Selling privately? Beware! (1 Viewer)

[TJ-RV]

A neighbour stopped by one day to tell me about a recent experience selling his coach. An agent conducted the negotiations between him and the buyer and arranged for a flatbed (low loader) to come pick up the coach. Being the smart guy he is, my neighbor wouldn't part with the coach until he either had cash in his hand or until a check cleared.

When the cashier's check was deposited, the bank immediately said it wouldn't clear. I'm not sure if that meant it was counterfeit or not. My neighbor contacted the local FBI office and, although they were sympathetic, they said "you're one of a thousand".

Personally, I'd have questioned the use of an overseas (UK) agent acting for a North American buyer of something being sold in the U.S. But, until the check bounced, my neighbor apparently didn't suspect anything.

So, be sure you have the money before you part with your treasured possession.

 

[TJ-RV]

Sorry about the Amerispeak creeping in. I meant to say cheque rather than check. Also didn't catch the second instance of 'neighbor'. But it's too late to edit my message.

Admin Jim, any chance you could extend the courtesy time for editing a post? I'll often go away and re-think something I wrote, then come back to change what I said, either for clarification, to correct incorrect statements, or to fix simple errors like this one. It's not a big deal for simple typos but, if/when serious advice is being given, it sure would be nice to get the 'facts' corrected. TIA.

 

[d2debs]

Personally, I'd have questioned the use of an overseas (UK) agent acting for a North American buyer of something being sold in the U.S. But, until the check bounced, my neighbor apparently didn't suspect anything.

So, be sure you have the money before you part with your treasured possession.

it happens over here also.. whilst we were looking to buy.. there were several either on ebay and also in autotrader that when we contacted them they told us the van was in *spain* (for instance) and that they'd already arranged with a shipper to send the van to the UK.. and that the best way to handle this was for us to give the money to a "3rd party" which they had conveniently already arranged... so that the money would be held until we recieved delivery and had a 7 day trial period with the van !!! YEAH RIGHT !!!!

anyhow.. there are a lot of *SCAMS* out there .. be interesting to know of any others...

regards
debs
~X~

 

[Road Runner]

When I bought in the States used world first who not only gave me a great rate of exchange but kept me and the seller right up to date.

I was also surprised nearly a year later they were holding £300 of cash for me as the bought on a favourable day and the was spare cash I was unaware of.

Currency Exchange - Foreign Exchange - Currency Transfers - Money Transfer

Would recommend them to anyone.

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Ta Tom for the advice as it's so easy to get caught out:thumb:

 

[Enodreven]

Hi,

If you are buying in the UK you should always get an HPi check carried out we nearly purchased a van for 20k+ which still had 17k+ owing to the finance company, which the seller never told us about until i told them what i had found from the HPI check. needless to say the trust went straight out of the window and we didn't purchase it ?

While you can sort this out if you know about it first, be vary weary, if you don't know and don't have an HPI check which tells you about it, then you could find that the finance company will take the vehicle back from you ?? so beware

Hope that helps

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[Road Runner]

Caravan

I know of at least two people who have HPI'd caravans and been given the all clear to buy and it turns out a year or so later there stolen.

Got no support from HPI afterwards either.

 

[Jim]

it happens over here also.. whilst we were looking to buy.. there were several either on ebay and also in autotrader that when we contacted them they told us the van was in *spain* (for instance) and that they'd already arranged with a shipper to send the van to the UK.. and that the best way to handle this was for us to give the money to a "3rd party" which they had conveniently already arranged... so that the money would be held until we recieved delivery and had a 7 day trial period with the van !!! YEAH RIGHT !!!!

anyhow.. there are a lot of *SCAMS* out there .. be interesting to know of any others...

regards
debs
~X~

Using an Escrow service is a good idea when you have a stalemate. for example; the buyer doesn't want to part with the cash without getting the MH and the seller vice-versa. Online escrow services work like this. For a small fee, it will hold the payment until the buyer confirms that they received the product you were promised within an agreed upon period of inspection. The service then forwards payment to the seller. If all goes well, the terms of the sale are met and everyone ends up satisfied. However, all is not well if you have unknowingly chosen to do business with a fraudulent escrow site. Avoid Escrow services, especially if the buyer recommends them!

 

[Enodreven]

Hi,

I have never heard that before, perhaps you could find some more details as that sounds terrible. As I have always thought you were covered if you have followed all of the procedures that they require as that was my main reason for using them and suggestion other do also.

If you can find out the full details as it could be extremely important to a lot of people who are under the same opinion as me

Thanks in anticipation

I know of at least two people who have HPI'd caravans and been given the all clear to buy and it turns out a year or so later there stolen.

Got no support from HPI afterwards either.

 

[John S]

Moto of this tale:-
Never buy privately unless you are sitting in the vehicle with the log book and even then it could be stolen.
Not worth it for me. Rather pay more from a dealer with some warrenty and guarantees!

 

[Road Runner]

Blimey I 'll do some searching back to my vanning days

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[Enodreven]

Hi, John

Thanks, I have been looking on the HPI site and it appears there are a number of different schemes and the one for caravans is something like "CRiS " which appears to have a very limited liability as shown hear:-

CRiS terms and conditions

which seems it could fit in to exactly what happened to your friends.

However, if you use the HPI scheme for motor vehicles they provide a £30000/£15000 guarantee as shown hear

HPI Check – Used car history check guarantee

Thanks for raising the point as I thought they would both be the same, so I can still recommend it for motor vehicles, albeit the amount of liability is not that high when you compare it against some motorhomes ?

Thanks again, it was really worth looking at what is covered



QUOTE=Road Runner;62297]Blimey I 'll do some searching back to my vanning days[/QUOTE]

 

[Road Runner]

Yes it's Cris that' the problem not HPIoh:

When I bought my last brand new Caravan in 2005 I had to ask 3 times for my Cris doc and finally arrived after 6 month ownership.

Sorry got that slightly wrong.

I alway do HPI on motor vehicles too!

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Moto of this tale:-
Never buy privately unless you are sitting in the vehicle with the log book and even then it could be stolen.
Not worth it for me. Rather pay more from a dealer with some warrenty and guarantees!

True but there are crooked dealers and couldn't care less dealers once they have got your money!

Tips:

A genuine V5 is watermarked like a banknote
Check VIN and engine numbers against V5 and service book and MOT
HPI check.
Original invoice and service receipts made out to seller
Service stamps in service book can be checked against owners address.


(PS you can always buy one of me, I cant run very fast these days )

 

[d2debs]

Using an Escrow service is a good idea when you have a stalemate. for example; the buyer doesn't want to part with the cash without getting the MH and the seller vice-versa. Online escrow services work like this. For a small fee, it will hold the payment until the buyer confirms that they received the product you were promised within an agreed upon period of inspection. The service then forwards payment to the seller. If all goes well, the terms of the sale are met and everyone ends up satisfied. However, all is not well if you have unknowingly chosen to do business with a fraudulent escrow site. Avoid Escrow services, especially if the buyer recommends them!

i can see how it could be a good idea for both seller and buyer.. but when we contacted the sellers to ask if it would be possible for us to possibly fly over and collect the vehicle .. we got no response or a resounding NO - one reason was that that the MH was already with the shipper?? another was they weren't there and a *friend* was dealing with the process for them as they had work commitments.. etc.,

So you can see why we were very wary of the whole thing and thought it was probably a scam..

regards
debs
~X~

 

[TJ-RV]

So you can see why we were very wary of the whole thing and thought it was probably a scam.

You're very astute Debs. Unfortunately, as we say in Wales, there's a sucker born every minute. There are enough people falling for scams that it makes it worthwhile for the scammers.

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[Jim]

Some Commonsense advice for motorhome sellers

Just because you are selling your motorhome to a bone-fide dealer does not mean that you will not be “ripped off”. On the contrary you can easily be legally “robbed” if you do not know the value of the motorhome that you have for sale. Ring plenty of dealers, tell them what you have and see what they will offer you, many will be cagey and not want to offer over the phone, they will even make derogatory offers just to get rid of you. But if you persist and ring quite a few you will nearly always get a ‘ball park’ estimate. Look at completed sale listings on Ebay these will give you an excellent idea of what your motorhome is worth. Look at what the SOLD for, not what they were up for. Plenty of small ads in magazines go unsold or sell for a lot less than the asking price. Remember to be realistic, do not expect dealers to pay you anything like the prices on their forecourts. They will try to buy your vehicle for as little as possible, but they do have taxes and overheads that will need to be built into the resale.

Private sales whether they are from a classified advert or an internet sale have more inherent dangers and criminals do prey on the unwary. Here are a few tips to assist.

Confirm the buyers contact information. No genuine buyer, even if they are pretending to be trade will want to spend 000’s without checking out your motorhome. So be particularly wary of buyers willing to purchase your motorhome sight-unseen, there might be lots of excuses, they may say they are located overseas etc. It might be tempting; especially if you are desperate to sell and they are offering the asking price, but do not buy into this you could lose the money and the motorhome. Ideally you should never really sell to someone you have not met. When you do meet them get all of their details, verify the buyer's street address and phone number.

Secure payment first and see that it is Genuine. Do not transfer the title until you have payment in hand at the agreed upon price. Before you deposit a bankers draft or certified cheque, verify authenticity with the issuing bank-not just your bank. Make sure the account contains sufficient funds and the issuing bank guarantees payment on the cheque. It may take a week or more for the cheque to clear. It hasn't cleared just because your bank has accepted it and credited your account. Many people have released a motorhome after their account has shown the credit only to discover that the money disappears after the bank discovers that the draft is a forgery. Always check with the issuing banks that the draft in your hand is genuine, and of course you must do this before you release the motorhome. Do not accept any story about why the buyer can’t wait, do not let it go until you are ready.


Beware of overpayment or other complicated payment schemes. Don't agree to any plan where the buyer asks to send a cheque or draft for more than the sale price and requests that the seller refund the difference. And be suspicious of any buyer who proposes making payment through a friend or agent of the buyer even if they offer an Escrow service.

 

[TJ-RV]

Great advice Jim.