Safer and easier selling
25/06/08
Most people are honest. But the big money in cars attracts crooks. Here's how to stay safe 
It’s a sad fact that if you’re selling a car, crooks may phone, email or even arrive at your door, posing as genuine buyers. Motors.co.uk is a key force in the fight against car crooks. We are founding members of The Vehicle Safe Trading Advisory Group (VSTAG), which works with the Metropolitan Police and other forces across the country to ensure that buying and selling is as easy and safe as it can be.
Here’s the advice VSTAG gives on how to stay safe. The first rule is, trust your instinct. If the buyer appears too eager, and the deal he or she puts up is impossibly good, think twice. The moment that you don’t feel comfortable, call things to a halt and say you need time to think. Even though you’ve advertised a car, you’re not obliged to sell it if the deal smells bad.
When they call
Take names, phone numbers and addresses. If you’ve several buyers, keep an appointments diary so you know which is which. A genuine buyer will be more interested in seeing the vehicle than anything else, so be wary of giving away vital info, such as the car’s registration number or VIN, too early, and certainly not to when they first ring. They could use this to create their own, fake ad.
Overseas buyers
Beware emails and calls from abroad offering to buy your car without seeing it. If they offer a banker’s draft or cheque for over the asking price to cover “shipping” or other fees and later ask that you refund the difference, someone is almost certainly trying to con you. Real buyers will always want to see and try a car before agreeing to purchase.
Inspecting documents
Let the buyer see registration documents, MoT certificates and service records, but don’t let them make photocopies. Also watch for any taking pictures on the sly, using phone cameras.
The test drive
Check in advance that they have a valid license and insurance to drive your car. Never allow anyone to drive off alone. They may offer the car they arrived in as security – but it could already be stolen and they may never come back.
Never leave the buyers alone with your car. It’s best that you’re not on your own, either. We don’t want to alarm you, but we’ve heard tales of crooks who’ve grabbed a moment’s inattention, slipped behind the wheel and sped off. Another ruse is to send the seller indoors to search for a rag or a torch, then steal the car. Finally, one thief may keep you talking while his or her mate slips into your house to steal jewellery, credit cards and perhaps even the keys to any other car you may own.
Two rules apply: never leave the buyer alone with your keys and never get out of the vehicle unless the keys are in your pocket.
Payment
CHAPS
Arranging a bank transfer is best. Using the CHAPS system, an agreed amount is moved from the buyer’s account and into yours. It happens immediately and stays put. The easiest way to do this is to meet the buyer at his or her bank and complete the transaction there. Then if you have online or telephone banking, check that the cash has arrived. But doing this costs the buyer up to £30 and can, of course, only happen on weekdays during banking hours.
Banker’s drafts and building society cheques
These can be faked. And the trouble is that you won’t know the truth, perhaps until weeks later. The money may even show as credited to your bank, only for the cheque or draft to ‘bounce’, although recent changes mean that cheques should stay cleared after 6 days. The Faster Payment’s Scheme, introduced recently by some leading banks, will cut bank transaction times from four days to one. So your money will show in your account more quickly. But it won’t guarantee payments.
Personal cheques
These are risky. As with banker’s drafts, you won’t know for six days whether they are genuine. Even if the money shows in your account and you then withdraw it, the bank can still ‘bounce’ the cheque.
Cash
Can be forged. If the buyer insists of paying in cash, take care, particularly if the notes are all brand-new. Take the buyer to your local branch, let him keep the money until you are both at the counter and have him or her pay it directly to your account.
Finally...
Give the buyer a receipt describing the car and stating the price and giving both your name and address and the buyer’s. Make another copy for yourself. You and he/she should then both sign. Then, finish the paperwork by completing the seller’s section of the V5 document. After that, tell your insurer that you no longer own the car. If you plan to buy another quickly, don’t cancel the policy because it won’t save you anything to do so.
For further details of how to keep safe when buying and selling, visit the VSTAG web site