Buying car with theft recovery history

[tenere]

Planning to buy a Cayman that has theft recovery history but currently has a clean title.Anything I need to watch out for when buying from insurance& registering the car.Also the owner has Leon on it

[thstone]

Wow, three red flags (theft history, insurance seller, owner lien) in one car, that might be a record. Unless the price is incredibly, incredibly low, it would seem hard to justify taking on this much risk. What are the details (year, miles, price, etc)?

[sailing1]

Way back when, I bought my first Porsche. It was a 911T that had been stolen off the Porsche dealers lot almost a year before. It had 20K plus miles on it at the time I bought it and I assumed it had had the crap driven out of it and never had any scheduled work done on it. Still It was cheap and I really wanted a Porsche and couldn't afford one any other way. So I haggled out a 2 year 24,000 mile warranty from the local Porsche dealer and plopped down a lot of money, at least for that stage of my life and drove it off the lot.

They say you always remember your first Porsche and I certainly remember that one. Not one single thing happened to it in the two years I owned it. 30,000 miles later I sold it for what I paid for it.

Will you have that kind of luck? Who knows. My advice is have some serious inspections done on it and don't even think about it unless you can get a good warranty on the car.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by tenere

Planning to buy a Cayman that has theft recovery history but currently has a clean title.Anything I need to watch out for when buying from insurance& registering the car.Also the owner has Leon on it

Please clarify - are you buying from an ins co or an individual? My assumption is you are saying you're buying from an individual and he has a loan on the car that must be paid off. And you're asking if there will be any issues getting ins.

If I have understood you correctly, the answer on ins is no, there shouldn't be issues. You have a clear title. Same with registering it.

The loan part is more complicated. If the loan is with a local bank, then you go with him to the bank. You provide the amount the two of you have agreed upon as the sale price and he provides the rest to pay off the loan. The bank hands over the title. You and the owner fill out the info on the title and you take the title. Look the title over carefully before writing any info on it. Make sure everything is done legibly, esp the mileage. DMVs look for any reason to cause you headaches.

IF the loan is with an out of town bank, then the only way you deal on this car is if he pays off the loan beforehand and has the title when you buy it. If you don't do it this way, you run a very high risk that you'll never see the title of the car, even if you have posession of the car. People cannot be trusted in today's world.

Have you run a CarFax on the car to be sure the title is clean or are you taking the owner's word?

Remember this: sellers are always full of promises and are willing to bend over backwards prior to the sale. After they have your money, not so much. Make them live up to everything you agree on BEFORE you give them your money.

Be careful, but good luck with your deal.

[tenere]

It is 06 Cayman S , 40000 miles on it and buying it from an individual who I think buys cars at auction & flips them.He is asking 23k ,loan is with Capital one bank.

He had the clear title with him and said has lien on it from Capital one (CA address)according to seller we could go to any capital one local branch and along with him pay off his loan on car which is entire 23k.The bank would issue lien release document immediately.

I did test drive the car ,no apparent mechanical issues but think might have been driven hard by the seller.Interior is little rough & smokers car
Also there is scuff on rear bumper which might require repainting entire bumper .I will be buying the car out of state

Is 23k good price for the car?

[jbs986]

Originally Posted by tenere

It is 06 Cayman S , 40000 miles on it and buying it from an individual who I think buys cars at auction & flips them.He is asking 23k ,loan is with Capital one bank.

He had the clear title with him and said has lien on it from Capital one (CA address)according to seller we could go to any capital one local branch and along with him pay off his loan on car which is entire 23k.The bank would issue lien release document immediately.

I did test drive the car ,no apparent mechanical issues but think might have been driven hard by the seller.Interior is little rough & smokers car
Also there is scuff on rear bumper which might require repainting entire bumper .I will be buying the car out of state

Is 23k good price for the car?

You would be a fool not to buy this car, if you don't please let me know, I would love to buy it,

[Mark_T]

Here in Manitoba (may be true for all of Canada, I don't know), when you buy a car from an individual it is important to get a documented release from prior encumbrances. However, if you are buying from a registered dealer, then any prior liens are the dealer's problem, not yours.

It sounds like this might be just some guy that buys and sells cars though, not a registered dealer, so proceed with caution. How can he say he has clear title, but it has a lien on it? It is one or the other, can't be both, unless the terminology used in the US is somehow different from here.

[tenere]

Clean title as it doesn't have salvage or rebuilt tag associated with title.It raised red flag when he mentioned he bought car from a friend not at an auction.If I go to bank with him it should confirm that car is kosher as the bank would have verified car history before lending the loan.

[thom4782]

Some more red flag questions...

Why is this person selling the car for the exact same amount as the lien?

Is the title in the seller's name or the person the seller got the car from?

In whose name is the loan - the person trying to sell you the car or the person who had it before?

How can the seller say the title is clear when it has a lien on it?

BTW: get a complete pre purchase inspection done from a trusted mechanic before you buy!

[Mark_T]

Might be an idea to do your own personal property registry search to see if there are any other liens on it before you move forward. If you are financing this purchase then your bank should do that on your behalf.

[BruceH]

Make sure you get a PPI. You mentioned the owner might have been driven hard. A good PPI is needed to see what you are getting into.

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by tenere

It is 06 Cayman S , 40000 miles on it and buying it from an individual who I think buys cars at auction & flips them.He is asking 23k ,loan is with Capital one bank.

He had the clear title with him and said has lien on it from Capital one (CA address)according to seller we could go to any capital one local branch and along with him pay off his loan on car which is entire 23k.The bank would issue lien release document immediately.

I did test drive the car ,no apparent mechanical issues but think might have been driven hard by the seller.Interior is little rough & smokers car
Also there is scuff on rear bumper which might require repainting entire bumper .I will be buying the car out of state

Is 23k good price for the car?

23k is low wholesale, so its a good deal but not great for a car with problems. I'd buy the car for 19k or less, but 23?

[husker boxster]

How can the seller have the title and have a loan on it? I would think the bank would have to have the title. If he has the title, what control does the bank have?

But assuming you can go to any Cap One bank, you should be good.