Selling car - what to look out for?

[Andehh]

I am selling a car tomorrow morning, cash payment of £3500. I am meeting him at a BMW garage as it is my intention to take the cash and put it right into the purchase of a new car. I then intend to take the V5 right into the post office down the road for proof of hand over.

Anyone else got any tips or suggestions prior to going down? Not sold a car in over in several years, so want to make sure I'm not forgetting something critical.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

If the buyer is happy to purchase a car, for cash, from a place that is NOT the registered address on the vehicle's logbook - then I might suggest that HE is taking more of a risk than you.

I'd never entertain the idea of meeting a seller at anywhere other than the address on the logbook. Many people have been defrauded this way, buying stolen ringers etc.

I'm sure it will all go well for you, especially if it is a public place with lots of other people wandering around. All you really need to worry about is checking each banknote very carefully to make sure there are no moody notes.



One cautionary tale I do have - although I would imagine it's pretty rare, concerns a mate who was selling a superbike a while back.

He arranged to meet a 'buyer' in a layby on a road near his house. I've no idea why he agreed to do this - but the 'buyers' called him when they were on the way, span a yarn about not being able to find his house (which is easily found on a normal housing estate) and asked him to come and meet them in this layby where they said they had stopped.

He got there, stopped and got off the bike, and 3 blokes got out of a car. One of them went straight for his bike whilst pulling on a crash helmet, whilst the other two walked to my friend, forcibly grabbed his arms, and said to him 'sorry mate - we are taking your bike, and you're not getting any money. Be cool, and you won't get hurt.'

My mate is 5 foot 5 and maybe 10 stone dripping wet bless him, so he chose the 'not get hurt' route. Matey rides off on his bike, and the other two get back into the car and drove away...

He was happy in the end anyway, cos his insurance paid out a little more than he would have sold the bike for...

[Welshbeef]

Andehh said:

Anyone else got any tips or suggestions prior to going down?

snigger ...;)

[Andehh]

Was honestly described in advert, pics and full description and ultimately being white, Middle class and living in Oxfordshire probably helped a bit!


Is there a layman's way of spotting moody notes? Seeing as I'm buying a BMW that day, I'll sit and count then in the dealership

[Negative Creep]

Andehh said:

Was honestly described in advert, pics and full description and ultimately being white, Middle class and living in Oxfordshire probably helped a bit!


Is there a layman's way of spotting moody notes? Seeing as I'm buying a BMW that day, I'll sit and count then in the dealership

You could buy one of those fake money detector pens, just to be sure

[Monkeylegend]

Negative Creep said:

You could buy one of those fake money detector pens, just to be sure

I would buy a genuine one, you can never be sure if the fakes work properly.

[TVR keith]

If you're giving the cash to the BMW dealer, perhaps they could check the notes, I'm sure they would have the necessary equipment

[Welshbeef]

TVR keith said:

If you're giving the cash to the BMW dealer, perhaps they could check the notes, I'm sure they would have the necessary equipment

What about a basic bank transfer? Check your balance and transactions on your phone job done.

[V8LM]

And turn left towards the Post Office, not right as it's quicker.

[Pebbles167]

Monkeylegend said:

Negative Creep said:

You could buy one of those fake money detector pens, just to be sure

I would buy a genuine one, you can never be sure if the fakes work properly.

Haha! Excellent. Nice line to start my day on.

[steviegunn]

Make out two copies of a receipt, date it and both sign it, text something like:

Used Car Bill of Sale (Private Sale)

CAR SELLER DETAILS

NAME: ######## #######
ADDRESS: ## ##### #####, ########, #######, ### ###

I hereby certify that I am the lawful owner and have full authority to sell the following vehicle.

VEHICLE DETAILS

MAKE: ######
MODEL: ########
YEAR: ####
REGISTRATION: #######
VIN: ##############
MILEAGE at sale : ##,###

CAR BUYER DETAILS

NAME: ######## #######
ADDRESS: ## ##### #####, ########, #######, ### ###

PRICE PAID

£####.## PAID IN FULL

I hereby acknowledge the receipt of £####.## from ######## ####### as full payment for the purchase of the above vehicle, which is sold "AS SEEN" with no guarantee given or implied.


Seller's Signature: ___________________ Date: ##/##/####

Buyer's Signature: ___________________ Date: ##/##/####

[Troubleatmill]

1. Meet him at your house
2. When price agreed - take him to your bank.
3. Let him hand over notes to the bank teller.
4. Ask teller to check they are genuine
5. Do paperwork at the bank
6. Ask new owner to drop you at BMW
7. Part ways

[ChasW]

Echo previous advice. If you can't conduct the transaction at home do it at the bank and let them count the money on a machine and also check it for counterfeits. It's rare but can happen with large denomination notes

I have sold lots of cars for cash and you can make mistakes counting the money when under pressure. Also I had one couple, the wife worked at a building society, who bought cash in sealed bags direct from the bank. I insisted on counting it all and found that one bag was £20 short. I don't think it was deliberate but it can happen. One chap came with £14000, supposedly, and on counting he was £500 short. He quickly found the missing £500 in another pocket! I am sure he was trying it on.

[Escy]

I don't understand why people make such a big deal over selling a car. Get a 3rd party to count the money, don't want people coming to their house, etc. It's £3,500 not £35,000, will take 10 minutes to count and check the odd note to make sure they are legit.

[Morningside]

steviegunn said:

Make out two copies of a receipt, date it and both sign it, text something like:
...

Thats what I use each time. There used to be a free .pdf on the AA website.

[ChasW]

Some people worry a bit with large sums of cash that's all. I happen to have worked in an industry with huge quantities of cash hanging around, nothing illegal BTW, so it never fazed me even with £20k+ on my person.