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Meeting a seller to buy a car
Most private sales go fine. The ones that don’t usually go wrong at the same moment — money changes hands before anybody looked closely at the title. Here is what buyers check, in the order it happens.
Look at the title before the money moves.
Pick a place you'd pick anyway
Search your town plus safe exchange zone. Many police departments keep a marked, camera-covered spot in their lot for private sales. Call the station first to ask if you can meet there.
If you are paying by cashier’s check or a large amount of cash, a bank branch during opening hours answers the place and the payment at once.
Daylight, a public spot, and somebody with you. Tell somebody who is not going where you will be.
Match the title to the seller and the car
- The name on the title matches the seller’s photo ID. If it doesn’t, ask why — an estate or a recent purchase has its own paperwork.
- The VIN on the title matches the VIN on the dash and on the driver’s door sticker.
- A lender listed on the title means you need a lien release, or the lender’s payoff handled, before the title is clear.
- A brand on the title — salvage, rebuilt, flood — is printed there. Read the whole front.
An honest seller passes all four in a minute. Before you make the deal has the rest of the questions.
Bring the bill of sale yourself
Plenty of sellers don’t have one, or don’t know their state wants one. You can bring it.
Print the free bill of sale for your state before you go. Both of you sign it, and both of you keep a copy.
It records the price, the date and the VIN in one place. Your state’s page says whether it needs a notary.
The test drive, from your side
Expect the seller to ask for your license and to ride along. That is normal, and a good sign.
Know whether your own insurance covers you in a car you don’t own yet, before the first appointment.
Money and title move together
The payment and the signed title change hands at the same moment, with the bill of sale signed alongside.
Check the seller’s signature and the odometer reading on the title before you leave. Signing over a title shows what a finished one looks like.
A deposit sent ahead to someone you haven’t met is the money that is hardest to get back. Taking a deposit covers how both sides write one down.
Before you drive away
Plates stay with the seller in some states and go with the car in others. Insurance has to be in your name before you drive.
Most states give you a set number of days to title and register it in your name, and the deadline can be short. Check it with your state’s motor vehicle office before the sale, not after. After you buy has the rest of the list.
Bring the paperwork
Pick what you’re buying and the state, and print the bill of sale for both of you to sign. Free, no account.
What this page is
A plain description of how this generally works in private vehicle sales in the United States. Rules differ by state and change. It is not advice about your sale — for that, your state's motor vehicle agency is the authority, and their current page is what governs.