Creating Healthy Agreements

October 6, 2007 9:01 PM

I want to buy a friend's car. How can I ensure that we'll still be friends after?

The car is 6 years old, is in fantastic condition, and the agreement is to buy it for the Blue Book value (about $6000). The person I'm buying it from I know very well and is noble, honest, scrupulous—I have no concerns about him doing me wrong in any way.

Still I'm assuming there should be a piece of paper involved in this sale, which says "I give you x dollars for the title to the car" and the like. It should probably say some other things! But what? What rights or responsibilities should either of us set forth?

Any stray thoughts are welcome—and any other advice about the process of buying a used car. (Here is what I know about cars: they have wheels and stuff and I like driving them.) I've read through the entire "car" archives on AskMe and found a couple helpful little bits.

posted by RJ Reynolds to human relations (17 comments total)

Don't worry so much, it's fine to buy a car from a friend - it's not something that usually leads to any sort of long term resentment.
posted by matkline at 9:03 PM on October 6, 2007

If you are buying from a friend, just get the title work done before you pay him. He'll then give you the title when you give him the money.

The only thing that might affect the relationship is on your side if the car turns out to be a money pit for you. Can you honestly stay friends with him if he doesn't offer to help out if the car becomes a lemon? If you said "yes" than you have nothing to worry about.
posted by qwip at 9:06 PM on October 6, 2007

If your friend is actually your friend, then:
1. You ask him to tell you everything that is possibly wrong with the car.
2. He tells you.
3. You agree on a price.
4. You go to the title bureau (or equivalent entity in your state).
5. You trade a check for the new title.
6. You make sure the funds in your account are adequate.
7. You take the car and drive it.

If your friend is honest in part 2, and you trust him, you need to understand that anything that breaks is your problem. Then your friend is still your friend.

That's all. No "piece of paper".
posted by Kwantsar at 9:11 PM on October 6, 2007

The important part isn't the paper, it's that you and your friend are both cool with the deal, and you won't hate him when something eventually breaks.

The bill of sale should simply say "(Your friend) hereby sells (the car) for (amount). The vehicle is being sold as-is." This means he isn't giving you any kind of warranty. Once you own it, if it breaks, it's your problem.

Google automobile "bill of sale" for some examples.
posted by knave at 9:11 PM on October 6, 2007

As far as I know, you will need that piece of paper (bill of sale) to register the car as your own. At least, the DMV in my state expects one.
posted by knave at 9:12 PM on October 6, 2007

When we sold our car, the only we added (beyond what you had) was that the car was being sold "as-is, with no warranties" Which also means that you recognize that if the car breaks down tomorrow, you will be your problem, not your friend's. Which also means that you might want to have the car check out by a mechanic to make sure there are no surprises. (After all, there could be problems that your friend doesn't know about.)
posted by metahawk at 9:17 PM on October 6, 2007

And if your friend's especially generous, he might consider the cost of that mechanic checkout when setting his price. Either way, though, Kwantsar (well, Kwantsar, and metahawk's 'as is') pretty much nails it.

Oh, one other thing--depending on your location, and how good a friend he is, the two of you might want to, uh, how do I say this? Tell the people at the DMV that he sold it to you for a dollar, or a hundred bucks or something, so that you won't have to pay as large a tax on the sale. (Note: I'm not a lawyer, but this is almost certainly illegal. Maybe he could sell you a car for twenty bucks, and a candy bar for $5980. Like I said, I'm not a lawyer.)
posted by box at 10:23 PM on October 6, 2007

For the greatest chance of this working out for the best, you need to go into it expecting to just shrug off any problems you may have in the future.

Yeah, if he's as honest and great as you say, then he will be willing to work with you on any issues that may come up in the future. But you cannot ensure how he will behave; all you can ensure is how you will behave. Try to get yourself into a place where, if you end up with a lemon, you won't hold it against your friend.

Sure, it may not end in an exactly fair trade, if things go poorly... But, if your concern is with staying friends instead of ensuring a perfect deal, then you'll need to accept before-hand that you may have to let things slide.
posted by Ms. Saint at 11:09 PM on October 6, 2007

Tell the people at the DMV that he sold it to you for a dollar, or a hundred bucks or something, so that you won't have to pay as large a tax on the sale.

Because they'll totally believe that without question! It's such an original idea that I'm sure they won't know what hit them!
posted by grouse at 12:19 AM on October 7, 2007

FYI in Texas, you now have to pay taxes on what the blue book value of the vehicle is regardless of the actual sale price.
posted by mrbill at 1:52 AM on October 7, 2007

You could make up and sign a friendly agreement, too, one that has no legal force but is intended only as a statement between the two of you. State that you will remain friends and not blame your friend even if the engine blows up the day after you take ownership of the car, even if it turns out that a million things were wrong with it that any idiot should have known about, even if it turns out that the car somehow costs you ten times more than you paid for it, and that you will never demand, expect, or even silently wish for any assistance or refund from your friend concerning the car. The two of you will prick your thumbs and sign it with bloody thumb prints.
posted by pracowity at 3:27 AM on October 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

You need to think about how you will feel if a month later your mechanic tells you that the car has been wrecked before, and that the engine is on its last legs. And he should think about how he will feel if you damage "his" car, or if you turn around and sell it a week later for more money.

A bill of sale that specifies that the car is "as is" is a good idea. But more important to your friendship is both of you actually being comfortable with the car being "as is", not whether or not you have a piece of paper saying so.
posted by Forktine at 7:01 AM on October 7, 2007

Assuming you did your research on the car and know it is reliable and that you had a trusted mechanic give it a once over you really need no agreement. You realize that you buy it as is with no warranty. The risk is all yours. I bought a well-used pickup from a friend and did have a few problems afterwards. Thankfully it was nothing major but it did end up a few hundred dollars of repairs. I know he did not rip me off.
posted by JJ86 at 7:06 AM on October 7, 2007

Something I haven't seen above, but I've learned from recently selling a car to a family member--one thing you can do to reduce the probability of hurt/angry feelings is hold up your side of the transaction without asking for any sort of favors that you wouldn't ask if you were buying the car from someone you didn't know.

For example, asking if it's okay to just leave the plates on for a week or two because you don't have time to go to the DMV and get plates right away. If I had sold my car to a stranger, I certainly would have taken the plates off before I let someone drive off with my car and surrendered them to the DMV; instead, said family member was driving around 6 months later with my plates on the car and my registration in the glovebox, and every time I thought about it I got stressed out about what would happen if he got a speeding ticket or god forbid, in an accident.

Don't be that guy. There's a bunch of stuff that's a total PITA (in terms of timing) to take of care of when you buy a car used. Don't ask your friend to trust that you'll take care of it after the sale if you don't think he'd be okay with trusting a random stranger to do so.
posted by iminurmefi at 8:06 AM on October 7, 2007

there seems to be an implicit assumption that if something catastrophic goes wrong with the car after you buy it, it would have to have been a preexisting condition that your friend didn't tell you about. not so.

your friend is honest. if the car dies, it's not his fault.

do get a bill of sale and the title and register it properly. then prepare yourself for the joy and expense of owning a used car (which, on balance, is far cheaper than owning a new one, even if it does require tlc).
posted by klanawa at 9:26 AM on October 7, 2007

There may be things about the car that your friend doesn't know about -- your friend can't be honest about unknown problems. I highly recommend getting a pre-sale checkout at a mechanic. They are pretty cheap and will tell you everything you need to know about the car.

And definitely get a bill of sale that lists the seller, the buyer, the date, the price, and the VIN. You wouldn't buy anything else for $6000 without a receipt, would you?
posted by rhapsodie at 12:50 PM on October 7, 2007

If your friend is honest in part 2, and you trust him, you need to understand that anything that breaks is your problem. Then your friend is still your friend.

Well if you don't trust him stop now. Otherwise continue to believe that your friend was honest in part 2 no matter what happens.

The reason you pay less for a used car is that it will die or require expensive repairs sooner than a new car. The cause of either of these events probably already exists, just biding its time.
posted by winston at 1:27 PM on October 7, 2007