purchasing car in california with title being processed

all, i will be heading down to SF saturday to purchase a 1999 996 coupe. the seller paid the car off 2 weeks ago (the car was purchased thru porsche dealership and i believe it was financed thru porsche cars north america)and when paid off seller was sent a letter confirming it was paid off and title was being mailed to him within 3-4 weeks....he is a friend of a friend and has had his business for 20 years however i would like to have some sort of proof the car has no lien. since title is not in his hands, i was wondering the best way to confirm title is in his name free and clear? i sold a porsche 3 years ago and had a similar situtation where i had sold the car after paying cash for it, licensing it and then finding a better example and selling the car 5 weeks later prior to the title arriving to me...the buyer had me fill out a release of interest form that was notorized and also a bill of sale....when the title arrived i mailed it to him. does california have a similar document that we can both sign and get notorized? ...any other way to confirm ownership of the car?

Might be a pdf online you could fill in the info and have signatures on.

WTG !! can wait to see the car! as for the proof....I have found Porsche People (esp friends of friends) to be very trustworthy...Get a hand written letter showing the sale and he will mail you the title as soon as it arrives... I sold my car and had the title come to me, then about a month later (when I got it) I called the buyer and said "The title is here" - we met up and I handed it over to him... He trusted me for well over a month - I have no reason to see anything other than a little trust be used.... (but get it in writing )

Keep in mind that California title processing can take months. We purchased a car near LA from a very reputable dealer and it took 6 months to get the title processed and in our hands. I believe that you can go with the PO to a licensing agency and have them look up on their computers if there are any lien holders on the vehicle. I am all for handshakes, but I do my homework as well!

I purchased my C4S in California and drove it back to Indiana. I had an extremely difficult time with the title because of sales tax issues in California. I suggest that you do a little research and get this issue under control before you pick up the car. In my case, the title was free and clear, but the state of California wouldn't release it unless I paid sales tax. The state of Indiana, where I lived at the time, told me that I should pay them the sales tax since I was an Indiana resident and I brought the car to Indiana immediately after the sale. Ultimately, I had to go to the California DMV in person and speak to a branch manager to get it cleared up. I had to pay about $15 in California for a title transfer, and then I paid sales tax when I registered the vehicle in Indiana. I'm not sure how this would work in the state of Washington - but I'd find out in advance if I were you. As I recall, there was some kind of California law that stated that if the vehicle was taken out of the state permanently within 24 hours of the sale, then the tax should be paid at the new location. This was a couple of years ago though - I'm not sure what it is now. Congrats on the purchase - you'll love it.

You should be ok. I believe you can get documentation from the finance company and they should issue you a temp title. The processing times for CA are not that bad. I have done this before and usually take 2 weeks or so. They say longer but the times I have sold or bought I get title pretty quick. It depends on the seller on how fast they processed it. Congrats!

JUST make sure that if you plan to register it in California that it's a model that has California emissions. Not all do and California WILL NOT register your car if it doesn't . I actually saw this go down when I was registering mine last week. Coincidentally the guy in front of me had was registering a Porsche too, but sadly was not allowed and there is nothing he can do. You should have seen his face when he realized the seller had not warned him of this. I realize this isn't the exact question you asked but I'd look under the hood for the CA emission sticker before purchasing if there is any question. I guess if you are going through a dealer they would know this but wanted to pass the info along.

I don't think he will want to register in CA as will not make sense to pay CA taxes.

opps good point, my bad didn't see where he was. But it will serve as a warning to potential CA buyers.

That is really good point when purchasing from Out of state cars. CA laws can be tough

In California on the cars DMV registration it will show if there is a lien holder on the registration.

Quotes source post: 8340410

+1 Look at the reg slip

again i appreciate all the helpful feedback...unfortunately my deal with the seller didn't work out because of a few more issues with the car that i had no idea about until i mentioned i was booking my flight to purchase the car....at least i spoke to the seller one more time before buying my ticket or i'd be even more unhappy. i will keep searching but if anyone knows of a nice silver/black interior 6 speed coupe with a replaced engine in the $16-$17,500 range please let me know. thanks again for everyones insight!