title-ing a used car

A

Atrus

Forum Member
Been a while since I bought a car from a private party....

1) I can transfer a plate for $8, correct? I may pull the plate on my Camaro since it's tucked away for the winter, and get a new plate for it in the spring.
2) Title transfer fee is $15, correct?
3) In my old age, the seller and I didn't fill out the purchase amount. I can't seem to recall what I paid, and it was in cash so I can't look at my checkbook. Has anyone ever been audited to where they've reached out to the seller to verify the price?
 
As long as you dont put some crazy number for the selling price then you should be fine. If you dont have a receipt and didnt write a check, they are gonna have a hard time proving what you actually paid. You could go back to your bank and look at your withdraw records possibly to see how much you took to borrow.

As far as the plate transferring, you can transfer but im not sure on the exact charge. I did this when I sold my Neon. They plate was good for a few extra months when I bought my Cobra and I transferred it.
 
You will also be charged sales tax on purchase price.
The plate fee is different from vehicle to vehicle.
 
Atrus said:
3) In my old age, the seller and I didn't fill out the purchase amount. I can't seem to recall what I paid, and it was in cash so I can't look at my checkbook. Has anyone ever been audited to where they've reached out to the seller to verify the price?
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Great story! :roll: Never happened to me but a friend had the SOS check up on a selling price before. Only time I've ever heard of it. :dontknow:
 
Just say it's a parts car. Doesn't run. Busted motor. Blah blah blah...older car $500. Newer car be kinda reasonable....

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I had State of Ohio contact me to verify a selling price on a car I sold to a Buckeye. He put a stupid low number on it.
 
Use kbb.com to estimate a value from it local area of purchase for its current condition. You'll need to provide a valid proof of insurance for the vehicle you're transferring the plate on to.
 
Thanks for the tips. KBB on it is like $10,700. It IS a 10 year old vehicle and has just shy of 58k miles on it. I was going to aim for like $5k-$6k
 
Atrus said:
Thanks for the tips. KBB on it is like $10,700. It IS a 10 year old vehicle and has just shy of 58k miles on it. I was going to aim for like $5k-$6k
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You should be fine with your stated price.

Just for the record, At the SOS, you must pay sales tax
on your car's value of actual purchase price or book market
value - whichever is HIGHER! .

Fact, look it up if you don't believe me. Of the hundreds
of vehicles I've purchased over the decades, the SOS only
"requested" that I pay the "market book value" and not my
actual purchase price paid, only once did this ever happen.
 
I once bought a vehicle that was 6 years old, out $450 down. Said it was in an accident and needed quite a bit of body work, new engine, trans, and suspension. Bought it for parts to scrap out. They didn't even blink an eye after I said that.
 
My father-in-law once told the buyer when he was selling a car "I won't put a price on the title so you can put whatever you want in there so you can save on taxes." Buyer said "Sir, I am a New York State judge... so I will be putting the purchase price." Oops. Father-in-law felt dumb after that one.
 
Scooter70 said:
My father-in-law once told the buyer when he was selling a car "I won't put a price on the title so you can put whatever you want in there so you can save on taxes." Buyer said "Sir, I am a New York State judge... so I will be putting the purchase price." Oops. Father-in-law felt dumb after that one.
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LMAO - whenever I have sold a vehicle, I always leave the price open on the form. I won't admit that I am doing it intentionally for that very reason. Just as I said in my original post, I must have forgotten to complete it when I purchased, due to my old age. Seller didn't ask me to fill it in, and signed over the title. I'll have to rack my brain as to what I actually paid for it. ;-)
 
moneypit said:
its not sales tax on a vehicle in michigan its "usage tax" either way its theft
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I feel this way every time I buy a used car and for the last twenty years or so I always pay the full tax amount because it is the "right" thing to do...even though I feel it is so wrong. I'm confused...
 
I usually tell the buyer put whatever you want its between you and the state. If you are reasonable on the number you shouldn't have a problem. In my younger years I tried to put 100 bucks on a fairly new motorcycle and the SOS lady was very nice and explained that the price would probably get looked at and maybe I should toss on an extra 0.
 
I did have to argue for the Austin Healey I got for free. The "seller" was having their garage demo'd the next day, and the agreement was if I cleared the garage out (literally, yanked their stuff out to their backyard), I could have the crusty old car in the front.

I took the title to the SOS, which was strange as it was as the VIN was completely non-standard. She first gave me a bunch of grief over it being free, so I told her to charge me $100 as it was completely inoperable and probably only good as parts anyway. She then threw a fit over the weight - it was either 1200 or 1500 lbs, I can't remember:

SOS - "This is NOT correct, it cannot be 1200/1500 lbs"
Me - "No, that is correct"
SOS - "No, it cannot be"
Me - "It most certainly is"
SOS - "Look, I have registered trailers that weigh more"

I argued and finally got her to process it.

By the way, everything went well - it's all legal now!
 
4Gas$ said:
You should be fine with your stated price.

Just for the record, At the SOS, you must pay sales tax
on your car's value of actual purchase price or book market
value - whichever is HIGHER! .

Fact, look it up if you don't believe me. Of the hundreds
of vehicles I've purchased over the decades, the SOS only
"requested" that I pay the "market book value" and not my
actual purchase price paid, only once did this ever happen.
Click to expand...

This is true. I have had it happen to me once. I paid $2k for a Neon. Book value was 18k. I paid taxes on the 2k at the SOS branch. The SOS sent me a bill for tax on the difference of the value. This is the only time it happened. I have bought and sold a lot of cars since and never been audited
 
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