Pmorritt

Just to add. If a buyer of a high end car is not willing to to spend a few bucks to fly over to the seller, inspect and go to local sellers bank and settle up then walk away. You obviously feel uncomfortable so let your gut be your guide.

silvertige

Total scam in my book... although I'm sure the buyer thinks its all on the level. What seller would move forward with those terms? It's completely in the buyer's favor. The reality is that it's a private sale, out of state, which means someone is going to have to trust the other at some point.

Wire transfers are really the only fool proof way to sell a car. I do understand why a buyer may be hesitant, however. But I've bought and sold multiple cars out of state, and the crazy part is they've all been sight unseen. Dealers and private party... all wired funds. Granted, these were for cars 75k or less, not quite the 160k + GT cars. And, clearly the market shrinks with wire transfers (Just ask Mooty!) I've learned to use consignment services, which to me is a good balance between what I could get as private sale vs. a dealer trade in.

Spyerx

Walk. Too much drama.

TAch Miami

This is known as an “in and out”. The dealer is more likely to do it if the seller is buying a car from him and the seller has someone to buy his car instead of trading it in. Administration fees will vary. The transportation return costs by the buyer should be conditions of the escrow as well as a verification that escrow.com is actually being used.

Marv

Sadly, I've heard of this, too. I don't know what a perfect solution is, but the escrow account makes me nervous.

destaccado

The buyer should always have the opportunity to view the car in person and have a PPI at their own expense whenever reasonable. However, when they opt not to do this, than it's on them to trust the seller and hope for the best.

pitt911

escrow.com is not a scam
my friend used it while transferring a lease to another party with 8 k incentive
it made both parties feel more secure about transaction and the fees were minimal

Waxer

+1

mwar99

I'm surprised at all of the responses about it being a scam and you shouldn't ever do it. Escrow is to protect both parties. I understand shipping a car and not wanting to deal with shipping it back. But then the terms for escrow should reflect something to remedy that. For example, the buyer organizes an inspection before the car gets on a truck and if everything is ok then the escrow is released. With a legit escrow source you know you will be getting your money and the buyer knows they are getting the car. Then the car should be insured by the buyer for the trip to them and the seller is happy with their money and the buyer knows they had a good car when the car went on the transport. I don't see what the big deal is if it's all legit.

CubsFan1

You likely have all you need to formulate a good decision. The method of payment isn't the problem it's the buyer. Of course it makes zero sense to ship the car without the person performing more due diligence to determine if it meets his expectations. He can ask someone on here to look at it, etc. There are so many ways to easily handle the PPI as you were willing to accommodate. To simply propose to ship the car and if I approve when I see it is laughable. This isn't an amazon t-shirt. Good luck in your sale!

WernerE

Yes....you and the buyer are sitting inside the bank (with the car outside) and your banker says the wire hit your account.

Cashier’s checks and money orders are not safe enough for me, at least for larger denominations.

Perimeter

Agreed, Escrow.com is not a scam as a basic business model. But since it has the flexibility for the user to write in their own Escrow requirements, it's favortism is open ended. In this case these terms give my asset and Control of that asset to the buyer with leveraged return costs placed on me should the deal fall through.

A PPI was scheduled and the dealer evaluation at last month's service had already been given to the buyer.
My offer to buy him a free round trip, First Class ticket on my dime with no hitches was my way of calling him out on the deal

Exactly!

tubwreck

If you are receiving funds through a wire transfer, open a separate account at your bank to receive the funds. Once the funds have been received, transfer them to a different account at the same bank (e.g. your "regular" account). This prevents a particular type of scam where the person who wired the funds initiates an ACH transfer out of the same account into which the funds were wired.

Keep in mind that a wire transfer is initiated by the sender of the funds, an ACH transfer -- like a personal check or most online payments -- is initiated by the recipient of the funds.

dawgcatching

If they want to use an escrow service, here is how I would handle it:

1) buyer pays for shipping
2) buyer pays $5,000 non-refundable fee (seller can use part of the funds to bring the car back home if it is refused). Paid via wire, not escrow. Emphasis on "non-refundable".
3) car is inspected, and picked up by the same shipper that got it there; this needs to be done immediately (i.e buyer does not get to joyride the car for a week while deciding).

Simply insisting on a non-refundable deposit for a sizable amount will weed out any bad actors or any flakes. Nobody is going to want to see their $5,000 wasted on a car they really didn't want, yet it still protects the buyer, as most would rather dump $5k over taking possession of a really poor example that needs a lot of help.

dawgcatching

How can someone who is not the account holder initiate a transfer of funds out of the account? That is the same as someone breaking into my bank and emptying my account. If they can do that, why would they bother to "sell" a car? Why not just break into the bank's database and transfer funds?