MBA-Sailor

Well I did my due diligence. The seller's LinkedIn profile matches up with his company email address, which he has been emailing me from. The shop which did PPI (Courtney) is familiar with the seller.

I just don't understand how someone would fail to mention there is a lien on the title, in 2 or 3 weeks of back and forth emails, calls, etc.

MBA-Sailor

I'm not sure the seller has the funds available to pay off the lien... (we agreed on a price of $17k, so I assume the balance of the lien is less than that...)

MBA-Sailor

Another thing which bothers me... the pictures the seller had posted in the ad online were from 2 years ago, when he bought the car from a dealer.
I didn't see "current" pictures until after a fellow Rennlister saw the car, and mentioned the original porsche PCM had been removed. Seller never mentioned he put a new stereo, amp, speakers, etc, in the car until I asked about it.

sfv_rider

Have the car held by a third party. It will be held until both the seller and buyer inform the holder that the release can proceed. Third party gets all the keys and (non-released) title. Verify that the seller has a policy to cover all perils while the car is stored.

Get on a conference call with the seller and the lien holder. Have the seller authorize you as a party allowed to work with the lien holder.

Get a payoff quote from the lien holder. Send them the payoff. Get a lien release in exchange.

Deduct the payoff from the sales price. Give that to the seller in exchange for their release by the person holding the car.

Take all the paperwork to your local DMV. There may be hoops to jump through there.

particlewave

Walk away. He doesn't own the car, so cannot sell it to you.

The right car will come along. Don't force it

Dstutler

I'd walk - too many moving parts and risk of you being left with a documentation nitemare.

Soaringman

Or go to a lawyer at sellers exspence, you give lawyer money, lawyer pays dept and rest to seller, you get professional documention.
Or ask your insurance agent, this is common as not everyone owns an exotic car outright.

Like buying a house, your money pays off the sellers Morgage and your new Morgage or your cash pays for the house.

gnat

You keep mentioning things that the seller wasn't forth coming about. I'd walk away from it at this point. I know you really like the car and it seems to be good (based on the PPI), but what else are you going to find out about later?

The guy is either dishonest or a scatter brain and I wouldn't trust anything he says at this point.

MBA-Sailor

I cannot imagine that the seller will be willing to pay for an attorney, since he apparently did not have the money to pay off the lien and was counting on my money to pay off the lien.
The other big issue, as some of you noted, is that it may take weeks for a new "clear" title to be issued. And it would likely be sent to the seller. Considering how unresponsive he has been in the last 3 weeks, I cannot imagine he will be quick to manage the process of a new title, etc.
What bothers me the most is that he never disclosed a lien on the car - and had the car listed on 2 ebay auctions and a cars.com ad as having a "clear" title.

Invius

Walk. Too many red flags.

williamr91

MBA; I would have given him the benefit of a doubt about the lien, I would call him and conference the bank/c.u to verify how much and how long approx a lien release will take, then request to pay the lien until you have the car in your possession and wire the balance to him (or do half now, half later, type of thing)
...however if he's been posting photos of the car from 2 years ago and didn't disclose the PCM, I'd walk. That is a pretty big deal in my book (as I HATE aftermarket stereos) and would be upset to buy one without knowing it was aftermarket before hand...but if he "for got to mention that" as well, he is either somewhat shady, or too scattered to buy a car from...just my .02.


I'm sure the car is fine, but the seller is part of the purchase.

Sneaky Pete

Yikes! That is shady...personally I would walk. There is a bit of decorum when it comes to a purchase like this. If you do put the nix on the deal I hope you won't have a hard time getting your deposit back.....and I hope the seller still has it to give back.

Neto

If I really wanted the car, I would pay a layer to notarize a letter that specifies that the seller will pay the loan with your money & send you the title after he gets it. Take the car with you and wait for the title in the mail. It might take a few weeks.

MBA-Sailor

Seller does have the original PCM, CD Nav, and Amp, which will be included with the car, thankfully. I don't like aftermarket either.
Balance on lien is approx $9,500 per seller. The lien holder is his credit union. I spoke to a manager at the credit union today about it, he said they would issue the "lien release card" immediately. Just need to see if maybe I wire the lien balance to the CU, and the balance to the seller?
Also - seller is willing to have my car carrier take possession of the car, and then I wire the funds. I would just feel alot more comfortable wiring the balance of the lien to the CU, instead of to him.
From what I can tell (talking to Rennlister that met the seller when he went to visit the car, the seller's job position, demeanor on phone, and comments by the mechanic - Courtney - the seller seems legit). He is just in the middle of relocating corss country for work, and I think selling the car is the least of his concerns.

WalterRohrl

Still a potential nightmare with the car registered in state A, buyer in state B and seller moving to state C. Good luck getting it figured out if the seller is as flaky as he's been. Not gonna happen without some major expenditure on YOUR part. If nothing else, every time you look at the car you'll be annoyed and you can't even register and insure it without the title.

Walk away. The fact that the car is financed already makes it shaky IMO, it's a FIFTEEN-year old car, right? I know not everyone has the cash to buy one outright but if the seller was financing this and still does not have it paid off from whenever he bought it, I'm guessing he was skimping on other stuff as well, no matter what the PPI says. I know, he could be totally fine, but there are plenty of these cars out there. Make the seller work for the sale, not you.

Oh, and the cherry on top is no disclosure of equipment replaced with aftermarket. Forget it, it's not worth the aggravation. Get the deposit back and move on. Call your bank now and cancel the check or Paypal or whatever you used.


EDIT - OK, I just saw your post from a minute before mine, that would make me a bit more comfortable I suppose. Still not a slam dunk though.