How To Sell a Car That Isn't Paid Off Yet: Our Full Guide
How To Sell a Car That Isn't Paid Off Yet: Our Full Guide
Posted on July 1, 2023
If you need to sell your car but haven’t paid it off yet, your options are limited. But anything is possible when you put your mind to it as we will demonstrate here.
Technically, you cannot sell the car privately if you have outstanding finance as you won’t have legal title to the car.
Most auto loans are secured on the car, so while you own it, you don’t fully own it or have legal title to dispose of it until the loan is paid in full.
It would be a rare thing indeed to find a private buyer willing to pay you for the car and then wait a few days until the title has been cleared!
It is much easier to sell your car to a dealership if you have outstanding finance.
Selling Your Car With a Loan On It
It is definitely less than ideal if you have to sell your car when it hasn’t been paid off but sometimes, we just don’t have a choice. If that time comes, you can sell your car to us and we’ll sort everything out.
You will need to perform the usual steps first though.
Prepare the car for sale: Give your car a thorough clean inside and out, make any minor repairs that could impact its value, check the tires, change the oil and get the car looking and running as good as it can.
Tell your lender what’s happening: As your car is under finance, you need to tell your lender what’s going on. You’ll need a settlement figure for the loan and to let them know you’re selling and will be settling the loan soon.
Get the paperwork together: Collate all the service paperwork, receipts for any work you had done, invoices for servicing and your loan paperwork. We’ll need it all to be able to buy the car.
Get your car appraised: Make an appointment at one of our dealerships to have the car appraised. We’ll check it over, take it for a quick test drive and assess its condition. We’ll then come up with a realistic value and make you an offer.
Accept the offer: We are paying more than ever for good quality used cars so our offer will be a good one. Once accepted, we can begin the paperwork.
Settling The Finance & Selling The Car
Once you agree on the sale, we will take the offer we made and subtract your loan settlement figure from it. You’ll get what’s left over.
We prepare the sale paperwork with you and the loan paperwork with your lender. We liaise directly with them to repay the loan in full to get legal title to the car.
This process can be fast or take a few days, it all depends on the lender in question.
Either way, once done, we pay off the loan with some of the money we pay for the car and deposit the rest in your bank account. You then get the paperwork outlining that the loan has been paid in full, that we have paid you the balance, and that we now have title to the car.
It sounds like a lot of work but we take care of most of it for you.
For any questions, concerns, or inquiries. Please don’t hesitate to contact us here!
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