Potential Scams when Selling your Car Privately

Potential Scams when Selling your Car Privately

Posted on September 22, 2021

For most of us, our cars are the second most expensive purchase we will ever make after our home. Cars also have a place deep in our hearts where we place a lot more emotion into them than we would any other object.

That makes looking after your car essential, especially when you’re selling it privately.

The vast majority of private car sales go perfectly fine and don’t involve scams or scammers. You can avoid all of that risk by selling your car to a dealership.

You can also avoid potential scams when selling your car privately by knowing what to watch out for.

Offers viewings during the day in public

Most buyers will want to see the car in daylight anyway but insist on having all viewings during the day on your driveway or somewhere public.

Some buyers will want to view the car at the address it is registered to in order to avoid scams themselves. Others aren’t so inclined so take the opportunity to use a mall car park or somewhere equally convenient.

Business not pleasure

While you should always be polite and courteous, you should always bear in mind that this is a business transaction and you’re not there to make friends.

You may hear sob stories about how a buyer cannot afford that much or that paying the asking price would mean their children don’t eat.

You may be made to feel like you’re the buyer’s new best friend and will be taking windy walks along the lakeshore after the sale.

It’s all about the sale. It’s not personal. You’re unlikely to be see them afterwards so keep it business like.

Don’t accept cheques

If someone wants to pay using a personal cheque or seemingly legitimate banker’s cheque, don’t accept it. They are easily faked and are one of the most common payment scams around.

If you accept a banker’s cheque, make sure you’re at the bank with the buyer and see the cheque being cut.

It’s better to accept bank transfer though.

‘The car isn’t worth what you’re asking’

This is another common tactic when selling cars. The buyer looks the car over and says they like it but it isn’t worth the asking price.

If it wasn’t worth the price, why did they come?

The answer to this is to price the car accurately. Gauge prices using Carfax, Kelley Blue Book, Auto Trader, eBay, Craigslist and anywhere else you know that sells cars.

Compare like for like and get a clear idea of what cars of the same make, model, trim, and year all sell for. Then price yours similarly.

So, when someone says the car isn’t worth what you’re asking, you can point out your research to prove that it is.

I don’t need to see the car

Sight unseen sales are a common scam and easy to avoid. Just think to yourself, if you were planning to spend thousands on a car, would you trust someone you don’t know? We certainly wouldn’t!

The sight unseen scam takes a few forms, someone working abroad, in the armed forces serving overseas, working on an oil rig or something else. They say they will pay via cheque or send someone round to check it and pay for it.

Avoid all of these as they are very likely a scam.

Those are ways to avoid the most common car selling scams. We hope they help.

Avoid all scams when selling your car privately by selling to a dealership instead. It’s fast, easy and pays more than ever before!

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