Overseas car buying - how to protect my money

[ChemicalChaos]

Afternoon all,

I'm looking at buying a car overseas (in America). The agent I've been chatting to, a company that specialises in sourcing and shipping cars, has been extremely helpful and they have a good reputation amongst many satisfied customers in the UK American Car world.

Unfortunately they only accept business bank transfers due to the astronomical fees on credit cards on a car-sized transaction. I'm quite uneasy about wiring over a 5 digit sum of money with what amounts to no protection for me - whilst I trust the company based on reviews and my interactions so far, things do happen (for example, the guy could bang his head and turn evil one day and start shipping empty containers. Or an Iranian nuke could land on their offices in Texas?)...

I'm not a banking expert, but can anyone recommend a way of covering myself against unforeseen eventualities? Unfortunately I just don't have the time to fly out myself and retrieve the car to the dockyards.

TIA!

Edited by ChemicalChaos on Wednesday 25th June 15:39

[TonyRPH]

What you need is an Escrow Company.

You pay them, and then once the car is on it's way, they will pay the vendor.

[Rich 3]

Would they accept payment via credit card if you were willing to pay the additional fees incurred? That way you would retain protection, albeit whilst effectively increasing your purchase price for the added peace of mind.

[CubanPete]

You only need to pay a small amount on the credit card to get protection.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section7...

[FlyVintage]

If you are buying from a well established company e.g. Gullwing Cars, California Car Club etc then the risks are minimal (I bought a 35k car from Gullwing a few years ago with bank transfer and would do so again without worrying). A more random company….. maybe not so much. Depending on the values involved, maybe consider going out yourself and administering from there if using a smaller company?

[ChemicalChaos]

Thanks all for the replies!

Rich 3 said:

Would they accept payment via credit card if you were willing to pay the additional fees incurred? That way you would retain protection, albeit whilst effectively increasing your purchase price for the added peace of mind.

Ta, I have asked but I'm not sure. Depends how much the fee is, I guess!

CubanPete said:

You only need to pay a small amount on the credit card to get protection.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section7...

Ok, now that's a golden plan that I didn't realise was an option!
Having been reading round the MSE link attached, the only thing I need to check is whether they qualify as a reseller, which seems to invalidate the S75 (is if a ticket tout or a marketplace host). They are buying the car in country on my behalf from a private seller, BUT the invoice I get will be for a car shipped, landed and taxes paid here in England - which to me sounds like I'm paying for an all inclusive service that becomes a new product? Obviously I'd like to confirm this definition for sure....

FlyVintage said:

If you are buying from a well established company e.g. Gullwing Cars, California Car Club etc then the risks are minimal (I bought a 35k car from Gullwing a few years ago with bank transfer and would do so again without worrying). A more random company .. maybe not so much. Depending on the values involved, maybe consider going out yourself and administering from there if using a smaller company?

As in my OP, they are a well established company with lots of glowing reviews in UK clubs. But that's doesn't change the fact I'm uneasy sending that amount of money to ANY company without a fallback!