Legal Question in Personal Injury in Oregon

Re: Who is liable

In almost all circumstances I can imagine, you would NOT be liable after you sell the vehicle for injuries to third parties. If there was something fraudulent about the sale (such as a post-dated sale to avoid liability for an accident), liability is improbable. Unfortunately, if the buyer is involved in an accident and the injured third party sues for his injuries, he would have to file suit against the seller (whom the injured guy assumes is the owner, not the seller) as well, in case there were any liability for negligent entrustment (eg, for letting a drunk borrow the car) against the presumed owner. Then, you'd have to at least respond to the suit to get rid of it.

To be safe, and avoid these problems, I recommend bringing the buyer to DMV, and having the documents executed and registered there. I believe there is a registration document that is at least to be sent to DMV in the event of sale, as well as the title itself. Check with DMV.

Re: Who is liable: CORRECTION

In my first reply, the second sentence SHOULD have read "UNLESS there was something fraudulent about the sale (such as a post-dated sale to avoid liability for an accident), liability is improbable." It erroneously read "IF there was something fraudulent..."