Most private sellers don't accept cashier checks these days, so you're only left with the "wire transfer" option for a 30K+ car. Assuming no financing, is there anything I need to do (or not do) when paying for the car and transferring the registration? I want to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. I don’t know the seller before this transaction.

Of course, I'll make sure to get a PPI, etc.

Thanks!

 

Use Paypal, this is a form of escrow that protects both parties.

 

I would make sure you have multiple phone numbers for the person to verify they are legitimate. Ask for a copy/fax of the title if the talks progress to verify one exists and the car has no liens. This should also correspond to the Carfax's most recent registration.

These should be good points to start. The PPI will definitely validate most of the above.

 

When I purchased my car, I gave the bank my $ and they gave a check addressed to the seller. Most checks are able to be cancelled by the payer... Not a bank check. It must be signed off on by BOTH parties in order to cancel. If the seller is afraid you'll take the car and then cancel the bank check, It's not possible. My seller was for some reason very paranoid of this and we confirmed this with the bank.

 

Certified check or money is like cash
Good luck with the buy!

 

It helps if the seller is close to one of the national bank chains like B of A or banks like that. You can then get a certified bank check from there and when you pick up the car, have you and seller goto a bank location to confirm it's authenticity. This is what I did.

Obviously if you are having the car shipped and no person to person contact, signed sales contracts and wire transfers might be the better way to go. Paypal takes out ~3% so it's not very cost prohibitive.

 

or do this go with him to the bank get a cashiers check.both of you head to DMV or AAA if your a member and transfer title..once they see that everything is a go..
hand him the cashiers check and he can tell DMV to transfer it.

or you can hire a escrow company to be the middle man..runs a few hundred bucks

 

Thank you all for the information, very helpful. The seller is within 40 miles, so I'll certainly be doing this in person. I didn't realize that people still accept cashier checks; this will certainly be my preference.

 

In my case we had both an account with the same bank. So we went to the bank and did a transfer. No problem.

If we wouldn't have been with the same bank, I would have got a cashier check and we would go together to his bank and do the transfer.

Peter

 

I just met the guy at a local branch of my bank to pull the cashier's check. He watched me make the draw so there was no concern. Smooth transaction. Good luck with your purchase!

 

I've always given a personal check or a check on my brokerage account. No one's ever let me leave without the car yet.

 

A suitcase full of $20s exchanged in a dark alley at midnight?

But in reality, why wouldn't someone take a cashiers' check? A phone call to the bank can verify that the check is valid, and the person who got it can't put a 'stop' on it

 

From what I heard, sellers are worried that either (1) the cashier's check is a forgery or (2) a stop payment has been placed on the check. It sounds like they can verify that neither is true by calling the bank.

I was in the process of buying a used Audi a few years back and the seller refused to accept a cashier’s check and insisted on a wire transfer. He even had his bank manager call me to convince me, but I ended up walking from the deal. The bank manager couldn't give me a good reason as to why is it that a cashier's check was unacceptable.

 

I'm in Canada and bought a car over the Internet in Ohio. They wouldn't take a cashier check or anything like that. I literally brought 27 grand in cash with me on the plane and paid in cash on delivery. I felt this was less risky that wiring money to some unknown car dealer in another country. Glad it didn't get stolen though. Let me tell you I held my bag pretty tight the whole trip!

Carrying all these 100s made me feel like in a movie!

 

It depends on what side of the transaction a person is on, I suppose, but in general you need to be careful in this crazy world. How do you know the person really owns the car they are selling you? Likewise, if you are selling how do you know the check is good? To me it's more of an issue for the buyer. The seller still has car insurance so if the car is "stolen" the seller is covered. If you are the buyer and take a suitcase of cash and give it to a stranger how do you know they really own the car? Pretty much any 8 year old can prepare fake documents on the home computer now days! I try to learn a little about the person; where do they work, do they own a home (most real estate records are public and include the amount of the mortgage so you can determine if they have equity for example), and in general do they make crazy requests (i.e. let's meet in a dark alley, bring all cash). I guess what I am saying is BE SMART! Just my two.