I'm looking to sell my Model X, but I've never sold a car to an individual with this high of a value. What is the best payment method to use? Cashier's check or some type of escrow? I'm just really paranoid about handing over the vehicle without knowing for sure the payment is legit. Thanks for any help.
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What is the best way to handle payment?
- Thread starter rdross80
- Start date
Syclone
Member
A good bill of sale will provide the guidelines and protection for both parties. The buyer would sign first and then you would sign after ensuring you have the funds.
If you have a loan on the vehicle, have the buyer wire the money directly to the bank. The bank will put any excess funds in an account or refund them to you by check. I've sold at least one Tesla this way.
If you have a loan on the vehicle, have the buyer wire the money directly to the bank. The bank will put any excess funds in an account or refund them to you by check. I've sold at least one Tesla this way.
Best case,... go with buyer to the bank and have a bank rep/teller print the cashier check in front of you - removes risks associated with fake cashier checks. If out of state buyer... use an escrow service. Lien make buying & selling a bit more tricky, since (often) the lien has to be satisfied before title can be transferred. And some/most banks won't release funding for buyer unless bank has the title. This may vary by states & banks.
Michael A
Member
It is a tuff situation for both buyers and sellers. I am pretty sure a cashiers or bank check can be cancelled after the fact.
From a buyers perspective if you dont have a physical lien free title how does someone hand your tens of thousands of dollars and hope one day they receive the title.
I have found in a lot of states have electronic titles which makes things even more dicy.
All these factors have always pushed me as a buyer or seller to use eBay or Cargurus for the sale and purchase because they offer insurance on vehicle and title delivery.
From a buyers perspective if you dont have a physical lien free title how does someone hand your tens of thousands of dollars and hope one day they receive the title.
I have found in a lot of states have electronic titles which makes things even more dicy.
All these factors have always pushed me as a buyer or seller to use eBay or Cargurus for the sale and purchase because they offer insurance on vehicle and title delivery.
Bill of sale is important and notarized it. If both buyer is having loan and seller is planning to get loan then bank will take care of the title transfer. If buyer is not taking loan then seller has loan my recommendation is to have seller to do payoff and get the title and then do the exchange of the car. If seller need buyer money to do payoff then buyer need to agreed to walk away with car with no title in hand and it will take at lease 10 business day to process the title depended on bank the seller has loan with. Buyer can do limited POA on the the car so in case if the title s loads then he can use POA to get register the car. Anyway good luck on your sale
This can be tricky.
What I do is wire transfer or cashiers check. In exchange for paying and trusting (before I hand over the keys and they drive away) I sign over the title to them, so that they can register it anyway. After the wire or check clears they get the keys and car.
So technically the car is theirs when you sign the title over but you hold the vehicle itself in escrow.
What I do is wire transfer or cashiers check. In exchange for paying and trusting (before I hand over the keys and they drive away) I sign over the title to them, so that they can register it anyway. After the wire or check clears they get the keys and car.
So technically the car is theirs when you sign the title over but you hold the vehicle itself in escrow.
There is no loan on my part, so I have the title, but I would imagine most anyone buying this would need to take a loan out. So that may make things easier, I think? Because wouldn't I need to take the title to the bank that is giving out the loan, and they would just give me the money right then and there?
I would recommend Escrow.com (Ebay/PayPal recommended also) if selling out of town. They hold the money until you confirm buyer took posession and he confirms car as advertised. Nice and clear, saves a lot of headache.
That is how I got my WA Model S in OH sight unseen, I also hired a reputable out of state inspector from OR who sent me a report with photos and video included, then paid for covered transport to me.
That is how I got my WA Model S in OH sight unseen, I also hired a reputable out of state inspector from OR who sent me a report with photos and video included, then paid for covered transport to me.
As others have already mentioned, go to the potential buyers bank when they present the loan check (if applicable). I've done this a few times with no issues. You can also call the issuing bank to validate funds availability (they'll need info from the check; can only validate that funds are available at that moment).
Would it help to:
- go to buyer's bank ahead of time and open a new account for yourself
- accompany the buyer to the bank when they purchase the cashier's check, or receive the check from the loan officer
- buyer hands you the check, and you hand the check to the teller to deposit in your account
- wire-transfer your money out of your "new" account to your regular bank
- you sign-over the title to the buyer
So I'll give an update to this, as I did something similar to what you're saying. First off, I'll say this guy was very trusting, and this is something he must do a lot (I don't think he was a car dealer, but I think he was in the business of finding cars for buyers), because ain't no way I would hand over the kind of money he did without some sort of guarantee. He was from California and I'm from Ohio. I mentioned that I had a Chase account, and he said he had one, also. So we both went to our nearest branch, we did a direct transfer from his account to mine and it showed up instantly, and my bank assured me there was no way to reverse the funding. I then signed the title and had the banker notarize it, sent the guy a picture of it, and he emailed me a fedex slip, which I immediately sent out the same day. A few days later he sent a company to haul it away, and it was done. It was quite bizarre for me, and at first I was afraid it might be a scam, but since the bank assured me it was legit, I went through with it.
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