Background:
A few weeks ago I was in an accident where I was hit from behind after I hit someone else from behind. I was not carrying collision insurance at the time, so I never got an estimate for the front, but I figure the car is pretty much totalled. Not a huge deal, since I was looking around for a new car anyway.
I got a check from the insurance company of the other driver for the back of my car, and I figured I would just trade the car in as is. When I went to buy a new car, the dealer would only give me 300 for it, and when I turned that down, he said he would buy it himself from me for 600 and fix it up. This is about the amount I was expecting, and with the check from insurance I will lose only about 500 dollars due to the accident. I’m going in today to give the guy at the dealer my old car and get everything taken care of.
My question is: What exactly do I need to do to sell my car? I know I have to transfer the title to him and have some sort of bill of sale, but what exactly should be included in this? He is paying cash if that makes a difference. Also, the car is registered in New Mexico and I’m selling it in Colorado.
This one is easy. Since you’re dealing with a car dealer, just ask him what he needs from you in order to purchase your car. You can call your local dmv office too.
Well I checked the Colorado DMV website, and it says I need the title, a bill of sale, and a statement that the odometer has not been tampered with. I already signed a statement about the odometer when I tried to trade it in, so that is taken care of, but what about the bill of sale? I haven’t found anything regarding this, but is it basically just a receipt of sorts stating that I am selling him the car as is for 600 bucks or what?
I’m just trying to cover all my bases here in case something ever goes wrong. I asked the dealer if he knew exactly what to do, but he just moved here from CA and didn’t know. He said he would check and call me back, but I haven’t heard from him yet so I thought I’d see if any Dopers had advice about it. Thanks.
Yep, that’s pretty mcuh all it is. Just a letter typed up with info about the car (model, VIN, mileage, etc.) and the purchase price, who you are and who you’re selling it to, the date and both of your signatures is about all you need for private party transactions. In fact, you don’t even really need that, but with a New Mexico title and having to a VIN verification title registry in Colorado, it would be helpful to him to have all that info. Much of it could go on the back of the title in the supplied spots if you decide to go a little more informal.
I would protect yourself with a homemade agreement between you and the buyer that says something to the effect of "This vehicle was sold to_______for_______. It is sold as-is, with no explicit or implied warranty.