What do I need to do to sell this car in an impound lot?
January 12, 2022 9:58 AM Subscribe
A friend is staying in Europe during Covid, and her car's registration was lapsed, the car is in impound, and I am tasked with selling it to the impound lot. Am I missing any considerations here?
The details are:
1. The car is not yet off to auction.
2. My friend made contact with the lot and they agreed to take the car in exchange for half the bail, and sell the car for the remainder. To be clear, this is a City-contracted impound lot with a relationship with the police department and the Department of Transporation.
3. I have a signed (not notarized) power of attorney form from the DMV.
4. I have the title of the vehicle, ready to hand over to the person.
5. The car, as noted, is not actively registered.
6. I am in California.
My plan is to give them half the bail, hand them the title, and walk off with a receipt or other record of the transaction. Do I need to do anything further to ensure that (1) the sale is legitimate and (2) the sale is final, as in, no fees or tickets or fines can come to my friend for some reason in the future.
The details are:
1. The car is not yet off to auction.
2. My friend made contact with the lot and they agreed to take the car in exchange for half the bail, and sell the car for the remainder. To be clear, this is a City-contracted impound lot with a relationship with the police department and the Department of Transporation.
3. I have a signed (not notarized) power of attorney form from the DMV.
4. I have the title of the vehicle, ready to hand over to the person.
5. The car, as noted, is not actively registered.
6. I am in California.
My plan is to give them half the bail, hand them the title, and walk off with a receipt or other record of the transaction. Do I need to do anything further to ensure that (1) the sale is legitimate and (2) the sale is final, as in, no fees or tickets or fines can come to my friend for some reason in the future.
Best answer: Based on regular, not-impounded car sales, they need to transfer the title after you sign it and hand it over. I would call them and ask how they plan to do that. In-person together or online together would be ideal. You also need to submit a notice of sale to the DMV to release liability (again, based on regular private sales.)
posted by michaelh at 10:18 AM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by michaelh at 10:18 AM on January 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yep, the notice of sale thing. I was going to say it might depend on where the vehicle was titled and any reporting requirements for vehicle sales in the city, county, and state where the car was registered. I sold a car for a friend once after he moved to another country, and in the U.S. state I was in and the vehicle was registered in at the time, the requirement was that you had to report the sale of your vehicle to the department of revenue (that way they stop taxing you on it, among perhaps other things). Looks like michaelh has a good link for that above.
posted by limeonaire at 10:21 AM on January 12, 2022
posted by limeonaire at 10:21 AM on January 12, 2022
Best answer: It has been awhile, but 35 years ago I worked for a towing company in California that impounded vehicles and very frequently sold them for resultant fees when they were not picked up. Not ONCE out of hundreds (thousands?) did we have someone come in and pay us for part of the bail. The cars would be sold via lien and the resultant fees, no matter how negligible, were kept by the towing company as a COMPLETE SETTLEMENT of fees due with no subsequent billing or financial liability. They are probably absolutely delighted you are offering them additional monies. It is not at all clear to me that you need to give them a thin dime. I wouldnt. Giving them the title would speed the process of settling all this. But if it was me I would NOT give them a nickel without some kind of indication that it is absolutely necessary. Kind regards.
posted by jcworth at 2:26 PM on January 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by jcworth at 2:26 PM on January 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
A couple of issues:
1. You can determine how much is due in back registration by going on the California DMV website and typing in the VIN. In California, DMV usually makes you pay the back registration fees before registering a car after the sale.
2. You can determine the value of the car by looking it up on Kelly Blue Book online, or other valuation services.
3. It is a certainty that they are charging the owner impound fees (for storage of the car) for every day the car remains and is not signed over to them. This used to be about $40 a day, it is more likely to be about $60 now. The "bail" is an ever increasing amount, so you want to do this transaction as soon as possible.
4. The value of the car is important because the sale needs to cover the full cost of the towing, blah blah fees, and daily storage fees. The value of the car is lessened by the registration fees due on it. (If the auctioneers are honest and the buyers are informed; that may not be the case as California auctioneers for tow lots are famous for the "buy a car you can't get registered" scam.)
5. The true value of the car is the market value minus the back registration fees. This is what you could sell it for on the open market if you paid the tow/impound fees and took possession of the car.
6. Do not, under any circumstances, put the car in your name. If you do so, you may be liable for any tow/impound fees not covered by the sale of the car.
7. If there is anything of value to the owner of the car in the car, you will need to go collect that at the time of your transaction. This could be anything, even just a pair of cheap sunglasses, so make sure to ask the owner, and if you are at the lot for the transaction, make sure to look through the car.
8. Most importantly: I am very confused as to why you would give the tow lot money, in addition to title to the car. The point of giving them title to the car is to stop the accumulation of impound fees. If they own the car, they can no longer charge your friend for storage. Thus, if you are going to transfer title to the tow lot, you want to do it ASAP. But why would you also give them money? Unless the car is totaled, doesn't run, or has been in this lot for a very long time, the sale of the car should cover all fees. If it doesn't, so what. Your friend is out of the country and the tow lot has no way to collect. As jcworth says above, it would be very unusual for your friend to give up the car and also put up money. Just sign the car over in complete settlement of the debt. Don't give the tow lot another dime.
posted by KayQuestions at 6:33 PM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
1. You can determine how much is due in back registration by going on the California DMV website and typing in the VIN. In California, DMV usually makes you pay the back registration fees before registering a car after the sale.
2. You can determine the value of the car by looking it up on Kelly Blue Book online, or other valuation services.
3. It is a certainty that they are charging the owner impound fees (for storage of the car) for every day the car remains and is not signed over to them. This used to be about $40 a day, it is more likely to be about $60 now. The "bail" is an ever increasing amount, so you want to do this transaction as soon as possible.
4. The value of the car is important because the sale needs to cover the full cost of the towing, blah blah fees, and daily storage fees. The value of the car is lessened by the registration fees due on it. (If the auctioneers are honest and the buyers are informed; that may not be the case as California auctioneers for tow lots are famous for the "buy a car you can't get registered" scam.)
5. The true value of the car is the market value minus the back registration fees. This is what you could sell it for on the open market if you paid the tow/impound fees and took possession of the car.
6. Do not, under any circumstances, put the car in your name. If you do so, you may be liable for any tow/impound fees not covered by the sale of the car.
7. If there is anything of value to the owner of the car in the car, you will need to go collect that at the time of your transaction. This could be anything, even just a pair of cheap sunglasses, so make sure to ask the owner, and if you are at the lot for the transaction, make sure to look through the car.
8. Most importantly: I am very confused as to why you would give the tow lot money, in addition to title to the car. The point of giving them title to the car is to stop the accumulation of impound fees. If they own the car, they can no longer charge your friend for storage. Thus, if you are going to transfer title to the tow lot, you want to do it ASAP. But why would you also give them money? Unless the car is totaled, doesn't run, or has been in this lot for a very long time, the sale of the car should cover all fees. If it doesn't, so what. Your friend is out of the country and the tow lot has no way to collect. As jcworth says above, it would be very unusual for your friend to give up the car and also put up money. Just sign the car over in complete settlement of the debt. Don't give the tow lot another dime.
posted by KayQuestions at 6:33 PM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: A couple answers to things:
1. the bail is up around $6k.The car was in impound for s very long time before she learned about the situation.
2. She is concerned that the impound lot will take her to collections for the bail. She arranged for the exchange of money, I did not take part in that conversation but sounds like I should advise her to revisit that detail.
posted by kensington314 at 11:37 PM on January 12, 2022
1. the bail is up around $6k.The car was in impound for s very long time before she learned about the situation.
2. She is concerned that the impound lot will take her to collections for the bail. She arranged for the exchange of money, I did not take part in that conversation but sounds like I should advise her to revisit that detail.
posted by kensington314 at 11:37 PM on January 12, 2022
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posted by tman99 at 10:15 AM on January 12, 2022