Tom in Austin

Interesting discussion ... when selling, I would get the keys into the buyer's hands as soon as possible to demonstrate it's now his car. Certainly would ride along with him, and assuming's he not a screwball of some kind he should behave and not endanger you or your car when test driving it.

bigs

It sounds like the consensus is to take him for a little demonstration drive first - with me driving - then turn the keys over to him for a while. Sounds good to me.

Landseer

And you ride with him.

bigs

Yes.

AO

I believe there are laws against carrying more than $10k cash on your person. I know you have to fill out an IRS form if you withdraw more than $10k.

EDIT: Sorry, the $10k limit is for across borders, but there may be state laws that could come into play.

James Bailey

It is always a bit like buying drugs from the guy on the street corner....do you hand him the cash first or does he hand you the drugs. Trust me on this if you wire money send checks with the agreement that THEY will send the title and the car , sooner or later you get scammed. Can be as simple as a consignment car dealer going out of business ....

James Bailey

The banks report the over 10K withdrawal. I have done that several times when my daughter is buying cars. She wires me the money I take it out and go pick up the cars get the title. At the Pomona Swap meet many people carry many thousands in CASH that is how cars are bought and sold. I sold my 70 Maverick to an Australian guy who bought two cars for export.....cash deal. You can carry as much cash as you wish but if you BUY a new car from a dealer for cash THEY must report it. Has to do with income tax evasion , patriot act tracking etc.

cali4sun

Agree with what's been said. Good Luck on your sale!

'89 S4 GP White/Black
'76 912E Silver/Black

anonymousagain

Bigs, might be an option - when I sell a dirt bike, I always write up the Bill of Sale with a "test ride after sale" clause - never allow for test ride prior to sale.

"...after sale, buyer is entitled to test ride the motorcycle to verify it is as expected. Following the test ride, provided no damage to the motorcycle occurs due to the test ride, buyer has the choice to cancel the sale if motorcycle is not as expected. Buyer is responsible for own safety and to follow all motor vehicle laws."

For your case, the buyer gets to inspect it, listen to it and ride in it. He should be able to decide on buying it before getting to drive it, since driving it himself will simply solidify his decision. If afterward he doesn't want it, at least you felt comfortable the entire time and both agreed it wasn't the car for him. Most importantly you were covered from any liability, whether damage, accident or ticket while it was still yours. I have found that once explained, a legitimate buyer understands and agrees.

For the money transaction, cash where you are comfortable or do the transaction at a bank. Paranoid perhaps, but that's a large sum to be taking chances and you just never know.

TheClairvoyant

I'd let him drive it with you in it. If he seems like a weirdo or not serious, don't let him drive, but a guy who's actually flying out for the sole purpose of potentially buying a car should get to test drive it himself.

I wouldn't want to buy a car where I couldn't personally test drive it. I was looking at a Chevy Caprice police car years ago. The guy took me for a ride, but didn't let me drive it. I wound up passing on the car. Of course, I may have felt uncomfortable because the guy kept using the phrase "I wouldn't lie to you"...it gave me the impression that he was indeed lying to me.

9x8

I would not let anyone drive my car unless he provides full deposit. Better safe than sorry.
That being said, I usually try to show myself what the car is capable of.

docmirror

I passed on a Ferrari when the seller wouldn't let me drive it. He didn't even want to go for a test drive. Of course, there are prolly a lot of tire kickers looking for a Ferrri ride, but I traveled several hundred miles, and spent a lot of time looking the car over in advance.

You gotta drive before you buy. Then, you gotta pay in full before the car leaves.

kccampro

You can? The reason you have cashiers checks made out to YOURSELF when you buy property is that if the deal falls through at the table it's the only way to get your money back from the bank - basically it's still your check since it's in your name. If the deal does go through (as one would hope), you sign the check over to the seller during settlement of the property and the check is now theirs. If you could stop payment on a cashiers check then there would be no need to ever have the check made out in your own name whenever you buy anything with one. Am I misinformed?

Tony

When i bought mine,yikes, nearly 10years ago now i think, i flew out to Houston to pick it up. The seller and i had talked..swapped emails etc. I told him I would buy the car unless when i SAW it and DROVE it, it was not as presented or I felt it may have issues. I got his full name and had a cashiers check issued in his name for the price of the car..

He picked me up at the airport in the car and we drove to a local school parking lot where i gave the car a good going over. Then i drove the car. I asked him if he cared if i did some "spirited accelerations" and stops with it. He was fine with that. After a few miles of various types of driving we came back to the parking lot, i looked it over again....and told him "I'll take it"

At that point we drove over to his local bank, i had the cashiers check and signed it over to him. We went into the bank...they checked on the check..all was well...he signed the titled over to me...I called my insurance co. and added the car right there and then. His girlfriend came to pick him up and i drove it back to Vegas with the TX plates on it. The rest is history.

One item we did was draw up a "bill of sale" with the VIN No. on it and signed it, acknowledging that he SOLD "said" car and i purchased it for "said" amount. Kind of a DIY legal form. No issues during the transaction.

-BUZZKILL- With that murder on Craiglist recently, i wouldn't know what to expect these days!! That was very sad.

Giovanni

Some years ago two guys flew from another "state" to purchase a car in Birmingham, AL that they saw on CL. They went for a test drive and never returned. I still remember the car, a few months old Land Rover. The owner was a detective.