Why You Should Observe The Seller’s Behavior & Check The Title of Ownership

When people are in the market to buy a new car or truck, there’s always a plethora of things that they think they should research. Ranging from make and model of the vehicle, online reviews to even blue book value, a lot of buyers like to be thorough in their research. Surprisingly one of the most important concerns that many people forget about, is researching the seller! So in this article we’re going to cover the things that you want to research about the seller BEFORE you buy a vehicle from them.

 

• If you’re purchasing your car from a used car lot, it’s always good idea to check their Google and Yelp reviews. If they’ve got just a few positive reviews, then check how long they’ve been in business with that particular name. A lot of shady used car lots, after being sued so many times, will change their business name, and owners, with a new business license so they can restart their reviews. 

 

• Never check out a car at a parking lot or retail store, like Walmart for example, especially at night. Try to insist on another location where you know the actual address of the owner that’s selling it to you. Find out why they won’t sell the car from their home or office.

 

Always try to buy the vehicle at their house or their place of business when you buy. Otherwise, if something happens after you buy the vehicle, they can just delete your phone number, block you and you won’t be able to find them again.

 

• Make sure to view the vehicle during the daytime NOT the nighttime. Viewing a vehicle at night doesn’t give you the advantage of evaluating the whole thing under the brightness of the sun. You WILL miss things at night that you would see during the day. 
• Ask the seller for their identification (ID) to see the real name of the seller and compare their name to the title holder. Do an online search for the seller’s name to see if anything shows up. If they refuse to show their ID, then you can’t verify that they’re the title holder and are legally able to see you the vehicle. They could be selling you a stolen car!

Also, you won’t be able to do an online search for their name to find out if they’ve been caught in any shady vehicle sales in the past.

 

• When transferring a title of ownership, always look at the bottom of the title to see that the financier has signed off on it and the vehicle is free and clear. The stamp is the most important to show it’s free and legit to sell. Many times people have bought a car or truck from the rightful owner but the bank never signed off on the title. It became a nightmare for them to then go to the bank and have them sign off on it.

So it’s always a good practice to do the transaction in the day time so you can go to the Highway Patrol, Police Department or call the DMV and make sure that the title is free and clear.

NOTE – a popular new scam is criminals are selling stolen cars with false titles!

 

• Never purchase a car or truck without a title. If the owner says they’ll mail it to you because they had to order another one and it’s in the mail, you’ll never get. You need more than a bill of sale to transfer ownership.
  

Also, if you have a title in your hand feel the title paper make sure it feels correct and it wasn’t just printed. There are many scams going on today involving stolen cars being sold with phony titles.

 

• Always take a photo of the owner’s driver’s license in case there are repercussions. Many people may go by nicknames, their middle name, or some sort of alias. It’s often surprising when you actually see someone’s driver’s license and see their full legal name and address. Having a photo of this at least ensures that you have someone to go after in case anything goes wrong.

 

• Verify that the registration on the vehicle is current. If the registration tags are expired then whoever buys that vehicle and get it registered will have to pay for any back registration, late fees and parking tickets that are involved. Repeat the NEW OWNER will have to pay for all of that BEFORE it’s registered. Many new vehicle owners get stuck with this problem.

 

• In states that need smog registration, it’s always a good idea to make sure the car / truck will pass smog before purchasing.  When you are certain that this is the car or truck that you want to buy, take it to get smog checked first. Because if it doesn’t pass, it can end up costing you $1,000s of dollars. The old owner is liable for having the car pass smog but the new owner is liable for paying for the smog check, So prior to purchasing a car or truck, make sure it will pass smog.
  

 

• When finalizing the purchase make sure that you have both sets of keys. Sometimes the old owner will only have one but try to remember to ask them for the other set of keys. It’s best to do this before you pay in full. Often times, they’ll forget to get the second key which can cost you anywhere from a couple hundred dollars all the way up to $800! Only to find out they had it in their in their nightstand drawer all along.

 

• Find out if the vehicle has a salvage title. A salvage title means that the vehicle has been in a wreck, or it’s been fire damaged, stolen or something happened where the insurance company has totaled that vehicle off. Then is was sold in an auction, the new owner put it back together and now that car doesn’t have the same value as a car without a salvage title.
  
  
  Plus, that vehicle can now never be fully insured by an insurance company! So when purchasing the car/truck and looking at the title, make sure it’s not a salvage title. If it turns out that it is, that you aren’t paying full price for it. It should be around 50% to 75% of the value of the original model.
  
  
  NOTE – On top of the title, it’ll clearly say ‘State Salvage Title’.
  
   
• After purchasing a car or truck from a private buyer, ask them for nay spare accessories they may have. These include winter tires, car covers, floor mats, etc.. They may throw them in now for free since they have no need for them and it’ll just take up space.

 

NOTE – Beware of title jumping! This is a trick that involves pre-owned vehicle dealers advertising a car on platforms like Craigslist or Facebook then having a private person pretending they’re the owner.

 

Why would a dealer do this? Because some dealers title jump to avoid paying taxes on vehicle sales and skip the title transfer process altogether. Title jumping is illegal in every state, because a person must transfer the title into their name before selling the car.