Selling abroad ?

[Johnny P]

Guys......want your advice please.....

...unfortunately I'm in a position where my car is now up for sale.
I have what I think is a serious enquiry from Germany with the prospective buyer offering to meet at the local ferry port in the UK and pay cash - this is after a few emails back & forth with questions for info on the car so sounds genuine so far.

Has anybody sold successfully like this or worse still been done-over, or are there see any obvious flaws with it ?

appreciate any advice.
cheers
JP

[tmz99]

Do some background checks.... you have his name/email, so google/facebook them. Talk to him on the phone, etc.. As much information as you can get will put you in a better positon.

[geoffphead]

As above and take somebody with you, it maybe easier to arrange money transfer first.Cash is ok but you must make sure its not fake and thats why its best to take a buddy.Check all of it,take a pen thing.I would say same thing if it was someone from uk.
Good luck

[AC Motors]

I sold my Chimaera to a guy from France, however he came all the way to my house. Originally agreed a price in £ Sterling but he contacted me to say he couldn't get £. I felt a bit suspicious at the time and did agree to accept Euros. I determined an exchange rate in my favour to allow for any expenses on my part. The buyer was still happy at the time due to the £ being low value, he was still getting a bargain and was well happy. Once I had the cash, I negotiated the best euro exchange rate at a travel agent, not a bank and duely paid the £ into my bank. I actually ended up getting more for the car than advertised due to the exchange rate I used. Be careful of large denomination (100) Euro notes as these are more likely to be copies. If you accept euros, you can check the country of origin by the serial numbers. I have heard that some banks and exchange shops may not take Greek notes, not sure how true this is. Good luck with your sale, if possible, would ask to meet at your house.

[nicholasshaw]

If it's Sterling you could always drive him to the branch of your bank nearest the meeting place and deposit it straight into your account; if you get a slip confrming the deposit, the buyer gets the car keys. That way the bank will validate the notes while you wait.

I did this with a much lower value car sale than you're likely to be dealing with so I guess a courtesy call to the branch to tell them you'll be depositing a significant cash sum would be sensible. They're going to end up with the cash to check eventually anyway, the only difference is timing and who hands over the envelope stuffed with money!

[cerbera8]

After 3 months of timewasters i recently sold my vx220 to a very nice german buyer. He paid me in sterling cash, full asking price and drove the car home.

Nothing too complicated; You give the buyer the whole v5 (after taking a copy), other than the export portion which you send off, along with accompanying letter to dvla. My german buyer asked me to fill out "ADAC - Second Hand car Sales Contract (private sale)" which is german form used for when you buy a used car, all pretty straight forward - and he bought an english translation for me to read. Finally the DVLA wrote to me confirming change of ownership of the car about a month later.

He did however ask me to e-mail him a scanned copy of the v5, which some may not be comfortable with, but he legitimately needed the details off this to insure the car.

[EvoOlli]

Hello,

I'm from Germany and i bought my Sagaris last year. I want to explain you the part with the copy of the V5:

If I want to drive the car on the original license plate from England through France, Belgium and the Netherlands to Germany I need a special 'Grenzversicherung' from the ADAC (the German AA or RAC). This is the insurance for the car which will work abroad. But to get this insurance I need the V5 because the insurance will only be valid for one car.
This is why a german buyer will ask you for a copy of the V5.
The only alternative is to get the car on a trailer.

[Johnny P]

Thanks guys - your input greatly appreciated

[350Wedge]

I'm currently in the same position, I have someone from Germany coming over on Saturday.

He's driving over and coming to me in Southampton all the way from Dover. We've agreed the way we're going to do the deal (cash), he'll leave a deposit if he wants it, then come back in a couple of weeks and pay the balance and drive it back home.

The fact that he currently owns a 350i and knows the cars helps immensly.

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

I sold my 1970 Tuscan to a french chap, paid cash and it was very straightforward.

[Geoff Ashcroft]

Brother sold his Tamora the same way - went to Germany, to a really nice guy who already owns four Tivs. Just do your research first and know what you're comfortable with. With the way exchange rates are, a few UK cars can look very attractive to overseas buyers.