I still owe money on my car that I got from the dealer, could I sell it privately to buy different car?

Question

Any Better ideas? I have a 2003 Honda Civic LX. I owe 13,000 w/ 46,000 miles

Answer 1

You DO own the car. The lender is holding the title as well as the lien, but your name is listed on the title and the owner.

The first thing you will need to do is call the lender and make sure there is no early payment penalty and get your exact current payoff. Keep in mind that all simple interest loans have a daily per-diem added meaning your balance increases everyday . You can sell it yourself as long as your balance is less than or equal to what you will sell the vehicle for because otherwise, you will have to come up with the difference.

If the lender is local, then the buyer would simply have to go with you to the bank with the funds to release the title. If the lender is out of town, say Honda Financial, then you'll want to call them and ask them how to proceed with the sale. Good luck and I hope this helps to clarify.

Answer 2

My advice would be to make the Civic work for you. So what if it's a 2 door, it has a back seat. The baby seat will go back there and it might be a bit inconvenient for you to lean in and get the baby secured but I'd rather do that than go into debt for another car. You have a new baby, you'll need money for the family. Don't spend it on a car. The money that you'll lose trading in your Civic and the money you'll lose by going into higher car payments for the new car and the extended length of time you'll be paying on the new loan can go a long way to making sure your baby is safe, happy and secure. Keep the Civic, make it work. But to answer your question about being upside down. When you trade in the car the lender will apply any balance from the old loan to the new loan. So you have a $4000 gap in the value of the trade and the balance of the loan. That $4 grand will be added to the price of your new car. So instead of paying $18,000 for that new 4 door, you'll pay $22,000 for a car that is only worth $18k. You'll still be upside down just in a different car. Then as the new car depreciates that difference will widen even more because the car loses value faster than you can make payments on it. Next year you'll be $8000 upside down in the new car.

Answer 3

Yes you can sell the car, but you have to pay off the existing loan and have the lenders lien released first. You can sell a vehicle with a lien on the title. As the previous answer suggested you could have the buyer go with you and have him pay off the lien and then sign over the title to him when the lien is released.

BTW - With a conventional loan (not a lease) you do own the car. The lender just places a lien on the title that indicates they have taken the car a security against the loan.

Whether you actually have the title in your possession varies with the State or Country. In some States the title is held by either the State Motor Vehicle department or the lending institution.

Answer 4

When this happens, there are very few options but some decisions are much better than others and hopefully this will summarize the best steps that can be taken.

* Sell your car yourself- Don’t even think about trading the car in for the less expensive car! If you trade in the old car, a dealer will give you wholesale or below and will roll the balance owed on it into a new loan for you. They make money at all points on that! They re-sell the old car at a profit, make interest on the old loan by re-financing it and make profit on the newer/cheaper car and its loan. Check out http://mota.net/PriceMyCar.aspx for real sales data on cars just like yours.

* Don’t refinance if your rate is good- If you owe $9000 on a car that you sell for $6500, consider paying $4000 off the principal of the loan and then your car payment is reduced and you can pay the extra $2500 for a less expensive car.

* Check out loan options- Car loans are falling all the time right now so refinancing the balance that you owe on the old car could lower your APR by a couple of points or more! Don’t forget to check into loans from the banks, credit unions and even insurance agents (for example, State Farm does loans).

Answer 5

If you owe less than the car is worth, you might be able to. Remember, there is a lien on your car title. To remove the lien you will need to pay off the debt. That would be done by taking the money from the sale and applying it to the note and paying it off.

If you owe more than the car is worth then you have problems. I do not know what part of the country you are in, the extras on your car, or the condition of your car. Those would make a difference in what the car was worth. I checked it for where I live, assumed standard equipment, and excellent condition and got a value of $11,305. You may be upside down on your car. You may owe more than it is worth. Meaning that if you do sell it, you will probably have to put money of your own in to pay off the debt.

Answer 6

you can sell to whoever you like, but you will have to pay off your lender... if you can find someone who will give you enough for the car, and they are using their bank to finance, then go to their bank, and their bank will have you sign some papers giving them the authorization to pay off your car and to then assign the title to the new buyer... this allows their lender to put a lien on title.

If it is a private buyer paying cash, just call your bank and they will give you the payoff procedure.

If in either scenario you do not get enough to cover the payoff, you are responsible to pay off the difference, or the buyer cannot get the title.

Answer 7

No. You do not own the car or have a title to it. The only option is to get someone who wants to buy it go with you to your lender and have him pay them directly so they could receive the title. I looked up the NADA price and it looks like you are a little upside down as you owe more than it is worth.

Answer 8

No. You do not own the car or have a title to it. The only option is to get someone who wants to buy it go with you to your lender and have him pay them directly so they could receive the title. I looked up the NADA price and it looks like you are a little upside down as you owe more than it is worth.

Answer 9

YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND A BUYER FIRST THAT WILL WORK WITH YOU BECAUSE YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE THE MONEY THAT YOU SELL IT FOR PLUS PICKUP ANY DIFFERENCE AND PAY OFF THE LIEN HOLDER.