Best process for private buy for seller and buyer
Discussion
I've never found my self needing to part with a relatively large sum of money when buying a car privately. It's always been a dealer purchase or through a garage I knew well where I have traded in too. In the next few months I'm hoping to spend best part of £50-£60k on a car and it will be a private sale. So how do I go about that, knowing the log book is signed over right there and then and the seller has the money in the bank at the same time? I won't be turning up with a carrier bag full of cash!
Firstly, check with your bank to see if you have a daily limit.
I found out the hard way that my personal acc was 30k even though I'd been into the branch to ask.
Suggest to the seller that you'll visit them to see the car etc.
Then you'll go to sellers local branch of your bank and do the transfer (or two) with him stood next to you at the counter.
Take plenty of I.D.
That way the staff are on hand to answer questions such as "can he recall that payment?" etc...
I wouldn't do anything online for that amount because an "out of the ordinary" large payment can result in the payment not going through until fraud Dept have ok'd it. And that might not be the same day.
Hopefully someone who works in a bank will be along soon to confirm what I've said, or suggest otherwise.
I found out the hard way that my personal acc was 30k even though I'd been into the branch to ask.
Suggest to the seller that you'll visit them to see the car etc.
Then you'll go to sellers local branch of your bank and do the transfer (or two) with him stood next to you at the counter.
Take plenty of I.D.
That way the staff are on hand to answer questions such as "can he recall that payment?" etc...
I wouldn't do anything online for that amount because an "out of the ordinary" large payment can result in the payment not going through until fraud Dept have ok'd it. And that might not be the same day.
Hopefully someone who works in a bank will be along soon to confirm what I've said, or suggest otherwise.
Edited by Trevor555 on Tuesday 18th June 20:35
I did 40K private deal following full HPI check on VIN.
20K in cash from bank - needed 1 days notice and proof of identity. 20K bank xfer via laptop as I sat in his house with car keys in my hand and V5 sat in front of me. Once he could see cash had hit his account, he then rang bank and confirmed.
20K in cash from bank - needed 1 days notice and proof of identity. 20K bank xfer via laptop as I sat in his house with car keys in my hand and V5 sat in front of me. Once he could see cash had hit his account, he then rang bank and confirmed.
Trevor555 said:
And don't get a dealer to do the Hpi check for you as it'll only cover them, and not if they've not paid for the car.
Do your own Hpi check.
I didn't use the best wording there.Do your own Hpi check.
Don't get a mate to do a Hpi check for you.
Plenty of people get a car dealer friend to do Hpi checks for them.
Be careful with online transfers on the day. They can and do occasionally get blocked by your bank. I found this out!
Particularly a problem if you have travelled a long way to get the car....
I like the idea of going to the bank with the seller but I guess that might not work in some locations or online only banking.
There always has to be an element of trust between you and the seller so of anything doesn't feel right then don't do it!
Particularly a problem if you have travelled a long way to get the car....
I like the idea of going to the bank with the seller but I guess that might not work in some locations or online only banking.
There always has to be an element of trust between you and the seller so of anything doesn't feel right then don't do it!
I always use this handy AA car seller's contract when I buy or sell privately – one for me and one for the buyer/seller: http://www.theaa.com/car-buying/buyers-sellers-con...
You may know this already, but ownership can be transferred online now rather than needing to wait for the owner to post the V5 so I'd ask for this to be done once the money has cleared, and to have your email included so you get a copy: https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle
As others have suggested for such a large sum I'd be wanting to go into a local bank branch to do all of the above.
I recently sold a car (£9K) on a Saturday morning and the transfer didn't go through for nearly an hour. The buyer called his bank who said we could be waiting 24+ hours so I took a risk and sent him away with the car but on the understanding I wouldn't transfer ownership until I had the money and would post the purchase receipt afterwards. Trust on both sides here to a certain extent but as he was pulling off the drive the money went through, so we managed to sort it all out in the end!
You may know this already, but ownership can be transferred online now rather than needing to wait for the owner to post the V5 so I'd ask for this to be done once the money has cleared, and to have your email included so you get a copy: https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle
As others have suggested for such a large sum I'd be wanting to go into a local bank branch to do all of the above.
I recently sold a car (£9K) on a Saturday morning and the transfer didn't go through for nearly an hour. The buyer called his bank who said we could be waiting 24+ hours so I took a risk and sent him away with the car but on the understanding I wouldn't transfer ownership until I had the money and would post the purchase receipt afterwards. Trust on both sides here to a certain extent but as he was pulling off the drive the money went through, so we managed to sort it all out in the end!
It works best if you both have accounts at the same branch. That way a counter transfer will go through straight away. In other circumstances you can run into obstacles and delays as above.
When I sold my last car we went to the buyer’s bank branch (different bank to mine) and contrary to what he was told previously on the phone they wouldn’t transfer the full amount for him. We went to my bank and asked for help. They said do it online, wait here and we’ll tell you when it’s gone through. It took over 2 hours! In this day and age! It’s an electronic transfer FFS. The banks communicate electronically. I can’t see why it takes more than a few minutes.
Anyway I digress. If you bank at different banks, an alternative to get around the online “delay” is to draw cash or a bankers draft from your bank, with you both present, and then go to his to pay it in.
One further point. Ownership and registration are not the same thing. You do not transfer ownership using the V5, you inform the DVLA who is the registered keeper. For example one partner could own a car, but another could be the registered keeper... Get a signed receipt with all the vehicle details.
When I sold my last car we went to the buyer’s bank branch (different bank to mine) and contrary to what he was told previously on the phone they wouldn’t transfer the full amount for him. We went to my bank and asked for help. They said do it online, wait here and we’ll tell you when it’s gone through. It took over 2 hours! In this day and age! It’s an electronic transfer FFS. The banks communicate electronically. I can’t see why it takes more than a few minutes.
Anyway I digress. If you bank at different banks, an alternative to get around the online “delay” is to draw cash or a bankers draft from your bank, with you both present, and then go to his to pay it in.
One further point. Ownership and registration are not the same thing. You do not transfer ownership using the V5, you inform the DVLA who is the registered keeper. For example one partner could own a car, but another could be the registered keeper... Get a signed receipt with all the vehicle details.
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