Selling a Car in Va. (Alexandria, Fairfax: sales, city hall, insurance)

[Flamingo13]

I know this is last minute, while at work someone called my husband about buying our old car. We are meeting her at the local service station in the morning where she heard about it and we'd had it serviced. I've tried the DMV site, they want $ for a bill of sale, I printed one out elsewhere for free.

This is what I know to do: Get the money (LOL), scrape off our City of Alex. sticker, and remove tags (but I don't know that she'll have tags, so we might have to wing that), sign over the title, mail our Registration in showing it changed hands.

Anything else I need to know? Thanks so much for quick help.

[robbobobbo]

Cancel the insurance. And if your Alexandria sticker is current (hasn't expired) you can take the pieces to City Hall to get some money back. You mentioned bill of sale but didn't list it in the things to do - yes, get that filled out and signed in addition to signing over title.

[Flamingo13]

Thanks, we had actually put our new City sticker on, so it has a yr. left, we'll peel that off. I did print out a generic bill of sale. Thanks for your help!

[car54]

DMV will only ask the buyer for a bill of sale if the claimed sales price is way below "blue book". But giving the buyer a BOS doesn't hurt....I always do so that I can declare that the vehicle is sold without warranty, expressed or implied. I get the buyer to sign the BOS and I keep one copy.

The main thing is to sign over the title in Section A...all sellers must sign if vehicle is jointly owned. Do not screw up the odometer statement part of Section A! Carefully write the mileage (no tenths) and do not check any boxes that do not apply...such as, "mileage exceeds mechanical limits" or "Mileage is not actual" (I forget the exact wording). Never use an eraser or white-out on a title, DMV won't take it if you do...

Never, ever let the buyer drive off with your plates! Even if they swear they will bring them right back to you...they often don't. Removing the plates forces the buyer to go to DMV to re-title the vehicle in their name. If you leave your plates on...they can put off going to DMV (and maybe rack up some parking tickets in the meantime!).

If you want to be nice, you can offer to deliver the car to their house, remove your plates, and have them give you a ride home in another vehicle. But it's really not your worry what they do, as long as they don't have your plates.

Notifying DMV of the sale (by returning that half of the registration) is very important, as is notifying the car tax people in your City or County that you have disposed of the vehicle. You can do that online in Fairfax County...don't know about other jurisdictions.

[Alanboy395]

Originally Posted by car54

DMV will only ask the buyer for a bill of sale if the claimed sales price is way below "blue book". But giving the buyer a BOS doesn't hurt....I always do so that I can declare that the vehicle is sold without warranty, expressed or implied. I get the buyer to sign the BOS and I keep one copy.

The main thing is to sign over the title in Section A...all sellers must sign if vehicle is jointly owned. Do not screw up the odometer statement part of Section A! Carefully write the mileage (no tenths) and do not check any boxes that do not apply...such as, "mileage exceeds mechanical limits" or "Mileage is not actual" (I forget the exact wording). Never use an eraser or white-out on a title, DMV won't take it if you do...

Never, ever let the buyer drive off with your plates! Even if they swear they will bring them right back to you...they often don't. Removing the plates forces the buyer to go to DMV to re-title the vehicle in their name. If you leave your plates on...they can put off going to DMV (and maybe rack up some parking tickets in the meantime!).

If you want to be nice, you can offer to deliver the car to their house, remove your plates, and have them give you a ride home in another vehicle. But it's really not your worry what they do, as long as they don't have your plates.

Notifying DMV of the sale (by returning that half of the registration) is very important, as is notifying the car tax people in your City or County that you have disposed of the vehicle. You can do that online in Fairfax County...don't know about other jurisdictions.

For the city of Alexandria (where Flamingo lives) there is a form you fill out and she should bring the bill of sale as well.

Personal Property (Vehicle) Tax | Finance | City of Alexandria, VA

Documentation accepted by the City of Alexandria includes:

•Sales: A copy of the bill of sale.

http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFile...Form070109.pdf

I know because I'll be filling out one myself in May. I just need to know if I can just mail in my sticker and my Kentucky registration since I'll be too busy job-hunting to come back.

[mrnovember]

What about a situation where you still owe money and don't have the title. I've done it before in our states but not VA. Basically you have to have someone or entity act as a escrow agent or go between.

[car54]

Originally Posted by mrnovember

What about a situation where you still owe money and don't have the title. I've done it before in our states but not VA. Basically you have to have someone or entity act as a escrow agent or go between.

You have to contact the lienholder to arrange the payoff/release of the title.

No "go betweens" necessary, but it does delay the process....

[Flamingo13]

Thanks so much car54 and Alanboy, exactly what I was looking for. The buyer realized she can't get tags until Monday so we're meeting her then.