Selling outside the U.S.

J

John C

Well-known member
I have a car for sale and have been contacted by a fellow in Mexico that wants to buy it. So far, he has passed my initial scammer tests and seems to be a legitimate buyer. Has anyone sold a car outside the U.S.? How can I protect myself and make this work if the buyer is the real thing?

It's a unique car, so it isn't like he could just drive over the border and get one nearby.

He would wire me the money. It would have to be shipped to a town in Texas near the border where a broker would handle the export.

John
 
John, I think the big thing is to make sure the payment clears, no matter how it is sent, before the car leaves your possession. Even a bank's cashier's check can be forged. You might check with your bank and find out how they would like the money sent as to be easily verified that the funds exist. Jmo, but be careful.

Bob
 
I totally agree with Bob. I would also let the seller handle all shipping arrangements (after you have hard cash in hand). That way if there is a problem it is his problem.
 
those guys that scam can make fake paypal websites look real . payment would never be "deposited" into my accounts in any way , shape , or form . the car would never leave my property until the "payment " was converted to cold hard american cash in my hand. mtc, coppersmythe..............................ps: i've spent many weeks in mexico , met many great folks , and some that were not . kinda like here in the USA . but , once across that border , anything goes.
 
Even cash can be a problem.
A guy had a pick up for sale for about 17K. An old man and his wife showed up, inspected and drove it. They agreed on a price and the old man retrieved a shopping bag of cash from his vehicle.

They went inside and counted out the cash. The title was signed and the old man drove off with his wife following in the vehicle they came in.

The seller was advised to deposit the money over time so as not to raise suspicion at the bank leading them to believe the cash was from something illegal.

The first deposit went without a problem. The second deposit had 2 counterfeit 100's in it. A few additional bogus bills were discovered before the last deposit was finally made.

The seller wound up 400 lighter which he was convinced was not the buyers fault but none the less, 400 is 400.

If you take cash for anything, it would be a great idea to get a marking pen from the bank and to look for the strip in the bill to protect yourself.
 
I don't know, John, deals like this scare the heck out of me! Maybe that broker, in southern Texas could be a key player in the transaction. At any rate, I'd certainly talk with your bank, to get their take on it.
 
I'd ask the buyer to pay me in full for the car including shipping, by certified bank check, in the currency of your choice. After you received his payment and his check cleared, I would transfer the original title to him by fax/secure e-mail than after the vehicle has been delivered send a complete bill of sale with the title. This is how I sell a car here. I get paid then I transfer the title. But, in this case, he's not standing next to you for the transaction, he's in Mexico.

I’ve sold a few collector cars out of the US and after the first two I’ve decided to go through classic car broker(s).
 
I would suggest that safest route to go is to get a broker/bonded agent. Decide what the number is that you want for the car. It would then be up to the buyer in Mexico to pay for the broker fees and all other costs involved including transport, change of title etc., on top of that number. Before the vehicle leaves your possession make sure that the certified cheque/bank draft clears and the cash is in your account with no holds. That just be me, and me dos centavos worth of opinion. I figure it is better to be safe than sorry. If the guy really wants your car he will do what needs to be done. If not, then maybe he really doesn't want your car bad enough. All of my International moves and sales have been through brokers/bonded agents and I have never gotten scammed.
 
Not about the original topic but for reference of large cash transactions....
lazyuniondriver":17hglb8s said:
.............A guy had a pick up for sale for about 17K.......
..............The seller was advised to deposit the money over time so as not to raise suspicion at the bank leading them to believe the cash was from something illegal................
Click to expand...
Bad advice from the seller and ILLEGAL!!! Any cash over $10,000 requires an IRS form 8300. The "over time" statement doesn't work either unless you hold onto it and deposit it over several years.
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small...ing-Cash-Payments-of-Over-$10,000-(Form-8300)
By the way a personal check doesn't count for the over $10,000 reporting as the bank would have already reported it if needed. But then that brings up the necessity to wait a week to ten days to make sure the money gets in your account and stays in your account before releasing in this case the truck to the new owner. Also, as has already been mentioned a cashier's check should be treated as nothing special anymore, to easy to fake.
lazyuniondriver":17hglb8s said:
...........The first deposit went without a problem. The second deposit had 2 counterfeit 100's in it. A few additional bogus bills were discovered before the last deposit was finally made............
Click to expand...
Not really unusual to find a few especially in 100's.
lazyuniondriver":17hglb8s said:
.......If you take cash for anything, it would be a great idea to get a marking pen from the bank and to look for the strip in the bill to protect yourself.
Click to expand...
Good advice. You can purchase one of those pens just about anywhere, if you can get your bank to turn loose of one good luck. Even better advice would be take the buyer and any large amounts of money to the bank and let them count and check it. If the buyer doesn't want to do that, should be a red flag for you. If you mark the bills and find a few fakes and the buyer knew they were there it could turn into an unpleasant situation. At the bank they can deal with it. Plus when they count the money and say it's all there, it's all there.
 
Scrivet":16ukcm3l said:
Even better advice would be take the buyer and any large amounts of money to the bank and let them count and check it. If the buyer doesn't want to do that, should be a red flag for you.
Click to expand...

That's actually a really good idea. The bank confiscates counterfeits so whatever you walk out of there with or deposit there or someplace else is guaranteed to be genuine legal tender currency.
 
you even have to be careful in banks , i had a bad $100 bill given to me by a teller , she was so good the cameras were not a clear witness. she was slipping them in with cash and keeping the real ones. i was reimbersed , but only because my cousin was head of security and vouched for me . the teller was finally caught . it was a very good fake, by the way . coppersmythe..................................
 
Thanks for the advice.

I will not be dealing in cash, so no worries about counterfeit bills.

I like the idea of a broker handling the transaction, etc. In fact the buyer has a broker that he deals with. I just have to verify the broker is legitimate.

I actually like the idea of selling the car outside the country. I set a firm price on my car and the market here isn't able to support it. I just have to be very careful.

John
 
Yup to what Val said John. Hope it goes well and keep us posted.

Oh....., I am curious .. exactly what is it? The car I mean. Got a pic :D
 
John:

3 of my favourite cars have to be the '57 Chevy Bel Air, '69 442 W-30 H/O, '69/'70 Goats. My last Olds was a 79 Cutlass S and it shared a similar style to your Monte Carlo. I liked the lines of those models. I like how yours sounds Very nice car. :big smile:
 
Rudi":1ge80e5y said:
John:

3 of my favourite cars have to be the '57 Chevy Bel Air, '69 442 W-30 H/O, '69/'70 Goats. My last Olds was a 79 Cutlass S and it shared a similar style to your Monte Carlo. I liked the lines of those models. I like how yours sounds Very nice car. :big smile:
Click to expand...

Rudy, I had a nice '57 hardtop a few years ago. I also had this '79 Cutlass with a factory V8 and 5 speed manual transmission. Very rare car and in extremely good condition. I saw it for sale not long after I sold it for almost three times my selling price.

390542311.jpg
 
coppersmythe":29sia67v said:
good luck john , let us know how it turns out, coppersmythe........................
Click to expand...

The potential buyer found a fellow in my area that is going to come and inspect the car for him tomorrow. Coincidentally, he knows me and has seen the car before. I would think that would make the buyer suspicious, but he doesn't seem to mind.

There is quite a bit of information on the internet about buying a car unseen. I know, because the potential buyer forwarded me a lot of it.

I still need to find out more about the broker/bonded agent - who hires him, how much does it cost, etc.

John
 
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