I’m thinking about buying a used car from a dealer about 150 miles from my home. The round trip, test drive, and paper work would take most of a day, and my wife doesn’t really want to come along. Trading in our current 18 y.o. car during this transaction would certainly simplify things — I arrive in one car and leave in another. However, the old car has both my name and my wife’s name on the title.
Is there an easy way for my wife to show consent to the transaction? A notarized letter? Something else?
Can you mention the state you are in? Sometimes states have different regulations around these sorts of things. Some states have a place on the back of the title for the owner to sign over the title when you sell the car. It usually doesn’t need to be notarized or anything. Your wife might be able to just sign her name in one of the blanks before you head over.
Can’t she just sign the title now? If I buy a car in a private transaction, the previous owner only needs to sign the title and I can mail it in and have it re-titled in my name. No proof of anything required*. You could always call the dealership ahead of time and ask someone there what needs to be done. Not only do they deal with this sort of thing day in and day out, hopefully they’ll understand that if they answer wrong (saying she doesn’t need to come in when she does), they’re going to lose the sale. Even better, email them the question so you have proof of what they said if they give you a different answer when you get there.
The other option, that will probably cost more than you’re willing to spend is to get it re-titled in your name only before you take it to the dealership.
*I’m not saying you shouldn’t get proof that they are who they say they are, just that it’s not required.
Exactly what I was going to say. Especially since the title is registered in Missouri and you’re making the trade in Illinois. Certainly the dealership will know what to do.
Are you expecting to do some wheeling and dealing at the dealership? If you call and say you’re coming from 150 miles away and ask about how to transfer the title, I expect they will know you are pretty committed and won’t be willing to bargain. Maybe call a random car lot in Illinois lot and ask them instead.
I believe that car titles in Missouri have a place for the owner(s) to sign on the back. In that case, your wife can just pre-sign in one of the owner blanks. Check your title and see what it says. But that might only work if you were selling within the state. I’m not sure about the cross-state issue of you trading in the car in a different state.
She should be able to sign it before the OP leaves to go conduct the transaction. I’m not aware of any state that requires that the title transfer be notarized or that the owner be physically present when the executed title transfer occurs.
Thank you, Joey, Bullitt, filmore, Railer13. I’ve copied the back of the title, with the assignment and reassignment info. I’ll be emailing it to the dealer and asking exactly which signature lines my wife should sign in advance.
Assuming your title looks like this, you’ll be signing the front. The back is all for the purchaser to fill out to get it titled in their name (and some leinholder stuff, but I’m assuming your title doesn’t have any leinholders listed on it).
The MO DMV (or, rather, the DOR, for some reason) says here:
-All sellers listed on the face of the title must sign the title assignment exactly the same as the name(s) appear on the face of the title. If the name on the face of the title is a business, the signature of the authorized agent must be shown.
and
-All sellers listed on the face of the title must print their name on the title assignment exactly the same as the name(s) appears on the face of the title. If the name on the face of the title is a business, the complete business name should be recorded, followed by the printed name of the authorized agent
Based on that, I’d have her sign and print her name and then when you’re ready to sell, you sign and print your name.
Write small, I guess, doesn’t look like a whole lot of space to get in two signatures and two printed names.
PS, even if you send them only the back and you’re supposed to sign the front, it’s pretty safe to say they’ll tell you what/how to do it. Like I said earlier, this is what the do, they’ll be more than familiar with it.
Anecdote:
I did something very similar at a CarMax in FL recently. I was the only signer on the release paperwork for my jointly-owned trade-in. They did not act like this was unusual.
Facts:
As has already been said, the details will vary from state to state, how the old car is titled, and the policy of the specific dealer in question. Call your specific dealer and ask. Only they can tell you what paperwork they will or won’t accept. They are well within their rights to refuse to accept your trade-in if they don’t like your paperwork. The only way to reduce that risk to near-zero is to ask first and get the name of whoever tells you the answer.
[quote=“Joey_P, post:10, topic:944781”]
Assuming your title looks like this , you’ll be signing the front. The back is all for the purchaser to fill out to get it titled in their name (and some leinholder stuff, but I’m assuming your title doesn’t have any leinholders listed on it).
The MO DMV (or, rather, the DOR, for some reason) says here:
(…) [/quote]
Thank you for finding that. The actual title that I photographed is covered with anti-counterfeiting scrollwork. But…
The actual Certificate of Title does NOT include the Notice of Sale or Transfer. (The part you think my wife needs to sign.) There are bits of paper at the bottom of the Certificate of Title that suggest a perforated line. It seems the Notice of Sale is designed to be torn off, and torn off it is.
We do have a notice from Toyota that the loan was paid off in full.
I’ve got a call into the Illinois dealership, and am waiting to find out who to email the Missouri title to. Hopefully they’ll get back in touch quickly (but I’m trying to be patient and trying not to even care if I get this car) I’ll be sending them the link with the generic Certificate of Sale since it’s a lot easier to read.