The Expert Podcast

A title is a legal government document issued only by a government agency. You've seen them before; it's a certificate that looks like this and that proves that you are the owner of the vehicle and that the last title owner sold it to you; they transferred it to you. If you don't have that and the seller doesn't have one to give you, you need to think very carefully about that purchase because there's a chance that you could buy that car and never get a title.

You need to first ask the seller why they do not have a legal title document to give you when you give them the money. If they're the legal owner and they just lost it, they can get a duplicate, which is really simple. If they're not the legal owner, now you're buying a car from somebody who's not legally the owner, which could put you at risk. We always recommend that before you buy a car without a title, you really think twice about whether you are willing to put that money at risk.

Most of the time, it'll work out, and you can get a bill of sale and a title, but 20–30% of the time, you may never get a title for that vehicle. It could turn out that it has a lien on it, has back taxes, it's a salvage, it's a parts-only, or it could just turn out that the process you would need to do to get a title without having a valid certificate is too hard or too costly or takes too long and you just don't want to do it.

There may also be other claims against the vehicle, like a probate case or maybe a UCC against the vehicle, that could also block the title transfer, so just because you're getting a bill of sale doesn't automatically mean you're going to get a title. Most of the time, it does, but the government is the ultimate decider of titles.

A title is a legal government document issued only by a government agency. You can't buy one from a company; you can't download one from the internet. It only happens after the government decides that you are legally entitled to be the owner of that vehicle, and if you don't have the title certificate that proves that, they're going to make you jump through a lot of hoops.

Now there's a way to make it easier. Our website will give you instructions on how you can make that process easier, and we also have a title server, so we could do that as well. But we never recommend buying a vehicle without a title unless you're willing to take the risk with the money you're paying for that car.