umm ok .. working for a large finance company .. i can shed some light ... The car in this case is the "security" for the loan ... another word for it is the collateral ... so despite selling the car ... if the finance company dosent get its money then the car can be repossed ... no matter who has ownership of it now ... the most important thing every car owner should do is get the VIN number and check it on REVS youd be silly if you didnt ... you can pay $10 or something like that and you get a certificate that the "title" of the car is in the owners name ... It is illegal to sell a car that has finance on it .. coz really you dont own the car .. the finance company does .. until you have completely paid it off and the security is released through REVS ...