Selling car to German buyer
Discussion
Hi,
After a bit of advice on how to sell a car unseen in person by the buyer from another country.
I have a classic limited edition Porsche for sale here in Ireland. A German buyer came onto me yesterday asking all kinds of questions about the car. For example, he wanted pictures taken of different parts of the car to check for rust etc and knew what options came with this particular special edition and wanted to check if it was genuine. So he certainly knew his onions.
After seeing the pictures and deciding the car checked out, he said he would take the car at full price. Only catch is that I have to get it to one of three ports in the UK where he will arrange for it to be put on the VW ferry which bring cars over to the UK from Germany. He said going back to Germany he can get it on the ferry for free.
So, he is not going to see the car prior to purchase. He wants me to send him a copy of the logbook with a bill of sale. He will sign the bill of sale and send me a copy back. He will then do a bank transfer for the full amount prior to me delivering it to the port in the UK.
He also did offer to come over to Ireland to collect the car, but preferred the above option.
It all sounds ok to me, but can anyone see any potential problem here? The only issue I need to sort out is how to deal with the log book as I don't really want to send him the original before I get the money. Plus, I probably need it signed by him in order to send to the transport agency.
He said he has done this before a couple of times with sellers from the UK, he sounds a decent enough guy and the car is rare enough and in such fine condition that I would see why someone would want to do such a thing.
Any advice most welcome.
cheers.
After a bit of advice on how to sell a car unseen in person by the buyer from another country.
I have a classic limited edition Porsche for sale here in Ireland. A German buyer came onto me yesterday asking all kinds of questions about the car. For example, he wanted pictures taken of different parts of the car to check for rust etc and knew what options came with this particular special edition and wanted to check if it was genuine. So he certainly knew his onions.
After seeing the pictures and deciding the car checked out, he said he would take the car at full price. Only catch is that I have to get it to one of three ports in the UK where he will arrange for it to be put on the VW ferry which bring cars over to the UK from Germany. He said going back to Germany he can get it on the ferry for free.
So, he is not going to see the car prior to purchase. He wants me to send him a copy of the logbook with a bill of sale. He will sign the bill of sale and send me a copy back. He will then do a bank transfer for the full amount prior to me delivering it to the port in the UK.
He also did offer to come over to Ireland to collect the car, but preferred the above option.
It all sounds ok to me, but can anyone see any potential problem here? The only issue I need to sort out is how to deal with the log book as I don't really want to send him the original before I get the money. Plus, I probably need it signed by him in order to send to the transport agency.
He said he has done this before a couple of times with sellers from the UK, he sounds a decent enough guy and the car is rare enough and in such fine condition that I would see why someone would want to do such a thing.
Any advice most welcome.
cheers.
jb1973 said:
Hi,
After a bit of advice on how to sell a car unseen in person by the buyer from another country.
I have a classic limited edition Porsche for sale here in Ireland. A German buyer came onto me yesterday asking all kinds of questions about the car. For example, he wanted pictures taken of different parts of the car to check for rust etc and knew what options came with this particular special edition and wanted to check if it was genuine. So he certainly knew his onions.
After seeing the pictures and deciding the car checked out, he said he would take the car at full price. Only catch is that I have to get it to one of three ports in the UK where he will arrange for it to be put on the VW ferry which bring cars over to the UK from Germany. He said going back to Germany he can get it on the ferry for free.
So, he is not going to see the car prior to purchase. He wants me to send him a copy of the logbook with a bill of sale. He will sign the bill of sale and send me a copy back. He will then do a bank transfer for the full amount prior to me delivering it to the port in the UK.
He also did offer to come over to Ireland to collect the car, but preferred the above option.
It all sounds ok to me, but can anyone see any potential problem here? The only issue I need to sort out is how to deal with the log book as I don't really want to send him the original before I get the money. Plus, I probably need it signed by him in order to send to the transport agency.
He said he has done this before a couple of times with sellers from the UK, he sounds a decent enough guy and the car is rare enough and in such fine condition that I would see why someone would want to do such a thing.
Any advice most welcome.
cheers.
Hi mate,I have recently just sold a car to a chap in Italy and like you at the time i thought this is going to be a pain in the arse and i also thought it could be a potential scam.After a bit of advice on how to sell a car unseen in person by the buyer from another country.
I have a classic limited edition Porsche for sale here in Ireland. A German buyer came onto me yesterday asking all kinds of questions about the car. For example, he wanted pictures taken of different parts of the car to check for rust etc and knew what options came with this particular special edition and wanted to check if it was genuine. So he certainly knew his onions.
After seeing the pictures and deciding the car checked out, he said he would take the car at full price. Only catch is that I have to get it to one of three ports in the UK where he will arrange for it to be put on the VW ferry which bring cars over to the UK from Germany. He said going back to Germany he can get it on the ferry for free.
So, he is not going to see the car prior to purchase. He wants me to send him a copy of the logbook with a bill of sale. He will sign the bill of sale and send me a copy back. He will then do a bank transfer for the full amount prior to me delivering it to the port in the UK.
He also did offer to come over to Ireland to collect the car, but preferred the above option.
It all sounds ok to me, but can anyone see any potential problem here? The only issue I need to sort out is how to deal with the log book as I don't really want to send him the original before I get the money. Plus, I probably need it signed by him in order to send to the transport agency.
He said he has done this before a couple of times with sellers from the UK, he sounds a decent enough guy and the car is rare enough and in such fine condition that I would see why someone would want to do such a thing.
Any advice most welcome.
cheers.
As far as the log book goes I sent a photocopy of the first two pages and wrote on them PHOTOCOPY.I think foreign buyers need this info to ensure they can get the car registered abroad for whatever reason.He also sent me a bill of sale which i signed and returned.
When you sell the car just sign the logbook yourself and send it on with the car.You also need to retain the section regarding exporting the car and send this to the dvla along with a note saying you have sold the car to a foreign buyer.
The guy who bought my car never came to see it either,mine was a kit carand similar to you there are not many around and i also could see why he was prepared to do this.
There are a lot of foreign scammers around though,there is info on PH somewhere telling you all about them.
What i did to be on the safe side was to open a new bank account for him to transfer the money to so if it did turn out to be a scam there was no money in the account for them to get.I then transfered the money into my regular account before i released the car.
As it turned out in my case the buyer genuine,everyting went smoothly.The money cleared,and a few days later a courier turned up to collect the car and that was it.He is very happy with the car and we have been in touch ever since!
Just make sure YOU ARE 100% CERTAIN THAT THE MONEY HAS CLEARED before you let the car go no matter what happens and you should have no problems.I would also use an account with no or very little money in as i did just to be on the safe side.
Cheers
Is he a dealer? It sounds like it by the way he's trying to do everything on the cheap just to save a few Euros when spending presumably tens-of-thousands on a rare car. Does he therefore have a website you can take a look at? I can't see a private enthusiast collector being so tight as to not see the car when investing so much money. You can fly from Germany to Dublin and back cheaply these days.
I've sold two fairly valuable cars abroad. One to a dealer whom I first met at Luton airport car-park, he then checked the car, handed over the cash and drove it home and one to a private enthusiast collector, who came over twice (once by plane and then by car with his mate). He also paid cash and drove it home. I was happy to e-mail a photograph of the V5C to them for approval by their registration authorities, but they only took the original on collection.
I guess if you have the cleared funds into your account before leaving Ireland, then you should be OK.
I've sold two fairly valuable cars abroad. One to a dealer whom I first met at Luton airport car-park, he then checked the car, handed over the cash and drove it home and one to a private enthusiast collector, who came over twice (once by plane and then by car with his mate). He also paid cash and drove it home. I was happy to e-mail a photograph of the V5C to them for approval by their registration authorities, but they only took the original on collection.
I guess if you have the cleared funds into your account before leaving Ireland, then you should be OK.
Edited by LotusOmega375D on Monday 17th October 09:20
Thanks guys,
The car is only €5k actually, so not a great deal in the scheme of things. He is collector rather than a dealer and is basically getting it shipped for free, so good for him. It would actually cost him the best part of €6-700 with petrol, ferries, accommodation and other expenses. So its a big saving for him I imagine.
I just wanted to know of any possible scams really that I was perhaps unaware of. As I say, he seems a genuine guy and a definate enthusiast.
The car is only €5k actually, so not a great deal in the scheme of things. He is collector rather than a dealer and is basically getting it shipped for free, so good for him. It would actually cost him the best part of €6-700 with petrol, ferries, accommodation and other expenses. So its a big saving for him I imagine.
I just wanted to know of any possible scams really that I was perhaps unaware of. As I say, he seems a genuine guy and a definate enthusiast.
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