Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

[Larry E.]

Need some advice on the below:

Will be selling an older classic Chevrolet Pick-Up Truck. My questions will also apply to
older Corvettes. Have been contacted by the buyer; seems legit as far as I can tell. For
the sake of argument let's assume I am correct with my assumption. Here is my questions
(Numbers are made up)

1)Agreed selling price of 40K; he wants to money wire 1K to show he is legit in wanting it.
Upon inspection(passes OK) he will money wire the remainder of the price. Question>Does 1K sound
OK percentage wise for the price involved??

2)He has done this before and claims the money wire should go through in less then hour. Checked
with my bank and they claim they should know within 15minutes. Does this sound correct?

3)Is there anything else I should be aware off. Need suggestion to make this transactions fair and safe
for both sides.

Thanks in advance-Larry

[Michael L.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Anyway to get any corroboration that he is who he says he is? Anything other than cash always carries some degree of risk. If a check, it could, of course, bounce. Even a cashiers check could be fake. A wire transfer, if fraudulent, could result in your bank removing the funds from your account. Who is doing the inspection? Does he say he needs to take the truck to do it? I would definitely not let that happen. Pick a reputable mechanic you both agree on and deliver the vehicle there yourself and don't leave it. Not saying these risks are real, likely just theoretical, but something to consider. Also, make sure the place you do the vehicle transfer is public, like a local mall parking lot, and bring a couple of friends. If he's a thief once he's gone there's little hope of getting your ride back.

Mike

[Philip A.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

For a wire transfer, you need to provide a bank account number. Suggest creating a new account with the bank minimum for transactional purposes. Then close out the account when receive final proceeds.

[Larry E.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Anyway to get any corroboration that he is who he says he is? Anything other than cash always carries some degree of risk. to consider.

Mike

Mike>Thanks for the comments. My Tax Guy and Bank advised NOT to take cash. Why would this be?>I am no authority on
counterfeit money for one. I have been offered more money then the deal I am taking but turned it down for this reason. The
people that pay in cash are doing it for one reason>cheating on taxes which is too risky for me. Also they do not want a bill of
sale present. JMHO>Larry

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Sounds OK. Once the 1000.00 is in your account its yours. Wouldn't worry about someone having my bank #.Gust write a bill of sale for the deposit & remainder due upon recite of title.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Mike>Thanks for the comments. My Tax Guy and Bank advised NOT to take cash. Why would this be?>I am no authority on
counterfeit money for one. I have been offered more money then the deal I am taking but turned it down for this reason. The
people that pay in cash are doing it for one reason>cheating on taxes which is too risky for me. Also they do not want a bill of
sale present. JMHO>Larry

The bank would turn you in to the IRS as its a cash transaction of over 10,000.00

[Pancho T.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

I agree with setting up an account just for the wire transfers. I am not a big fan of giving out my bank account info to a stranger. If the buyer wants to pay in cash you can make the exchange at your bank. Either way the vehicle and title do not leave without confirmation of completed payment.
If during the inspection the buyer wants to drive the vehicle make sure that your insurance covers someone else as a driver.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

I agree with setting up an account just for the wire transfers. I am not a big fan of giving out my bank account info to a stranger. If the buyer wants to pay in cash you can make the exchange at your bank. Either way the vehicle and title do not leave without confirmation of completed payment.
If during the inspection the buyer wants to drive the vehicle make sure that your insurance covers someone else as a driver.

Your account # if is on every check you write so whats the big deal. No one can take money out of your account Debit card # yes.

[Duke W.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

The bank would turn you in to the IRS as its a cash transaction of over 10,000.00

Banks have to report ANY transaction over $10K, not just cash. This has been the case for over 30 years. I have no idea what the IRS does with the data. There must be millions or even tens of millions of transactions this size, but I expect they have algorithms that look for trends like lots of large transactions over short periods of times.

It's real easy to set up a OTO account to receive the wire, and then transfer to your regular account. Your banker should be more than willing to help out.

A recipient should be able to verify a wire transfer the same day, at least by the end of the business day, but I don't know about 15 minutes.

Duke

[Gary B.]

[Ed S.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

A one time transaction over $10K will not break the noise threshold with the IRS. They are looking for patterns, repeated $10K + transactions. It is all done by computer - a human at IRS will never see data in print or on a screen about a 1 time transaction. Do the wire transfer - to a separate account at your bank.

[Larry E.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Gary: Thanks again for the comment; I have searched the archives but in these trying/changing times I always
want to get the "latest" thinking of the subject which changes from time to time. Larry

[Michael L.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Your account # if is on every check you write so whats the big deal. No one can take money out of your account Debit card # yes.

Was thinking the same thing. I've written thousands of checks over the years and every one has my name, address, routing number, and account number. I don't think having your account info would significantly increase the chance of theft but these days with hackers able to do almost anything I guess you never know.

Mike

[Domenic T.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Well,
I sold a airplane and knew the guy buying it. I did a wire transfer with him and gave my bank info to his bank. I took all out of my account but 105.00 for safety reasons.
The buyer said the money would be in so I checked with my bank and my balance was only 5.00. Some one was after the thousands and got 100.00 instead of the whole amount. It was pay pal!! I do not use them so I contacted them telling them that I did not have a transaction for years.
They gave me the info for the person that took the 100.00, so I e-mailed the person and this is what I got! Next time be carefull when you do a wire transfer, I needed the money and spent it!
I could tell by the sentence formation that it might be foreign.
I sent the e-mail to pay pal and my bank. Well I never got the 100.00 back, but I did get lip service from pay pal (who denied my claim) and lost a bunch of time at CITI bank.
I put a out going hold on my account and opened another account with instructions to transfer the amount in my new account.
How and why did pay pal get into this?

Dom

[Gary B.]

Re: Need Help On Selling A Classic Vehicle(Corveete or Otherwise)

Dom et al.,

Maybe that story explains why a transfer from one account to another account in the same bank is safer.

Gary