Buying a car at a Used Car Lot Paperwork!?!
06-02-2012, 12:44 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 7
Car Info: 2010 NA Hatch
Buying a car at a Used Car Lot Paperwork!?!
Hi, I'm about to buy my first used car at a used car dealership and I want to make sure I get all the paperwork correct!
I have a couple questions...
1. Should I be leaving the dealership with title in hand? I heard some dealerships don't have the physical title on file and they will send the title transfer application to the DMV which will send me a new title AND registration in the mail, is this okay? Should I only buy a car if the dealership can show me a physical title on the car?
2. Do I have to sign the actual title or just a title transfer application?
3. If the dealership has the title in hand, should the dealership's name be on the title or can the previous owner's name be on the title as long as its been signed over by the previous owner?
4. What happens if the dealership's name is on the Bill of Sale but the title is in the previous owner's name, is that okay?
5. Besides a Bill of Sale and Temporary Registration what other paperwork should I be leaving the dealership with?
Just in general if someone could go over the paperwork for buy a used car from a used car lot that would be great! Anything else I should be on the lookout for?
Thanks!
I have a couple questions...
1. Should I be leaving the dealership with title in hand? I heard some dealerships don't have the physical title on file and they will send the title transfer application to the DMV which will send me a new title AND registration in the mail, is this okay? Should I only buy a car if the dealership can show me a physical title on the car?
2. Do I have to sign the actual title or just a title transfer application?
3. If the dealership has the title in hand, should the dealership's name be on the title or can the previous owner's name be on the title as long as its been signed over by the previous owner?
4. What happens if the dealership's name is on the Bill of Sale but the title is in the previous owner's name, is that okay?
5. Besides a Bill of Sale and Temporary Registration what other paperwork should I be leaving the dealership with?
Just in general if someone could go over the paperwork for buy a used car from a used car lot that would be great! Anything else I should be on the lookout for?
Thanks!
06-02-2012, 05:39 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Santa Cruz, California
Posts: 648
See below.....
Hi, I'm about to buy my first used car at a used car dealership and I want to make sure I get all the paperwork correct!
I have a couple questions...
1. Should I be leaving the dealership with title in hand? I heard some dealerships don't have the physical title on file and they will send the title transfer application to the DMV which will send me a new title AND registration in the mail, is this okay? Should I only buy a car if the dealership can show me a physical title on the car?
- If you are in California, and you are not sure about the dealer you are purchasing from, look them up on BBB or Yelp review. If you can't trust the dealer with simple purchase paperwork, you should consider purchasing a car somewhere else.
2. Do I have to sign the actual title or just a title transfer application?
- You don't have to sign the title, but you will have to sign a DMV 262 form, to enable them to register the car for you.
3. If the dealership has the title in hand, should the dealership's name be on the title or can the previous owner's name be on the title as long as its been signed over by the previous owner?
- Again, if you have to worry about this, maybe you should consider purchasing a vehicle from a dealer that you can trust.
4. What happens if the dealership's name is on the Bill of Sale but the title is in the previous owner's name, is that okay?
- Nothing wrong with that.
5. Besides a Bill of Sale and Temporary Registration what other paperwork should I be leaving the dealership with?
- Depending on each dealership, the common form you'll see are Purchase Agreement, Report of Sale, Agreement To Furnish Insurance, DMV 262 Form (to allow the dealer to do DMV paperwork for you), Disclosure of credit score (if financing), Buyer's Guide, and Contract Cancellation Option. Unless you purchased additional warranty or optional products, that is pretty much it.
Just in general if someone could go over the paperwork for buy a used car from a used car lot that would be great! Anything else I should be on the lookout for?
Thanks!
I have a couple questions...
1. Should I be leaving the dealership with title in hand? I heard some dealerships don't have the physical title on file and they will send the title transfer application to the DMV which will send me a new title AND registration in the mail, is this okay? Should I only buy a car if the dealership can show me a physical title on the car?
- If you are in California, and you are not sure about the dealer you are purchasing from, look them up on BBB or Yelp review. If you can't trust the dealer with simple purchase paperwork, you should consider purchasing a car somewhere else.
2. Do I have to sign the actual title or just a title transfer application?
- You don't have to sign the title, but you will have to sign a DMV 262 form, to enable them to register the car for you.
3. If the dealership has the title in hand, should the dealership's name be on the title or can the previous owner's name be on the title as long as its been signed over by the previous owner?
- Again, if you have to worry about this, maybe you should consider purchasing a vehicle from a dealer that you can trust.
4. What happens if the dealership's name is on the Bill of Sale but the title is in the previous owner's name, is that okay?
- Nothing wrong with that.
5. Besides a Bill of Sale and Temporary Registration what other paperwork should I be leaving the dealership with?
- Depending on each dealership, the common form you'll see are Purchase Agreement, Report of Sale, Agreement To Furnish Insurance, DMV 262 Form (to allow the dealer to do DMV paperwork for you), Disclosure of credit score (if financing), Buyer's Guide, and Contract Cancellation Option. Unless you purchased additional warranty or optional products, that is pretty much it.
Just in general if someone could go over the paperwork for buy a used car from a used car lot that would be great! Anything else I should be on the lookout for?
Thanks!
Last edited by cyyeo; 06-02-2012 at 05:41 PM.
06-02-2012, 11:27 PM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 7
Car Info: 2010 NA Hatch
Thanks for your extremely helpful reply I appreciate it! It's not that I don't trust the dealership, I just want to make sure I do everything right the first time around!
I just have two more quick questions regarding your answers...
So it's okay to buy the car without ever seeing the title, as long as I fill out the DMW 262 form, which will allow the dealership to take care of the registration AND the title transfer?
I asked this because if the title was still in the previous owner's name wouldn't the dealership be selling me a vehicle that they don't own, which I'm assuming would be illegal?
Buying it out right.
I just have two more quick questions regarding your answers...
Buying it out right.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post