Ken968

Here's the story guys. I found 997 Cab I was going to purchase out of state. Contacted the seller we agreed upon a price. I had a PPI done and everything looked pretty good. When it comes time to figure out and arrange me picking the car up, the seller gets funny. I am finacing part of the car from a reputable bank and would have to give him a check for at least part of the car. Usually how this works is you give the seller the check, they can call and verify and once it clears they mail you the title. In the meantime you drive the car home. This seller refuses to let the car go until after the check has cleared. He wants the money/car/title all in his posession at once. He claims that after I get the car I can call and cancel the check and he will never get his car back.

I've never experienced this before. Is it common place for sellers to hand over the check/cash without recieving the car? Please give me your opinion on this matter so I can be sure that I'm not competely off base here.

Thanks guys.

Ken

Edgy01

I think it depends upon the level of trust there is here. I recently sold a car to a gentleman and he literally sent me the full amount--in CASH, in a Fed Ex envelop. I proceeded to return Fed Ex him the title and owner's manual and a bill of sale. He arrived a few days later to physically take possession of the car.

Ken968

There seems to be an extreme lack of trust in this situation. I don't know what has happened to this individual in the past but he seems really paranoid that I'm going to steal his car. At this point I'm very cautious to even fly out and do the transaction with him because of his wishy washy behavior. One minute everything is fine and we can do it and the next he changes his mind again. Even if he agrees to accept the check and let me leave with the car. If he changes his mind again once Im there I am screwed and have to try and get a plane ticket home or accomidations on short notice.

Thanks for the response

Ken

utkinpol

Ken,

when I buy a used car I have all funds in my posession, usually in a form of a cashiers check, I have several copies of sales agreement, then I take seller to a notary where we both sign sales agreement, get it notarized, then exchange funds to title and then part away. I would never do it any other way. Sellers often lie as they car financed and they want you to pay them money up front so they could get title released from bank - nope, it is not the way to do it. You give seller money, he gives you car and a clear title.
Where and how I get funds to get that cashiers check is my problem. As well as it is sellers problem how to get clear title. I would never give anybody money having nothing in return and it is not a matter of trust - anything can happen, this person can get into hospital and die in 10min after he got your money and then you`ll be stuck with legal issues. So decide for yourself.

jlb532

It all comes down to how much you want "that" car. Personally I get turned off when sellers get so overly picky with demands such as this. By his mistrusting logic, how do you know he hasn't already requested a duplicate copy of the title and plans to claim you "stole" the car?

Bottom line is that the ball really is in YOUR court as the buyer in this deal - YOU should call the shots. If you deem his demands too ridiculous, you should tell him so. Then he can decide if he wants to sell the car to you as an otherwise legitimate buyer, or wait an indefinite amount of time for another (prospective) buyer to eventually come along...including all the additional crap that comes with that for him (more PPI's, more time showing the car, etc).

Good luck

Mike in CA

I can understand why a seller might be leery of physically turning over a vehicle, regardless of whether he still holds the title, before knowing that the check he has received is good. I would hesitate to do that. If the buyer is truly up to no good, holding the title is pretty meaningless if the car is gone.

The way I've handled this in the past is to go with the buyer to his bank or credit union. They validate his/her ID and financial status, they give me a check, and the buyer gets the bill of sale, title, and the vehicle.

Ken968

Thank you for your repsonses guys. I wanted to make sure I wasn't making an error by expecting him to release the car to me after the check is verified as being valid. This is how I've done plenty of transactions as both the buyer and the seller. This seller has turned me off to the whole thing and I think I'm gonig to wait until another one comes along. It wasn't anything special just low miles in a color I liked.

I appreciate everyone's replies and would love to hear more.

Ken

Ken968

The way I've handled this in the past is to go with the buyer to his bank or credit union. They validate his ID and financial status, they give me a check, and the buyer gets the bill of sale, title, and the vehicle.[/QUOTE]

I told the seller I would go with him to his bank and let them confirm everything is valid before releasing anything. I also told the seller I would send him a copy of the check ahead of time so he can call the issuing Bank and inquire about it himself. I feel like I'm being very reasonable but the seller is still leary. Maybe he doesn't really want to sell the car?

hpowders

That's why I only sell to Carmax. Too much anxiety for me in private sales.

As far as buying used, I only buy from dealers of that particular vehicle and only as a CPO.

Mike in CA

In that case, it does seem that he's being over-cautious to the point of being unreasonable. You could go to a branch of your bank (or have your bank make arrangements through a bank in the buyers locale if your bank doesn't have a branch) and have them dispense the check to him. OTOH, I can see why you might be inclined to blow off the whole thing. Good luck.

sandwedge

What kind of check did you bring? Personal or cashiers?

Ken968

The check was going to be a cashiers check addressed to me and him. Without both our signatures it is not valid.

pewter82

Ken,

Your doing the right thing. Go to the bank with the owner and get the lein release at that time. Sending a copy of the cashiers check to the bank is also a good idea. they can validate the check ahead of time.
The seller is most likely afraid of the stories of cancelling the cashiers check after the fact.
Once the bank has validated the check ahead of time and both of you are together and the lein release is issed and the loan is paid in full on the sellers end, its a done deal.
Now if you are getting a loan on the vehicle , your bank will want to do the validating on their end as well, and this will put the seller at ease, knowing that the check is teid to a loan and that will bring more stability to the deal for him.
Ultimately its the sellers car, and if they want to dictate some elaborate type of funds transfer, they can...but good luck getting a buyer to lay down for all of it.
You've done all you can...walk away and find another car...there's plenty out there.

Edgy01

For the kind of money you're probably talking about it's always best to side on the safe side. He's probably not a Nigerian online scam artist, but you still need to protect yourself. Always remember that this is truly a buyer's market today. There are plenty of cars up for sale so you can move along to another seller who will work things in a more reasonable manner.

Ken968

Thanks everyone, as an update I told the seller that I was unwilling to give him the funds on good faith and I wished him well on selling his car. I feel better about my decision after reading all of the replies.
The search continues....

Thanks Guys

Ken