Risks to selling a car to someone in Northern Ireland?

had this worry when sold my mondeo, spoke to the bank and they confirmed it it is in there it is not reversable,. tbh i have sold vehicles to france etc no probs, and have a guy local to me who regularly sends bmws and audis to ireland, as said we appear to be way cheaper than there home market.
 
MrRockliffe said:
Current situation:


Car booked in to be sold Monday with a garage.

Called today by a gentleman in NI highly interested in my car, asked to buy it.

I explained it’s being sold on Monday to a garage, so if he can offer better and collect before, it’s his.

He can’t because flights are expensive this weekend and too short notice. Offered to collect Monday/Tuesday. Has paid me a £500 deposit via BT.


Collection

Wants to collect Monday/Tuesday next week.

Will be getting someone else to collect the vehicle. (Red flag)

Is happy to pay the money upfront, before the guy drives away (obviously wouldn’t do it otherwise)

Is happy with the detailed information I’ve given him on condition of the car.





What are the risks to me?

I’m planning to call the garage to delay it by a week, as I’ve also got a windscreen repair booked in for Monday - this is the earliest they could do.


Am I missing anything obvious?



Thanks in advance
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I had the same situation with my late MIL car. I was very skeptical at first, but the transaction went very smoothly.

Money was sent via bank transfer and some guy from a transportation company came and collected it. Cars are very expensive in Northern Ireland.
 
just ask him to bring cash .. as you cant confirm your bank till tue .. he'll be fine .. test drive pub lunch send him on his way .. :)
 
radderfire said:
Being asked to meet at the airport sounds suspicious.

Telling you he's already booked the flight sounds like rushing you, this also sounds suspicious. Fraudsters will always try to rush you through things, so if anything, slow the deal right down, a genuine buyer will wait.

Already there are things that are a bit suspicious about this and I would proceed with caution. Plus it's the bank holiday weekend, also a more likely date picked by criminals. Plus it's a desirable car which makes the possibility of criminal activity higher.

I would definitely be asking for a video call beforehand to get a photo Id and then matching this to photo Id (driving licence and passport). Then as soon as they arrive first thing I would do is take a photo of them and check their Id again (hopefully you know how to identify genuine documents). I would also try and have a friend/family member with me during the car inspection for added security.

In general it is about building up enough steps to ensure you are dealing with a genuine buyer.
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I rushed him to be fair, as I’m also due to be buying another car next week, hence the sale of mine is important.

My dad is coming with me, but as per your suggestion will be getting photo ID.
 
radderfire said:
Being asked to meet at the airport sounds suspicious.

Telling you he's already booked the flight sounds like rushing you, this also sounds suspicious. Fraudsters will always try to rush you through things, so if anything, slow the deal right down, a genuine buyer will wait.

Already there are things that are a bit suspicious about this and I would proceed with caution. Plus it's the bank holiday weekend, also a more likely date picked by criminals. Plus it's a desirable car which makes the possibility of criminal activity higher.

I would definitely be asking for a video call beforehand to get a photo Id and then matching this to photo Id (driving licence and passport). Then as soon as they arrive first thing I would do is take a photo of them and check their Id again (hopefully you know how to identify genuine documents). I would also try and have a friend/family member with me during the car inspection for added security.

In general it is about building up enough steps to ensure you are dealing with a genuine buyer.
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Yer making this hard work lol...

Meeting at the airport suspicious...

I flew from Newcastle to Exeter to pickup a car and had the seller pick me
The chap that Came from Ireland I picked up at the airport too
I also had a buyer from Essex that I met at the train station

Made the transactions far easier just with pickups instead of messing about with the hassle and expense or public transport/taxis.

The bank holiday side of things shouldn't come into it unless it's cash, I normally use a bank to either have the buyer withdraw the cash from while I'm there or to ensure they accept the notes I've been given. Most online banks now support fastpay so a transfer should be within an hours and I don't believe there's and simple way a payment into your bank can be reversed.

On both buying and selling cars I always ask for ID, probs still got it saved somewhere haha
Then that way if there's any disputes about and speeding tickets or parking tickets or owt you have their details.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Yer making this hard work lol...

Meeting at the airport suspicious...

I flew from Newcastle to Exeter to pickup a car and had the seller pick me
The chap that Came from Ireland I picked up at the airport too
I also had a buyer from Essex that I met at the train station

Made the transactions far easier just with pickups instead of messing about with the hassle and expense or public transport/taxis.

The bank holiday side of things shouldn't come into it unless it's cash, I normally use a bank to either have the buyer withdraw the cash from while I'm there or to ensure they accept the notes I've been given. Most online banks now support fastpay so a transfer should be within an hours and I don't believe there's and simple way a payment into your bank can be reversed.

On both buying and selling cars I always ask for ID, probs still got it saved somewhere haha
Then that way if there's any disputes about and speeding tickets or parking tickets or owt you have their details.
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very strange i was told by santander once the money was in its in. spoke to them on the phone and later that week went in in person to confirm it:(. i still was worried so withdrew it online to another bank just incase....

otherwise whats the point of doing bank transfer if it can be reversed?? i must admit i usually pay cash but previous car the dealer was upset when i pulled out cash, said it cost him to put it in the bank.

sorry been a long weekend may have misread your post thought you were saying easy to reverse payment my bad:)
 
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radderfire said:
Being asked to meet at the airport sounds suspicious.

Telling you he's already booked the flight sounds like rushing you, this also sounds suspicious. Fraudsters will always try to rush you through things, so if anything, slow the deal right down, a genuine buyer will wait.

Already there are things that are a bit suspicious about this and I would proceed with caution. Plus it's the bank holiday weekend, also a more likely date picked by criminals. Plus it's a desirable car which makes the possibility of criminal activity higher.

I would definitely be asking for a video call beforehand to get a photo Id and then matching this to photo Id (driving licence and passport). Then as soon as they arrive first thing I would do is take a photo of them and check their Id again (hopefully you know how to identify genuine documents). I would also try and have a friend/family member with me during the car inspection for added security.

In general it is about building up enough steps to ensure you are dealing with a genuine buyer.
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I'm Irish and have bought cars from the UK (Manchester & Scotland) in the past and looking to buy another in the coming months (Despite the added Import Duty & VAT since Brexit - not for this thread!) and on both occasions I've been collected from the airport by the seller - not sure what's suspicious about it. I also bought both cars without seeing them (other than pictures online) and gave a deposit before flying over. As for asking for ID and taking a photograph on arrival, all a bit over board, no? If the OP is that concerned, meet them at a public place (The airport is fairly public) and ask for cash then lodge the cash at the bank to ensure all is OK with it and don't hand over the keys etc until this.

For importing to (Southern) Ireland, the most suspicious thing is to full V5 is needed to register the car here which generally rings alarm bells with sellers, but the DVLA are aware of this requirement and confirmed this to both sellers
 
Final update to this.


After the guy showed up to Gatwick last week, I had quite a few delays from him.

Payment was promised Monday before he left, then it was when he gets home, then it was Tuesday, then Wednesday and finally Thursday, which is when I received the full payment.

It meant I had to extend my insurance and also put pressure on a car purchase I had later that week, increasing hotel & flight costs (I traveled to Newcastle for it).



I was then told he’d arrange someone to collect from my home by Friday, which was later changed to “could you please drop it to Gatwick for someone to collect there”


Before I could reply, I had a time scheduled during my working hours for today.


Of course, today didn’t go smoothly either, though of no fault of the buyer. All trains going southbound were cancelled and I was stuck at Gatwick for 3 hours.



Definitely wouldn’t do this again, especially not for the small amount of money I received extra (probably eaten up by additional costs anyway).
 
teenwolf said:
Even bank transfer is reversible.
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I don't think so, what makes you say this?

Anyway, to the OP, at least you tried, just put it down to experience. It sounds like you were being too accommodating and this was giving you extra costs. If you are trying to stick to a tight schedule it makes things way more difficult and you're likely to be let down.
 
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