Selling car to foreign buyer

[Grale02]

Hi,

I am currently in the process of selling an Integrale Evo 2 to a German buyer, we have agreed a price and he will arrange for a transport company to return the car back to Germany. He has not been over to see the car and is therefore relying on my description, correspondence and many photo's I have sent which are an honest representation of the car.

My initial suggestion was to receive full payment using IBAN/SWIFT codes which when cleared and verified by my bank I would send him the V5C and a bill of sale identifying him as the owner and release the car for transport.

I guess understandably he is struggling with the fact the money will be in my bank while he does not have anything in hand to prove ownership.

My question is should I accept his proposal of receiving a bank transfer of 5k which when cleared I will send him the V5C and a receipt for the part payment. I will then only release the car when the remainder of the balance is cleared in my bank.

Is there anything else I should consider?

Thanks

Dave.

[Buster73]

Aye , tell him to fly over with the readies .

Meet him half way with his flight costs.

Everyone is apply.

[matchmaker]

Quite simple - don't do it!

[djdestiny]

Thats his risk for not coming over and buying it in person!
No different from ordering anything online, you pay for it before you get it.

[Pistom]

Your original suggestion sounds OK but the V5 is pretty worthless to him.

When I've bought overseas, I've just sent the full amount after doing some checks like making sure they are who they say they are and live where they say the do.

Do not part with the car until you have full funds fully cleared.

[Baryonyx]

As I always say, the cash in hand is what you're after. He has paid for the car in good faith after having a chance to inspect it and you have the cash, no issues there. He can be on his merry way after that. Meeting him halfway for the flight would be a nice gesture, especially since the Integrale won't be going for buttons! It'll cost him time as well as money and only a genuine buyer will get on a plane and come to you...

[djdestiny]

I sold my Audi S2 to someone in Scotland and he didnt have time to travel down due to work so got a delivery company to collect it.
I was paid in full via bank transfer before the car was collected (actually had it for about a week after payment until they could collect)
That was all his choice and risk to pay for it before seeing it.
Obviously I had taken loads of details photos for him.
The car got delivered and he was very happy with it.

Seriously, dont do anything until you have full payment. Its far too easily to get stung these days and simply not worth the risk

[anonymous-user]

sounds fishy, considering how cheap flights are. Also are they really rare in the fatherland.

i am surprised he hasn't said paypal or his transport company to sort the money.

[Grale02]

Thanks for all your advise. My main concern was sending off the V5 (with the new keepers name on it and my signature) before I have fully sold the car. If the whole thing is a scam and the 5k is retracted I am not sure what problems I could face having given away the car details, or am I being overly cautious?

[Gothy]

This sounds like such a known scam,

Asking for you to send the car, and they pay you more than the price of the car to cover shipping, or transfer some to a bank account in South Africa, then the original payment will bounce, leaving you car less and money less, and in debt if you sent the money to South Africa.
Do watch out.

[irocfan]

Grale02 said:

Hi,

I am currently in the process of selling an Integrale Evo 2 to a German buyer, we have agreed a price and he will arrange for a transport company to return the car back to Germany. He has not been over to see the car and is therefore relying on my description, correspondence and many photo's I have sent which are an honest representation of the car.

My initial suggestion was to receive full payment using IBAN/SWIFT codes which when cleared and verified by my bank I would send him the V5C and a bill of sale identifying him as the owner and release the car for transport.

I guess understandably he is struggling with the fact the money will be in my bank while he does not have anything in hand to prove ownership.

My question is should I accept his proposal of receiving a bank transfer of 5k which when cleared I will send him the V5C and a receipt for the part payment. I will then only release the car when the remainder of the balance is cleared in my bank.

Is there anything else I should consider?

Thanks

Dave.

I sold my Lightning to a chap from Germany - met him at Stanstead he gave the truck a once over, commented it was better than described, we drove to the local Barclays once I'd paid in the cash I gave him the keys and docs lovely and smooth!! If he can't get to the UK I'd be rather wary to put it mildly

[iguana]

I transport cars & I'd estimate that 90% of the cars I transport to europe are bought sight unseen, the Germans & Swiss do this a lot & have done many to Italy also like this.

For lower value cars if you feel its dodgy just use a reputable transporter you trust & they will take cash on delivery of the car to the buyer & sort paperwork out- we do this a lot, but with the expensive metal we won't.

[bigandclever]

Grale02 said:

Is there anything else I should consider?

Out of morbid curiosity, how about posting up the original couple of emails (I presume) between the two of you? While it is, of course, a perfectly 'normal' way of doing things, there are lots of oceanographers out here...

[danjama]

I think you'd both feel better after having a proper telephone conversation. Get to know each other a bit, establish trust. He's buying your car so lots to talk about.

Just my opinion.