Seeking advice: Selling vehicle to buyer in another state who you do not know?....

[Erik Loza]

Hoping for some advice on this. A gentleman from NY state is interested in a car I have for sale and has proposed a funds transfer as a means of payment and would (I assume) dispatch a private towing service to pick the vehicle up. He contacted me blindly via a car forum I am on (in other words, not a regular member I know; joined to email me about it...). I have done face-to-face sales and am clear on the usual title being signed, docs being submitted to the DMV and so forth but an trying to see if there is some "angle" I haven't foreseen that would make this not what it appears. A wire transfer can't be reversed but it seems odd to me that a person would just offer to do the transfer and put his whole trust in my hands in terms of turning over the vehicle, the docs, everything. The interested party seems straightforward in our communications so far but he does not really know me, either. Can't help but feel there is something I am missing here.

Thanks in advance,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Gordon Eyre]

Sounds like he is the one who has the burden of trust. I would google his name and try and do some research on him. See if you can find a forum he is on and determine how long he has lived in the same place, etc.

[George Bokros]

I believe a wire transfer and a ACH payment can be reversed if done so in either 48 or 72 hours, not sure what the time frame is.

[ken masoumi]

If you have a gut feeling something is not right,then you should listen to it and walk away.trust your instinct.

[Ed Aumiller]

A wire transfer does not mean you will actually get the money.... it may take 2-4 weeks before you find out that there is no money...

After the car is picked up (by a legitimate local service), you will never see it again...

Any time someone makes this kind of offer.... BEWARE....

Worked for WU for 25 years... there money transfer is one of the best methods of fraud (not WU's, but customers) invented...

[Lee Schierer]

I would check with my bank and see what the rules are and then set up a new temporary account with only enough in it to open the account. Give him that account information to transfer into and then as soon as the money is there go to the bank and move it to your regular account. Make sure the cash is secure before you turn over the car. I would also thoroughly document the car with photos and insure he has copies before the transfer takes place and that he understands the condition of the car and that is being sold as is with no warranties. Take another set in the presence of the transport company so they know you know what condition the car was in when you turned it over to them.

[Brian Elfert]

Don't escrow companies exist to handle this sort of transaction? I sold a travel trailer in 2005 to a guy in the next state over, but I delivered it and got my money at delivery. I don't recall how I was paid, but it wasn't cash.

[Michael Mahan]

how much $ are we talking about ?
cash is King ! if he wants the car badly he can fly in hand over cash .
the only way I'd do a wire transfer is that the car is not released until I can actually make a cash withdraw from the account the money is wired into IE: cash in hand .
as far as the title a notarized release of liability , then submitting to the DMV the state release in person with a receipt of acceptance form the DMV . I don't know how they do in Texas but in Calli you can submit this & the CA DMV will give you a receipt that you submitted a release of liability across the counter .
I've sold cars that I made them go to their bank & cashed their own cashiers check handing me cash in hand . No cash no keys . period

[Rick Potter]

Check CL under cars for sale. They have some warnings posted about things like this. It might be good to read them.

Rick Potter

[Frank Trinkle]

It may be legit!

I sold my Hummer H3 Tactical (only 500 made) on CL while living in Georgia. I was contacted by a guy in Oklahoma who was very interested. I was suspicious because of his location, but to be fair, he provided lots of bonafides and his employment ID with the University of Oklahoma. Bank transfer went smoothly, and the guy flew to Georgia with his father to team drive the H3 back to Oklahoma. Perfect deal, and really nice folks.

Point being.... while scams are aplenty, there ARE diamonds in the rough. You just have to do effective due diligence.

Happy New Year,

Frank

[Stephen Cherry]

It may be legit!



Point being.... while scams are aplenty, there ARE diamonds in the rough. You just have to do effective due diligence.

Happy New Year,

Frank

Have you talked with him on the phone? Have you googled the phone number? Does it match with the name? Intellius match up with that? As Frank Mentioned, where does he work? Any verification of that? Where does he live? Some states have public land records online, does that match up? Maybe social networking? Online court records?

I'm more of a buyer than a seller, but even for little things, I'll try to figure out who I am dealing with using the internet before I walk into a situation.

For transactions, I like the personal check that you can take to a bank branch where you don't have an account. Wells fargo, citibank, etc., there are a number of banks with national presence. If you show up there with a check in hand to cash, the bank will know if he has the money before they give it to you the cash.

[Erik Loza]

Thanks for the advice, Gents. Yeah, I'm going to call him tomorrow and talk to him but I do have a weird feeling about it. I have this sense that all of a sudden, "my buddy will broker the deal" or something like that will spring up. That would be interesting. I will probably insist on doing a F2F transaction for cash.

Thanks again,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Dan Hintz]

I have no problem with someone else showing up to purchase... but they had better bring cash if they intend to leave with the item.

Years ago, I was trying to sell a bodykit for my S2000. I had it sitting in the garage for a couple of years with no time to have it installed, so a "local" S2000 owner wanted to buy it. He was on the S2000 forum I was on, didn't post a lot, but a few messages here and there over a long period of time, so I said okay. We agreed on cash. A couple of hours before he was supposed to stop by, I received a phone call asking if it was okay for some of his coworkers to come and pick it up, because he was tied up with something else... no problem, just tell them to bring cash. Guys show up and hand me a check. Uhm, no. "So and so said you'd accept a check." No, thanks for stopping by.

A few days later the guy was living in Barbados (I think) and stiffing people. I would have been out several thousand $s, holding a worthless check, and no body kit.

[David Weaver]

I would make him bring cash, and if he doesn't want to use cash, tell him you'll go to the post office with him and he can buy postal money orders there at $1000 each to whatever the car is worth.

Last I checked, they were something like 2 bucks per.

[Fred Perreault]

All of the above advice is really good, but one of the unanswered questions is: how much of your personal information does he want before the "deal" is consumated? Most trolls and scammers aren't interested in beating you out of the car, they just want your personal info so that they can drain your account.