Selling while financed

Hello everyone

I'm thinking of sell my mustang. I really love the car and it's in perfect condition with only 7,000 and under warranty, but life priorities are changing and I think it's time to part ways with the blue beast. The only issue is that it's still financed through Fifth Third Bank. How much do you think that would put off potential buyers? I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to make them comfortable including having their own bank verify with mine that the sale is legit. Thanks for advice.

-Carcinoid

If it were me, I wouldn't pay you anything directly. I'd ask for the pay-off amount and either pay that directly to the bank or arrange for my own loan provider to pay the bank and assume the title from them.

Having the pay-off figure available may help them feel a bit more comfortable, but it is still an extra hoop to jump through compared to someone who has the title already.

Nagare said:

If it were me, I wouldn't pay you anything directly. I'd ask for the pay-off amount and either pay that directly to the bank or arrange for my own loan provider to pay the bank and assume the title from them.

Having the pay-off figure available may help them feel a bit more comfortable, but it is still an extra hoop to jump through compared to someone who has the title already.

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I would never ask for money to be sent to me. That sounds shady AF. I'd be more than happy to have them work directly with Fifth Third to complete the transaction.

Nagare said:

If it were me, I wouldn't pay you anything directly. I'd ask for the pay-off amount and either pay that directly to the bank or arrange for my own loan provider to pay the bank and assume the title from them.

Having the pay-off figure available may help them feel a bit more comfortable, but it is still an extra hoop to jump through compared to someone who has the title already.

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That's what I did once in the past... I met a guy at the bank. Paid off the loan and gave the reminder to the seller. Then the bank gave me the title.

I don't know what you should do now with electronic titles (i.e., no paper title exists). I feel like these cause more harm that good.

The last car I bought that was financed was from a friend. So I trusted him to get me the title from the DMV after I paid off the loan (took about a week).

Have you considered taking it to Carmax? They're good at handling situations like this and they may give you top dollar for your car. Case in point I actually made a profit selling one of my mustangs to them in the past.

When I sold my '11 GT500 to a buddy, we both went to the CU I had financed the car through and he gave them the check for the loan he had taken out. My loan was paid and the car title transferred to his lien holder. Easy as pie, and it took less than 30 minutes.

You shouldn't have any issues selling your car.

Colleton said:

When I sold my '11 GT500 to a buddy, we both went to the CU I had financed the car through and he gave them the check for the loan he had taken out. My loan was paid and the car title transferred to his lien holder. Easy as pie, and it took less than 30 minutes.

You shouldn't have any issues selling your car.

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Exact same experience selling my Tacoma. Agreed to a price, we went to the bank paid off the loan with the extra going into my savings. He paid cash so the bank took care of the title with him.

Being that the potential buyer will most likely finance it, it will be easier with banks transferring the title. Some banks and CU may not release titles to the end of the month or paperless title that the DMV will generate.

I wouldn't be put off.

I just paid off my car through BofA on the 25th of last month. Got a letter saying it takes 4-6 weeks to get the title. Seems like kind of a pain to sell a financed car in AZ. That’s a long window to wait.

I've done it a few times, it's pretty easy.

The first time the guy gave me cash, which made me uneasy as hell carrying around like $20k, I took it to the bank, deposited it and they gave me the title which I signed over to him.

The second time, we went to his bank, signed some papers, they sent a check to my loan company and the loan company sent me the rest.

The company the car is currently financed will provide a payoff and guarantee letter stating once funds received the title will be transferred to the buyer and/or is bank. They do it every day and they have departments to handle it. So start by calling your bank.

Only time I sold a vehicle while financed was a 2005.5 Audi A4. The guy came with a duffle bag full of $20k cash. He was young with a bunch of cash and something told me I don't even want to touch it. I told him, lets meet at the credit union and they can count it and verify it's legit. The credit union took care of the title at the same time. It was the best no cash handling deal I had experienced. I would do it the same way again, if I had to.

Vato said:

Only time I sold a vehicle while financed was a 2005.5 Audi A4. The guy came with a duffle bag full of $20k cash. He was young with a bunch of cash and something told me I don't even want to touch it. I told him, lets meet at the credit union and they can count it and verify it's legit. The credit union took care of the title at the same time. It was the best no cash handling deal I had experienced. I would do it the same way again, if I had to.

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Was it not all 100s? cuz $20K fits in two of those money envelopes that you get with any cash from the teller not a whole duffel bag.

Shouldhavegotthegt said:

I just paid off my car through BofA on the 25th of last month. Got a letter saying it takes 4-6 weeks to get the title. Seems like kind of a pain to sell a financed car in AZ. That’s a long window to wait.

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That wait doesn't matter if the buyer is financing the vehicle. You only get the wait when you're waiting for the finance company / bank to send YOU the title of the car you paid off. You aren't paying them money anymore - you paid off the loan - so you can wait. When selling a vehicle that is still financed, the entire process is fast and easy - unless the company holding the loan is just slacking in the customer service department.

Just sell it through carmax and save yourself a bunch of time and headaches. Unless you already have a buyer lined up.

pdac said:

Just sell it through carmax and save yourself a bunch of time and headaches. Unless you already have a buyer lined up.

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You will get a lot more money if you sell the car on the street than Carmax will give you.