Buying a used car with a lein.
 

There is a car I want to buy and the owner said that it is still not paid off. Meaning it has a lein. How do I go about doing this without getting screwed over?

y is the owner selling

cant afford payments

they could be trying to get rid of a piece of junk onto someone else ?

my 2 cents

yea i wouldn't touch it...sounds like trouble

If it has a lein he/she most likley can't afford the car any loner, which usally means that they ccouldn't afford the maintance either.

My 2 cents

It's a 2004 Jetta GLI. He bought it from the dealership 2 1/2 years ago making monthly payments.
So now he wants to sell it but he hasn't finished paying the car off yet..very normal situation since he is still a young guy.

What would have to happen is he would need to get a personal loan, pay off the car from the dealership, they pay the personal loan back with the money he got from selling you the car.

Or

You work out a deal where you would take they price of the car you are going to pay (lets say 10 grand) then subtract the oweing payments (lets say 4 gran) and you pay him the difference and take over his fianacing. (you pay him 6 then make the rest of the monthly payment (4 grand))

What's wrong with you people? How does it sound like trouble just because there is a lien on it? Pretty much any newish or more expensive car will have a lien on it, people can't just afford to throw down 50k cash at a dealer. I agree that you should get it checked out like any used car, but saying that you won't touch it because it has a lien is very, very stupid and has no logic whatsoever.

(There is an exception, if it's a car that's worth 2 grand yeah it's weird if it has a lien on it. But the original poster didn't say what kind of car it was so it's still stupid to make the assumption that just because it has a lien it's a bad car)


Again you're basing your assumptions off nothing. First of all people don't ONLY sell because they can't afford the car, there are other factors. And even if they are choosing to downgrade doesn't mean that they're flat out broke and don't have a penny to their name. It could be that the car was a toy, or they lost their job, or had a kid, or want to buy a house, or moving, or yeah just want to downgrade to stay within their means. None of this means that the car wasn't maintained. Obviulsy, again, as with any used car there is a chance but saying that it's true in most cases is not right.

Also, since it's most likely a newish car since it has a lien, it was probably on warranty, and doesn't have crazy high KMs, so really if it has like 100k on it, all you need in terms of maintenance is oil changes and whatnot. I doubt people couldn't afford oil changes..And, since it's a newish car, he most likely has most of the records for it, so just ask for those and see.

My mom bought her 2006 Lexus last summer from a guy who was selling it because he had a kid on the way and wanted to free up some cash. He was financing it and he BABIED the **** out of, the car looked brand new (it had only 22000 on it but still).

Basically it's his responsibility to clear the lien when selling the car. What that guy did was he got a credit line for the remainder of what he owes, paid it off to Lexus finance, got a letter saying that the lein is cleared, and that's it. My mom gave him like 35k cash and he paid back the credit line, and my mom had a clear title car..

^^^ Correct.

That is why I stated it was my 2 cents. Easy there ball buster, everyone is entitled to thier own opinion. You don't need to get all defensive.

BALLLIIIN!!

Once again it is a Special Edition 2004 Jetta GLI. Don't know how much is on the lein but will find out tomorrow.

The lien means that the car is collateral for a debt. Until that debt is paid off, the bank or finance company has first dibs on the car.

If he fails to pay off that debt when you buy the car, the bank or finance company can repossess the car from you and you have no recourse but to go after the person who sold you the car that he didn't fully own.

So the question then becomes, do you trust the seller to pay off the debt after you hand him your money?

repoooooooooo

soundss sketchyy, if you dont know him personnally. i wouldnt.

No offence but some cars are worth more money, and you have to finance them to pay them off....unlike the Civics we buy that cost 3-5G's and you pay that in cash.

For anyone that wants to know this is how it is done.
1) The buyer can transfer ownership and takeover the monthly payments.
2) You write a cheque for the purchase price you agreed to with the seller to the bank/dealership to whom the payments are made to. The owner pays the rest. Lein get's cleared. You get a letter stating the lein is cleared. Ownership can then be safely transferred.