Selling wife's car

Pete.g

Hi,

We are currently in the process of selling the wife's car (a mini) through the autotrader. We had agent ring us and offer us what we thought was a good price so accepted. The agent was acting for a BMW/Mini dealer. The dealer contacted us yesterday to put the wheels in motion and asked if we would accept a BMW cheque or a Bankers draft I said we was'nt too bothered but whichever it was we would need it to clear before the car was released as they would be sending a driver/trailer to pick it up.

Has anyone ever sold a car like this, I know it's a BMW dealer so should'nt have anything to worry about but I can't help being wary as I've never sold a car like this before.

Thanks,

Pete.

joshm_2

Act with extreme caution. There's no problem selling to a dealer - sometimes they offer very good prices for the right cars (as you have found). You're absolutely right to want the money cleared before you release the car but be warned about bankers drafts etc - they can be forged and you could lose your money even after it's been paid in and 'cleared'. If handed a banker's draft I would call the issuing bank and ask them to verify it using the serial number. As it's a dealer I would also recommend you do business on their premises - in this way you know it's not some con-artist pretending to be one. I wouldn't necessarily give out your address either - there could be thieves at play. Sorry if I sound overly cautious but we're talking serious money and crimes such as these are on the up.

vikingaero

I sold my MINI to a BMW MINI dealer. We arranged the deal over the phone and they gave me a cheque for £12,500. The salesman turned up in a hire car and left the keys with me to be collected by the rental firm. He drove away in my MINI. I was quite happy to deal with them this way although in retrospect even large dealerships can go to the wall in between them issuing you a cheque and clearance.

Conor_3

joshm wrote: »

You're absolutely right to want the money cleared before you release the car but be warned about bankers drafts etc - they can be forged and you could lose your money even after it's been paid in and 'cleared'.

EXCELLENT ADVICE. A cheque can be cancelled up to 6 months after the date it was issued even if it's "cleared". Makes a whole farce of the clearing thing. I no longer bother waiting.

daveyjp

Tell them you want payment by interbank transfer - BACS or CHAPS. BACS service is about £20.

Happychappy

Pete

Have you actually rang the dealer yourself and by that, have you found the number yourself from directory enquiries or from the BMW home page, and not the number given by the agent or alleged dealer, and have you proved to yourself it is a genuine BMW dealer, or better still have you actually been to the dealership.

There is a scam being going for sometime, mainly with East European con artists from Hungary and Romania doing the same scam, sometimes with legitimate looking company cheques, sometimes using the ECROW banking system which is so easy to set up a spoof site, but all the same result, your car goes abroad, or gets broken up for parts in the UK and shipped out.

Be very careful and confirm everything from your own information you found yourself rather then glossy business cards, letter heads etc.

Also why would a dealer want to buy your car at what I would imagine is a retail price to put it in their showroom and sell it at retail price?

Bets of luck

mr_accountant

good advice above

i would post on www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum in the discussion section, plenty of experts WITH experience in this area.