joewill

take a deposit to hold the car. 5000 is not unreasonable. stipulate that the balance is due in X days, and if not paid then deposit is forfeited and transaction is cancelled..
run a background check on your buyer. lots of phone apps will do it for 20$
if balance is not paid timely, then sell your car to others that are interested. then you decide on the ethics of returning all or some of your previous buyers deposit.

him giving the check weeks to clear before taking car is very reasonable. if I got any kind of check from a buyer, I would insist on waiting on the check to clear with no possibility of bouncing. some bankers do say it might take weeks.

absolutely have a bill of sale to state amount ( do not lie), date, time, VIN, names and addresses of buyer and seller, sold AS IS, copy title before and after signing. this will all be your legal documents vs some report to do to the DMV.
the DMV has no motivation to the transaction besides future tax collection.
insure the car until you have cleared funds.

above all , if anything is fishy, then run. if some buyers want to do it in a somewhat different way, then that's OK, but cover yourself accordingly.

Stroh

Thanks for the response. I agree no need to rush. I'm in absolutely no hurry. He sends the money. it clears or it doesn't. I have the car and the title. We share a dated receipt of deposit with conditions on the balance and refund of most of the deposit if those conditions aren't met. I've communicated with the other two interested parties that should the deal fall through I will get back in touch with them. I don't want to shoo away a deal that should be complete by the end of the week for full asking price (winter pricing, but still)

cv67

I bet this particular one is Ok. If hes willing to forfeit some money if he cant follow through then why not.
You can tell a lot from speaking to someone on the phone , I refuse to do everything over text and email

Agree that wire transfer is best, perhaps insist the 2nd payment be done via wire transfer or cash transaction in bank where they can verify the bills are good.
You cant really lose sounds like.

If the inital cashiers check was bad youd know long before March. I have taken deposits before and held cars til they gave the rest...title, car everything stayed with me in the meantime, no real bill of sale til then just a receipt with terms signed by both. In the meantime make sure youre coverage includes theft.

Stroh

Good point on coverage including theft.

derekderek

I'm not crazy about cash. That too can be faked. a local cash transaction I write the guy a check we go to my bank he cashes the check. And the same the other way. That way I see the cash come from a bank teller. Bank tellers have a tendency not to print the money in their basement.

Stroh

And the cash thing can be hijacked with no paper trail... Grand theft auto mugging without proof. I'm a little worried about big stacks of cash without a security detail.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:
I spoke at length with the buyer a couple times today. He sent a picture of the cashier's check before dropping it in the mail. I know the bank. I know the area he's from and have a friend driving buy his business tomorrow-- though I sincerely believe he's legit. The guy says he found exactly the car he was looking for at a price he thought was more than fair and went to extra lengths to be sure he didn't miss out.

BUT... just making sure, here. He has requested a copy of the title for his bank (I'm now assuming "freeing up" some money meant acquiring a loan for the remainder,) Can sending him a copy of the title hurt me in any way? He has requested this when the $5K arrives. Unless he is a very smooth scammer, which I really doubt, he is legit,

I just want to make sure than I'm again safe in this... Again thanks much for the feedback.

Big2Bird

Send him a copy that doesn't show any water marks. (Obvious copy). Maybe stamp it "COPY"

nutsy

seems to me he is the one that should be nervous if anyone is. he is paying you and not getting the car for a while. as long as check clears and you keep car and title until its transferred I see nothing to worry about.

Stroh

Right

Stroh

He knows where I live. Plenty of digital evidence of the deal. A reciept specifying amounts and timeline. Yep, I'd still be worried, too. Sight unseen deals are just not in my nature. At least as the buyer.

Jstan2014

Stroh

VERY HELPFUL STUFF. Seems to me there should be a sticky on long distance deals at the head of each of the 8 forums here. Thanks for all the solid advice. I have less reservations now about the sale, and that's party due to the sage advice here. Many many thanks all.

JJEXP

Stroh

So far so good. Called the bank that issued the cashier's checks. They say the first has cleared and the money is mine, no doubt no exceptions. The second check, I deposited yesterday and is pending, though already credited to my account. The customer service lady at that bank will call as soon as those funds have transferred. Very helpful people. And the gentleman who bought the car seems to be a really good guy. Although I was probably overcautious, I don't believe that can ever hurt anything.

I have agreed to store the car here in its bubble until April 1st at the latest. So he gets two months free storage too. Good deal all around.

On top of that, I think i found my numbers matching 1970 convertible as well... and not too far away. Fingers crossed that it is all the seller says it is. I hope to travel to inspect next weekend. Weather accommodating.

I STILL THINK THERE SHOULD BE A STICKY FOR LONG DISTANCE SALES DO'S and DONT'S

Thank you very much to all who added their .02c