Is this a good deal on 2005 Prius?

[ranchogirl]

Since you are probably asleep and I so really really hope I'm wrong that you paid the seller and not the lienholder - let me run a few scenarios by you. I work in the title department for a financial institution and basically am employed by titles gone wrong.

If this person has good credit he would have been able to refinance his loan for a better interest rate. Why did he not do this? Why did he not sell the car for anywhere near its value?

I'll go from worst case scenario to best case scenario.

What if he has defaulted on his loan and would rather "sell" the car and walk way with $19,000 cash rather than have it repossessed?

The lienholder can still repo the car. Who do you think they will repo it from? You.

Or, what if he has perhaps not defaulted, but keeps the $19,000 and also keeps his loan - doesn't pay it off? That means the title is never released until his loan is paid off and you are driving around in this car that you can never own.

And the best case scenario. What if he does pay his lienholder off and because YOU didn't pay them, they don't know you exist, and send the title to your seller? Then you have to depend on the seller to contact you once the title arrives (can take weeks) and get you the title. That, my friend, is the best case scenario in the situation of paying a seller when you buy a car, and not a lienholder.

This is why it is sooooooooo important to pay the lienholder directly when you buy a used car private party with an existing lien. This way you know the loan is paid off, and the title will be released to you or to your lienholder.

This is also why it is important to see a vehicle's current registration - it will have the name and address of the lienholder or let you know if there isn't one and it is safe to pay the seller - in which case he should have the title in hand and sign it over to you right away.

If you paid his lienholder I do apologize for jumping to conclusions but perhaps someone else will read it and it will prevent them from getting themselves into a situation like this. I see it happen every day - multiple times a day. Unraveling messes like I mention above is what I do for a living.

[jmcomp124]

Originally Posted by ranchogirl

You paid the lienholder, not the seller, right??????

Yes

[jmcomp124]

Originally Posted by ranchogirl

Since you are probably asleep and I so really really hope I'm wrong that you paid the seller and not the lienholder - let me run a few scenarios by you. I work in the title department for a financial institution and basically am employed by titles gone wrong.

If this person has good credit he would have been able to refinance his loan for a better interest rate. Why did he not do this? Why did he not sell the car for anywhere near its value?

I'll go from worst case scenario to best case scenario.

What if he has defaulted on his loan and would rather "sell" the car and walk way with $19,000 cash rather than have it repossessed?

The lienholder can still repo the car. Who do you think they will repo it from? You.

Or, what if he has perhaps not defaulted, but keeps the $19,000 and also keeps his loan - doesn't pay it off? That means the title is never released until his loan is paid off and you are driving around in this car that you can never own.

And the best case scenario. What if he does pay his lienholder off and because YOU didn't pay them, they don't know you exist, and send the title to your seller? Then you have to depend on the seller to contact you once the title arrives (can take weeks) and get you the title. That, my friend, is the best case scenario in the situation of paying a seller when you buy a car, and not a lienholder.

This is why it is sooooooooo important to pay the lienholder directly when you buy a used car private party with an existing lien. This way you know the loan is paid off, and the title will be released to you or to your lienholder.

This is also why it is important to see a vehicle's current registration - it will have the name and address of the lienholder or let you know if there isn't one and it is safe to pay the seller - in which case he should have the title in hand and sign it over to you right away.

If you paid his lienholder I do apologize for jumping to conclusions but perhaps someone else will read it and it will prevent them from getting themselves into a situation like this. I see it happen every day - multiple times a day. Unraveling messes like I mention above is what I do for a living.

I am paying the lien holder. Thanks for the inputs.

[ranchogirl]

Whew! Good!

[jmcomp124]

I am a bit amazed with the presumptions in some responses. However, I do appreciate the concerns and inputs that maybe useful to someone naive who would not pay the lien holder directly and have the title sent to the buyer directly.
A strange thing that happened is that I contacted a local Toyota dealer through the costco executive membership program and it was just 2 weeks ago. Apparently, a package 2 came along with rear view camera, keyless entry (whatever pkg 2 offers) and he said I can have it if I want, right now. I think the quote was about $24K plus (around MSRP? Haven't researched on this). I know folks have to wait about 9 months to get a new Prius. How on earth did I get through in 2 weeks? He tempted me to buy it and sell it at a premium to make some money. I am staying away from such deals. I am tempted though to get a second prius .