Best way to pay a private seller of a car?

TerracedHouse

I'm going to have a test drive of a car today which is sold privately, if I like it what would be the best way to pay, obviously not cash, bank transfer? The car is advertised at £9,500

izzy65

Most sellers will only accept cash, if this was reversed ie a post saying I am selling my car what payment should I accept you would see most would answer cash only, anything else is open to doubt in this scamming day and age, do your checks before parting with any money.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I would not accept cash, as it invalidates any HPI checks. Bank transfer only.

SHAFT

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

I would not accept cash, as it invalidates any HPI checks. Bank transfer only.

As a seller why would the HPI check be of any concern.

neilmcl

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

I would not accept cash, as it invalidates any HPI checks. Bank transfer only.

Only applies if the vehicle is cloned.

neilmcl

TerracedHouse wrote: »

I'm going to have a test drive of a car today which is sold privately, if I like it what would be the best way to pay, obviously not cash, bank transfer? The car is advertised at £9,500

Bank transfer is perfectly safe and now quick but tbh it's really up to the seller.

neilmcl

izzy65 wrote: »

Most sellers will only accept cash, if this was reversed ie a post saying I am selling my car what payment should I accept you would see most would answer cash only, anything else is open to doubt in this scamming day and age, do your checks before parting with any money.

That may be the case for relatively low amounts but most private sellers these days would prefer not to handle large amounts of cash.

DUTR

neilmcl wrote: »

That may be the case for relatively low amounts but most private sellers these days would prefer not to handle large amounts of cash.

I don't know about most, but for me, if you are paying cash, then it is only whilst the bank is open for them to accept the cash, otherwise it's BT.

Supersonos

I wouldn't pay cash and I wouldn't accept cash. In this day-and-age, cash just isn't needed (not to mention not being traceable).

I haven't used cash for several months, and it's now a decider of what services I use etc. There's a coffee place near where I work that is cash only, so I won't go there. And an electrician who quoted for us only accepted cash, so I didn't employ him.

Arklight

I have bought cars privately where cash was taken very reluctantly once, and completely refused as a payment option another time. Few people want to try and figure out if it's genuine, or walk around with thousands of pounds on them.

As for paying a large amount, like £9500, I personally wouldn't unless it was an amazing deal compared to a dealer, and then I'd assume it must be a con; so I still wouldn't.

If you must do this and you are 100% sure the car and seller are legitimate (all the VIN numbers, HPI check, and genuine V5C documents) then a bank transfer at the sellers home, with you inside sitting on their sofa while they have their bank account open next to you.

For £10k, I would insist that I see their bank card verifying their name and account number, as well as additional photo ID, and that they are logged into their account while I did the transfer (which would be first thing in the morning on a banking day).

Marvel1

I did it by bank transfer when I bought, I'm not carrying cash of that amount around.