Am I walking into a scam?

[Semprini]

I've had my eye on a nice car that appeared in a classified ad several weeks ago, but after talking with the seller my bs detector is going off and I'm trying to determine if i'm being scammed. Here are the facts so far:
The vehicle is reasonably priced for its mileage/age/features, it's neither a great bargain nor an overpriced rig.
The seller has not been pushy in any way, or implied that there are other potential buyers in the pipeline, I don't feel like she's trying to rush the deal. Here's the major snag and what has raised a flag for me: the car belongs to her son who's in the military, he's out of the country, and the title was lost during his last change of post. The son has applied for a new title which he will send along with a bill of sale. I've been dealing with this woman for a few weeks now as she tries to get the documents together and she seems to be trying to do the right thing, but I'm still a bit suspicious for a few reasons:

"Mom" says she has power of attorney over the title but I don't see why this matters if her son is going to sign it over to me (unless she's selling it against his wishes and knows he won't sign it over...)

I've heard countless stories of scammers playing the patriotism card (son abroad in the military) to win sympathy/trust, but she doesn't seem to be making it major point of conversation.

I have not actually met the owner of the vehicle, and that encourages me to use caution.

The seller mentioned that she has a friend who works at a tag agency, I'm inclined to think that such a person might be capable of producing a bogus title.

On the other hand, I have been to the seller's home, she handed me the keys and let me inspect and test drive the car without hovering over me (the cynic in me says that this is exactly how I would act if I were selling a vehicle I didn't own or care about.) I have also been to her place of work to pick up some paperwork so I know where she lives and works and it's not like she's going to disappear into the ether like some Nigerian 419 scammer. We have been working for a few weeks to get the proper documentation so that the transaction will be legit, and I don't know if a scammer would go to these lengths (again, the cynic might suggest that if she thinks she's got a good sucker, she might be willing to go the distance.)

At any rate, the duplicate title should be here in a week or two, and we'll be off to the races. Can anybody see an angle I might be missing, and are there any clear warning signs? If the title materializes and it looks legit, is there still a potential for scammage? Am I being too paranoid?

[CraigFL]

In these times you can't be too suspicious. The only things that would concern me about this deal are:

1. If the mother has the legal right to sell this car. Is the power of attorney legit and does it give her the right to do something like this? You would want to get a copy of this and have a lawyer review it because if it is so, she will be signing her name on the title with POA. You would want to have a copy of her drivers license to prove it was her too.

2. You need to check with motor vehicle dept to be sure that the VIN is registered to her son in spite of what the title she has says.

Otherwise, it's always good to make sure the money you give her is traceable in some way -- like a check that she would probably have to deposit in her account or at least supply ID for.

[Semprini]

Thanks for the advice, those are good points to consider. I can check the current registered owner with the DMV, but I need written consent of the owner to do so. It's sort of a circular argument...

I will be financing this with my bank, and I imagine they will generate a check for the owner who is listed on the title. I brought this up with the seller and she did not seem to have a problem with it, she said she'll send the check to her son. Her reaction seemed reasonable to me.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[clawhammer]

Run carfax on the vin. I don't know if you'll find out too much, but it might help