Hey all, close to landing myself an S2000.... but had a question for you all... has anyone ever had a dealer act as a third party on a private individual transaction? I met with this guy who is selling his car and I met with him and negotiated the sale price the other day. I talk to him today and he says that the car will be at the dealer and I will cut a check to the dealer instead of to him.... err???

I guess he is buying another car at this dealer and the dealer agreed to act as a go-between for me and him. I think the dealer is paying off his loan and then I am just going to pay the dealer to release the car..... it doesn't sound too shady or anything, just a little more complicated then I usually do things. I always pay cash for cars and I generally dislike dealing with dealers because they just ream you every chance they get.

So, has anyone done this? Anything I should look out for? My two big worries are add-on dealer fees and the dealer becoming the owner of the car since they will be paying off the loan..... I guess I would get a bill of sale from the dealer for the car so that should protect me in that respect.....

Does anyone have any idea if the dealer is going to add tax, tags and titling costs? Or any other BS costs to get their hands in the pie?

Thanks again and hopefully with any luck I'll be a proud member of the S2000 community in the near future!

 

That's weird. Have you asked the buyer directly why he is doing this? It makes me suspicious (you too I imagine or you wouldn't have posted).
I can see no advantage to this maneuver but hell, I'll bump the thread. Maybe someone else can see an angle.

 

What he is probably doing is selling you the car and using the money he gets from you as a down payment for his new car (except instead of waiting for your check to clear and then wirting one himself to the dealership he is just having you write it to them). That would be my guess, but still a little fishy.

 

I bought my 2002 this way. Dealer was selling the car for a friend. Overall, this worked out better, I thought. I paid cash, they did all the Tax/licensing and I didn't have to make the trips or worry about titles, etc. Price was fair. Personally, I don't care if the owner paid commission, etc. That's between him/dealer.

One other unexpected bonus: The dealer had been the original seller, so they changed the name on the service records over to mine name, which kept things like the radio code together.

Ultimately, it's your call: Buy or don't buy. Price has to be fair to you..

 

When I bought my M Coupe in 2002, I worked out the terms of the deal with an individual seller, then finalized the transaction at an Infiniti dealership, where he picked up a G35. worked out the best for everybody since my credit union has higher rates for individual sales. Yes, you will have to pay the dealer for tax, title and license, but you would need to pay that yourself regardless. saves you a trip to the tax office.

Not really sure of his terms, but I got the car I wanted so I could care less. There were no troubles in title transfer. pm if you have any questions.

 

friend of mine bought her beemer this way. seller 'traded it' in to the dealer, and then the dealer sold it to her. no taxes or fees as it was out of state and the seller worked out the fees with the dealership. since it was dealer sold, she managed to get the certified pre-owned warranty along with the car.

 

Great! thanks for all the responses! I'm just worried about the BS "processing fees" that dealers normally tack on, like titling, etc..... you know those fees go right to the bottom line. If I were buying directly from the individual, I wouldn't have to pay these fees since he's signing the title directly to me.... but if I were to involve a dealer, they'll probably say it is an additional fee since they are doing the title work. All in all, it probably is going to be more convenient, I'll let you know how it goes!

 

of course your going to pay the tax and title fees, at least you don't have to worry about taking care of it yourself.

keep in mind and an eye out for the dealer marking up the sale price of the car too. 5% or something like that would be usual, unless it's already worked out that you just pay the tax and title stuff. the only way they would make money on that would be a small amount on the notary fees, so i would watch out for them trying to make more $.

as long as that is ok it will be alot more convenient to do it with a dealer anyways. my thinking with the title/ownership stuff is that the dealer is a middle man between the trader(guy you know) and the buyer(you). they sign the title saying he traded it in and the title is just transferred to you. if they are paying off the loan then the bank will send the title to them and they sign it over to you. pretty easy process. as long as they don't get a dealer title fromt he state you should be ok. that would show them as a owner then, eventhough they are just holding the car for you.

good luck!!

 

He might just be a sales person for the dealer or have a relationship with the dealer to sell cars through the dealers licence. Either way make sure your happy with the deal first get a freaking car fax statement and make sure the car wasn't a wrecked vehcal fixed up.