Need help quickly w/ used NSX purchase in CA

[TyraNSX]

HELP!!! I am flying to LA, CA on Mon. to look at & probably buy a used NSX (pending inspection). Staying from Mon. - Fri. The tickets & hotel are nonrefundable through Travelocity. Car has a loan & lien for ~ 1/2 sale price. Car has a CA paperless title which means no actual title right now. I will be paying part to owner and paying off loan balance to his bank for the other part. Also, car will be held at a friendly Acura dealership waiting for transporter pickup, probably after I return home.
Bank does not have & can not give me a title on the spot (sounds weird to me, but apparently this is how CA does it). I will get bill of sale & receipt from owner who will sign over title & send to me whenever he gets it from bank or CA DMV (several weeks later). For all you CA NSXers, is this how it goes? Am I adequately covered? Shouldn't the bank give me some sort of form saying that the car is now mine or I am the primary interest or something if they can't/won't give me a title? I want to trust the seller but this is 1) A huge chunk of change & 2) Me being 3000mi away afterward with no car & no $ so I have to be very cautious.
Has anyone had similar experience in CA with used cars or lien holders before? Anything else I should be getting or demanding? Is bill of sale sufficient & title does eventually materialize? Thanks very much for any advice.

 

[ANYTIME]

HELP!!! I am flying to LA, CA on Mon. to look at & probably buy a used NSX (pending inspection). Staying from Mon. - Fri. The tickets & hotel are nonrefundable through Travelocity. Car has a loan & lien for ~ 1/2 sale price. Car has a CA paperless title which means no actual title right now. I will be paying part to owner and paying off loan balance to his bank for the other part. Also, car will be held at a friendly Acura dealership waiting for transporter pickup, probably after I return home.
Bank does not have & can not give me a title on the spot (sounds weird to me, but apparently this is how CA does it). I will get bill of sale & receipt from owner who will sign over title & send to me whenever he gets it from bank or CA DMV (several weeks later). For all you CA NSXers, is this how it goes? Am I adequately covered? Shouldn't the bank give me some sort of form saying that the car is now mine or I am the primary interest or something if they can't/won't give me a title? I want to trust the seller but this is 1) A huge chunk of change & 2) Me being 3000mi away afterward with no car & no $ so I have to be very cautious.
Has anyone had similar experience in CA with used cars or lien holders before? Anything else I should be getting or demanding? Is bill of sale sufficient & title does eventually materialize? Thanks very much for any advice.

Check your pm.

 

[NRG]

I do not know the DMV process in CT, but this is what happens in CA.

You or the seller needs to pay off the loan on the car to the bank at the spot before they issue a paperless title form.

1) The bank will issue this form to you. (you keep and bring it to the DMV)

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg227.pdf

Check mark "Paperless Title Certification"

- The original owner fills out section #1 and sign #4
- The bank will fill out section #2
- check mark Paperless Title in section #3
- bank will fill out and sign eveything in section #3
- bank will sign and fill out section #5 (they need to have an official seal stamp in section #5.
- new owner (you) fill out section 6

Here's the link to the DMV law for buying purpose.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/topbuysell.htm

There's section with instruction if CA resident buys out of state car. So, you might want to check with your state.

The DMV will be (should be) sending you the title of the car because you would need to register the car. The DMV should not be sending the seller the pink slip at all.

In CA, you also need to fill out the REG 262 form "Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form" which needs to be sign by the seller and buyer. It's also a BILL OF SALE section with selling price info and speedometer info. I'm not sure how it works in your state CT.

Also, the seller is require to provide proof of Smog certification. You should not buy the car if the seller cannot provide that proof. It might costs you 3,000 to get it smog if there's a problem; however, you can bring the seller to court to pay the 3,000...but too much headache. If the seller had it smog within 3 months recently, then it's not required. Also, if the car is less than 4 years old, then it's not required. Again, i'm not sure how your state works with smog certification requirement.

Make sure you draft a "Bill of Sale" on your own and get all his information with signature.

Make sure the registration paper is under his name. Also, check his driver license to make sure he is who he is....(he needs to put his driver license on the REG 262 form anyway).

You should always cover all your basis...do not put trust in when you're dealing with money.

As for the seller, he needs to fill this form as well sign the above form.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg138.pdf

Seller is required to send this form within 5 days of sale date. The buyer has 10 days to report it to DMV.

I hope this helps....in conclusion, yes..the bank issues paperless title because they don't have it...DMV will mail it to you.

Another thing, since the car will be at a dealership for transportation, get a receipt for that....also...take picture of the car before with every angle. You never know if the car arrives on your door with scratches that you have never seen before. Oh yeah...make a note of the mileage too...they probably will anyway ...better yet..take a picture of the mileage.

 

[TyraNSX]

Engel07, thanks a lot for the thorough advice. Some questions- do we bring this form 227 to CA DMV when we're done or do I hang on to it & take to CT DMV when car gets back to CT? Who goes in section 7 as title holder where it says do not enter name of new registered owner above? I will be the title holder (no lien) but also won't be doing any of this in CA once car is purchased. Thanks a lot.

 

[ANYTIME]

Engel07, thanks a lot for the thorough advice. Some questions- do we bring this form 227 to CA DMV when we're done or do I hang on to it & take to CT DMV when car gets back to CT? Who goes in section 7 as title holder where it says do not enter name of new registered owner above? I will be the title holder (no lien) but also won't be doing any of this in CA once car is purchased. Thanks a lot.

That form is for the seller to take to the DMV to release his liability. You need a bill of sale, both from the DMV and one between you two. The paperless title will not be mailed to you (buyer). It will be mailed to the owner, who then has to sign it and send it to you. If the DMV where to send it to you (not the owner), it would need to be signed by the owner first for it to be used in your state to register and transfer ownership. Unless you are going to the DMV to transfer ownership, and then it may be mailed to you. May being key here, as the DMV does things the way they want to, not as you would expect. I doubt the DMV will mail the paperless title directly to you, as you aren't the owner yet and they usually don't do a transfer unless you have all the paperwork in front of you, including a title.

 

[NRG]

I do not know the DMV law for CT. You should call them up for advice or see below link:

http://www.ct.gov/dmv/taxonomy/ct_taxonomy.asp?DLN=27862&dmvNav=|27862|

The bank should already have the form 227 with them. The original copy is in a reddish color. As for the for 262, it needs to be original from DMV. You should ask the seller to visit the DMV to get those forms, including 262 for you. The seller needs several other forms from DMV anyway. Also, ask the seller to speak with a rep from the DMV about the buying process from another state.

I just browsed through your DMV website, it seems like you need several forms to fill out as well. The problem is that they don't have PDF file for you to print out, so i assume they want the original copy. I hope you can get those form on time before your flight out to CA. You need form H-13 and H-31 in CT. It looks like you need to bring back form 227 to CT. See link below.

http://www.ct.gov/dmv/cwp/view.asp?a=810&q=245092

As for section 7 on the form 227, it should be left blank since you're paying the bank loan off. I believe that section is for dealership or another lienholder on the title.

Engel07, thanks a lot for the thorough advice. Some questions- do we bring this form 227 to CA DMV when we're done or do I hang on to it & take to CT DMV when car gets back to CT? Who goes in section 7 as title holder where it says do not enter name of new registered owner above? I will be the title holder (no lien) but also won't be doing any of this in CA once car is purchased. Thanks a lot.

 

[NRG]

Form 227 does not release the reliability at all. The release of liability is form 138 which the seller needs to get from DMV and fill it out. Form 227 is the actual "paperless" title form. It belongs to the buyer.

Here is form 138: which is the seller responsibility to fill out.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg138.pdf

Several years ago, I bought a motorcycle from a private owner. He had about 6K on the loan. I went with him to the bank and paid off his loan. The bank filled out the form 227 as paperless certificate. I took the certificate form to DMV so that I can register the motorcyle. Several weeks later, DMV sent me the actual pink slip (certificate of title) which states that i'm the legal owner now. (There was no name of the previous owner or the bank on the title).

If the previous owner had the certicate of title in his hand, then he needs to sign it and release it to the new owner. Since it's a paperless title, i do not see why it needs to go to the previous owner at all. It doesn't make sense.

Again, I do not know how it would work if a buyer is from out-of-state. I'm speaking in past experience from buying within CA. ANYTIME could be right about it being mailing to the original owner. I just don't see why after filling out all the form and signature and then the previous gets the title. The righteous new owner should be holding it. What happens if the previous owner move away with the title? And then what?

I know there are several out-of-state members who purchased a car recently from CA. Maybe they can enlighten us on the process?

That form is for the seller to take to the DMV to release his liability. You need a bill of sale, both from the DMV and one between you two. The paperless title will not be mailed to you (buyer). It will be mailed to the owner, who then has to sign it and send it to you. If the DMV where to send it to you (not the owner), it would need to be signed by the owner first for it to be used in your state to register and transfer ownership. Unless you are going to the DMV to transfer ownership, and then it may be mailed to you. May being key here, as the DMV does things the way they want to, not as you would expect. I doubt the DMV will mail the paperless title directly to you, as you aren't the owner yet and they usually don't do a transfer unless you have all the paperwork in front of you, including a title.

 

[TyraNSX]

There's no link for a reg262 form on CA DMV site. How crucial is it? Should we just take every form known to man in duplicate to DMV and wait in line or does bank take care of this? What a pain in the dupa!