Buying a Motorcycle from a Seller who doesn't own it........?

Question

Hi,

I am about to purchase a VTX cruiser that i found on craigslist. I have met the seller in person and test driven the motorcycle. After deciding to purchase his, it turns out he is still paying off the finance company for it and therefore he does not have the authority to sell it.

his proposed method (which he supposedly discussed w/ the finance company) is:

he faxes them a bill of sale

I use western union quick collect to pay the finance company

they fax me a copy of the title and put the original in overnight mail to my home

the seller delivers the motorcycle to me



I am about to spend a LOT of money, so I was wondering if I should be worried about this. Is this commonly done? Is it safe? What can i do to protect myself?

Is there a better way? Thanks for any help!

The amount he owes on the motorcycle is greater than the amount i am purchasing it for.

I just found out he owes close to $7k on this motorcycle. I am buying it for $6k and he is reporting it to the financing company as $5k

sound shady? it does to me. he explained that the motorcycle wouldve been repo'd and gone to auction, so the finance company will be happy to get $5k and he pockets $1k and will deal with the remaining balance.
meanwhile i will get a faxed title today and a hard copy mailed to me. Does this sound legit?

Answer 1

You only pay him the amount between the agreed price and the outstanding balance on the loan. You get his payment book and then YOU pay off the loan. He might not be current with the loan so YOU contact the finance company, or listen on a speaker phone while he calls, and get a payoff amount. Do not give him the cash to pay off the loan. Details on how to make the payment and get the title vary; you have to ask the finance company directly.

Answer 2

this is a pretty common thing to sell a car or motorcycle with a lien on it. Rather than doing the money Western Union because that could get expensive, I would just send in a cashier's check to the finance company. Depending on how that finance company does it, they might just send the title to the person on record, not the person who is buying it. Everything else seems normal. Just have the bill of sale notarized like it normally is and the same with the title once it's in the seller's hands. Without that title being notarized, the MVD will most likely not register the motorcycle in your name.

Answer 3

Sounds like I would stay away from this because more than likely you will never receive the title to this motorcycle. If you really want to go for this vehicle then you require him to put the difference on the loan first, then get a payoff letter from the finance company to prove he paid it. If he is talking about a settlement of them taking less for his loan, I know you will never see the title. He would still owe them money and they do not have to release anything to him for that reason alone. If he states they are going to, get it in writing from the finance company that they will release the title on that lesser amount owed. Personally, I would never western union the money, that's a bad sign that its a scam as well. I would get advice from your local bank or credit union loan department. They won't have any problems giving you advice.

Answer 4

Run as fast as you can.

Go find another motorcycle that does not have all the drama attatched to it.