Used car buying - advice please

ycl1688 · Post by **ycl1688** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:38 am

""the finance company who I leased the car from. They will send me the title after they receive a check from the dealership that I bought out my lease from. This might take up to 2 weeks. The problem is you can't get license plates without the title. And I don't think you want to buy the car without a title. I would be willing to write up an agreement and sign over the car to you and you can hold off on payment until the title arrives, but this is up to you.

I am sorry for this confusion but the only other option is to just wait until the title comes back. I will not drive the car until that time.""

the above email is what the seller wrote to me. I did not make any deposit to the private seller, which option is better ? any other suggestion ?

the car is worth the money I believe.

Desi · Post by **Desi** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:27 am

ycl1688;269085""the finance company who I leased the car from. They will send me the title after they receive a check from the dealership that I bought out my lease from. This might take up to 2 weeks. The problem is you can't get license plates without the title. And I don't think you want to buy the car without a title. I would be willing to write up an agreement and sign over the car to you and you can hold off on payment until the title arrives, but this is up to you.

I am sorry for this confusion but the only other option is to just wait until the title comes back. I will not drive the car until that time.""

the above email is what the seller wrote to me. I did not make any deposit to the private seller, which option is better ? any other suggestion ?

the car is worth the money I believe.

Why not make a small deposit to purchase the car when the title arrives or enter into agreement to puchase without a deposit?

ycl1688 · Post by **ycl1688** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 5:11 pm

how reliable is carfax ?

Run a carfax report on the car, it is 06 lexus car, with 24k plus mileage, the seller lease this car for his business, only been to dealer
for service in sept 06, with 6000 miles and it shows sept 09 with 23k when it renewed the lease with DMV. Any odometer roll back problem ?

Any advice will be appreciated.

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 6:48 pm

ycl1688;277796how reliable is carfax ?

Run a carfax report on the car, it is 06 lexus car, with 24k plus mileage, the seller lease this car for his business, only been to dealer
for service in sept 06, with 6000 miles and it shows sept 09 with 23k when it renewed the lease with DMV. Any odometer roll back problem ?

Any advice will be appreciated.

It looks suspicious. Get it checked by a dealer. Ask the seller which dealer was servicing the car and take it back to the same dealer. If he's not forthcoming, then walk away.. Also check the VIN is correct on the bod dy and the engine..

If this was leased by the seller, then did he buy it at the end of the lease or did he extend the lease? If it's still in lease, it's unlikely the odometer is tampered.. It's too risky for the lessee.

But get it checked. A good friend of mine feel for a similar "great" deal with a so called cop in chicago area and the car was a rebuild with multiple VIN numbers. The seller wanted cash .. Another red flag..

If it's too good to be true.. it's usually too good to be true..

ycl1688 · Post by **ycl1688** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 7:31 pm

desipardesi;277801It looks suspicious. Get it checked by a dealer. Ask the seller which dealer was servicing the car and take it back to the same dealer. If he's not forthcoming, then walk away.. Also check the VIN is correct on the bod dy and the engine..

If this was leased by the seller, then did he buy it at the end of the lease or did he extend the lease? If it's still in lease, it's unlikely the odometer is tampered.. It's too risky for the lessee.

But get it checked. A good friend of mine feel for a similar "great" deal with a so called cop in chicago area and the car was a rebuild with multiple VIN numbers. The seller wanted cash .. Another red flag..

If it's too good to be true.. it's usually too good to be true..

This is a lease as commercial vehicle. the seller owns a landscaping business, it is a lexus suv.
I have copied partial note on the carfax report, the seller renewed his lease
after 3 years of lease. You have a good idea, multiple VIN numbers game with engine and body, is new to me. Yet he wants cashier check. Looks like he never went to dealer for servicing, except for the first 6 months of lease.
anyways before getting the car I have to check the VIN of the car body.
thanks.

4/21/2009 Illinois
Motor Vehicle Dept. Registration issued or renewed
Registered as lease vehicle

ana · Post by **ana** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 11:14 pm

My 06 Car has 24K and my 04 SUV has 33K. Does it mean odometer is tempered or this seems too good to be true?

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:07 am

ana;277854My 06 Car has 24K and my 04 SUV has 33K. Does it mean odometer is tempered or this seems too good to be true?

It sounds too good to be true considering you lived in NJ. If a carfax history of your car shows yearly record, it should be fine..If you got your car serviced in dealership and renewed annual tag/title where you need to mention mileage, it will show up in carfax report. If i were to buy your car, i would ask for service records if there's no carfax history for your car. Then i would take the car to a dealer to confirm the car engine is fine and odometer is not tampered with or is not involved in a car accident affecting the structure/body of the car. If you are hesitant, it will be a red flag for the buyer.

To backup the claim, one should keep service records, not detailed... Atleast oil change records, 15k-30k mile service record which will show the mileage and the date of service.. If you have a nicely maintained car with low mileage, no accidents and have some service records, then it will sell quick.

sammy123 · Post by **sammy123** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:11 pm

Does the carfax showup stuff like sold at auto auction?? If so it's probably a totalled/rebuilt/repo vehicle.
Multiple vin numbers??? i'm not sure how that's possible...however one can get a new title for a salvaged/rebuilt vehicle.

Nowadays tampering/overriding vehicle codes is easy with an OBD as well.

Ask him if he has carmax appraisal. If he does , see it and offer 10% more. since carmax gives wholesale tradein value and the private value would be 10 -20% over what carmax gives.

layman · Post by **layman** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:10 pm

For buying used car, we should get the title from the seller and execute a bill of sale. Is there any other documentation, formalites while buying a used car from a private seller?

FB2020 · Post by **FB2020** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:24 pm

Adding one more comment to others'.
If the price you're paying is "fair" per BB value, or similar that's fine. If you're paying less than that, be sure to document it since DMV generally sends a letter asking you to explain why you bought for less than fair value.
People do that to save on sales tax. As long as you have documented proof you should be fine though. I've had this sometime back and I sent the letter back to DMV attaching proof signed by seller.