Search has not turned much up, but have read a few "interesting" opinions on other forums , so topic at title.
I have a desire to do a bit of car dealing, nothing serious, more for experience, interest, "had one of them"
However, I need to sort an all purpose car for Mrs (and myself) first, so more on that another thread!

So,
Let's say I agree to purchase a used car on a private sale.
Let's say its £10k (more money than you can afford to lose)

How would you go about a safe and secure deal for both parties?
ie Big bag full of cash, bankers draft, cheque?

Experience /advice/ opinion

Discuss


[Edited on 22/3/13 by ReMan]

Cash is the only way.

Under £5k cash

Over £5k bankers draft (when buying or selling) or bank transfer (if selling and buyer wants to)

Cash or bank transfer. Easy enough to transfer the money these days either online or by phone almost instantly.

The last car I bought I did the transfer by phone in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

When I sold my car the purchaser put a test £1 BACS transfer to my account, happened instantly.

When he turned up to collect then transferred the balance via BACs, this took a little longer as he had to tell the bank about the transfer as got flagged as illegal due to the amount.

Bankers drafts can be forged as can cash so they bring a bundle of notes and they pay into your account at the bank.

Only when your bank has acknowledged reciept hand over the keys.

It gets a bit silly trying to get £6-7K out of the bank to buy a car... And then having to count it all :s


When I sold my TT over the summer I simply got the guy to transfer the money, left it overnight and he drove away the next day...

For peace of mind you could always take a photocopy of drivers license and a couple of utility bills with address on...just incase something goes wrong with the transaction and you need to call the cozzers...


I wish more buyers would accept bank transfers.... cash is a royal pain in the arris!

Interesting comments already,
As siad i find the idea of pulling £10k in cash at best worrying, at worst unnecessary.
Bank drafts used to be THE way of doing thisngs, but they can be forged or pulled now/.
Cheques are safe but slow, for clearance
The obvious thing is a bank transfer, but folk are scared of giving there account nuber out these days, like you can do anything with that alone. Dont know if these are reversible, another concern I read aftyer the event?
Passports d-licences will all help I guess to confirm the vehicle, keeper and address your buying from all tally, so unlikely to disappear overnight

Used bank transfer for the last 6 cars I've bought from 1k to 7.5k just gave copies of driver licence and work details

Not been a problem

As above, getting large amounts of cash is a real pain and is so totally unsafe for all parties. For that kind of money it's far better to use a cheque or bank transfer and just wait till it's cleared before taking ownership.

People will do alot for a few grand in cash, setting up a fake car advert to lure you out (They may even have the car, which could be stolen) and then robbing you would be very easy to arrange. From the otherside, what happens when you end up with 10 grand in fake money, or your given the money and someone else notices and attacks you for it? Or the 'Buyer' sends his mate to get the money back.

As above if you do go the cash route have the buyer go to the back with you and pay it into the bank, but if your doing that you might as well just do an in bank cash transfer which I believe will let you transfer large amounts of money which clears by the end of the day if you do it by 12.30 (Or something like that, it's been along time since I did it.).

you gave me a cheque matt! or have you bought 6 more since then?

Bank transfer is by far the safest and most secure, once it hits your account it's yours for keeps, unless you live in Cyprus that is.

Why do people worry about bank details, account number & sort code, more info on a cheque ?

Another +1 for bank transfer. I bought a couple of cars and just transferred the money on my phone. The seller then checks the payment has arived in his/her account and away you go. I sold a Cherokee and the buyers said it would take a couple of hours for the payment to get from their account into mine so they came back the next day to collect the Jeep. I've bought and sold a few houses and never had to withdraw a wheelbarrow laod of cash to buy them..

quote:

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Originally posted by daniel mason
you gave me a cheque matt! or have you bought 6 more since then?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Jon Ison
Bank transfer is by far the safest and most secure, once it hits your account it's yours for keeps, unless you live in Cyprus that is.

Why do people worry about bank details, account number & sort code, more info on a cheque ?

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about 8 years ago i paid 10K in cash for a car, was very nervous about it until the deal was done. the seller was also nervous about having that sort of money in the house over the weekend.

would be bank transfer every time now.

When I bought my tvr, I went to my bank with the seller so he could witness me drawing up a bankers draft. We then went to his bank and paid it in.

When I sold it, a fella turned up with cash and a burly bloke to accompany him. I kept the v5 until I paid the cash in the next day so I knew it wasnt forged. Hid the cash at the inlaws overnight in case they 'came back' for it.

The first option was infinitely preferable!

Cash has always been king.
Problem is most people these days rarely see much of the stuff. Everything is paid in/out etc automatically, and by my reckoning a big contributor to the financial mess so many people are in. Remember the days when you got a paypacket in cash. And that was what you had until the next one? No chance to get into debt unless you made a conscious decision to do so.

Anyway, I digress.

Many people are scared by a stack of folded stuff, so bank transfers is the way to go. Or as mentioned above, a draft where it is ideally done all at the same time, issued with buyer/seller present, and paid in straight away. But a transfer seems so much simpler.
However, I like folded stuff

quote:

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Originally posted by owelly
Another +1 for bank transfer. I bought a couple of cars and just transferred the money on my phone. The seller then checks the payment has arived in his/her account and away you go. I sold a Cherokee and the buyers said it would take a couple of hours for the payment to get from their account into mine so they came back the next day to collect the Jeep. I've bought and sold a few houses and never had to withdraw a wheelbarrow laod of cash to buy them..

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