Selling to mainland Europe advice please.

[griffith400]

Hi folks,

Sadly, I'm looking to sell my beloved Griff and have had an enquiry from the Continent. Aware that there are some scams & frauds to be careful of, is there any information I should be careful about releasing? I would only release the car or sign docs once funds are in my account but wondered if there's any issues given car ID info out?

I know the legal ownership / insurance situation is different across the water so wondered if it's OK to release things like VIN no. v5 doc info/copies which I've been asked for to allow insurance & admin for the buyer?

Appeciate any guidance.

Steve.

[dmax]

griffith400 said:

Hi folks,

Sadly, I'm looking to sell my beloved Griff and have had an enquiry from the Continent. Aware that there are some scams & frauds to be careful of, is there any information I should be careful about releasing? I would only release the car or sign docs once funds are in my account but wondered if there's any issues given car ID info out?

I know the legal ownership / insurance situation is different across the water so wondered if it's OK to release things like VIN no. v5 doc info/copies which I've been asked for to allow insurance & admin for the buyer?

Appeciate any guidance.

Steve.

I bought my car in UK, i m belgian living in...Lithuania.

I did a first trip to see cars. than, by mails had some discussions about price for the car i was the most interested. when everything decided, i bank transfered an advanced as I was back in Lithuania and could not go to take the car before one month later.
when i had time to go to take that car, i transfered the total amount by bank, and said to the guy to contact me when money will be cleared on his account, when OK, he contacted me and i went to take the car. so everything was paid and cleared when i arrived.

It is not very easy to have insurance for the trip bak and it needs for sure a maximum infos aboit Vin and all hese things. I honnestly would not worry too much, i guess Vin info of a Griffith are not exactly as usefull for "bad" intentions than VIN of a 911 or an R8...

Edited by dmax on Monday 24th August 11:43

[HRG.]

Copies, ONLY once cleared funds are in your bank.

DO NOT accept a bankers draft, too many fake ones about and they can be withdrawn some time after they've apparently been cleared!

[oblio]

Hi

I sold my Griff to a chap in France.

He visited originally to see/hear/test drive the car. He liked what he saw, we agreed a price and he gave me €1000 in cash as a non refundable deposit. I then took the car off the market to other sellers.

He arranged to have the agreed selling price bank transferred into my account in £ sterling (so it was the exact amount). When that had arrived and I had confirmation from the bank that it could not be moved by the buyer (in fact I moved the money into another non related account) I then contacted the buyer.

He then came over and took the car.I gave him his €1000 back. I filled in the V5 there and then and posted it off, whilst he was there.

Simple process which relied on him trusting me as oppossed to the other way around. I had the goods he wanted so it was up to him to play the game by my rules so to speak (in the nicest possible way).

The whole process worked well and he was a good bloke to deal with. Any language difficulties were sorted out via an online translation service and this chap's mate who spoke better English than him.

cheers

[Krautchimaera]

If you want to sell it to Germany, use me as a translater, I am happy to help you.
Bernd

[griffith400]

Thanks Everyone (and for the offer of translation KrautChimaera).

I guess direct transfer of funds into your account is safest and relatively simple these days so is the way to go.

Was hoping somebody could also confirm what car details / data would be required for a continental purchaser (I can understand a need if their licensing / insurance laws differ from ours). In my case, one chap is from France and in this day and age of fraud & scams, just a little unsure about releasing document copies or VIN details since thats not necessary here.

Steve.

[dmax]

in fact a continental insurer can not insure the UK plate, so they use the chassis number to issue the documents.

[griffith400]

Thanks dmax,

I guess it's OK to release the Chassis number then. It's just a bit odd when you're used to somebody pretty much turning up on your door and a deal / money can be sorted there and then....even driving the car away same day (if they have a second fully comp driver who'd drive with the 'new owners' permission).

It's just a worry when somebody you don't know is asking for unique ID details so thanks for verifying things and what you say does make sense.

Thanks pal.

[Motik]

A continental insurer can assure a UK plate: I'm French and I bought a Chim in England two weeks ago, and my insurer only asked me for the registration number and the date of first registration.

I selected the car on the PH adverts, exchanged a few emails with the seller until I was satisfied with the car's condition and we had agreed on a price, then sent him a deposit by bank transfer and came to his place one week later with cash.

Now I have to get it registered in France, but that's another story...

[Quentin1]

A continental insurer can insure the plate, but would need the VIN as well.

German organizations like the ADAC offer insurances, so one can transfer the car to Germany on british plates. But they do need the chassis number. I know from my own experience...

Regards,
Björn.

[dmax]

yes, because the insurer has no possibility to be sure the plate will still be valid when the car will be driven back, so the chassis number is for them a more reliable way to indentify the car.

[michielp]

Hi,

I bought my car in the UK. First had a long email conversation with the seller. He send me some video and lots of info and photo's.

When we agreed i transfered a deposit through paypal. After the deposit i got the numbers from the car so i could arrange insurance etc.

Went on the trip and collected the car and payed in cash pounds sterling.

The car is already on dutch plates (which means import etc is all taken care of without any problems)

[TVRinBFG]

As a dealer I regularly get asked to copy V5 documents for potential overseas buyers. I tend to delete some of the address details on the copy, just being cautious. You can understand that the buyer wants to have something to show to his registration authority to check he can register the car in his country.

As a UK seller you need cleared funds before releasing your car. If the buyer pays in cash, arrange for the handover to take place in your bank, so that they can count and check the notes.

As an overseas buyer (or a UK buyer), you must be stupid to transfer money into a private account, wait a few days to be told it has cleared, then travel to collect your car. It's too easy in this country for a private individual to dissapear. In addition the registration document does not prove ownership or show if the car has been involved in an accident. I think Michielp has done it right, using Paypal for his deposit etc.

[900T-R]

Bought my Chim in the UK - travelled up, liked what I saw, left a few hundred quids' worth of deposit, arranged collection date & came with an envelope stuffed with poundage of the sterling kind for which I got car & V5 in exchange. Sorted.

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

I sold my V6 tuscan to a chap from France who came oer and paid cash. I had to fill 0ut some french forms to assist with registration but beyond that it was pretty straightforward

[jimed]

Steve - I was going to send you a note but there is no link against your profile so can you email me please via my profile.
Thanks

[panic]

dmax said:

in fact a continental insurer can not insure the UK plate, so they use the chassis number to issue the documents.

Well, not everywhere...I bought my C3 vette in UK and had it with the original reg no. in Spain for one year, fully insured with a broker...it costed me plenty but I was legal meantime I had all the paperwork done to have a proper spanish reg...