car sale etiquette

[dave_clark]

right, so i'm shortly going to be selling my car and expect to get in the low to mid thousands for it. clearly i won't accept a cheque for this (in case it bounces), but neither do i particularly want that sort of cash floating around (with someone i don't know from adam (*) knowing it's in the house).

anyone got any suggestions as to how best resolve this? man the f*ck up will not be deemed an appropriate response :biggrin:

(*) - just in case it would break the forum rules without this disclaimer - Adam, this wasn't aimed at you :tongue:

 

[Phil E]

Get him to transfer the money to your account via his phone. Check it's gone in using your phone.
Give him the keys.

We are now in a technological age.............unless you are in the Forest of Dean.

 

[dave_clark]

can't you recall chaps / faster payments though? that's my fear.

 

[DrSTU]

Why not use a banker's draft?

 

[crossref]

Why not use a banker's draft?

if Dave is worried that they will break into his house and steal back the cash -- well they could do the same with the banker's draft

I think the traditional way is to give a false address and then happen to be on the street already, polishing the car, when the buyer gets there.

Of course he will worry he is buying a stolen car
But then you are worrying that he is using a forged banker's draft / forged £50s


this, of course, is exactly why people end up using ibuyanycar.com

 

[Taff]

Bankers Draft? That's what I had to do when I bought my bike. I paid the balance in cash.

When I bought my car, I paid it all in cash.

Make sure you get the buyer to sign a declaration that he buys the car as seen.

 

[Phil E]

Sell it outside the bank, then run in with the cash when he pays you?

 

[dave_clark]

that's looking like the best option.

or buy a gun!

 

[Robert Burns]

Get a bankers draft. Have a friend with you, go straight to bank after.

 

[Ricardowensleydale]

The Vehicle Safe Trading Advisory Group offer the following advice

6. PAYING

There are different ways you can pay for a vehicle – cash, cheque, banker’s draft, bank transfer or ESCROW. Choose the method that works for you but be aware of the potential dangers. Be very careful about how and where the hand over of the cash and vehicle is to take place. It is dangerous carrying cash, especially when you’re going to meet a stranger, so use your common sense and always have someone with you. Cash, cheques and banker’s drafts can be forged or counterfeit and your seller is advised not to accept these. NEVER pay using a money transfer company such as Western Union or Moneygram – these exist for transferring money between people who know each other. An immediate bank transfer can be made using the CHAPS system for a nominal fee, (£20-£30). Consider meeting the buyer at your bank and completing the transaction there. CHAPS payments are irrevocable. ESCROW is safe way of paying for a vehicle but make sure that the company is registered with HMRC. Be careful when using ESCROW or Shipping web sites as many are bogus and set up by fraudsters. See the Metropolitan Police Fraud Alert web pages about money transfer, cashback and ESCROW.

 

[Dickie E]

might be just as easy to keep the car

 

[beckett50]

might be just as easy to keep the car

Or burn it and claim the insurance

 

[Davet]

Paypal

 

[dave_clark]

Or burn it and claim the insurance

you say that, but the mrs wrote the last car off so i didn't have to go through this nonsense!

 

[Beer Hunter]

Don't whatever you do take a bankers draft! Like cheques they are only a promise to pay and are quite easily and often stolen. Handling cash is a problem so best bet is to get him/her to carry the cash and go with you and pay it in to your account in front of your own eyes then hand over the keys. Even on-line payments can be reversed so be careful.

 

[OB..]

you say that, but the mrs wrote the last car off so i didn't have to go through this nonsense!

Our last car was written off by somebody else (when the mrs was driving - but fortunately she was unhurt). I completed the paperwork and was surprised to get a letter from the Glasgow Police two years later saying "my" car had been caught on camera exceeding the speed limit.

Needless to say I was nowhere near Glasgow at the time. I told them I had surrendered the paperwork plus some evidence of that and heard nothing more. Quite why the DVLC still thought the car was registered to me was unexplained.

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

Sell it up North where people are honest and nice to each other!

 

[DrSTU]

Thank God, I thought it was just the tinfoil hat brigade in here:biggrin:

Sell it up North where people are honest and nice to each other!

 

[Dixie]

Sell it up North where people are honest and nice to each other!

Remind me - where did Ian Brady, Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman and Jimmy Savile live?

 

[OB..]

Remind me - where did Ian Brady, Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman and Jimmy Savile live?

(Just don't ask where Fred West was from ...)