Sell A Car, Get prepared |
There are several articles available that offer tips for when you sell a car. We encourage you to read them and get prepared to sell a car. We wanted to cover in detail one topic specifically. Safety when you sell a car is not a topic that is usually covered well. Safety covers both the safety of the person trying to sell a car, and the safety of the financial transaction itself.
For your personal safety you should always collect information from the person you will be letting drive you around. Make sure you let someone know how long you anticipate being gone and the personal information of the person you will be traveling with. It should be rather easy to get their name and information from their driver's license. It may seem a bit awkward to collect the person's information but it is your safety at stake when you sell a car. Any one that can't or won't produce a driver's license is not a safe bet to drive your car, let alone travel with by yourself.
Some people may request to complete a test drive alone. If the person arrives in their vehicle and can produce proof of owning that vehicle, you could look at that vehicle as collateral. This only works if their vehicle is worth more than your vehicle. Thieves are not likely to steal a car while leaving a more valuable car behind. This can be a useful tool if you do not want to go on test drives. When a person contacts you about coming to you for a test drive explain that they will need proof of ownership of the vehicle they arrive in.
No matter the value of your car it is important to remember it is only money. If you are getting a bad feeling at all, leave the situation. Or ask them to leave. No matter how much you want to sell a car it is not worth taking risks. This also applies even if you didn't get a bad feeling. If someone attempts to rob you of your car or even of your money, let them have it. Neither of those things is worth your life.
The final aspect of safety is the financial aspect. There are unscrupulous people who will meet the seller with cash for the car. They drive away in the car they have purchased and someone robs you after you sell a car. This risk can be avoided by accepting only a cashier's check. These prevent a robbery but they can be bounced. Though that is extremely rare. Never accept personal checks. There is no guarantee of funds being available.
People often ask you to hold the car for a variety of reasons. One danger when you sell a car is that someone will commit to buy, ask you to wait for the money and then back out. In the mean time you may lose out on other prospective buyers. In order to prevent this you can ask for a deposit (5 - 10 percent) of the price, in cash. They can then get a cashier's check for the remaining blalnce when they are ready to purchase. |
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