DMV tomorrow morning, i'm sure thier will be somebody there who can help and answer all yoru questions. Especially becuase local laws may vary by location.

 

[T2T III]

Also, make sure you write up a bill of sale that you and the buyer should sign. Ensure that the terms "as-is, where-is" are on the bill of sale.

Trust me. I've been shafted on a car sale in the past. After meeting with a lawyer, I learned a lot about writing a proper bill of sale.

Best of luck to you.

 

[dandragonrage]

Thankfully, in many places, there is no such thing as an "as-is" sale on a car unless it's a parts car. This includes MA, but I don't know where Joemonkey lives, and unless it's MA, I wouldn't know the answer anyway.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Your DMV might have a bill of sale PDF on their site; Iowa's does. Otherwise maybe look at one from another state and write down something similar on paper. I just basically wrote:

I, John Doe, sell my 19xx Make Model to John Doe 2, for $100000.00 on <date>.

Signature, date

Worked for me.

So yeah, basically, sign over the title, write up a bill of sale, and you're done. The other guy will take the title &amp; bill of sale in and get the registration taken care of.

 

[Joemonkey]

yeah KY does in fact have a bill of sale on the DMV website, but they want to charge $8 for me to download the form 😕

EDIT: actually nevermind, that was at dmv.org's website, doesn't look like the transportation cabinet has much info at all about private party car selling