How To Sell A Vehicle If It Has A Title Loan On It
Are you looking to sell your car but haven’t fully paid it off yet? Or maybe you need to borrow more money using your vehicle as collateral and need to transfer the car’s title to someone else? You may be wondering if it’s possible to sell a vehicle with a title loan on it.
Selling a car is possible if you have a title loan, but the loan must be fully paid off before you can transfer the title to a new owner. This doesn’t mean that you can’t sell a car with a title loan, though, only that you need to take a few extra steps to do so.
Is It Legal To Sell A Vehicle With A Title Loan On It?
You can sell any car you own at any time. However, only the primary lienholder can transfer ownership of the vehicle to another person. With increasing oversight from the various state DMVs, it’s no longer possible to sell a car without a legitimate title transfer in place. For instance, the California DMV now offers title transfers online; however, you still need to submit the vehicle’s VIN, license plate number, purchase date, and purchase price.
If you have a title loan on your car, you’re not the legal owner of the title—the entity that extended the loan to you is. For instance, when you purchase a new vehicle from a dealership, the finance company that gave you the loan for the car is the owner of the title.
Even if you purchased and didn’t lease the vehicle, you do not become the primary lienholder until you fully pay off the loan. This means it’s illegal to sell a car with a title loan still on it until that loan is completely paid off. Even if someone happens to purchase the vehicle itself, your state’s DMV won’t list them as the main lienholder and that’s all that matters in the court of law.
How to Sell a Car with a Title Loan
If you’re interested in learning how to sell a car with a title loan, you may have several options.
The most straightforward way to give yourself the most options is to pay off the title loan. Once you do that, you will be the legal title holder, and you can sell the car to whomever you want. At Premier Title Loans, we recommend using our title loan calculator to find a way to pay off your existing loan. It only takes a few minutes to plug in your loan details, and there’s a chance Premier Title Loans can offer a lower monthly payment or quicker payoff term!
This might not be possible, though, depending on how much money is still left on the loan and your financial situation.
That’s why one of the most common options for selling a car with a title loan on it is to use it as a trade-in at a dealership when you purchase or lease a new vehicle. In this case, the dealership where you obtain the new car will use the trade-in value of your current vehicle to pay off the title loan, which in turn transfers ownership of the title to them, allowing you to transfer it.
The obvious upside is that it’s an easy way to figure out how to sell a car with a title loan. The downside is that most dealerships will require you to purchase a new vehicle to do this, and you will likely get a lower sales price (or trade-in value) for your car than if you sold it to a private party.
Does Anyone Buy Vehicles With A Title Loan On Them?
If neither of the above options suits you well, you may have other options for selling your vehicle.
So, the answer to the question of whether I can sell my car with a title loan elsewhere is … maybe. However, keep in mind that you can never sell something that you don’t own. Even if you have the keys to your vehicle and drive it as you please, you’re not the first lienholder or “owner” if you don’t have the car’s title.
If you prefer to sell it to a private party and don’t have the money to pay off the title loan first, you could use the funds you receive from the buyer to pay off the loan. However, you would need to receive all or a portion of those funds from the buyer before transferring the car to them.
This often makes it challenging to find a private party to buy a car with a title loan on it, because they’d have to pay upfront before receiving the vehicle. This would require a significant amount of trust and/or an official contract to be drawn up.
If this doesn’t work, do you have any other options?
You might be able to find a dealer who buys cars with title loans without forcing you to purchase or lease another vehicle from them.
These dealers would determine the payoff amount for your title loan from the current lender and then send them the money to settle the loan. They would then become the primary lienholder, allowing you to transfer the car to them.
In this case, if your vehicle is worth more than what you owe on the title loan, you could walk away with some money in your pocket. If it’s not, you may need to pay the dealer the difference between the title loan amount and what they were willing to pay you for the car.
Scrap A Vehicle That Has An Existing Title Loan
Scrapping a car for cash is typically done when the vehicle has little to no value or is no longer roadworthy. Many cars are sold for scrap after being involved in an accident or when they’d otherwise be salvaged or junked. Vehicles are also scrapped when they fail to meet emissions standards, which is quite common in California and other progressive states. While you can often scrap a vehicle at any time, it becomes difficult if the car is not titled in your name. As long as you pay off the title loan first, you can scrap the vehicle. However, no junkyard or mechanic will allow you to scrap the car if you’re not the primary lienholder.
Once the loan has been satisfied, you will become the primary vehicle owner. At this point, you can do whatever you want with it, including scrapping it and collecting the value of the materials.
If you wish to proceed, please don’t hesitate to contact your lienholder first to determine the payoff amount and the payment process. Once you receive the vehicle’s title, you can scrap it.
Selling A Car With A Title Loan On It Is Never Easy Or Simple!
In almost every scenario, only the car’s legal owner can sell a vehicle and adequately handle the title transfer process. Even in the case of a second lien title loan or refinance, there’s only one true owner of a vehicle at any given time. This means you’ll have to pay off a title loan before selling your car, and no company will allow you to buy or sell a vehicle if there’s a title loan on it.
That being said, there are some options for doing so. These options include working with your first lender to see if they’re open to a title loan buyout, or perhaps they will allow you to refinance an existing car title loan with a new lender. If you are exploring ways to sell your car with a title loan on it or are looking for a new title loan, contact Premier Title Loans today online or by calling 800-250-6729.