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On the paperwork/title side... nothing is more secure than completing the transaction at the DMV window with both seller and buyer present...
As a buyer... I have confirmation as to title, registration and smog status.
As a seller... I know the car is no longer in my name which can be a nightmare that never ends if the buyer just decides to never transfer the car and you end up with a stack of citations...
I have 3 instances to share. I should note that my dad is a mechanic, so he is able to check things out on a high level pretty quickly:
When I was in HS, my parents decided to buy a beater car for the kids to drive. He found a $2k 2000 (5 years old at the time) Ford Taurus on Craigslist--guy was selling it from the gas station he owned. Bought it and within 2 days we realized the gas gauge didn't work when I ran out of gas! Totally shady on the dude's part, but the car actually went on to be driven for another 8 years until it finally bit the dust. All us kids learned to use the trip counter and fill up when we hit 175 miles. No one ever ran out of gas again! That's the biggest "horror story" we've had.
3 years later, I was looking to buy my first car. I had $6k to spend. I searched Craiglist for about 2 months straight looking for a good deal. Finally something promising came up. My dad came with me to look at it. It was another 2000 Ford Taurus (then 8 years old) with only 50k miles for $5k. It was in pristine condition and had a ton of upgrades (sunroof, 6 cd changer, thermostat, etc)--the only issue was broken windshield wipers, which we immediately had fixed for a minimal amount. The owner had apparently driven it very little and kept it up. He had recently passed away and his ex was selling it on behalf of their daughters. They took $4500k for it--the KBB value was $5500 minimum. I drove it until it was 14 years old and it started having enough problems (and my 2nd child was due) that we knew it was time to get something bigger and more reliable. We sold it to my dad and my teenage sister is still driving it after some repairs--it is now 16 years old. Great car--honestly, if it still fit our family and we didn't need something more reliable (I have a 60 mile round trip commute) I'd be happy to still drive it. That was a fantastic deal.
I wasn't personally involved in the last purchase. In 2010, my dad bought a 2007 fully loaded Chevy Avalanche from a private seller. It was an older man who had to sell it in order to pay for long term care for his wife. Sad story, but again, great deal for my dad. He would have paid several thousand more for those upgrades (literally had everything) if he had bought it from a dealer.
First off, a police station is not a car lot. Requesting to meet at a police station is dumb and makes you suspect to any legit buyer as a difficult person to deal with. What if the car is no longer tagged? Do you expect them to drive it to a police station illegally?
It's not so much about setting parameters of the meet up, it's more about being savvy enough to begin with to suss out scammers and junk sellers. Example - When you call the ad initially, always say "Hi, I am calling about the car/truck for sale", pause, and let them respond. This initial response will often be all you need to tell if the seller is legit. If they respond with "uh.. which one? I have a few cars for sale", you know you have a flipper and you can just say "oh, I didn't realize you were a dealer/car flipper, thanks anyway". A legit seller of the kind of car you want will probably reply with "well, what can I tell you about it?" or some other specific to the vehicle response.
The meet place may be the sellers home, or it may not. The only thing to watch for is weird meet times in secluded places. Other than that, as long as it's a busy area in the middle of the day (and especially if you bring someone with you), you should be fine. Meet in a nice populated busy area during the day (restaurant parking lot, grocery store, gas station, whatever). Add to that ability to get a hold of seller as well as seller response times. A normal person doesn't usually answer the phone, but does call back within minutes of you leaving a voice mail. If they are well spoken and sound alright, that's typically a good indication of who you are dealing with. Obviously you'll never be able to know all evil that may lurk in mens hearts, but you can eliminate certain elements by using common sense.
Have your paid up Carfax subscription ready to go on your smartphone at the time you meet. Plug the VIN in during your meet up, and check it out on the spot.
Have your cash to buy well hidden in your car when you meet up, and if you decide to buy, tell the seller you need to run to your bank a few blocks away. Tell him that as long as he lets you take a picture of his DL, registration (if registered and not viewing at his home) and is willing to sign a buyer/seller contract/agreement you'll leave him a $50.00 deposit and be back in 15 minutes to wrap up. You can print out a standard private party used car sales contract/agreement off the internet to have on hand before meeting up. Drive out if eyesight, count your cash, then come back and wrap up. Inspect the title carefully before handing over any cash. Make sure it's filled out as needed.
Thousands of people do private party sales every day. The chances of being a victim if you are smart about things is no different than any other thing in life. Be smart, be alert and buy the damn car if you like it. Don't live in such fear that you can't even buy a car from an ad on CL or a newspaper.
First off, a police station is not a car lot. Requesting to meet at a police station is dumb and makes you suspect to any legit buyer as a difficult person to deal with. What if the car is no longer tagged? Do you expect them to drive it to a police station illegally?
It's not so much about setting parameters of the meet up, it's more about being savvy enough to begin with to suss out scammers and junk sellers. Example - When you call the ad initially, always say "Hi, I am calling about the car/truck for sale", pause, and let them respond. This initial response will often be all you need to tell if the seller is legit. If they respond with "uh.. which one? I have a few cars for sale", you know you have a flipper and you can just say "oh, I didn't realize you were a dealer/car flipper, thanks anyway". A legit seller of the kind of car you want will probably reply with "well, what can I tell you about it?" or some other specific to the vehicle response.
The meet place may be the sellers home, or it may not. The only thing to watch for is weird meet times in secluded places. Other than that, as long as it's a busy area in the middle of the day (and especially if you bring someone with you), you should be fine. Meet in a nice populated busy area during the day (restaurant parking lot, grocery store, gas station, whatever). Add to that ability to get a hold of seller as well as seller response times. A normal person doesn't usually answer the phone, but does call back within minutes of you leaving a voice mail. If they are well spoken and sound alright, that's typically a good indication of who you are dealing with. Obviously you'll never be able to know all evil that may lurk in mens hearts, but you can eliminate certain elements by using common sense.
Have your paid up Carfax subscription ready to go on your smartphone at the time you meet. Plug the VIN in during your meet up, and check it out on the spot.
Have your cash to buy well hidden in your car when you meet up, and if you decide to buy, tell the seller you need to run to your bank a few blocks away. Tell him that as long as he lets you take a picture of his DL, registration (if registered and not viewing at his home) and is willing to sign a buyer/seller contract/agreement you'll leave him a $50.00 deposit and be back in 15 minutes to wrap up. You can print out a standard private party used car sales contract/agreement off the internet to have on hand before meeting up. Drive out if eyesight, count your cash, then come back and wrap up. Inspect the title carefully before handing over any cash. Make sure it's filled out as needed.
Thousands of people do private party sales every day. The chances of being a victim if you are smart about things is no different than any other thing in life. Be smart, be alert and buy the damn car if you like it. Don't live in such fear that you can't even buy a car from an ad on CL or a newspaper.
you leave out getting a PPI which many people recommend, especially if looking at vehicles that are a) older b) high mileage c) both
I thought Craigslist was the "spreading some love" site where A) sellers don't do it for the money, they give stuff away for free or at 90% or more off retail/Ebay prices because that's the cool thing to do (peace/love/good vibes), B) because of A, that's where those who are not able or willing to actually pay market value go; you want, expect, and demand filet mignon for the price of hamburger-Craigslist is the place to go. And C) because it's local, that shuts out 90% of the global marketplace so that means a smaller buying pool which in turn dictates a lower selling price.
Anyone who asks Ebay or Amazon prices for ANYTHING on Craigslist is delusional. Doesn't matter if it's a car, a box of vinyl records, or an original Picasso. Craigslist is supposed to be used for giveaways and below fire sale prices ONLY. A more pragmatic and realistic way to approach Craigslist is to find the comparable item on one of the mainstream sites. Then take the going price and offer it for about five cents on the dollar if you wish to sell on CL. That's how it's supposed to be. Just like a yard sale. If you want to sell something from your driveway-NOTHING-not even a solid block of 24 karat gold-better be priced for more than a dollar. That's just the unwritten rule of how it goes. If I buy something on Ebay for $100 because that's what they go for, if someone expects me to buy it on CL, it better be priced for $5 or less-even if it's the exact same item in the exact same condition if he expects to make that sale. I'll spend $100 on Ebay. But not more than $5 on CL. If he wishes to get an Ebay price, then he needs to list it on Ebay.
Just as in real estate, location matters. And CL is NOT the place to try and make money. Ever. Anyone who does is fighting a lost cause.
I thought Craigslist was the "spreading some love" site where A) sellers don't do it for the money, they give stuff away for free or at 90% or more off retail/Ebay prices because that's the cool thing to do (peace/love/good vibes), B) because of A, that's where those who are not able or willing to actually pay market value go; you want, expect, and demand filet mignon for the price of hamburger-Craigslist is the place to go. And C) because it's local, that shuts out 90% of the global marketplace so that means a smaller buying pool which in turn dictates a lower selling price.
Anyone who asks Ebay or Amazon prices for ANYTHING on Craigslist is delusional. Doesn't matter if it's a car, a box of vinyl records, or an original Picasso. Craigslist is supposed to be used for giveaways and below fire sale prices ONLY. A more pragmatic and realistic way to approach Craigslist is to find the comparable item on one of the mainstream sites. Then take the going price and offer it for about five cents on the dollar if you wish to sell on CL. That's how it's supposed to be. Just like a yard sale. If you want to sell something from your driveway-NOTHING-not even a solid block of 24 karat gold-better be priced for more than a dollar. That's just the unwritten rule of how it goes. If I buy something on Ebay for $100 because that's what they go for, if someone expects me to buy it on CL, it better be priced for $5 or less-even if it's the exact same item in the exact same condition if he expects to make that sale. I'll spend $100 on Ebay. But not more than $5 on CL. If he wishes to get an Ebay price, then he needs to list it on Ebay.
Just as in real estate, location matters. And CL is NOT the place to try and make money. Ever. Anyone who does is fighting a lost cause.
That's odd..... every vehicle I've sold on CL has been at market price.... I've never had to give anything away. Where's this rule book you speak of? Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
Well, I've shown my car to 3 people at home since Sunday and they all robbed and murdered me. Oh wait, it was fine, and the last couple seemed very positive. Interestingly I was contacted by a car dealer regarding the car. First time that has ever happened.
I thought Craigslist was the "spreading some love" site where A) sellers don't do it for the money, they give stuff away for free or at 90% or more off retail/Ebay prices because that's the cool thing to do (peace/love/good vibes), B) because of A, that's where those who are not able or willing to actually pay market value go; you want, expect, and demand filet mignon for the price of hamburger-Craigslist is the place to go. And C) because it's local, that shuts out 90% of the global marketplace so that means a smaller buying pool which in turn dictates a lower selling price.
Anyone who asks Ebay or Amazon prices for ANYTHING on Craigslist is delusional. Doesn't matter if it's a car, a box of vinyl records, or an original Picasso. Craigslist is supposed to be used for giveaways and below fire sale prices ONLY. A more pragmatic and realistic way to approach Craigslist is to find the comparable item on one of the mainstream sites. Then take the going price and offer it for about five cents on the dollar if you wish to sell on CL. That's how it's supposed to be. Just like a yard sale. If you want to sell something from your driveway-NOTHING-not even a solid block of 24 karat gold-better be priced for more than a dollar. That's just the unwritten rule of how it goes. If I buy something on Ebay for $100 because that's what they go for, if someone expects me to buy it on CL, it better be priced for $5 or less-even if it's the exact same item in the exact same condition if he expects to make that sale. I'll spend $100 on Ebay. But not more than $5 on CL. If he wishes to get an Ebay price, then he needs to list it on Ebay.
Just as in real estate, location matters. And CL is NOT the place to try and make money. Ever. Anyone who does is fighting a lost cause.
5C on the $. Yep, sure, that's not going to happen. I haven't seen anything that suggests CL is for fire sales only, what are you smoking?
I know, I've got a new, still under warranty Lenovo T430 up for sale right now on mu local CL. With the spec I have they go for $350-$380 all day, every day on ebay. Tiger has them more in the $450 range. So I should expect to sell it for $17.50 on CL? I'm sure I will be able to sell it very easily for that price!!!!
I've sold lots of things on CL at a fair but not massively discounted price. Case in point, that Laptop I mentioned in the last paragraph, I was asking $320 and took $300 having just sold it today.
Before CL it was pretty much a classified in the newspaper at ridiculous rates, so forget about photos, forget about accurate descriptions and hello to classifedspeak- "78 chry cord ac pb pw ps vr v8 lthr gd con obo" oh yes that was a proper and civilized way to sell your car!!
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