How to Deal with Car Buyers
Let’s face it— you can’t sell a car without buyers. In an ideal world, the only people you interact with are polite, courteous, and interested in your vehicle. However, in the real world, you’re forced to deal with different buyers who come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and personalities.
Generally, there are two types of buyers: the scammers (or frauds) and the potential buyers. Scammers have no interest in buying your car—they’re just interested in getting something from you. Potential buyers are those who not only express an interest in your car, but also have thoughts about buying it as well. They are the ones who go the extra mile, such as going to your house or test driving your car to see how the engine works. Learning how to deal with car buyers is important in ensuring a successful and safe transaction. Here are some tips to help you get started:
## The Scammer
It's relatively safe to sell cars online, but sometimes, there are rare moments when you might get buyers whose sole intent is to scam you out of your car—or your hard-earned money. Here are some common scams that are often used on sellers. Keep them in mind when you deal with car buyers.
### Offering to purchase your car without looking at it first
Consider this a warning sign when a buyer isn't even interested in viewing your car first. Most of the time, it’s just a part of a larger scam where the buyer sends you a fake check and sends another person to pick up your car.
### Paying with fake checks or money orders
Related to number one, buyers can sometimes pay sellers with money orders and checks that are fraudulent. Remember that the car isn't yours anymore once you sign the title. Once you do this, you’re basically giving your car for free if the buyer’s “check” hasn't cleared before.
### Enticing you with money
There are two ways you can get scammed by this: the buyer will tell you that someone owes him money that's more than your car's cost, and he or she promises to pay you once he gets paid.
The second one is when the seller sends you a legitimate check to pay for the shipping cost of your car. This fools you into thinking that he’s an honest buyer, so you ship car and then receive his payment – a fake check.
### Asking to pay monthly
It's never really a good idea for a buyer to pay you in installments, since it's difficult to collect money once they stop making their payments to you.
### Using illegitimate escrow companies
The buyer will complete their payments using a fraudulent escrow service. Once you've signed the title, the money won't be there anymore (or worse, the escrow service company disappears).
### Fishing out personal information
Some buyers are just identity thieves in sheep's clothing. Their main intent is to fish out some of your personal information, such as your bank account and credit card numbers.
## How to Deal with Scammers
Unfortunately, it's not always easy to detect scammers, since deception is what they're really good at. The best thing is to be proactive so you know how to handle car buyers with less than honorable intentions:
- Filter out callers, and make sure that they are legitimate buyers.
- Make sure to verify all checks before you transfer the title.
- Ask for a driver's license (and other important documents) first.
- Meet in a public place if they will test drive your car.
- Document phone numbers, names, information, and everything that's signed.
- Don't give your personal information (such as your credit card and social security numbers), and erase them if you give your service records.
- Avoid taking checks, money wires, and money orders.
- If you decide to use checks, verify them first before parting with your car.
- Make sure that you have the cash on hand once you sign over the title.
- Never accept monthly payments (except if you really know and trust the buyer).
- Don't agree to ship your car until all the payments are cleared.
- Have a friend with you during inspections.
- Get independent, professional advice if a buyer's offer involves a lot of time, money or commitment on your part.
- Use your intuition (and common sense). We tend to take our intuitions for granted, but if your gut instinct tells you it's a scam, it most probably is.
