Private party sales out of state?

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
How does one handle the money exchange when buying a vehicle out of state?
I'm looking at a car in Golden, CO. I'd pay a mechanic to perform a thorough inspection. Then I'd fly out and drive it home.
I'm juts hung up on how to handle payment. Obviously I want to make sure the vehicle is considered "sold" to me prior to purchasing airline tickets, etc. But I don't want to drop $11k, fly out there, and get scammed.

Thanks!
 

mgreenspan

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2005
4,723
130
Briggs's Back Yard
If the seller isn’t willing to come up with some reasonable method of payment after it’s been inspected and you agree to buy it then I would walk. And if you say you’re buying it and going to buy tickets and they won’t agree to hold it for you I would walk. Southwest tickets have the easiest cancellation policy FWIW.

Do not waste time with sketchy people who are unreasonable. It’s pretty easy to do a bank transfer over the phone or anything else.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
Good to know about Escrow.com
The guy isn't being sketchy, just I didn't know how to go about getting money to him is a safe manner.
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
I have bought most of my cars from out of state. Typically a verbal agreement has been enough. You could offer a small deposit for them to hold it for you.
 

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,706
1,015
Northern Illinois
Good to know about Escrow.com
The guy isn't being sketchy, just I didn't know how to go about getting money to him is a safe manner.
When I bought a car from California the seller knew a lot more about this shit than I do. I think I used a cashiers check and he wanted it to be in his bank for 3 days before he shipped the truck. I guess you could stop the payment for 3 days. If you are thinking about going out there to see it I think that would be good. Pictures suck unless he can prove it was taken recently.
 

Blueboy

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,205
459
Back in the USA; Rockwood, PA
How does one handle the money exchange when buying a vehicle out of state?
I'm looking at a car in Golden, CO. I'd pay a mechanic to perform a thorough inspection. Then I'd fly out and drive it home.
I'm juts hung up on how to handle payment. Obviously I want to make sure the vehicle is considered "sold" to me prior to purchasing airline tickets, etc. But I don't want to drop $11k, fly out there, and get scammed.

Thanks!
110@$100 Franklins would work as well.
 
Aug 20, 2007
2,727
45
Nashville TN
Good to know about Escrow.com
The guy isn't being sketchy, just I didn't know how to go about getting money to him is a safe manner.
get a photo of his ID and a photo of him, maybe a current utility bill so you can track him down--just in case--. and mail a check. I had a guy on Dweb send me a cashiers check and when it cleared I mailed him the title over night a few years ago. A flatbed picked it up the next day and took it 800 miles to him.

I also agreed with the PO of my current D2 that I'd fly in and pay his asking price if he held it for me. 1 way ticket. drove it 12 hours home. got cash out of the bank after a test drive. bank took some extra verification steps since I was out of state, but it was pretty painless. If it didn't work out, I was just gonna cab it back to the airport and go get another ticket and fly back.
 

fishEH

Well-known member
Jan 26, 2009
6,927
201
Lake Villa, IL
I have bought most of my cars from out of state. Typically a verbal agreement has been enough. You could offer a small deposit for them to hold it for you.
When I bought a car from California the seller knew a lot more about this shit than I do. I think I used a cashiers check and he wanted it to be in his bank for 3 days before he shipped the truck. I guess you could stop the payment for 3 days. If you are thinking about going out there to see it I think that would be good. Pictures suck unless he can prove it was taken recently.
I've spoken to the guy on the phone. Nice enough guy, just not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Escrow.com seems like a good way to go.
 

AbnMike

Well-known member
Apr 6, 2016
1,218
117
Western Slope, CO
You can also ask the guy what bank he uses. I bought a motorcycle out of Sacramento - put a deposit on it, drove my van across Nevada - and once I inspected it called the bank and did a member to member transfer immediately since we used the same bank. Took about 3 minutes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howski