Avoid these Red Flags when Selling your Car Privately
Avoid these Red Flags when Selling your Car Privately
Posted on September 27, 2021
If you’re planning to sell your car, you want to get maximum value so you can use the money however you need to use it. Whether that’s paying off an auto loan, paying for essential repairs for your home or something else, it’s your money to do with as you wish.
The last thing you want is to be scammed out of your money.
That’s what this post aims to help prevent.
What follows are 3 red flags when selling your car privately that we think it's important car sellers recognize. They could help you losing your money and your car!
To avoid all risks, sell your car to a dealership, it’s the easiest way to get paid!
Sight unseen buyer
The first of the red flags when selling your car privately is the sight unseen buyer. This is someone who contacts you about your car and will tell you how long they have been looking for that exact make, model and colour.
They will have some reason why they cannot come to see it, working abroad, stationed overseas, travelling somewhere or something else.
They say they will send someone to buy the car and will wire you the money or the person will pay you by cheque.
Don’t fall for it as it’s almost always a scam.
Overseas escrow service
Lots of websites user escrow as it’s a fair system to get paid while not being able to hand over goods and money in person. Escrow is fine when it’s a legitimate service provided by a well known provider.
It’s not fine when it’s an unknown or foreign escrow service.
A few of these have popped up as online car sales have skyrocketed. Many are legit but many are pure scams and either don’t really exist or won’t pay the money promised.
Don’t use escrow, use bank payments instead.
Too much information
We have also heard of an increase in buyers just wanting to steal your identity rather than your car.
A buyer will contact you about your car and ask for your full name, address, date of birth to ensure you’re over 18 and perhaps even your social security number to make sure you’re real.
In writing, it sounds implausible, but on a call or over chat can be made to seem perfectly normal.
Needless to say, they won’t buy your car and won’t delete your information when you provide it. Never provide your date of birth to anyone when you don’t need to and never, ever, give out your social security number to someone randomly contacting you about a car!
On paper, each of these red flags seem obvious, but when you’re caught up in selling a car, the warnings can get lost in transmission.
That’s why we always recommend selling your car to a dealership. We pay fairly. We pay on time and we pay directly into your bank. What more could you ask for?
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