Selling a car

[dartagnon]

My daughter is selling her car and I'm looking for tips and hints on how to make sure that she isn't the victim of a con. I know that sometimes a cheque will be used and then it "clears" and a few days later the bank realise it was issued from a bogus account and take the money back, so does anyone know of a safe way to go about this business deal.
Even the simple things like when the potential buyer comes to view the car and wants a test drive, Does she go away with them in the car?
All advice welcome no matter how trivial you may think it is, Thanks in anticipation

[tonyav]

try to get them to pay in cash, and if the potential buyer wants to test drive the car make sure they are insured to do so.

[jake-the-peg]

Just to add to tony's point about insurance on a test drive - you now have a legal responsibility to make sure that anybody who drives your car is insured.

If she lets someone test drive and he's stopped and not insured *she* could be prosecuted.

Also if anybody comes up with a bankers draft for more than the amount and asks you to pay the balance - run like heck

[TWR]

Hi, there is danger here, for a start do not let your daughter go alone on a test drive, ask the buyer for proof of Identity, If you do take a cheque the car stops with you until the cheque clears, even a bankers draft, make sure she has a male / female friend with her, make sure you spell out the conditions of the sale, Eg/ bought, Tried, Tested, And approved, get a deal sheet written out & signed. point out any bumps on the car etc so they cannot come back & say this has been done etc, do not believe their story even if they say their father is the pope, I, like many try & give out advice to people but people still get caught, do not let your daughter be one of them. as regards her price, do your search on Ebay etc to what sort of price you want for the car then deduct what you think fit.

[simonruss]

I always give a receipt for the money and clearly put on it 'sold as seen' so there can be no come backs if it breaks down after it has been sold. Perhaps on a different note make sure its nice and clean so it looks like its been cared for, this helps in geting a decent price, as the buyer will try and get the price knocked down for any trivial thing. (I know I have). As previously stated dont let your daughter go on her own during the test drive. Best of all just employ good honest common sense.

[dartagnon]

My daughter received an email from a male stating that he wished to buy the car and he stated that he was out of the country and would pay by check which would clear in 3 days
The alarm bells started ringing for a number of reasons;
1)his email address is a typical english name at yahoo.com
2)he asks in his email "I will like to know if it could be presented as a birthday gift?" and "I will like to know the last price"
3) he ends his email by saying "Waiting to read from you soon"
The fact that he hasn't even tried to bargain on the price - because my daughter is prepared to accept �500 less than she is asking - and his english is pretty disjointed are giving me cause for concern, but if anyone knows of anything similar then please let me know.
I will obviously ask him why in these times of digital banking he can't just transfer the money to her account, or do you think it wouldn't be wise to give him her sort code and bank account number?
Once again thanks in advance for your input.

[TWR]

As advise give, RE/ this EMail, easy answer DELETE THE EMail