Best places to list car for sale in NY area? Process?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I'm not going to trade it in so it looks like I will have to sell it directly. Any suggestions for good places to list it? Craigslist makes me nervous...

Also, can anyone talk me through what do I have to do in terms of getting the title and paying off the loan? Do I have to pay the loan off before transferring title, or??

TIA
Newb to this

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Not sure about New York, but we sold a car on craigslist and the experience went well. We made sure to meet the potential buyer in a "neutral" location. He wanted the car inspected first, which he paid for. We did the payoff (in cash) at our credit union. They were the ones who held the loan we had on the car. That way we were able to pay off the loan and transfer title to him all at the same time.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Not sure about New York, but we sold a car on craigslist and the experience went well. We made sure to meet the potential buyer in a "neutral" location. He wanted the car inspected first, which he paid for. We did the payoff (in cash) at our credit union. They were the ones who held the loan we had on the car. That way we were able to pay off the loan and transfer title to him all at the same time.

Thanks, Luanne. I'm dealing with HOnda Finance so not sure cash on the spot will work, but I suppose I should bite the bullet and just call them to find out.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Thanks, Luanne. I'm dealing with HOnda Finance so not sure cash on the spot will work, but I suppose I should bite the bullet and just call them to find out.

I think you should. The financing places are all different.

I say this as someone who has never sold a car. But I don't think you can or should just sign the title over without paying off the loan. The financing places will tell you the steps. Also they have some info on how to handle transferring title on the DMV website.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I think you should. The financing places are all different.

I say this as someone who has never sold a car. But I don't think you can or should just sign the title over without paying off the loan. The financing places will tell you the steps. Also they have some info on how to handle transferring title on the DMV website.

I think that must be true, I am pretty sure that the title transfer requires the bank to sign off; I'm trying to get a handle on logistics. Obviously I have also never sold a car, not sure how that's possible, but there it is.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

This fairly recent one was only the second car I've ever sold privately. The first one was so long ago I don't remember much about it, except it was a VW Super Beetle with almost 100,000 miles on it and we sold it for more than we paid for it.

As I said, the transfer of this latest car went very smoothly. I think the buyer was more nervous than we were because he was carrying around $12,000 in cash. I must have talked to the credit union about how to handle the transaction. Since they held the loan it was a pretty easy transfer. We did use the money from the buyer to pay off the loan, then the transfer was made. I think the buyer still had to go to the DMV to register the car in his name. Sorry I'm not more clear. Also, it could be different in different states.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Are you buying a new car? If so I tend to trade it in. You may get less but you save on the taxes on the new car. New car price minus trade in value minus the taxes from the value of the trade in. If they gave you 10,000 you would save about $900 on the price of the new car in taxes. Plus there is no hassle at all.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Are you buying a new car? If so I tend to trade it in. You may get less but you save on the taxes on the new car. New car price minus trade in value minus the taxes from the value of the trade in. If they gave you 10,000 you would save about $900 on the price of the new car in taxes. Plus there is no hassle at all.

Yep, that would be the easiest route, but I'm not planning on replacing this one...

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

I work for a car dealership. In order to sell the car and transfer title at the time of sale the loan must be paid off and you must have title (with lein released) in hand.

In Massachusetts, where I work, the finance company holds title until the loan is paid in full. Actually everything is electronic and once the loan is paid the registry of motor vehicles is notified and they electronically release the title and it is mailed to you. The process takes about 2 weeks. I am uncertain about NY, but I can contact a friend who works in a dealership there and find out for you.

You cannot walk into Honda Finance with cash and pay off the car. Likely your payments are going to Holyoke, MA. You can go to a Honda dealer with cash and have them pay off the loan electronically. They are able to do an immediate funds transfer from their bank account to AHF and the transaction posts overnight. BUT that leaves you at the mercy of when the dealer makes the funds transfer.

Joy

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I work for a car dealership. In order to sell the car and transfer title at the time of sale the loan must be paid off and you must have title (with lein released) in hand.

In Massachusetts, where I work, the finance company holds title until the loan is paid in full. Actually everything is electronic and once the loan is paid the registry of motor vehicles is notified and they electronically release the title and it is mailed to you. The process takes about 2 weeks. I am uncertain about NY, but I can contact a friend who works in a dealership there and find out for you.

You cannot walk into Honda Finance with cash and pay off the car. Likely your payments are going to Holyoke, MA. You can go to a Honda dealer with cash and have them pay off the loan electronically. They are able to do an immediate funds transfer from their bank account to AHF and the transaction posts overnight. BUT that leaves you at the mercy of when the dealer makes the funds transfer.

Joy

Wow!

I'm so glad our loan was held by our credit union. The whole process, paying off the loan and making the transfer, took mere minutes.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I work for a car dealership. In order to sell the car and transfer title at the time of sale the loan must be paid off and you must have title (with lein released) in hand.

In Massachusetts, where I work, the finance company holds title until the loan is paid in full. Actually everything is electronic and once the loan is paid the registry of motor vehicles is notified and they electronically release the title and it is mailed to you. The process takes about 2 weeks. I am uncertain about NY, but I can contact a friend who works in a dealership there and find out for you.

You cannot walk into Honda Finance with cash and pay off the car. Likely your payments are going to Holyoke, MA. You can go to a Honda dealer with cash and have them pay off the loan electronically. They are able to do an immediate funds transfer from their bank account to AHF and the transaction posts overnight. BUT that leaves you at the mercy of when the dealer makes the funds transfer.

Joy

Thanks, Joy, very helpful.