Bought a car without a title

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 money with your vehicle as collateral and need to transfer the car’s title to a lender? You may be wondering if it’s possible to sell a car with a title loan on it.

Selling a car is sometimes 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?

Nothing is stopping you from selling a vehicle you own. However, only the primary lienholder can transfer ownership of the car to another person. With increased oversight from state DMVs, it’s no longer possible to sell a vehicle without a valid title transfer. 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 to complete the title transfer process.

If you have a title loan on your car, there’s a lienholder added to the car’s title. Another scenario is buying a new car from a dealership that’s financing it. In this case also, there’s a lienholder on the car’s title until that loan is fully paid off.

Even if you purchased the vehicle rather than leasing it, you do not become the primary lienholder until you fully pay off the loan. This means you can’t sell the car with a title loan on it until that loan is fully paid off. Even if you illegally sell the vehicle to someone else, your state’s DMV won’t list them as the main lienholder, and that’s all that matters in court.

 

How to Sell a Car with a Title Loan

The most straightforward way to sell a car with a title loan on it is to pay off the existing loan. Once you do that, you will be the legal owner of the vehicle and can sell it to whomever you want. At Premier Title Loans, we recommend using our title loan calculator to determine the best way to pay off your existing loan. It only takes a few minutes to enter your loan details, and there’s also a chance Premier Title Loans can offer pre-approval for a lower monthly payment or a shorter payoff term with refinancing.

This might not be possible, though, depending on how much money is still left on the loan and your financial situation.

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 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.

 

Bought a car without a title

 

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 the car is registered in your name and you have the keys, 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 money you get from selling the car to pay off your loan. However, you would need to receive all or a portion of those funds from the buyer before transferring the car to them.

So, what can you do if you can’t find someone to buy your vehicle?

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 with your current lender and then send the money to the lender 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 vehicle with an existing title loan is typically not possible until the loan is paid off. Many cars are sold for scrap after an accident or when they’d otherwise be salvaged or junked. 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 accept the car for scrap if you’re not the primary lienholder.

Once the loan has been paid off, 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.

Contact your lienholder first to determine the payoff amount. Once you receive the vehicle’s title, you can legally 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 handle the title transfer. Even in the case of a second lien title loan or refinance, there’s only one valid owner of a car 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 may be options to sell a car with a title loan on it. 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.