How do you buy a used bike that the "owner" is making payments on

Okay I was looking at a used 2007 Suzuki that the owner wants to sell but here is the deal:

From the ad: "This motorcycle is currently financed through Suzuki. Once the sale is complete we will sign a bill of sale, you can take the bike with you. We will pay the remaining balance with Suzuki and will then mail you the title or have it available for pickup, (or even deliver it if you are close by)".

So is this legit?

If you trust him, a bill of sale with a rechecked vin # against the bike and the registration...
taking the bike and current reg should be fine.
Get a formal bill of sale from DMV & make sure you know the 10 day payoff amount.
Pretty basic stuff when it goes smooth.

Id did this with my 950. Sent the guy a deposit via paypal, then flew down and met him at the airport.
We went to his bank, paid off the loan, and they did the transfer papers in front of us.

Was pretty clean for us since his bank held the title.
A little different when zuki has the title, but not much.
Peach's suggestions are good, bill of sale, trip to DMV with reg, and done.
Dont forget to set-up insurance, your current policy might cover some time period before you get all the papers in order.

You might also be able to do the same thing I did, but at a local zuki dealer.

Did this once. Bank took 45 days to send the title, then a few more days for the seller to get it to me. Got fined by the DMV for not registering soon enough.

You make your check in the payoff amount to Suzuki or the bank holding the title. Any remainig to the seller. Or the seller puts in the remaining which ever way it is.

The way the ad is worded, I agree something sounds fishy. I would not make the entire transaction out to the seller. Pay off Suzuki first, then the balance to the seller.

In California you can take the title with you. The owner has a copy with Suzuki shown as "lienholder". He would sign it over to you.

Just remember though,, until Suzuki signs off as lienholder, they can come get the bike if the seller just keeps your money.. :huh

If you go through your bank, they'll take care of all the paperwork/funding with no worries for you or the seller

I bought a Buell once that was financed through Harley. I called Harley Davidson Finance and they explained how to do it. She gave me the pay off amount (that would be good for one week) and she said to get a money order for that amount made out to Harley Davidson Finance, then include a copy of the bill of sale with my information and go with the owner to drop it in the mail box so you both know it got sent. Then I paid him the balance. In about one week I got the title mailed to me showing the lien paid off. From there it was off to DMV to transfer it into my name.

Check with Suzuki to see how they want to do it.

TOM

Thanks for the great feedback! Since I don't know the owner and the way he worded the ad I already see a red flag or two - but of course the tease is it has low miles and is cherry - that's where the TEMPTATION (go for it) comes into play! Question is - is it worth the extra work and stress, possibly. I guess my best bet would be to check out the bike and the owner as well and get a "feel" for the situation. I'll keep you posted.

Sounds legit and normal. He only wants his equity. You pay the balance to Suzuki, so he's trusting you, not you trusting him. If you purchase during business hours you can call Suzuki right there and then with the guy and get a solid pay off figure.
Contrary to previous posts: in California if there is a lien on the title the LIENHOLDER holds the title. The registered owner will have a registration that shows lienholder. It can take time to get the title from lienholder, don't worry..post your fees at DMV and you will get no penalty. It's not unusual to get a duplicte title from lienholder either, they often misplace or don't have for other reasons the original. Don't worry again, it happens.
NEVER take a duplicate title from a registered owner showing a lienholder unless the lien is signed off and NOTARIZED.
If a registered owner holds an ORIGINAL title showing lienholder it is because the lien is satisfied and that lienholder will be 'signed off'. (This is how the title will look when YOU get it), it will show the guy you bought it from as 'registered owner' and Suzuki as 'lienholder'.
Suzuki will be signed off, your seller of course won't, that's why you get a bill of sale, also it's not a bad idea to get a 'power of attorney' from the seller...NOT FOR HIS LIFE!...solely for the vehicle in question! Bills of sale and POA are available from DMV, maybe you can print them online, check.

SELLER calls lienholder. they should have all the forms/paperwork for you and the seller.

you pay the lienholder balance and the rest to seller. lienholder will have title mailed to you.

if lienholder (bank/finance co) have a local office you can do it all there.

Well you all made it sound so easy I started the process and immediately hit a major road block or I should say brick wall! This bike would have been a great buy too and maybe worth a little hassle but not this much. Well if you want to talk to Suzuki Financial America (HSBC) your call is going to India and guess what - they don't have a CLUE about allowing somebody to buy the bike (pay off the loan) who isn't the original buyer! Suzuki Financial (HSBC) doesn't even have an email address, they only respond to paper mail delivered by the US Postal Service.

I called several times with all the info they wanted about the original owner to start the process (the original owner even called ahead to okay the transaction). Well, even though I was going to pay off the lien and give them a Arizona Department of Transportation Bill of Sale (signed and notarized by the original buyer) they were not going to send me the title but the original buyer and I could expect to wait anywhere from 90 to 120 days before it would be sent out - WTF!

So for all you future buyers of bikes with liens owned buy HSBC - Good luck.

I bought a bike from a gal in Durango, I live in Phoenix. It started simple enough... "I'll (she) bring down the bike since I'm on a trip to Phoenix anyways". She gets to Phoenix and forgot the key. No key, no title (she had a loan on it but I knew that). If that didn't sound fishy I don't know what does. She agreed on a small deposit, left the bike with me, and had her boyfriend fedex the keys. Sure enough I get the keys the next day. Once I had the key I could check out the bike and all was fine. She stopped by for the balance, paid the loan, I had the title within 2 weeks.

However, I had her picture, her trucks picture, her home address, her drivers license, and a whole bunch of instinct that I could trust her. She had lost her job and just wanted to sell the bike real bad. Gut instinct but I was out on a limb only a little bit.

Yep I would rather deal with a real person face-to-face so I can get some sort of gut feeling for the situation versus HSBC (the worst loan and credit card company on the planet) customer support in Bombay, India.

I sold a BMW Financial financed bike which I sold. The fellow who bought it, was from was out of town, he paid the payoff amount directly to BMW Financial, which I verified. When he came to pick it up, he gave me a certified check for the balance and all was good, very smooth.

I did not receive my title from GE finance (KTM factory financing). multiple calls to an overseas call center netted no results.

you have to search because I eventually found a USA phone number and talked to an american! she figured out they were ordering the title for a (previous) bike I bought the year before and paid off.