Overhaulin'

How can i sell a car in CA w/out pinkslip? reg. is paid but DMV is taking long sending the title. need to sell

i recently bought a car from a lien sale. paid the registration, got the plates and tags. that was about 3 weeks ago. now i find myself in financial troubles and would like to sell the car, even at a loss but the problem is that i still havent received the pink slip from the California DMV. How can i sell the car without it?

Public Comments

1. You can't.. That is part of the problem with buy a car at an auction. Papers can take for ever because the title is still in the old owners name and needs to be changed to yours and must go through the courts to do so because it was lien sale. and the old owner is not around or unwilling to sign the papers over. You could call the calif DMV and or the sale you bought it from and get a ETA on the paperwork.
2. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to sell the car until the pink slip is in your hands. Let's say you find someone that buys the car without the pink slip with a promise that you'll give it to them when you get it. What if the person that bought the car decides to get piss drunk and kills someone while being under the influence. He decides to flee the scene and witnesses got the license plate down. They run the plate and find out you are the owner of the car. You are done like steak! You will get in trouble because that's your car under your name. I know finances may be tight right now but it's worth it to just wait and do the transaction right.