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How to Sell a Financed Car Without Paying it Off? 4 Steps
Determine Your Car’s Value with KBB
KBB Summary
Provides an Instant Cash Offer and purchases your car within a dayHelps to determine your car’s value if you want to sell it privatelyIt’s free to use the KBB valuation toolNo obligations – you can use the KBB valuation tool and sell your car privately
When it comes to selling your car, the first thing you should do is to determine the car’s value so that you can project proceeds from the sale. The current market value of the car provides proper insight into how much you can get for the cash.
Credible sources to reference to assess the current value of your car include Kelley Blue Book (KBB). This resource will provide an estimate of your car after you enter the required details.
Make sure to provide extensive details about the car to get an estimate that closely reflects the current value. Armed with proper information on your car’s value, move on to the next step.
Determine How Much You Owe on Your Loan
Having figured out how much you could get from selling the car, go on to find out how much you still owe. Reach to your lender or bank (depending on where you got the loan) to negotiate a payoff amount.
The payoff amount is the money you need to pay to completely clear the loan. Ask for the payoff amount and any associated terms and conditions. The payoff amount is bound to be more than the amount you currently owe because of the interest that accrues to it daily.
Finding out the payoff amount gives you an idea of the actual proceeds you will make from the transaction. Compare the payoff amount to the value of the car you initially estimated.
This is the stage where you figure out whether you will be able to make a deposit for another car with the proceeds of the sale or will need to add more money to pay off the loan.
Since the title is still with the creditor, at this stage, you should also make plans to get the title, as it is necessary paperwork for the sale. You could get the creditor involved to add legitimacy and quicken the transaction.
Lenders understand that sometimes borrowers need to sell financed cars without paying them off and typically have a due process for such transactions. Reach out to your lender and get them on board and seek advice for the best option for the sale.
If a bank has financed the car, you could hold the sale at the bank’s premises. As you finalize the sale and get the funds, you can quickly pay off the loan, get the title, and transfer it to the new owner.
Completing the transaction in a bank’s physical premises also adds some form of formality to the transaction and will encourage the buyer. You also get to quickly notarize documents as necessary while completing the transaction.
Sell Your Car Privately and Pay Off Your Loan
Selling a financed car privately is one way to go. This involves getting private buyers through offline and online methods, selling the car to them, and paying off the loan. After you pay off the loan, you can then transfer the title to the new owner.
Get private buyers offline by telling friends, families, and acquaintances about the sale. You could also go the traditional way of putting a For Sale sticker on the car.
For getting buyers online, create free or inexpensive ads on platforms such as Craigslist and eBay. Make the ads captivating and sell the best features of the car with multiple pictures from different angles to boost.
Note that many buyers don’t want to part away with their money when they will not be getting a car in return immediately. So, you would have to do extra work to convince the buyer that it is a legitimate transaction.
That’s why it’s recommended to carry out the sale on the premises of the lender.
If your lender is out of town and you can’t use their physical location for the sale, you might have to do some extra convincing. Convince the buyer to pay for the car and submit a bill of sale to the local DMV to get a temporary operating license. With this license, you can transfer the car to the buyer while working on getting the title.
You can then pay off the loan with the proceeds of the sale and get the title. Getting the title could take a few weeks. You could expedite the process by paying a fee.
Whatever arrangements you make with the buyer, ensure that it is legitimate and aimed at optimizing the sale.
Sell Your Car to a Car-buying Company
You can also opt for selling the car to a car-buying company. These companies offer services aimed at the swift and stress-free selling of used cars. Car-buying companies pay for different models of cars irrespective of the condition. They also buy cars without titles.
When selling to a car-buying company, stick with those with an established track record. Such companies guarantee the swiftest transactions.
3 Best Car-buying Companies to Sell Your Financed Car
Three of the most reputable car-buying companies are Peddle, Wheelzy, and CarBrain. Let’s discover more information about them down below.
1. Peddle
Peddle Summary
Buys used, damaged or junk car nationwideGet instant quote on (855) 925 4302Free towing within 48 hours after offerReceive payment upon car collection
Peddle buys used, damaged, and junk cars and pays cash on pickup. The process of selling a car to Peddle is so swift that the entire process can be completed within 48 hours.
Get an instant offer from Peddle
Peddle gives you an instant offer after you share details about your car. The instant offer is basically the amount they will pay for the car. Since you don’t have a title, you would have to indicate that when asked for the title.
Other details you would need to provide include the make, model, year, and condition of the car.
Get paid by Peddle
Peddle makes you an offer that is valid for seven days. You can consider the offer during this period and accept it. After accepting the offer, you schedule a suitable pickup date and time, and Peddle sends a tow driver and rep to get your car.
A simple inspection is carried out at the point of pickup. After confirming the details you submitted, the rep gives you the value of your instant offer as cash. You could also receive the payment as a check.
Recent Peddle Offers
ModelYearMileageOfferToyota (Camry)2011150,000$2,225Volvo (S40)200137000$430Mercedes-Benz (560)199192000$1,930BMW (528)2008126,000$1,140Kia (Forte)2010145,000$635Honda (CR-V)201167000$2,930Ford (Explorer Sport Trac)2004145,000$1,170Oldsmobile (Alero)2004162,000$400Audi (A6)2006106,000$530
2. Wheelzy
Wheelzy Summary
Wheelzy stores are open 7 days a weekGet offer in minutes – (855) 510-1108Free towing of your car from your locationInstant payment via cash or check
You can also choose your sell your financed car without paying it off to Wheelzy. This company buys cars by offering sellers an instant offer after they share the car details.
Wheelzy offers a guaranteed instant offer. The offer is not subject to change, even at the point of pickup. As long as you accept the offer, you will receive the stated amount in cash or as a check at the pickup point of the car.
Getting a Wheelzy offer
Get a guaranteed offer from Wheelzy by sharing car details such as the model, make, submodel, and year.
Irrespective of your location, Wheelzy will send you an offer to buy your car and pick it up for free. To get an idea of Wheelzy offers, a 2010 Ford Edge with under 200,000 miles that don’t start was bought for $1,200 in Texas.
Getting paid
You get paid when the Wheelzy rep picks up your car at the scheduled time and date. Get your payment in cash and the rep will leave with the car.
Recent Wheelzy Offers
ModelYearMileageConditionOfferHyundai (Tucson)2006200,000Doesn’t start$400Mercury (Sable Sedan)2003150,000Doesn’t start$225Mercedes-Benz (C)2001150,000Starts$222Ford (Edge)2010200,000Doesn’t start$1,200Ford (Flex)2009150,000Starts$1,000Lexus (RX)2002300,000Doesn’t start$750Chevrolet (Cobalt Sedan)2007200,000Doesn’t start$200Toyota (Corolla)2003250,000Drives$555BMW (528)2008250,000Drives$1,487
3. CarBrain
CarBrain Summary
Get an online offer within 2 minutesGet cash for your car in under 48 hoursCarBrain buys cars in over 7 conditionsUp to 7 days to accept CarBrain’s offer
CarBrain describes itself as a company that buys less than perfect cars. The company buys these cars after offering the buyers instant or guaranteed offers.
Share car details with CarBrain
Share your car details with CarBrain over the phone or through the website and get an offer to buy the car. Accept the offer to proceed with the transaction.
You can accept your CarBrain offer within 7 days. Then, you schedule your ideal pickup date and time and get the required paperwork ready. If you don’t have a title, indicate that and the company will handle getting the title.
Get paid for your financed car
CarBrain sends a rep and driver to you according to schedule to get the car and pay you for it. You can get the money in cash.
You can sell a financed car without paying it off to a private buyer or car buying companies like CarBrain, Peddle, and Wheelzy according to the details highlighted in this article.