How did you do the transaction?

First the husband says he will mail me the title, then i mail him the check. when the check clears he will let the transporter pick up the car.

Then the wife says she isnt going to sign the title to me without money. I'm not sending a check with nothing in my hand.

How did you do it?

 

Hire a local courier. He hands them your cashier's check IF AND ONLY IF they hand him your title document. You might need to work with the courier firm to make sure the courier knows what to look for. I would have the seller fax the title document to you in advance (they can block out anything they feel they want to block to protect themselves). You can then give the courier the copy of the title so s/he can confirm it's kosher.

 

i was going to ask them to send me a second chance offer on ebay, but ebay doesnt offer escrow anymore.

 

Hire a rennlister in the area?

 

how far are you from johnstown?

 

Go see the car and do the deal in person. Gives you the option to back out if the seller has misrepresented.

I recognize that it depends on the total value of the transaction, but another $1000 for peace of mind may well be worth it.

 

Buy a plane ticket and go see the car, meet the person you are buying from. Go from there.

 

when I sold the NA, I got :

a) a deposit of $500 via paypal

b) a check fed-x'd to me for the balance

When the check cleared, I signed over the title and fed-x'd it to the buyer so he could get plates from Ohio (where he lived). He came about a week later and picked up the car.

 

Best advice you will get Tom

 

I spoke to the person and her husband at length. It is legit. they mentioned obscure stuff my co worker is an expert on. they owned the car a long time.

i think my gamble is about 2K if it isnt what i want.

his is where i say bull. not to you but to the deal.

the guy who bought the car from you basically sent money to a black hole. how was he to know there was a car on the other side of the post office box. thats what scares me.

anyone deal with an escrow service?

right now they are sending me a copy of the title with a letter outlining the terms.

 

I've always flown in and done the deal in person, or had a trusted agent deliver the money and get the title, etc. There is always going to be a point where someone has to trust. If you sell a car on ebay you can dictate the terms, if they are not acceptable to the buyer he can choose not to bid.

Maybe these people have a relationship with an officer at their bank who can help, or a local notary. Doesn't help if the car is not as described but there is not a lot you can do about that if you buy long distance. A 3rd party that can witness the signing of a bill of sale (verifying ID that matches the title) and transfer of the check would help and not cost too much.

-Joel.

 

Tom

We spoke at length prior to the transmission of funds (other than the deposit) and I sent him (and we both signed) a purchase agreement....so there was a document between us laying out the arrangements.

There was trust established. Mind you we're talking about a small amount of money (it was an NA after all !) If it was a larger amount, I'd have suspected we'd have handled it differently !

 

Some shipping companies can provide payment upon delivery of the vehicle - they act as the agent and provide the funds to the seller and inspect the car for you (they take very, very detailed pictures to ensure that all defects are noted and you can't blame them for damage).

 

thought so. i think there is trust and i think the car is what they are representing it to be. i did some research but never enough.

when they were going to send me the title i felt pretty good. i know they can just contact DMV and have a new one issued. i googled the seller - or at least the name the seller gave me, and that person lives in the town the car is in, his background ties into what i googled, down to the motorcycle he races etc.

they offered a local attorney they know to act as escrow agent. i may do that. mail a certified check to the attorney and the attorney mail me the t

as it stands now they are going to fax me a letter and copy of the title. i am going to mail them the check. when the check clears their bank the transporter can pick up the car.

 

you'll pay more for the attorney than a plane ticket.

i wouldn't deal with a fax and wonder if, maybe they'll send the title or you may end up posting back here that the money is gone and your holding nothing.

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