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Since I did a lot of car flipping, here's my simple way.
Meet someone in the back of your bank's parking lot. If they like the car, walk into the bank and have the person count the cash and directly deposit to the bank teller. Give the title and walk away.
If a person can't carry that much cash for cars over $5k, I like to go with the person and see them buy the cashier check in person together. Then give me the check.
I had all my past car transactions (both buy and sell) at the my or other party bank, where they confirm availability of funds and also stamp & sign the title transfer.
In one case when car I purchased was owed by that bank, once I paid at the bank with my bank casher check, the bank mailed me the title later.
Each time I also made a bill of sale which included buyer and seller info (each signing) plus car with VIN that we plan to transfer.
Never had an issue in over 30 years of car transactions.
Also for all private potential buyer/seller, we only meet at a bank parking lot, since they have plenty of cameras, Also try to meet during business hours, never at night.
It's the best thing to do for both parties to handle transactions at bank locations where there are security cam and that you are the customer of the bank so they can voucher for you. If it's the customer's bank just make sure you know where it is and that it's legit.
I never had anyone tried to pull something on me other than somebody gave me a bad title which I ran a check the day before and it was a salvaged title.
How Much Money Can You Deposit Before it is Reported? If you deposit more than $10,000 cash in your bank account, your bank has to report the deposit to the government.
The guidelines for large cash transactions for banks and financial institutions are set by the Bank Secrecy Act, also known as the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act. The goal is to prevent money laundering by criminals using cash deposits to disguise their illegal source of funds.
It really isn't a concern for individuals though. It's a tax question, but if you bought your personal vehicle for $20K and sold it for $12K and deposited $12K in the bank Homeland Security and the IRS aren't going to be knocking on your door, especially if your tax situation isn't a complicated one.
Does anyone just have the buyer write a check and come back in a few days and pick up the vehicle after the check clears? I bought a tractor this way. The guy wanted a cashier's check and I suggested that I just give him a personal check and I would get the tractor the following weekend. I knew where he lived and had a bill of sale and wrote on it to be picked up on X date. Seemed to work fine.
I was lucky. The last car I sold was to a Vietnamese-American who didn’t speak a lot of English. His brother was with him and we all went to Chase to obtain a cashiers check.
Chase has instituted additional guidelines due to Covid and the buyer didn’t have the his ATM card with him. They wouldn’t give him a check without it. The tellers were at a loss as to the next step.
I went to the manager and explained the issue. He authorized a wire transfer to my BOA account at no charge and confirmed that once authorized, it couldn’t be reversed. Done deal. We completed the deal, I gave them the car and the title and had the cash within a few hours.
The deal before that was a guy who banked at Wells Fargo. We went together, got the cashier’s check. Done deal.
Before that, the buyer was a BOA account holder. We walked into the bank and they transferred the funds from his account to mine.
I always insist on accompanying the buyer to the bank. An honest buyer, like an honest seller, is always willing to cooperate.
Since I did a lot of car flipping, here's my simple way.
Meet someone in the back of your bank's parking lot. If they like the car, walk into the bank and have the person count the cash and directly deposit to the bank teller. Give the title and walk away.
If a person can't carry that much cash for cars over $5k, I like to go with the person and see them buy the cashier check in person together. Then give me the check.
This is why people prefer to deal with a dealer establishment than put up with this crap.
Last car I purchased from an individual, I paid CA$H. It was over $10k.
If I were to sell to a individual, I would probably insist on CA$H as well. I'd meet them at any bank they want.
EVEN IF I were to sell to a dealer, I'd be cautious. How do you know if that dealership is in bankruptcy? I read some scary comments from people who were having serious financial problems getting $ from a dealership that was in bankruptcy (not sure if I am allowed to mention that dealership in this forum)
I would suggest to anyone who is purchasing from any car dealer that you first check the Better Business Bureau website. Look, it's not the be-all, tell-all, but it might give you SOME insight into the reputation of who you're dealing with. Now that I think about it, I think the complaints I saw regarding $$$ from the bankrupt dealership withholding $ from customers were on the BBB website!
Also, just because a check 'clears' does not necessarily mean that it cannot be reversed. This was very eye-opening for me when I read up last year. There are special circumstances for just about everything, which is why CASH IS KING!
So these days, I really don't know what to think !
Last car I purchased from an individual, I paid CA$H. It was over $10k.
If I were to sell to a individual, I would probably insist on CA$H as well. I'd meet them at any bank they want.
EVEN IF I were to sell to a dealer, I'd be cautious. How do you know if that dealership is in bankruptcy? I read some scary comments from people who were having serious financial problems getting $ from a dealership that was in bankruptcy (not sure if I am allowed to mention that dealership in this forum)
I would suggest to anyone who is purchasing from any car dealer that you first check the Better Business Bureau website. Look, it's not the be-all, tell-all, but it might give you SOME insight into the reputation of who you're dealing with. Now that I think about it, I think the complaints I saw regarding $$$ from the bankrupt dealership withholding $ from customers were on the BBB website!
Also, just because a check 'clears' does not necessarily mean that it cannot be reversed. This was very eye-opening for me when I read up last year. There are special circumstances for just about everything, which is why CASH IS KING!
So these days, I really don't know what to think !
Absolutely.
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