Hot Rods How did you guys go about selling your vehicles to an out of state buyer?

living where there are 10 million people within an hours drive does have it's advantages. I've bought and sold about 35 cars and motorcycles over the years. most were within 20 miles of home. farthest away was about 50 miles.

I did sell one car that went overseas but the buyers "agent" took care of everything and paid me cash.

 

Long distance purchases are something I'm leery about more so than being the seller. I had bid on and won an Ebay auction for a "47 Knucklehead. I booked a flight out of Detroit to San Diego, for my wife and myself, with the intention of renting a van on arrival, stopping at Home Depot and building a 2X4 bicycle style rack with outrigger supports for the long ride home. We planned to make it a leisurely mini vacation. I contacted the seller an hour before leaving for some additional info and was told he had sold it locally for more money. After all the effort dealing with the bank, making flight plans, packing and the shear disappointment, I won't deal long distance without the seller being vouched for by reliable methods ever again. I think that the seller is ultimately the one in control but both parties have to take all precautions.

 

57FordWagon,
Please feel free to call me. I help collector's safely and smoothly sell their vehicles all across the country. I would be more than happy to share with you the steps you should take to protect yourself and the buyer. It is an easy and straghtforward process when you take the right steps.
917.699.7670
Best,
Amanda Fowler
www.amandafowler.net

 

I have sold numerous vehicles in the last couple of decades. Unless it's local, a wire transfer to my account is my method of preference. The vehicle doesn't leave until the money is in my account.

 

I would add...most of all of some of the above along with...
picture of title and picture of the vin or ID # of the vehicle to be purchased to make sure that they match

 

Check her profile.
This is a business.
Most businesses don’t operate to help.
They operate to make a buck.

Jim

 

Moriarity, agreed!
The nitty gritty is where having a pro handle the transaction is worth the cost.
Broad strokes will at least show that they are knowledgeable and protect some that won't be willing or able to contract for the service.
The site seems more like they are an advertising agent, and still doesn't have a basic outline of how they offer a safe successful transaction.

 

I have sold multiple cars to people in other states or even countries and have always taken every precaution possible to make sure I didn’t give a car away and have nothing to show for it. All those precautions have already been mentioned here as far as money transfer, handling titles, etc. I have also bought one car sight unseen…and won’t likely do that again. I still deal in cash in person unless that just can’t happen for some really really good reason. I love road trips so haven’t ever come up with a reason to not either drive or trailer a car I am buying. Even the sight unseen deal actually happened in person and I drove the car 700 miles home after flying to go get it (52 Chevy). I just made the deal before getting there which I likely won’t do again.

 

Yes it sounds like a for profit business, but give her a call and see what she does and what it costs, it just might be worth it

 

This topic has been discussed on here before and it seems to me that the takeaway was that any transaction will require a little trust from one or both parties to get it done. There is no absolute guarantee. Face to face is the least troublesome but even that can go sideways if one has criminal intent. If you’re dealing with a large amount of money and you are not able to feel at ease about the transaction you would be better off to involve a knowledgeable, reputable broker or sales representative and pay the commission.
Anyone seen the O.P?

 

When I sold one out of state, we agreed on this:
I sent buyer cell phone video of underside of car, and documented any areas I thought might deter him from purchase. BE HONEST AND DISCLOSE EVERYTHING. I wanted him to be happy with his deal. He checked me out on social media & on here. When I seemed legit, he went ahead with the purchase. I was also leery, as I had never done a deal that wasn't face to face. He sent me a screen shot of his bank account, assuring me he has the funds.
Buyer's bank transferred money to my bank. He arranged for transportation. I wasn't home when it was picked up, but my wife was. The car was a little low, and the driver would have damaged the underside, if my wife wasn't there to point it out & show him how to raise the car with a push of a button inside. PICK A REPUTABLE CARRIER.
After I knew that the money was safe in my account, and the car was on its way, I mailed him the signed & dated title Registered mail. That way, it shouldn't get lost or stolen. It has to be signed for on the receiving end and has tracking that is documented every step of the way. If it did, it would still be in my name & I'd be able to get a replacement. I didn't want to hand the title to the carrier. I already had the money, but I didn't want him to end up with nothing if the dude ran off with the car & title.
All the risk was on his end. Not sure I could do that. Worked out great.

 

I understand it is across country, thats why I'm saying its the buyers responsibility to have someone he trusts deliver the money. The buyer can wire the money to any agent/representative he chooses or send a friend or relative, or come himself to make the transaction first hand. He/agent simply picks the money up that his bank wired to a local bank in that area. That decision is the buyers responsibility.
The seller doesn't care who shows up at his door with cash in hand, and he was not involved in any wire transaction, so they can't come back later and say the transaction was problematic. The seller should not (IMHO) feel that he needs to do anything beyond accepting money and changing a title. If he decides to take a chance on any kind of internet transaction or banking transaction, he is taking a chance.

My wife's niece's husband deals in buying gold and silver as a hobby/investment. He is pretty knowledgeable about that stuff and often accompanies people who sell these items at shows. He told me that there is a problem with money laundering and that people selling at their booth transport the Gold/Silver in their personal vehicles, and sell for cash at the shows. It doesn't take long to exceed the $10k cash on hand.......which is problem if they get pulled over on their return home trip. Some vendors have begun to refuse cash sales for that reason and only take checks or credit cards. So transporting a large amount of cash between states can be a problem as you say.


My issue with signing a title and sending it to someone is that you never know when they will get around to completing the paperwork, and the seller is at risk if he drives the car without changing the title.

 

Mark,

I can vouch for Amanda as an honest person who (yes is in business), but really helps folks sell their vehicles & goes above & beyond when it comes to making it easier!

Her Father is a collector (who I have transported for), so she grew up in our hobby. It seems to me since I have transported MANY cars for her customers that she specializes in helping widows & children of car guys who have passed away & maybe don't have the knowledge on how to sell collector/hot rod cars without getting taken advantage of.

I take my reputation seriously & don't just throw around recommendations just to hear myself talk! Amanda Fowler is one of the good ones that CAN be trusted

Yes folks, give her a call, I am sure she will answer your questions & maybe her service is right for you! I read all of the comments on threads like this & many of them I just SMH & roll my eyes

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

I've sold my hot rods all over the world and once the money is in my bank account and the buyer arranged transportation company has the car loaded it's over. I do usually make it a practice to express the title to the buyer and give a copy to the truck driver if he asks for it. Sold over 30 finished cars this way over the years and haven't been to jail yet. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

Did a quick search and found this site that explains how to escrow a car purchase. I do not endorse them, it just spells out how they do it and their cost.
https://www.escrow.com/cars

 

I fondly remember the time I got on a plane with the means to pay on my person and the seller picked me up at his airport....... versus the two times I sent off money sight unseen to the seller's satisfaction and waited for the transported disappointments to show up.
In all instances, the 'papers' were easy enough to exchange at my local tax office.

 

I don’t know what it is like transferring a California a title to Pennsylvania, but I can tell you it is a nightmare transferring a Pennsylvania title.

I bought an off topic truck out of Pennsylvania from an older man who had only bought new and traded every time he had never done a private sale of a car before.

When went to the D.M.V I discovered I couldn’t register it in New York because Pennsylvania requires their titles to be notarized at the time of the sale, which the seller did not know.

I did get the truck registered in New York.

The one maybe the advantage to living in New York State is it wasn’t a title state until 1973 and does not issue titles for 1972 and older cars.

Personally I find titles to be a huge pain in the ass!

I was looking at an off topic car out of Connecticut, just a driver but post 1972 which requires a title in New York.

Connecticut drops the title requirement after 20 years.

Here is the issue it was the man’s mother’s car and her name was on the title she died and he inherited it since it was 20 years old he just registered it in his name.

After doing some research I found to register it in New York the name title and the signature had to match (which I knew) however there was a way to register it by going though the executor of her will, however in this case the executor of the will was also dead.

 

If I was paying $xx,xxx for a car, a plane ticket , motel and car rental is chump change. Piece of mind and no regrets on the purchase, priceless

 

Thank you for this reply. Yes, I am happy to share the steps with the original poster to help ensure safety for both himself and the buyer, but yes, I am a business and as all businesses function, I function on a profit, but I am more than happy to chat and share with the original poster who asked the question.

 

Bill,
I can not thank you enough for this ring of endorsement, I truly appreciate it.

I do pride myself on keeping every collector safe online, just like I do for my own father.
And what that means is scammers, rude people, pen-pals, dreamers are all screened by me, so collectors only spend their valuable time speaking with people who are genuine and genuinely interested.

Bill, again, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience with my services, I take my work very seriously and consider it an honor when I can help collectors stay safe online.
God Bless,
Amanda


I can vouch for Amanda as an honest person who (yes is in business), but really helps folks sell their vehicles & goes above & beyond when it comes to making it easier!

Her Father is a collector (who I have transported for), so she grew up in our hobby. It seems to me since I have transported MANY cars for her customers that she specializes in helping widows & children of car guys who have passed away & maybe don't have the knowledge on how to sell collector/hot rod cars without getting taken advantage of.

I take my reputation seriously & don't just throw around recommendations just to hear myself talk! Amanda Fowler is one of the good ones that CAN be trusted

Yes folks, give her a call, I am sure she will answer your questions & maybe her service is right for you! I read all of the comments on threads like this & many of them I just SMH & roll my eyes

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/[/QUOTE]

 

This is a being made into a really big govt secret conspiracy level deal. It isn't. I've sold cars valued into 7 figures. Not bullshit bravado, yes I have, and lost count of how many were deep into 6 figures. Wire transfer, your money now. Done. The rest is simple logistics. As was said above, LEAVE NOTHING TO GUESS OR CHANCE. "Jeez Jocko why do you post so many pictures?" is something I've been asked too many times. No questions, that's why. Wanna see more? Ask, I'll text them in minutes. Selling outta state, had a guy come by and look at the car, I offered transport for a small fee as a favor (I'm not a transporter). He gave me ½ down and the balance when I got there. Happy all around. On deposits, I ask for an amount they're willing to forfeit if the deal fucks off. Now they too have "skin in the game" which always seems fair to me. The more popular the car the more skin required. At the end if the day it's a fuckin car. It's titled. It's identified by the VIN. We're all the best ppl in the whole world because we're car ppl. Less than 1% are scumbags. Start there and you'll never go wrong.

 

Or get Amanda on retainer…….

 

Toes too….just kidding

 

A lot of bullshit artists showing up as usual but the one thing I didn't see was go talk to your banker on the safe way to handle it in either direction.

30 years ago I didn't bat an eye about carrying a large sum of cash to buy a car but now days I am going to make arrangements with my bank to get the funds transferred safely. That may include finding out what bank and what branch the seller deals with and discussing the transfer with my banker. If the seller knows ahead of time that is what you are going to do it is safer for both of you. Plus you can get the bill of sale and if needed title notarized at the same time.

I worked for TSA as a screener for 16 years before retiring and large sums of cash draw way too much attention and too many questions get asked. If feel that that is how you have to do it, = carry cash and fly" make sure that you have full documentation on what you are doing incuding a print of the sales add and any and all communication on the purchase/sale printed out and with the money. That should lessen the hassles but figure that you will be delayed and have to answer questions. Best might be to ask to see the TSA supervisor or manager before you go through the checkpoint and explain what you are doing first to them.

Still paying for the expertise of having Amada Fowler or someone similar handle it isn't a terrible idea.

 

I wouldn't explain shit to any municipal or govt worker. None of their business. I'm not a crook or dope dealer so go get those who are and leave me alone. Any cop or agent try to take my hard earned cash just because, well I guess I'm in for the fight of my life. Or try to take a car from me for that matter. How would anyone here deal with hauling an expensive car and some hung-like-pinky-toe cop decided you got it being a criminal, then tried to impound it? I think about that going to car shows or getting/buying cars with friends. It's a 1 in 100,000,000 chance but not impossible. Figured I'd toss in another worry for y'all...

 

@57FordWagon

Hello,

A signed pink slip, a paper form to the DMV That says you sold it and is no longer in your possession, and a local cashier’s check or U.S. Postal money order in hand. (No checks, credit cards or debit cards, cash is always good.) Banks do issue money orders, but if one is traveling, a local post office had the check that is good in any state.

You might want to check with the local DMV or AAA office about selling motors to an out of state person. We required the U.S. Postal money order first. Then when the out of state buyer got the money order, we took it to our bank for deposit. Then we helped the buyer crate up the motor for pickup by a moving company van.

We also gave him the same copy of the typed letter stating that: “The motor is no longer in our hands and we have no liability to the motor use.” There is a DMV form . Probably not necessary, but we did it anyway. Plus the bill of sale and receipt of the U.S. Postal money order for the cost.

“Completing a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NRL) lets DMV know that you are no longer responsible for parking/traffic violations or civil or criminal actions associated with the vehicle after the date of sale.”

“Submitting an NRL to the DMV does not constitute a transfer of ownership. The vehicle record is not permanently transferred out of your name until the DMV receives a completed application for transfer of ownership and payment of appropriate fees from the new owner.”

Back then, there was a form. Now, it is done online at the DMV and a copy of the information is registered with the DMV.
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehic...ice-of-transfer-and-release-of-liability-nrl/

similar photo:
Our 671 SBC motor was purchased and the new owner came out West to pay for it, crate it up and ship it back to somewhere in the Midwest. The same thing was done for Atts Ono’s red 40 Willys Coupe.

With the postal money order in hand, signed pink slip given to the new owner and a "no liability form" also included to the new owner from the Midwest. As it was loaded into the moving van, the sale was concluded with a handshake.

Jnaki

Times have changed, but it is not rocket science. The signed pink slip still is the last thing to leave your hands, after the money is in hand… pun intended. YRMV

NOTE:
After all of these years, once both items, our 671 292 c.i. SBC motor in 1961 and 10 years later, when Atts Ono's red 40 willys was in the moving van headed to the Midwest, where are they, today? No history, no photos, no information as to the next step... So, does anyone in the Midwest area have any history or idea about what happened to both items as described above? From 1961 and 1971 history time line...