Selling car without meeting buyer

[Vinno]

Hello all,

I have never sold a car in my life so forgive me if I am being a bit paranoid or dare I say it, stupid.

I'll keep it short,

I put my car on Ebay. A guy messaged me asking for my price, I told him the price I'd accept and he said great. He asked for my number and gave me a call.

He sent me a deposit via bank transfer and would be in touch as to when he wanted to collect. Now I was getting a bit twitchy because of the current pandemic we find ourselves in. As though reading my mind, he gave me a call and said that it's impossible for him to get down to fetch the car, so he is going to get a guy with a low loader to come and collect it on Thursday.

I asked him about the money etc and he said that he would send me a picture of his driving license and the rest of the money on Wednesday evening.

As for the V5 he said that I should fill it out with his details and the guy collecting it would sign it. This seems a bit dodgy to me? Do people actually do this?

Has anyone here bought a car in this manner? I would never dream of it to be honest.

 

[BUDFORCE]

How much are we talking?

I sold a car on eBay in a similar ish manor (although I did cash on collection only) and I advertised the car carefully as spares and repairs with s detailed description etc , but it was £400 car with clearly stated issues.

 

[Bug One]

Provided the money gets transferred to your bank account - I don't see what harm there could be. If anything, there's much more risk to the buyer.

Just don't let the guy with the low loader touch it / sign the V5 until you see those numbers in your account.

 

[vanandjuanunited]

Run ........ would not entertain it

 

[Bug One]

Run ........ would not entertain it

Bit late once you've already taken a deposit.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

check with your bank that there's no way the payment can be reversed.
Video who ever collects it
Make sure you send the new keeper part to dvla don't let who ever collects it say they will do it
Have sold a car in same circumstances years ago
But was a cheap car so took the chance
Turned out fine
Or if they aren't too far away say you will deliver it for fuel costs and cash on delivery
How much roughly is the car worth?

 

[Vinno]

The car is being sold for £700 and deposit was £200, which is fully cleared in my account.

So would I fill the V5 in with the details of the guy buying or the guy collecting? It's a bit dodgy having the guy collecting signing on behalf of the guy buying?... right?

 

[Will Gill]

If I see the money in my bank I'm happy, sold and bought plenty of cars under that premise.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

I did it in buyers name
The low loader guy just scribbled an illegible signature
Main thing was I sent the new keeper section I wouldn't let them do it
Just to be on the safe side
And I filmed video of the collection

 

[Amos91]

Can just do the v5 online now?

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Can just do the v5 online now?

Good question
Don't know the answer lol

 

[jpaul]

even if you receive the money, don't you have to be sure who you have sold it to ... proof of their identity with their driving license, or other identification physically in your hands ?
otherwise the guy uses the car ... speeding offences etc. and the dvla says you made up this story about having sold the car.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

even if you receive the money, don't you have to be sure who you have sold it to ... proof of their identity with their driving license, or other identification physically in your hands ?
otherwise the guy uses the car ... speeding offences etc. and the dvla says you made up this story about having sold the car.

Not sold a car recently
But sold loads over the years
Never asked for I. D. To prove to dvla
They just accepted the new keeper slip
Though no doubt they could check who insured and taxed it etc
If they had reasons to

 

[Cyber-Mav]

A lot of times cars bought like this are usually for export

 

[tom_e]

Can just do the v5 online now?

Yes, no need to send paper around anymore.

Make sure you do a receipt with time/date and the collection guys name and signature then you're about as covered as you can be for someone pilling up tickets once it leaves your drive.

 

[BUDFORCE]

A lot of times cars bought like this are usually for export

Yes the guy told me the one I sold the was getting exported to Africa.

It was a perfectly good car other than having an intermittent brake failure that wasn't easy/economical to fix.

I obviously sold it very clearly highlighting the issue. I hate think about what the buyer did, but I've been honest so my conscience is clear.

 

[Cyber-Mav]

Cars fetch good money in africa even parts.

 

[GhostWKD]

From how you've described it I'd say it sounds more legit than most. Cleared funds and the V5 into the name/address on the driving license you're sent a copy of; surely wouldn't be worth the hassle for a £700 car otherwise (especially with a £200 deposit already paid)

Awkward argument for the chap though to argue it's an essential journey/job to collect a used car for someone.

 

[Trig]

Make sure the v5 gets sent off, other than that, if you've been paid, sorted.
I sold a car many moons ago that was dead, guy picked it up, got it back on the road and the DVLA said they never got the change of ownership so when the guy was driving it around I was getting the no tax warning/threats..

 

[tom_e]

Awkward argument for the chap though to argue it's an essential journey/job to collect a used car for someone.

Guy can't work from home, it's his job therefore absolutely fine within the rules set out.