phlporsche

My concern would be the non disclosure of changes made to the car, old pictures and if the seller can't come up with $9,500 to payoff the car has it been appropriately maintained? Not that 10k is a small amount of money but it should be something the seller takes care of without your check.

uribeman

There hasnt been a clearer case of a perfect time to walk away.... Purely as an example, C-list boston has a posting for an aero (post id: 4650141562) for $17k. (No affiliation). Owner has a looooong disclosure list and actual pics of the car. Start over and wait until it feels right. IMHO the issue here is not that the car has a lien like DT and other have said (btw, cant stop thinking about that red targa.....) its the fact that you have had to find stuff by chance. Which obviously begs to ask what else dont you know? Sneaky Pete has another clean example of a full disclosed, Rennlister car. With the money you save on initial maintenance to bring the car up to speed, you can increase the $17k and be closer to Sneaky's price point.

For me its all about how peacefully you will be able to sleep at night. Just my $.02

FRUNKenstein

DTMiller, Gonzo, Coffeehead and Spokayman are correct. The lien isn't that big of a deal. Just be sure to coordinate with the credit union to ensure they issue a lien release. You don't get a new title when you pay off a lien, you get a lien release. Please make sure the lien release is notarized though because some states do require a lien release to be notarized even if the state that issued the current title does not. I think that to be safe, you should pay the credit union at least the loan payoff balance. You could also pay the credit union the full purchase price and let them refund any overpayment to the seller.

rmc1148

I would run away to many fish in the sea. He should have told you upfront period.

Soaringman

Perhaps you need more opinions to make a firm decision

MBA-Sailor

Thanks Soaringman... :P

halik

People here sound like they've never purchased a car before....

Having a lien is absolutely no issue, just make sure you write one check to the bank that holds to the lien and then the remainder of the agreed price to the seller. That way you're completely covered and there's no reason to act like an idiot ("OMG RUN HE'LL TAKE YOUR MONEYS")

When you go register the car, you'll have a lien release letter from the bank along with the title, so there will be no delay. The only way you'll run into the lag issue you mentioned is if you actually have the seller pay off the car before selling it to you (which btw is asinine and can't believe people are suggesting that in the first place*). You're strictly better off writing a check to the credit union and balance to the seller than the payoff nonsense.

*As the seller, I would most certainly decline to do that in the first place. If the buyer flakes, you now have large amount of liquid capital tied up in it. F dat.

Derek911

First off, there are more 996's out there. So I wouldn't get hooked on one. Second. We buy and sell homes all the time that we don't own. We still have a mortgage on a home and sell it anyway. During closing the bank is paid off. Same is said for an auto. That lien can be paid off by writing a check directly to the bank for the amount owed. The balance of the agreed price goes to the seller on a separate check. The lien is released and the seller is paid what profit is left. Even if the lien is paid prior to sale, the title can still show a lien, but it better come with a lien release letter from the bank stating that the loan was paid. The owner can order a new title for a fee when the loan is paid showing no lien. I always pay to have a new title printed once the lien is removed. Keeps things simple if I sell. Buying a car when the two parties are not sitting face to face has its issues. Besides the car not being seen, the paperwork and funds transfer can cause a lot of anxiety... Especially from private parties. At least with a dealer you know where to find them in case you have to make the trip to beat someone's butt. Lol. I would only be comfortable buying sight unseen from a dealer or broker. If I really wanted a car I would make the trip myself or enlist someone to do the deal for me.

phlporsche

This car purchase is quite the soap opera. Just buy it or walk away. Nothing will go perfectly, sometimes you just have to make a gut decision.

MBA-Sailor

I didn't expect quite such an outpouring of opinions...

geoffreyaugusto

This is a situation that I have been in recently. I live in MA and purchased a car in NY where the bank will issue a title to the vehicle's owner with a notice of a lien. In MA in order to register the car I needed the title AND a letter from the previous owner's bank verifying the payoff.

MBA-Sailor

Where in Mass? I lived in boston for 18 years... just moved 2 years ago.

scorchpa

FWIW - When I purchased my car long distance, I saw that there was a lien on the car the day before I was flying in to pick it up. I contacted the seller and he told me that it was paid off 8 years ago. He contacted the lien holder and they faxed him a letter saying they released the lien I called the lien holder and confirmed there was no balance owing. He was the original owner and had owned the car for 10 years, so it seemed logical he would have paid it off, and it was just a clerical mistake.

I had no problem at all registering the car etc.

alpine003

This ain't nothing. Just wait til you get your car and start asking oil, brake pad, IXX, smoke, leak, orange cap mod, Porsche approved tire and blinker fluid, etc. questions. That's when you'll feel the wrath of Rennlist.

FLY996

You may want to see if there is a lawyer that would be willing to manage the transaction on your behalf.