Selling a car you still owe on
we pay the lender directly

There's still a loan on the car and you want it gone. Maybe the payment got heavy, maybe you already bought something else, maybe you just want out. Every private buyer you've talked to went quiet the second you said the bank still holds the title. This is the most common reason a car sale in Columbus falls apart, and it's the one we handle most.

1. Tell us who holds the loan. Send your vehicle details through the offer form and the name of your bank, credit union or finance company. You don’t need to call them yourself.

2. We get the payoff and appraise the car. We request the ten-day payoff — the exact amount to clear the loan, including interest through the date we pay it — and appraise the car. Within 24 hours you get three numbers: what the car is worth, what you owe, and the difference.

3. You sell, and we pay the lender. If you take the offer, we pay the lender directly. Not you, not a wire you have to forward. Straight to them.

4. You get your equity and your proof. If the car is worth more than the payoff, that difference is your check, the same day. Once the lender confirms the payoff, we send you a letter showing the loan is closed and the lien is released.

The payoff doesn’t change what your car is worth. Those are two separate numbers, and we show you both instead of blending them into one figure you can’t check. Two examples, with round numbers:

You have equity. The car is worth $18,000 and you owe $14,500. We pay the lender $14,500 and hand you $3,500 the same day.

You’re upside down. The car is worth $18,000 and you owe $20,000. You cover the $2,000 difference, we pay off the full loan, and the car and the debt are both gone. You see that figure before you agree to anything. More on that on the negative equity page.

If the bank, credit union, or finance company still has a lien, you won't have the physical title in your hand. It's held until the loan is cleared, and you can't legally sign the car over without it.

This is where private sales die. A buyer hands you cash, but the cash has to go to the lender first, and now two strangers are standing in a bank lobby trying to sort out a title transfer. Most buyers walk before they get that far.

A licensed dealer moves liens and titles every day. That's what makes this legal and quick: the payoff, the paperwork and the lien release all happen on our side.

If a loan payment comes due before the payoff clears, make it as usual. Any overpayment is refunded by your lender.

What moves the car's value is the usual: year, trim, mileage, condition, service history, and what similar vehicles are actually selling for in central Ohio right now. Rust underneath matters here more than most places.

We don't charge anything to do this. There's no fee for handling the payoff and no cost for the appraisal.

BBB accredited with an A+ rating, and 294 people have rated the experience 4.8 out of 5. Plenty of them had a loan on the car.

We'll also tell you fast if it isn't a fit. Clean title, working condition. And if you're upside down on the loan, we still buy the car — you cover the gap, and we tell you the exact figure before you commit to anything.

Not sure this is your situation? Here's how selling your car to us in Columbus works from the start.