How to pay for private sale vehicle?

[freedomatlast]

I buy and sell cars all the time as a hobby. The second to the last one that I sold, the out of state buyer bought it sight unseen. I would rather him come and see it, but he "didn't have time for that". It was over $10,000 and he sent a wire transfer directly to my credit union in an account that I opened just for this transaction. The wire transfer was free of fees.

As soon as the transaction cleared, I closed that account and transferred the money to my regular account. I sent him the signed over title by mail (kept a copy for my records), he sent an enclosed trailer and driver to transport it, and the deal was done.

The next day, I was in a high level meeting at work, when I received a phone call on my cell. I didn't answer, but they left a message saying, "Hello freedomatlast, this is the fraud department of your credit union calling. Please call us at your earliest convenience."

I'm thinking, this can't be good. So I call them back and they asked me if I had opened an account, received over $XX,000 and then closed the account. I told him that I had and this was the advice I was given by his branch manager to receive the funds for a car I was selling. He put me on hold, came back on after a few minutes, apologized for bothering me and wished me a good day.

 

[OldShooter]

Yea, well, OK. I don't want to drive 3+ hours and have to jerk around when I could have a clean solution worked out before hand. ...

Oh, agree completely. My point is/was that it is not your responsibility to hypothesize and solve problems that he may or may not have. Problems he perceives, if any, may be wildly different than your guesses. You just need to go back and forth (prior to your trip), trying to solve whatever problems he raises, while tenaciously clinging your simple objective.

 

[RobbieB]

Yup, I will accept only cash.

No cashiers checks, no travellers checks.

 

[RunningBum]

Is there a risk of counterfeit bills with cash?

 

[MRG]

Is there a risk of counterfeit bills with cash?

There is a dollar bill test for counterfeit money. Careful how you search.[emoji111]

Here's a link to an article about spotting phony bills.

https://carnation-inc.com/pages/ways-to-detect-counterfeit-money


How to Detect Counterfeit Money

..and*how to tell if a bill is fake

Why is the practice of counterfeiting money such a hot issue in this country?
Well, believe it or not; the United States dollar bills have a large number of hi-tech security features, making the dollar is one of the most advanced currencies in the world.
The US also have a dedicated government agency, the Secret Service, specializing in combating counterfeiting. However, all this security comes at a price: it’s expensive to print US dollars! So why such an intense focus on combating fake bills?
The roots of the counterfeiting problem go way back. Fake dollars have been in circulation in the US since the days of colonial rule, followed by a huge increase in counterfeiting during the Civil War. Thus,*history*has made counterfeiting a critical issue in the USA.

 

[travelover]

Now that the payment method has been settled, will you tell us more about this new camper?

And it may sound nosy, but I assume that you will be selling your existing one?

Of course, I love to talk RVs. We currently have a 13 foot UHaul fiberglass camper which has been a great camper, but no bathroom, shower, hot water or holding tanks. Now that DW has retired, too, and we have accomplished our move to the Pacific Northwet, we wanted something more convenient. The camper I hope to buy is a Casita 17 foot which has all the amenities the UHaul doesn't, plus a larger bed. It can be configured as a double, a king or two twins. We do plan to sell the UHaul in the spring. These things are crazy popular and it has about tripled in value since I bought it, though I've upgraded it as well.

 

[GravitySucks]

So did you get the Casita?
Can you town it with your Escape hybrid?
How'd the deal go down?

 

[travelover]

So did you get the Casita?
Can you tow it with your Escape hybrid?
How'd the deal go down?

I have not gotten it yet. I'm in Portland-ish and it is in Bend. The Cascades have gotten blasted recently and it is surrounded by 4 feet of snow. The good news is that the sellers are patient, as am I. I sold my hybrid Escape and replaced it with a Highlander with a 5000 pound tow rating, so I'm good to go. It also has a weight distributing hitch to deal with the Casita's heavy tongue weight.

 

[Redbugdave]

I would think a USPS money order would be good payment also.

 

[sengsational]

I went back and read from post 1, just for fun and learning.


I'm surprised nobody suggested an escrow agent. I kind of "had" to use one when I bought a used car from a private party because he still had a loan on the car. We both registered with the escrow company and after I paid the escrow company, he handed me the keys. The escrow agent was responsible for paying off the loan and getting me the title, which I got the title in the mail later. The deal wouldn't have been possible otherwise. The down-side, of course, is that the fee for the service was something like $150, I think. I made the offer on the car before I knew of the escrow fee, and the seller paid the fee, so it didn't seem like it came out of my wallet. But in the case of TL's camper, I bet if TL wanted to bring in an escrow agent, it would have been on his dime.

 

[pb4uski]

Is there a risk of counterfeit bills with cash?

I mitigated that risk with a car that I sold on craigslist a couple years ago by meeting the buyer in the bank's parking lot. We went for a test drive... he made me an offer... i countered and he accepted. We walked into the bank and deposited cash that he brought with him equal to the agreed upon price. I then signed the title and associated paperwork and handed him the keys.

 

[stepford]

I'm not a big fan of my bank, Wells Fargo, but their ubiquity is sometimes handy. While traveling in FL a few years ago, with no plans to buy a vehicle, I came across a good deal on a truck. I arranged for a transfer from one of my "real" accounts to WF, did a cash withdrawal and completed the purchase in the branch in the seller's home town. Drove the truck back to CA over the next week (such flexibility in scheduling being one of the benefits of ER).

 

[CowgirlUp]

I sold a trailer last summer for around 10K. The buyer brought cash and counted it out in front of me. I got the cash...they drove away with the trailer. They came from about 3-1/2 hours away.

 

[Scrapr]

I have not gotten it yet. I'm in Portland-ish and it is in Bend. The Cascades have gotten blasted recently and it is surrounded by 4 feet of snow. The good news is that the sellers are patient, as am I. I sold my hybrid Escape and replaced it with a Highlander with a 5000 pound tow rating, so I'm good to go. It also has a weight distributing hitch to deal with the Casita's heavy tongue weight.

will confirm Bend is another world right now. Some main streets are partial closed as snow is being removed to open lanes. Here is a picture of our alley

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uoxz4ajifzhkxay/2019-03-02 14.24.02.jpg?dl=0


I came over to Portland today and once out of Sisters pretty well dry. It was 12 degrees when i left. 40 something with an east wind in Portland. The east wind made it feel colder than Bend

Maybe a slight warm up as we get to the weekend but this snow is going to be around a while, Maybe try the first part of July to pick it up?

 

[travelover]

.......... Maybe try the first part of July to pick it up?

You're bumming me out.

 

[travelover]

OP here. Just to tie a ribbon around this, I was able to go to the seller's credit union and they withdrew the sale amount from my checking account plus $5 and wrote a cashier's check, which the seller promptly deposited into her account. Easy peasy. I guess the key is that our credit unions were affiliated.

The road to Bend (Highway 26) had dried out and driving home was a piece of cake. First camp out is Wednesday. Rain is predicted.

 

[Bongleur]

If the seller asked, I would say I was bringing a cashier's check, and if I decided to buy it I would confess that I actually brought cash. Surely he couldn't object to that.

I would. A guy who said he has a bank now looks like a money launderer. Or counterfeiter. I certainly can't determine if thousands in bills are fake or not.