Technical Buy car remotely - how to sort out payment?

Hi, I have a tricky situation, would appreciate some advice.

I am buying a car that's located a 7 hour drive away. I have small kids and can't make the trip to finalize the purchase in person.

The seller says he prefers to be paid in cash when handing over the title, so I can't use an online service like escrow.com

So I figured maybe I can hire a local lawyer, wire money to their escrow account and the seller could exchange title and payment at their office. But I've called a number of places now, and it doesn't seem like anyone's ever done that and they're not interested in doing it.

Any advice how this could be handled? I figure people buy and sell and transport cars all over the country, all the time. Is there a way this is typically done?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Typically done by a wire transfer to the seller, once he's happy that the money is in his account, he mails you the title, and the transporter picks up the car at some time.

The way I handled it when I had little kids, was to buy cars within an hour's drive from home. Never a problem.

 

Take the Kids with!!! make it an outing. I used to find something on the way back from picking up the car or parts up for my kids to look forward too. Some kid friendly attraction, petting zoo or go carts or something. Then tell them we are going on a hot rod adventure, load them up in the car, pick the car up then go to the Kid attraction. My boys loved it. Started doing that when they where for and 4 and 6 years old. Yeah it took longer, but it was always fun for them, they got cool memories, and 10 12 years later, while both in high school, they still wanna go with dad to do hot rod adventure stuff. Just a thought.

 

I've bought and sold a handful of vehicles sight unseen from out of state and had them shipped. Usually bank to bank transfer of funds, and U-Ship to handle the transport. I haven't had any issues other than some of the vehicles not being as nice as they appeared in photos, but that's the gamble.

 

"prefers cash" or will ONLY accept cash? You might try to talk him into a bank transfer, but a lot of people are paranoid or distrustful of banks or don't like sales traced. Where are you? You just joined today, so it's a big ask, but you could find a HAMBer local to the car and transfer the cash to them to make the cash purchase. Risky though. Honestly, I've purchased/sold a few vehicles at a distance and it has always been through banks.

 

7 Hours is a day trip. Just go get it.

 

Thanks for the responses. A bank transfer seems like too much of a leap of faith, to just send a guy on Facebook a bunch of money and hope for the best...

Is this something that can be done through a local car dealership? I saw someone mention that in an old Reddit post. Has anybody here done that?

 

Like Nailhead Jason said "take the kids" You never know the impression or memories the trip like that could make on the young ones, could last a lifetime for a future car person

 

I would if they were a bit older. I have one 4-month-old and one 3-year-old

 

Zelle

 

I’ve been taking my kids on car buying adventures since they were babies, now almost on their own and they still come with me.

 

You won’t scar them, take ‘em for a bye bye ride. My sister and brother in law threw the twins 3 mos. Old and niece 4 years old in the suburban a drove from Tulsa Oklahoma to Plymouth Indiana and all survived just fine.

 

Kids are tough! My boy was just four months old when I got a new job, hours away from where we lived. We moved to the new location, my wife had him on her hip the whole time. He turned out ok! Also it is better to look at the car in person! Just my thoughts!




Bones

 

You can't find anyone who can babysit them for a day or so? People will do anything for money, even watch kids.......

 

I’ve been taking Little Truckdoctor along since he was tiny (13 now and almost as tall as I am at 6’2”). He’s been with me for cars, trucks, bikes, and tractors. Take the kids!

 

Just remembered when I purchased the latest vehicle. Buyer did not want cash either. Straight up guy. He just didn’t want said sum of money just popping into his account. This may be what’s happening here.

 

Go to your bank and do a wire transfer, safest way to do it, if the seller refuses to except that I would suggest you go in person or look for a different car.

I've done wire transfers to Tokyo, Sweden, Texas and California, all sells were smooth as Tennessee whiskey! HRP

 

I have sent a cheque for half, paid the tow truck driver the balance in cash, after making a phone call and an adjustment because the complete engine was missing the heads and exhaust manifolds. This was after talking to the seller on the phone a couple of times. In this case the driver was returning to the seller’s home town. This takes some trust, but leaves both parties with some options. This was for a project car, not that much at stake.

 

You are taking a big risk trusting that the vehicle is what the seller is representing it as and taking a huge risk blindly handing over cash/payment.

If it was a fantastic deal, someone closer than 7 hrs away would have already snapped it up.

I'd either make the trip or look elsewhere.

 

Pass on the deal if you cant see the car in person unless your intuition is spot on...Has seller been on Facebook a long time ..reviews etc....

 

Find someone you trust to watch the kids. Good luck!

 

There are tons of SCAMMERS on Facebook.. don't spend more than you can afford to lose if you don't go see the car...

 

Not as young as your kids, but this was buying my 56 nine hours from home with my two boys. They also went to the LSRU with me when they were less than 2. It will make memories you will never forget and likely lead to memories they will never forget.

 

As others have said, go look at it. I don’t think I would buy it sight unseen. Bank to bank transfer is the safest way.jmho.ymmv. Snowman ⛄️

 

You are worried about the cash, but not him misrepresenting the car? Take the drive. Pictures can hide a lot of sins, and then there are the guys who just don’t know any better about old cars.

 

Just looked at your profile. You don't provide any information as to your general location or the location of the vehicle you want to buy which, in this instance, would be a big help to you. There just might be a HAMB member somewhere close to the vehicle who could give you an objective opinion of its general condition. Is this vehicle something that will fit the rules for this forum? If it is, there are a lot of knowledgeable people who might be willing to help you and tell you what you need to know. If not, you're in the wrong place. In my opinion, it sounds like you're willing to hand over money to someone you don't know to buy something you haven't seen. Not a good idea.

 

Another option is a vehicle inspection/appraisal place. At least to get a peace of mind before you send $$ to someone to hand it over to the seller. I’ve never used such a place, but if the company is reputable they may also hand over the $$ after the inspection or just walk away and send it back to you.
Unless it’s a modern vehicle that the seller has service receipts, etc on, I surely wouldn’t base my expectations on what I saw in an ad on the internet, or even what I spoke to the seller about on the phone.

 

Go to bed early, set alarm for midnight arrive at sellers place at 7 am cash in hand (less traffic also).
Kids will be asleep at baby sitters/grandparents/friends/etc. during that time.
The issue then becomes only the 7 hr return trip.
Seems doable, but naturally we don't know your exact situation.
Curious 7hrs one way...or total of 7 hrs, 3 1/2 hrs each way?
How bad do you want it?

 

A friend of mine wired 20K to a bank in FL for a 55 chevy. No car. The guy had a fake LLC account took the money and disappeared.