Buying a used car with a lien from a private seller
 

Hi all. I think I have two questions here. The first one is I am wondering if it is a good buy. I have found a 2009 Honda Civic EX-L coupe for $11,000 with 57,000 miles on Craigslist. KBB has their value for very good at $13,316. The car has a clean Carfax/Autocheck, but has been in an accident. The driver of the car hit an animal, and it was taken to a shop to get repaired. The damage to the car was on mostly all to the body. The hood, lights, radiator support, and grill all had to be replaced. From what I can tell, nothing mechanical was damaged or replaced. So first question, is this a good buy?

Second question: He still owes about $10,300 to his bank. If I decide I want the car, how would I purchase it from him? He told me that "The check or cash would be made out to me and USAA. Once the funds are verified we can go and do the title transfer at the registration office." Does that sound correct?

I've never bought a car before and I have looked into this. From what I've read, we should both go to the bank and I pay the bank. After that, the bank will send me the title via mail.

Any advice is most welcome and if I am missing any information, I will answer questions if needed. I just really would like to do this right and hope to get the best value out of it as possible.

Thank you in advance and have a wonderful day.

A quick google search yielded this:

http://budgeting.thenest.com/buy-...22040.html

I am also out in the market to buy a minivan. It is sold by a private dealer. And the vehicle is Toyota Sienna 2010 and has around 27k miles on it. It was under two owners, one was a rental and the other one was a lease. There is only one service record in the carfax. And the price the dealer quoted is around 16k. I find it to be a good deal but am wondering if the service records are of any concern. Any suggestions .. Thanks..

Not a huge fan of buying a used rental unless your getting a really good deal and an excellent warranty.

Thanks! I Google and hadn't seen that article, just a bunch of forum threads that had more or less the same information. The article does mention that I shouldn't by it if it has had any accidents, but this accident didn't seem so bad. Thanks again kind slick dealer!

Jmor, check kbb trade in value. A good deal would be that cost plus a few hundred.

Very good is $11,576
Good is $10,976

Good advice, thank you!

Uh oh, red flags. According to who, the owner telling you about it?

He sent me the Honda repair list. I will upload it for you and others to see as well so someone with more experience can tell me. He took them with a cell phone, so they are a little hard to read. I did adjust the contrast so it would be easier though.

If they changed their own oil there wont be a service record. And even if you had a dealer do the changes, they don't always record them in the system.

no its a bad buy its salvage title,,to buy it you would go down to loan office,and pay them,with the owner,then they sign title over to you,but i would not buy the car,and watch out for craigslist,lots of scammers,out there,dealers who pretend they are owners,when you call say your asking about the car if they say which on hang up,then ask about color and milege,lookfor service records,dont buy car with out them,only buy from owner,not someone selling for grandma,dont trust car fax lots of stuff is never reported,watch out for title washing,make sure its been smogged in last 90 days,its the law,look at kbb private sales and edmunds tmv for prices pay the differance kelys is too high and edmonds is 2 low
craigslist prices are too high,dont buy from dealer pretending to beowners on craigslist,

A lot of good advice there! But I dont agree that it is a salvage title. Isn't that stuff required to be reported by insurance if it is a salvage? I talked to the guy already over the phone, he was very honest and now you have me paranoid! Can you tell me why you think it is a salvage? Doesn't a vehicle have to suffer more than 50% of the total cost in an accident to be considered a salvage? Are all accidents salvage vehicles? thanks for all the advice though, a lot of good stuff.

You should always be paranoid when dealing with Craig's list!

I'm just as paranoid when dealing with dealers. My girlfriend got a used car from a dealer and it's the worst car ever, it won't even turn on anymore at 47k miles

Salvage brands ought to be on Carfax, as they're recorded at the DMV. In Florida, salvage is the status before being inspected, when it becomes rebuilt.

Many states have a title status check that lets you check on lien information for a title and VIN.

That is what I thought. Thank you for clarifying.

what exactly qualifies as a "clean carfax/autocheck"? i'm just curious [and ignorant].

A clean Carfax should mean that the car has never been in an accident, nothing to indicate that the vehicle would be a risk. This is in a perfect world.

However, a lot of places do not report to Carfax, therefore many things do not show up on the carfax report, which can be very bad sometimes. I have a 2001 Honda Accord which has had several accidents and none were reported. The Carfax came back 100% free of any negative remarks. This is why you should always take a car to a trusted mechanic.

Not to scare the issue even more, but I work for the Tax Collector's office in Florida (we handle motor vehicles as an agent for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles) so I have more of a first hand look at motor vehicle fraud than most.

Most states report real time to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), but there's about half that don't, or half that only report in batch processes every 3 months or so. Also, each state handles title brand reciprocation differently. What this means, for example, is you could have a total loss insurance vehicle in State A with a salvage title. Someone could take this vehicle to State B and transfer the title, and if that state doesn't reciprocate the brand, the end result is a clean title with no hint of an issue.

http://www.vehiclehistory.gov/NMVTIS_Map.pdf

In Florida, when we process an out of state title, we receive real time electronically every piece of title history that has been reported by any other electronic state. Where you have to be cautious is when you're buying from a state that doesn't report real time or is only in development, or not participating. South Carolina used to be a hot spot for title washing because they'd drop salvage brands from other states, but now that they're real time, they're far safer. These days, Illinois is the biggest red flag you could possibly see on a title history. Personally, I would not buy a vehicle that had a title that went through Illinois, based on what I've seen from work. New York / New Jersey titles are also very suspicious, even though they report online, but it's usually altered titles and cloned vehicles from up there. Due diligence in reviewing the physical paperwork, VIN plate, etc, can prevent issues there.

Bottom line: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In your situation, it seems like a fair deal, but you absolutely need to do your homework and have your own trusted mechanic fully inspect the vehicle, and I'd also call their lienholder as well to get any information you can.

Wow, this is very very good information my friend. I live in Texas and your pdf says that the state provides data, but does not make inquires. I don't think I should be worried, as the Carfax says one owner and was purchased here in Texas. Unfortunately, the person I am meeting lives three hours away and I don't have a trusted mechanic, but I will take someone who knows a thing or two about cars. I will also be taking the car to a Honda dealership to have it inspected. Thank you again for the valuable information.

Saw a report a few years ago that Carfax wasn't as reliable as other car accident&history report system. I suggest you google and find another more reliable source to verify Carfax's info is up to date.

I also ran an AutoCheck and checked NCIB. I did google for some other ones, but I'm not sure which ones to trust. Do you know which ones are good?

Carfax is not a good benchmark for how good a car is because if one repaired the vehicle privately from a smaller "mom and pop" shop, they often do not report it.
IMO, It does seem that the seller is acting in good faith, which is a good thing. I would go a step further and ask whether the warranty on the repairs is transferable. Most reputable shops offer a lifetime warranty on this work --Example if the paint starts peeling, panel misalignment, body rust... etc. Its not a guarantee against everything, but goes some way..

He got his work done at a Honda dealership and when we talked on the phone, he did mention that the warranty was not transferable..

Just a little update.. I ended up buying the car, it runs very well, still waiting to get the title. It could use a sixth gear though