Form of Payment for sold car

[BillD]

I sold a car over on Ebay. I have a deposit and the buyer coming up to get it in 2 weeks. What type of payment for the balance should I insist on? Is a bank cashier's check good these days? Should I insist on a certified check? Wire transfer? I always used to take a cashier's check, but today I imagine someone could actually make a fake cashier's check on a PC. Thanks for the help

[njsteve]

Take cash. Too many fake printed checks out there. If the guy is worried about bringing cash, tell him you'll do the transaction at a local bank in your area, of his choosing. That way if he has an account there, he can just withdraw the $$ at that time.

[Belair62]

I think the wire is safe if you do it beforehand a couple days and get confirmation...

[SamLBInj]

A cashiers check is not the same as cash, it just guarantees the money was in the account at the time the check was made, if you have 2 weeks you have time for the 72 hour mandatory time for the check to clear, You can also have your bank call to make sure the check is real...

[budnate]

Bill I may have to do the same on Monday, I prefer good old cash but in a long distance deal I am going up to the bank and open a new account just for a wire transfer..that way on the outside chance the whole thing is screwy I/my bank manager wont get hurt giving out a account number to a supposed trust worthy banker on the other end of the phone...if anyone has a better suggestion I am all ears.

[92646]

I opened up a savings account just for wire transfers, from there you can transfer the money into your checking account. My banker caught one scammer trying to play games with this account last year. Since it was not a checking account they could not create fake checks and try to draw money out of the account.
Mark Sheppard

[djunod]

Wire transfer.

I would be scared of cash... its easy enough to steal it back after the transfer takes place.

You've been able to fake cashier checks for 20+ years now.

[SamLBInj]

What is this world coming to when everybody is afraid there getting scammed or ripped off.... http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[BillD]

I think the guy buying the car is legit. He is flying up to CT from FL to pick up the car with his family. Then they are going to take a driving vacation on the way home and stop a few places along the way. On the other hand the balance due on pickup is close to 17000 so I don't want to take a chance and I have a backup buyer that I am very comfortable with.

[djunod]

Take a check from him then http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Sam, there are plenty of real scams & rip-offs in this world, that's why we don't need to polute it with things that aren't real... although maybe some people take comfort in the fake ones... I know plenty of real people that have had real harm done with people test driving their cars and acting like they are buying them.

[71-LS6]

On the advice of a good friend, who also happens to be a "car guy" and a lawyer, I set up a wire transfer into a new account for my last sale. That was the closest to a "fool proof" transaction, that I knew of. You'll get that "funny feeling" if anyone asks you to do something fishy. He's not Nigerian, is he? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[BillD]

Thanks for the help. I ended up taking a cashier's check, but asked for a faxed copy of the check 1 day prior to the pick up of the car. I then called the issuing bank to make sure that I had a real check. When he arrived to pick up the car, I just compared to the copy to the real check and we were done. This seemed like a reasonable compromise to me