Lien Holder "Stamp" on Trade-In Vehicle Title?

[Brenzo]

I posted this in the AWD thread, but haven't heard anything so figured I'd post here before it gets buried under an avalanche of commentary around delivery logistics. Thanks in advance for anyone who has insight into the issue below!

The Issue
After 5 days of no movement on my submitted trade-in appraisal I reached out to the Owner Advisor I originally ordered from as he's been somewhat responsive over email. He asked me to provide a more legible copy of the title as the faxed copy from the lien holder was poor quality, which I sent over this morning. I followed up with a phone call this afternoon just to make sure he receive a copy and was then told that, “According to my trade in team they require some kind of stamp from the lien holder.”

He copied his manager to see if he could provide more info, but I have yet to hear back...

Question
Has anyone ever heard of this or have any idea what they're asking for? I’ve traded in financed vehicles a couple times and never had to provide a copy of the title let alone some stamp. I understand they want as much of the paperwork done beforehand as possible, but this seems a bit excessive...

-------------------------------------------------
I'm going to call Tesla corporate in the morning, but figured if I could reach out to my bank first / instead, if I knew what I needed to ask for.

 

[ewoodrick]

It sounds as if your title doesn't indicate that it is clear of liens. Someone else owns the car

 

[Brenzo]

It sounds as if your title doesn't indicate that it is clear of liens. Someone else owns the car

Well, technically someone else does own the vehicle - the lien holder (bank) who provided me a copy of the title.

Do I need to have the vehicle completely paid off in order to trade it in to Tesla?

 

[dbemis]

In Michigan, we get our titles shortly after getting the car, and if you have a loan, there is a 'stamp' showing the lien holder, maybe that's what they are missing? Do you see something like the ABC Bank section on yours? It doesn't need to be paid off to trade it in

https://cdn.theclunkerjunker.com/titles/MI/MI_title_front.png

 

[mswlogo]

If I recall for my state and banks. The bank would hold the title until the loan was paid off. So if you have the title it’s yours. Don’t recall a stamp but there might be a line for a former lien holder.

 

[Brenzo]

In Michigan, we get our titles shortly after getting the car, and if you have a loan, there is a 'stamp' showing the lien holder, maybe that's what they are missing? Do you see something like the ABC Bank section on yours? It doesn't need to be paid off to trade it in

https://cdn.theclunkerjunker.com/titles/MI/MI_title_front.png

Yes, the title lists me as the owner and then lists the bank as the first lien holder.

When I finally was connected with an Inside Advisor, I was told that I didn't need to provide a free and clear title (with no lien holder) because that would be handled when i trade in the vehicle on delivery day.

 

[Brenzo]

Just wanted to provide quick update here...

Finally received trade-in appraisal this morning. I knew the value would be lower than my loan balance considering I barely put any money down when I first purchased the vehicle. However, it was definitely a bit lower than I was expecting, so I will be getting some written offers from a dealership and CarMax.

With that said, any offer would need to be at least $2,200 higher than Tesla's because that's approximately how much I'll save on sales tax by doing the trade-in at their current appraised value. Although truthfully, the competing offer would probably need to be at least $3,000 or greater than Tesla's, otherwise not worth missing out on the convenience of driving the vehicle to the delivery center and driving away in my M3.

With that said, I just don't see a huge offer like that coming, so now I am mostly just looking to get comparative quotes to bump up Tesla's offer which serves the dual purpose of reducing my sales tax liability and covering more of the gap between trade-in value and loan balance.