Are car dealerships supposed to register a car before selling it?
When a car dealership sells someone a used car does the car dealership have to register the car in their name before selling it, or can they just pass the title from the person they got it from onto the person who bought the car? I bought a car and this is what the dealership did.
Also, if they are supposed to register the car. Would it be just whatever the name of the business is, or would it be the name of the person who owns the business?
They register it WHEN they sell it, and in the name of the buyer.
One document the buyer signs is something called a "limited power of attorney," which legally permits someone from the dealership to register the car on your behalf.
This is important in the case of leased or financed automobiles; once titled and registered, the title would be forward to the financial institution to be held in trust until the note has been satisfied (paid off).
March 10th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Licensed and registered (with the state) auto dealers, DO NOT have to register vehicles they acquire from trade ins – Even if they bought/traded a used vehicle from another dealer they don’t have to register that vehicle – when a buyer comes to them – the auto is at that time registered to the new owner (the buyer). Registering secondhand autos increases the cost factor for the dealerships, why bother.
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March 10th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
They register it WHEN they sell it, and in the name of the buyer.
One document the buyer signs is something called a "limited power of attorney," which legally permits someone from the dealership to register the car on your behalf.
This is important in the case of leased or financed automobiles; once titled and registered, the title would be forward to the financial institution to be held in trust until the note has been satisfied (paid off).
References :
March 10th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
THe car dealer CHOOSES to register the car in the buyer’s name. This is because they do not trust you to register the car yourself. They want to make DARN SURE that the ownership of the car is well established so that they aren’t responsible for any crashes you get into. It’s not a requirement, or a "supposed to" at all. They choose to do that to shed that liability.
Dealerships never register the car in the name of their own business. That would be expensive. They have a license to avoid that.
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