What does a lien sale on a vehicle mean?
 

I’m looking at a car that has a lien sale. I’m thinking some money is owed by the owner but the car is unclaimed and it’s in an impound lot. The min offer is low to buy the car but how do I find out how much is owed by the owner?

In order to legally take possession of the vehicle, the lien holder would have already gone through many hoops to repossess and then offer the car for sale. At that point that entity wants their money out of it quickly and cleanly.

It does not matter what the prior owner / borrower owes at that point. The lien holder sells the car for what they can quickly then they go after the last owner(s) for the difference of what the car sold for plus balance of loan, plus fees , plus anything else they can (state by state) recoup their losses for.

If the car is very high dollar or rare there will be more effort and time spent getting the highest offer.

But beware!!!!!!! Buying vehicles at the impound lot almost always precludes any type of test drive, testing other than sitting in it and starting it. There is no warranty and typically the lot adds their own fees for the final transaction that you cannot opt out of. This is what buyers need to be concerned with

So beware............

Will it hold a salvage title though?

No

Depends on the kind of lien. Its possible the shop has a mechanic's lien on the vehicle and won't release it until it is satisfied. We have had a number of cars over the years that were abandoned at our shop for whatever reason and we can legally sell them (there is a quick easy process to do this for a shop) under a mechanic's lien.

Is there anyway you can get a previous owners name or check the glove box for an insurance card? You can track down liens that way..

...And if it's a repo, there can sometimes be tow damage (both cosmetic and mechanical).

If the car had a salvage title before the lien sale, it will still have one. You should run a Carfax.

If it's cheap like the OP says then who cares? You buy a car like this for fun, not for profit. If it's any kind of valued vehicle, we mortals won't fare well against the business of buying and selling that type of car. It's an insider's game when it comes to valuable cars.

The impound lot min bid is $1500 for a 2001 Boxster S. The car doesn’t start but battery may be just be dead. They don’t have the keys. There doesn’t seem to be any body damage but no interior pics. I’m going to check it out anyway.

They don’t have the keys
 

If they don’t have the keys it might cost a lot more than you think to get replacements.

Rich woman near us bought a 997 turbo for her toyboy & had it repo-ed when they split. It cost her a packet to get replacement keys as the ex boyfriend wouldnt hand them over.

What would it realistically go for? I would assume there is a bid period, or similar, not first in with 1500 takes it. If it is the latter, how could you lose really?

Hmmmm. Maybe the owner left it because the engine was toast, not worth repair.....

Buying a $10K Boxster that doesn’t run for $1500 out of an impound lot will most likely put you in a world of hurt. My logic is how much could the lien possibly be for? Can’t be that much. Why wouldn’t the owner just sell the car to pay off the lien and put a few dollars in his pocket? So why is a non-running Boxster there?

There's nothing as expensive as a cheap porsche.

Run, don't walk..... Away

Oh hell no. I would buy a scrappy car with a bad history....but I want to hear it start. Can it run for 5 minutes without ugly metallic clicks and smoke?

The Carfax was terrible. It’s had nine owners and a couple of accidents with structural damage. Salvage title. I’m walking away. Plus if I bought it, I’d have to hire a divorce lawyer.

Parts car at best.

If the cosmetics are good you could make money parting it out at $1500. But that’s a time consuming affair.

Also - I will tell you from much experience that impound lots, the people that run them and the people that work there are the absolute most unscrupulous bunch that ever walked the earth. There is no business or group lower.

Why? Because there is 'zero' liability from statements, paperwork they have regarding mileage or condition. They have everything to gain by lying, purposefully misrepresenting the mileage or anything else that they could maximize profit by.

There is a reason the car is there, trust me. It is likely a combination of things that are wrong with it that come close to or exceed the value.

I would bet the farm that they have the key but know the engine or trans have a serious issue and it's an easier sell to avoid the reveal if the potential buyer tried to start / run it.

There is currently an investigation into a local impound yard that does not offer exact change from its' towing service, impound fees - but does not accept any form of payment other than cash.

The scam is they contract out to local shopping centers, apartment complexes, bars, etc. to effectively 'police' illegal parking. The tow truck driver's are paid a % of what they recover. So the driver's sit and wait at high traffic parking areas they are responsible for - wait until someone pulls in w/o the proper ID, exits the vehicle and sometimes even before they hit the sidewalk - the driver rushes in, out goes the wheel lift and away they go - to the impound lot.

There is a ($ charge) ceiling and I think it is now @$150 or $175 in Virginia just for the tow, not including lot fees and anything other fee they can dig up. Frequently the impound lots are less than 10-12 miles away.

Sounds like it could be a great race car... Care to share the locale since your not interested in it?