Tips For SAFELY Selling a Car?

tryrrthg

My wife and I are trying to sell her car. I put an ad on craigslist and the usual “for sale” sign in the window. I’ve sold a car before but it was only a $2200 transaction so I wasn’t that worried about getting scammed because I just made them pay in cash. As I start getting interested parties for this car I can’t help but wonder how to go about making sure I don’t get scammed by a fake cashier’s check, or something, since this will be a transaction of a much higher dollar amount.

What steps can I take to make sure the cashier’s check is legit? I read somewhere that I should insist on them getting the cashier’s check at a local bank branch and then complete the transaction at that bank so that they can verify the check. Make sure I look at their driver’s license, etc.

Anyone have any tips for making this process as smooth and painless as possible?

edbert

What you have said is exactly correct as far as safety goes. You can even go to their bank and ask them to wire the money directly to your account or do an electronic funds transfer. Those funds have to be in their account before the transaction can be completed and the money will be in your account immediately as well. As soon as you verify you have the funds, sign the title over to the guy and not a minute before. Depending on your DMV standards, they usually have a little contract kind of thing to help transfer the vehicle over that both you and the buyer have to fill out all of your information and the amount of the transaction. That way if the guy really tries to scam you, you have some legs to go after him.

PolkThug

Yep, don't release the title until funds are released. For high dollar amounts your bank may hold the funds for 7-14 days. Is there still a lien on the vehicle?

Make two copies of the Bill of Sale and have the buyer sign both (they will keep one). Include verbiage in the BoS that you are not personally offering a warranty on the vehicle, aka 'as is'.

tryrrthg

How do I not release the title until funds are available? If he gives me a cashier's check for thousands of dollars he's going to expect the car to go with him. How do I hold onto the car for up to two weeks for the check to clear? He's gotta think he could get scammed too.

Early B.

tryrrthg wrote: »

How do I not release the title until funds are available? If he gives me a cashier's check for thousands of dollars he's going to expect the car to go with him. How do I hold onto the car for up to two weeks for the check to clear? He's gotta think he could get scammed too.

Conduct the final sales transaction at your bank. Once you have verified the funds have been transferred into your account, then sign over the title and wave at the buyer while he drives away in his "new" car.

Or

Do a cash transaction at the buyer's bank.

Or

Go with the seller to his bank while you watch him get a cashier's check.

Or

Open an account at the buyer's bank and deposit the proceeds there. Leave a few bucks in this account to be used as your audio slush fund.:p


Bottom line -- if you conduct the transaction at a bank, you'll be fine. The buyer probably has to go there anyway, so it shouldn't be an inconvenience.

Make sure you tell the potential buyer up front how you plan to conduct the transaction.

PolkThug

When I sold my Bimmer, I gave the guy the Car and the Bill of Sale. Deposited the bank check and waited for the funds to clear, paid car loan off, then forwarded the title to the buyer.

PolkThug

Early B. wrote: »

Conduct the final sales transaction at your bank. Once you have verified the funds have been transferred into your account, then sign over the title and wave at the buyer while he drives away in his "new" car.

It's not quite that simple. Typically, for checks received over X amount, the bank will not let you touch 100% of the money for X number of days.

edbert

PolkThug wrote: »

It's not quite that simple. Typically, for checks received over X amount, the bank will not let you touch 100% of the money for X number of days.

This is true for regular checks, but should not be true for cashier's checks. The only way that you can get a cashier's check is if there are guaranteed funds in the account. Granted, your bank may still try to hold it. That's why I suggested to either have the bank wire the money to your account while you are there or to do an electronic funds transfer. There may be a fee at the sellers bank for doing this, so I would let him know that you will pay for any associated costs with doing this type of transaction. It shouldn't be more than $25, and is well worth knowing that you have actually been paid before signing the car over to the guy.

Just curious, where(city and state) will this transaction take place?

BIZILL

thuggy's been right thus far, on all accounts.

edit: true on the part about cashier's checks too.

tryrrthg

Thanks for the info guys. this is good stuff.

edbert wrote: »

Just curious, where(city and state) will this transaction take place?

Columbus Ohio

edbert

Here you go, from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles Website.

Q6:
How do I transfer ownership of my vehicle to another person?

A6:
On the back of your current title, at the top, complete the new buyers name and address, plus the purchase price. Complete the odometer certification area stating the mileage as it appears on the odometer. Right under the mileage area is the seller’s notary section. This area must be completed and notarized. Next, the buyer must acknowledge the mileage as stated by the seller by filling in his signature and then printing his name. Please note that you are attesting to the actual mileage of the vehicle. The seller should make a copy of the front and back of the assigned title and remove the plates from the vehicle.

This was under the Vehicle titles FAQ section. Having something notarized by the seller will also help to make sure that you are covered if they try to stiff you on the money somehow. The notary will have all their contact information so they will be easy to track down. Not only that but most banks have notaries on staff and can verify his information so that shouldn't add any more time or difficulty to the transaction, but will add a lot of extra safety.

edbert

More info about titles and tips from their website

candyliquor35m

Cash!

lomic

I agree with Early B's last suggestion. Open an account at the buyer's bank, and transfer the funds in person. This way they can't try to reverse a wire, stop a check, whatever. The funds are transfered instantly and there's no way for the other party to get it back short of ID thefting you

sucks2beme

In Texas, the plates don't change, they stay with the vehicle.
What happens is the next owner, being a bit strapped for cash,
doesn't insure or register the car. Parking tickets, tow aways, etc.
come back to the registered owner. Make sure to make copies to prove the sale happened. Here, all you need to do on older vehicles is sign and
fill out the registration, and either hand write, or use a state form to
show selling price so the new owner can pay sales tax at registration.

tryrrthg

Thanks for all the help guys!

My next "issue" is this guy is probably not a U.S. Citizen. He speaks very poor english. I'm guessing he is an Asian student in the country to study at Ohio State. We are meeting on Campus today for him to look at the car. He said he does have a driver's license but he currently does not have a car.

Are there any issues of me selling to a non U.S. Citizen?

Do I need to make sure he has car insurance before he get's the car?

How is he even going to get plates, or temp tags, on the car if he can't drive it to get them? Which brings another problem. if we complete the sale at a bank he won't be able to drive it home because he won't have plates on the car...

Ricardo

If he has a drivers license in Ohio, he is a legal alien and there should be no problem in the transaction from that side.

billbillw

tryrrthg wrote: »

Thanks for all the help guys!

My next "issue" is this guy is probably not a U.S. Citizen. He speaks very poor english. I'm guessing he is an Asian student in the country to study at Ohio State. We are meeting on Campus today for him to look at the car. He said he does have a driver's license but he currently does not have a car.

Are there any issues of me selling to a non U.S. Citizen?

Do I need to make sure he has car insurance before he get's the car?

How is he even going to get plates, or temp tags, on the car if he can't drive it to get them? Which brings another problem. if we complete the sale at a bank he won't be able to drive it home because he won't have plates on the car...

You don't really need to worry about what he does with the car after you have the money and give him the money.

That said, he would be fine because, in most states, it is legal to drive a newly purchased vehicle without tags for a limited period of time. This allows time to get down to the DMV/Tag office and register the car, transfer the title, etc. Usually a Bill of Sale will satisfy the police if he happened to get stopped. The buyer should arrange to have insurance coverage on the car from the time he purchases it though. He can set that up just by having the VIN.

tryrrthg

Well we got an offer on the car. we're accepting. Probably could have gotten a bit more but we want it sold ASAP.

Creating a bill of sale now.

I am having his bank contact my bank and they can work out all the details. Hopefully this goes nice and smooth!

thanks for all the help, everyone!

Early B.

Nm...