Selling a car without registration

[obsolete]

I recently bought a car with the intention of flipping it. Had to fix some stuff and now it's ready for sale. Since i don't wanna add another owner to the car nor pay title, plate and registration fees, i didn't register it. How would I go about selling this car? I mean, ppl will wanna test drive it.

[s13boy89]

just tell them no title

[g6civcx]

Don't post illegal things on this forum.

[obsolete]

I have the title. Just got the seller's signature, but didn't transfer it to my name. I wanted to sell it and let the new owner sign off on the title. My concern is how would I let them test drive with no plates?

[Phlip]

The guy I bought my car from signed the title, I did not register the car until I was ready to drive it 6 months later, and I knew the notary well enough to sign it off without asking questions, and the DMV down here doesn't ask questions if the notary didn't, or they rarely do. I had a title in hand a week later, no problems.
As far as test driving, you'll have to "borrow" tags off of something else and make sure not to do anything stupid AT ALL, or avoid surface streets as best as you can.

[g6civcx]

Don't post illegal things on this forum.

[obsolete]

what's illegal? Do I have an X amount of time to register the car after I purchased it, or do I have to register the car? What if I don't want to drive it and just keep it.

[g6civcx]

Don't post illegal things on this forum.

[g6civcx]

Don't post illegal things on this forum.

[obsolete]

g6civcx - you are THE man

[drift925]

I recently bought a car with the intention of flipping it. Had to fix some stuff and now it's ready for sale. Since i don't wanna add another owner to the car nor pay title, plate and registration fees, i didn't register it. How would I go about selling this car? I mean, ppl will wanna test drive it.

Not sure how it works where your at, but here in California, you get a "The Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form " and basically you use it in cases like yours, and I dont think there's a limit to how many you can have as long as theyre all properly filled out. So basically all the past and present fees and taxes are charged to the last person owning the car.

[drift freaq]

Think about what a police officer at the DMV would do if you told them that.

Don't do illegal things, or at least don't post about it on the Internet, especially on this forum.

Ah there is nothing Illegal here going on. All he has to do is make out a bill of sale from him to the new owner and hand him the un-transferred title. As long as he has included the bill of sale from the original owner on the title to him its perfectly legitimate. There is a full paper trail which is what the DMV wants to see and they will just transfer the title from the titled owner to the new owner bypassing the middle guy.

P.S. G6Civcx your being overly paranoid here and this case your not stating true law. Your stating your legal opinion.
Fact is he can do what I stated above and its perfectly legal. As far as the test drive goes? Well thats up to him, but dude fucking relax he is not going to get into trouble asking about a automobile title transfer.
Short of being pulled over and getting a ticket for not having plates and or not having the car titled in his name nothing else will happen.
Its not a capital offense, its not a felonious offense, the driving part is a infraction period. Shit man stop acting like everything is highly criminal.

[g6civcx]

Don't post illegal things on this forum.

[pr0tus]

I recently bought a car with the intention of flipping it. Had to fix some stuff and now it's ready for sale. Since i don't wanna add another owner to the car nor pay title, plate and registration fees, i didn't register it. How would I go about selling this car? I mean, ppl will wanna test drive it.

I bought my car (in PA) from a guy in the same situation, he took me for a test drive in it. He gave me the title from the owners, signed over, and I was good to go.

I also recently had a title sitting for months signed over to me, I had it for almost a year. The notary said they would do the transfer as long as the notary who did the sign over was still a valid notary? (something like that), again this was in PA. I had no problems with that either. If I were you I would just talk to a local notary, they probably hear that type of question all the time.

[SlideWell]

have the new buyer sign ownership, derrrr
a lot of people do this.
i personally dont have my car in my name for this very reason.
its tax tax tax
what were we tryin to get away from on july 4th again?.....thats right
test drives are low risk

[spoolandslide]

just say that your the guy who sold you the car

cut the middle man out
all you need to do anyways is scribble a signature

[adictd2b00st]

Each state has its own statute of limitation. In mine, you have 30 days to title the car. If you wait too long, you risk losing your car

have you actually ever called the dmv about this though? i went through a period where i bought a car and didn't register it for 6 months......i called the state dmv office and asked if it really matters how long you take, and she straight up told me "no, they just say that to keep people from waiting, but it makes no difference how long you wait as long as you have all the necessary paperwork (bill of sale, notarized title)". fwiw this is in new york , but you get the idea.

[g6civcx]

have you actually ever called the dmv about this though?

In NJ you have 10 days to title a car after the original purchase date. After that you start getting fines and possible criminal charges for tax evasion at the state attorney's discretion.

In my state you have 30 days to title the car. After that you starting seeing fines and possible criminal charges.

i went through a period where i bought a car and didn't register it for 6 months......i called the state dmv office and asked if it really matters how long you take, and she straight up told me "no, they just say that to keep people from waiting, but it makes no difference how long you wait as long as you have all the necessary paperwork (bill of sale, notarized title)". fwiw this is in new york , but you get the idea.

People at the DMV do not know the law. They just work within DMV guidelines. I would not ask anyone at the DMV for legal advice. Even when I am doing something completely within my rights under state law, they still question me.

Do not rely on the DMV for legal guidance. That's not their job and they don't know how to do it.

What you're doing is tax evasion. That's criminal and is handled by the state attorney's office. You can be lucky and never get caught up in any problem, or you can lose your car forever and face criminal charges.


Folks, this is a simple matter. You're exposing yourself to a lot of legal liability for nothing. Just title the thing immediately when you buy the car.

If the seller shows up with the police and reclaims the car with a replacement title in his name, and all your have is a title in his name signed to you and a bill of sale, the car will go back to the seller. You have to go to court to sue for the car. The state recognizes whoever's name is on the title as the official owner. Any time a title is issued, all previous copies are invalidated. So if he has replacement title right after he gave you one, the copy you have is invalid.

If you drive a car with no registration/tags and no title under your name, the car will be impounded and you will be detained for questioning until they can locate the owner of the car as listed in the DMV database.

If the car is impounded for whatever reason, you have to show up with an official title with no alteration and ID. Only the person on the title can claim the car.

You're risking a lot for nothing. Be smart and use your head. It's better to pay a little now than to pay a lot more later.

FYI, tax evaders go to the same jail just the same as rapists and murderer. Think about that.


I don't want to comment any more on this topic. Specific questions can be PM'ed to me.

[adictd2b00st]

For the record, i've never driven a car that wasn't titled/registered/insured to me, so i hope i didn't make it sound that way. Just stating what i've found in personal experience

[!Zar!]

Why the fuck is everyone making this so dudley do right.

Just fucking put whoever buys the car's info in the place where you would normaly write yours.

That way you get money and sell gets car.

Shits done all the time.

Tax evasion?

wtf. hahaha.

People who sell private to private lie about sell price all the time.

[ryguy]

I had this happen to me in Indiana when I was 16. I bought the car from a guy who owned the car for a year without having the title transferred to him. I had to pay a "delinquent fee" of like 100-something dollars when I got the title transferred, thats it.

[g6civcx]

Why the fuck is everyone making this so dudley do right.

Just fucking put whoever buys the car's info in the place where you would normaly write yours.

That way you get money and sell gets car.

Shits done all the time.

Tax evasion?

wtf. hahaha.

People who sell private to private lie about sell price all the time.

I'm going to call you out.

Have you passed the bar yet? Are you licensed to practice anywhere in the US? Have you ever argued in front of a judge? Do you know the first thing about the legal system?

If you can't say yes to at least one of those questions, you need not speak up.

[!Zar!]

What the fuck are you talking about?

Shit dude.

I never once said anything about anything being legal or illegal.

I just made a statement about what goes on.

Go write a book on ethics.

Speaking of calling out, news flash.

Most of the members on this forum daily drive cars with illegal engines in them.

Most of the members on this forum smog their cars illegaly.

So don't act like someone who writes a lower price on the bill of sale is the worst person in the world.

Shit, all the op wanted to know was about selling a car he JUST bought.

Why put it in his name when the new owner can?

All this talk about, "ethics".

News flash.

This is America.

Ethics only come at convenience.