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Private Sale vs. Dealer Sale, Suspicious Seller

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beth22285

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California

A friend of mine found a car through a private seller and wants to buy it - she saw it on the street, called the number, set up a time to see the "owner" and his car, etc. When they went to seal the deal, the title was in the name of a third party, NOT the "seller" who made it seem as if he was the original owner of the car. Nevertheless, the man who was selling the car, NOT the name on the title, signed the Titleholder's name on the pink slip. He claims that the original owner, whose name is on the pink slip, gave the car to him in exchange for a job he did for the original owner, and he never changed the title over to his name. This made my friend very suspicious, but as she needed the car, she went through with the deal.

My question is, what is this guy trying to do? Can the car possibly be his to sell if his name is not on the title? Is this legal? What I understand is that he is "dealing" cars without a dealer's license; is this correct? Please advise what would be the best thing to do in this situation.

Thank you in advance!:confused:
 


CraigFL

Member
People do this all the time to escape dealership laws, temporary tags, insurance and sales tax that they would have to pay. Hopefully there is no lien and it is truly the latest title for the car(someone didn't obtain a replacement title for it after the title your friend saw. It will probably go through all right but some states require things like odometer statements filled out, notarized signatures and then of course there are the CA emission laws to be dealt with-- who does your friend go back to if the car doesn't pass??
 

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