You probably made a final decision to sell your car and are looking for a potential car buyer. You may be trying to reach out to a dealership that they're not giving you the top offer. Thus, you decided to go with a private buyer. While selling a car to private buyers is getting easier, there are tons of car selling scams to watch out for. Even expert car sellers might fall into some of them.
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With the advanced technology and the large number of people connected through classified websites like Craigslist or eBay motor, selling your car online is getting much easier. However, the more people joining the car selling markets, the higher the potential of dealing with car selling scams.
This article highlights the most common car selling scams that people reported. Don't be surprised if you notice that the scammer is using more than one of these scams at the same time.
What are the most common car selling scams?
While the market might be full of car selling scams, automotive experts highlighted the common scams to avoid, which include:
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Using non-typical payment methods, car selling scams
The best scenario when it comes to car payments is cash. However, most scammers tend to use non-typical payment methods to purchase your car and pier for you.
For example, they might offer to use a third-party account to hold the money until they receive the car. What you might be ending up with is that the third-party account belongs to them, and once they take your car, they just ran it run away.
Another example is when you list the value of your car. You suddenly get an immediate response from someone willing to pay the full amount without negotiating and is willing to pay you an extra $1000. This immediately should ring a Bell and indicate that it's a sign of a scam.
If the buyer is not a scam, he would first ask you some questions about your car's condition and type. He might then attempt to negotiate the price and try to bring the value down rather than offering you extra money. Lastly, most trusted buyers won't pay in full upfront or even make partial payment unless they see the vehicle.
Therefore, we recommend that you never accept any payments that are non-typical, including payments through third-party accounts or even PayPal accounts, without seeing the buyer face to face.
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Confirmed buyer car selling scams
Another very common scam can happen right after you post your vehicle's ad. You might get a call from someone telling you that they have a lot of interested buyers who would like to purchase your vehicle and require $500 fees that is refundable after the deal is completed.
This is a scam, and you don't want to bring a third-party person to finish the deal fit with you. You would be interested in actual private buyers who you can deal with immediately face to face.
There is no such thing called fees for bringing traffic buyers to purchase your vehicle. If you notice any sign of this or anyone is requesting you to pay money to get your vehicle sold, this is a scam.
Some websites like Facebook marketplace might offer paid advertisements through the website itself, which many people consider. These paid ads are not a scam because they come from the actual platform you're selling your car through.
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Payment plan car selling scams
Several customers reported that they got scammed by people who ask for payment plans. They might ask you to purchase the car work while providing you with a down payment, and then, there willing to pay in full across several months.
It's never recommended to deal with any payment plan through random people or strangers. Payments plans are usually done through bank accounts or a trusted agency and not individuals.
Even if they offer you to pay more than your listed price, it's never recommended, and you should walk away.
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Requesting your personal information car selling scams
When you're selling a car, you are the one who should be asking for personal information because of title transfer and other people's work-related issues.
It's never normal for a buyer to request personal information like your Social Security, bank account information, credit card number, etc.
All these requests are usually associated with attempts to steal your identity and use it for illegal purposes.
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Test drive car selling scams
While this scam might be obvious, one could come to you and say he would like to take a test drive with the car alone with his friend. It's never recommended to allow the buyer to drive the vehicle and walk away without you.
Tips to avoid car selling scams
As you might notice, car selling scams can come in different fashions, and sometimes it can be hard to detect them and stay away from them.
Luckily, there are certain tips you can follow to prevent getting involved in any car selling scams as much as possible, including:
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Before transferring the title, consider verifying the check
As we mentioned earlier, it's better to get paid in cash whenever possible. However, if you find that the buyer instead pays using a money order or a check, it's crucial to verify the check.
You can do so by meeting with the buyer at the bank and ensuring that the check goes through and doesn't bounce back.
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Never shipping overseas
Automotive experts suggest that you never want to ship overseas unless you have full payments clear upfront.
Even if you got a very good deal to sell your car overseas, selling internationally can be very risky and has its list of scams that we might not be aware of yet.
Thus, select a buyer with even a lower offer to avoid dealing with international scams.
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Make sure to document everything
Because you are dealing with the buyer for one time, it's very important to make sure that you document everything and have all paperwork signed.
Keep photos and people's names and their phone numbers in a safe place if you need them in the future.
If you got involved in any, you can easily pull this paperwork and review the process.
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Meet in a public place
Again, you're dealing with people that you've never seen before and are considered strangers. Therefore, it's recommended that you never meet with them at your private property, and you'd best choose a public place.
Some good recommendations are to meet around a bank or a larger retailer where there are many cameras and videotaping. These cameras can be useful to pull any information needed in case something happens.
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Ask for the driver's information
It's not wrong to request the buyer's information upfront before you finish the deal. He will provide you his information to transfer the title and all other paperwork.
If you've noticed that the buyer hesitated to provide it with his phone number, name, driving license, this is an indication of a scam, and you might need to walk away even if you got the best deal.
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Avoid signing on the title before payment
Immediately after you sign on the title, this tells that you sold the car and it no longer belongs to you. Therefore, you don't want to sign on the title unless you have payment in hand.
It's best to have cash payment immediately in your hand to avoid dealing with checks bouncing back from your bank account after you already finished the deal.
Otherwise, you might need to meet with the buyer around your bank account and ensure that the check goes through before finalizing the deal.
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Choose a known payment method
If you can always go with cash payments, this is your best and safest option. Otherwise, you might accept checks or money orders as long as the buyer can meet with you at the right bank and ensure that the check goes through.
You never want to accept any other uncommon payment methods like PayPal or a third-party account because it's mostly related to scams.
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Avoid decisions when you're under pressure
Many scammers might put some pressure on you to force you to sell your car immediately and accept their payment without thinking it through.
In most scenarios, if you got under pressure, you won't make the best decision. Therefore, if you've noticed that the buyer is trying to put pressure on you, you should walk away or ask him that you need to take some time before you make your final decision.
Why should I choose Cash Cars Buyer to avoid car selling scams?
That's a great question!
If you don't like to deal with all these scams and feel that you can't tell whether a buyer is a scammer or not, we invite you to sell your car to Cash Cars Buyer.
Our company is one of the top-rated car removal companies in the nation. We don't only buy damaged vehicles, but also, we buy completely perfectly running cars and are willing to pay up to $15,000 for the right vehicle.
The best thing about our company is that we guarantee to purchase your car and are willing to come to remove it for free. We only make cash payments to reduce the hassle in the car selling process and provide more trust to our customers.
Our company has a strong online and offline presence with the top reputations from all customers. All our car removal specialists are background checked, which means you don't have to worry about dealing with strangers coming to your private property.
Our process is simple, and all we need to do is to follow these three steps:
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Share your vehicle's information
To get started, we will ask you basic questions about the type and condition of your car.
In general, these questions include your vehicle's Make, model, and year. For the condition of the car, we will ask you basic questions like:
- Does your vehicle have a title?
- Are there any major problems with your cart?
- How much mileage does your car have?
- Are there any missing components in your car?
These questions will help us evaluate your car and provide you with an instant offer. You could verbally answer these questions by calling us at 866-924-4608, or you can use our online form by clicking on our home page and choosing to get an instant offer.
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Review and accept our instant over
Immediately end within seconds, we will provide you with an instant offer that reflects your car's actual worth in your area.
We never put pressure on you, and we allow you to take as much time as you need to review the offer and accept it if it makes sense to you.
Once accepting the offer, we will connect you to our local car removal specialist in your area, who will schedule a pick-up time and location that works best for you.
Since we are a 24-hour car removal company, we can come to your selected location anytime evenings, weekends, and even same day if you are interested.
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Get your vehicle removed safely and receive your cash payment
The last step is to come to your selected location and inspect your car before safe removal.
At this point, we will ask you to hand in your vehicle's title, and we will hand you the cash payment immediately on the spot.
Before you leave, we ask you to take a second look at your car and make sure that you don't have any important items left.
After completing the deal, we advise you to visit your local DMV office and cancel the registration. Also, make sure to cancel your vehicle's insurance policy to avoid paying for a car you don't own.
Give it a shot! Get in touch with our team and receive your instant offer today! Our offers are free and quick!