Scottish Elises

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It really depends on how much monies are involved. I would also look for them to send a BACS payment as a deposit in advance. If it was a larger sum of money, I would be keen to get full payment by BACS - can be done over the phone for a small(ish) charge IIRC.

Heard too many stories of being met by a bunch of heavies at a service station, whether that be folklore or what I don't know...

...but every* high value car I've sold privately has been CHAPS transfer at a bank, any honest and reputable buyer won't have an issue with this.

*OK, one exception was my TVR which I handed over in Blackpool for a bankers draught, and I shat it until the 5 figure sum actually made it into my account a few days later

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I would still be pushing for somehwere a bit 'friendlier' for a meet - somewhere that you cant be jumped and your car driven off !!

Get them to do a Faster Payment. It is instant and free.

You could always go into the service station and buy something with the money to see if it's fake ?
Seems a bit odd to me, how are you meant to get home after the service station if he buys it ?
Local main supermarket could be a suitable compromise ?
I was suggesting meeting at main supermarket without the car I was selling( was my exige ), then driving to my house from there once I was sure it wasn't a car full of nutters .... (i never told them I wasn't bringing my car to the supermarket) also gives you a chance to guage if you thought they were just there for a joyride, or to nick it.
Never really mattered as I ended up selling to a dealer for pennies as I didn't want the hassle.
There is a lot of decent advice on the mcn (motorcycle news) and the autotrader website about the scams though.
Pain in the arse to read, but definately worth the time ..
Hope i've helped

I am selling a car for moderate money just now and will only be doing a deal for a CAPS or faster payment. As I understand it BACS takes a few days and can be cancelled so I’m not interested in that.

I am not worried about the “what if they clobber me and run off with my car” issue because if somebody wants to do that they can do it anytime I am out. To be fair I don’t normally have the V5 to hand but I doubt that thieves would be all that interested in getting that paperwork anyway. If the transaction was for a couple of grand I probably would accept cash at a bank where it can be verified but not for anything larger.

I have dealt with car and yacht transactions for clients on a couple of occasions. It’s clearly not worth it for even a moderately valuable car but for something knocking on towards 6 figures I think there is something to be said for letting the money pass between lawyers who have client accounts, money transfer facilities and can operate in terms of a pre-arranged contracts.

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I've done it.
If it's a bank transfer get him/her to transfer some funds first, say 50p, so you have the right details all set up and avoid mistakes around account numbers.

Top tip for buyers: If your online banking needs a ID fob or a card reader thing, don't forget to take it with you when driving 200 miles to buy a car.

graeme wrote:Top tip for buyers: If your online banking needs a ID fob or a card reader thing, don't forget to take it with you when driving 200 miles to buy a car.

Speaking from experience there matey...?


When I sold the elise the guy came up from Manchester to my house and transferred the cash there and then online, with the laptop so I could see it going in my account, the funds couldn't be accessed until a couple of days later, but he couldn't cancel the transfer etc. so it was all good

this is the sort of thing I would be looking for, however, cold hard cash works for me too,

if you are at a service station and its sociable hours id ask them to check the notes behind the counter before any docs/keys are handed over, and take a mate with you to hold all the stuff (spare keys/docs etc.) until your happy the cash etc is legit.

ClarkyBoy wrote:

graeme wrote:Top tip for buyers: If your online banking needs a ID fob or a card reader thing, don't forget to take it with you when driving 200 miles to buy a car.

Speaking from experience there matey...?

Yup. Managed to get to a bank at 4:59pm on a Friday and get a cashier's cheque. The seller couldn't pay it in till monday morning, but took it on trust and let me take the car home. Nice guy. Could have sent me packing and I wouldn't have blamed him.

I sold my first elise to a french guy - nightmare.
He transferred it into his mates account in Birmingham, with the view to withdrawing it and avoiding french bank charges and exchange commission etc.
It was the really bad winter, he arrived in birmingham just as they'd been hit by snow, walked along to bank, and it had shut at lunchtime to let people get home because of the weather.
He turned up in glasgow with no money....
Put down a small deposit, then came back 3 weeks later for the car...
(that's the very short version)

Then when I bought this one, I did an online bank transfer, guy watched me do it, took a print before I pressed enter, pressed enter, it said everything was fine.
Checked next evening, no record of the transfer, called the guy - he hadn't checked.
Called bank next day, still no record ...
Had to do it again...
Luckily the guy was quite patient / trusting...
Felt a bit bad ...

Almost all people are honest in these situations so I wouldn't be too worried for a couple of K. If they chap is coming to your house and will transfer a deposit by BACS ahead of time then I think you should just trust them - it's good karma Like paying for a stranger's parking when they turn out not to have change, etc.

Cheers,
Robin