On 26 Apr 2007 10:58:27 -0700, The Reverend Natural Light
wrote:


Test Drive: If the buyer shows up in a car of equal or higher value
than what I'm selling then they get whatever test drive they want, as
long and far as they want, and I don't go unless they ask. If the
buyer has a beater car then I ride along. That said, the guy who paid
full price for the truck I just sold didn't even own a car.

Payment: I prefer a personal check over a bank check. Reason: If
the bank check doesn't clear then you call the bank. If the personal
check doesn't clear then you call the police. Jail is a good
motivator.

BTW, never take a post-dated check, for anything really. AIUI A
post-dated check cannot be an insufficient funds check. If you date
it tomorrow, and it has insufficient funds tomorrow, that might be
because you intended to put money in but couldn't for some reason.
It's a mistake, not a crime. I guess you can have him date the check
today, and promise you won't try to cash it until the day you've
agreed on.

Until the check clears, I give the buyer the choice of
taking either the car or the title. The wise buyer takes the title
and leaves the car.

Knock on wood, I've never had a problem with a buyer's payment, be it
cash, personal check, or cashiers check.

I always intend to sell my car, but end up driving them into the
ground and scrapping them.

The one car I sold, a '67 Pontiac Catalina, I sold for 100 dollars
(minimum 50 for a running car and 50 more for being a convertible,
especially when full size convertibles were no longer made and
American convertibles were at the time not made.). When I found more
parts for it and called the buyer, he was mad at me that I charged too
much. He said it needed a new water pump. Earlier he had told me
that his 16 year old son was going to fix the car up so he could have
it ready when he was old enough to drive in NYC, at age 18. So what's
the big deal about a water pump that cost 30 dollars in 1981. He also
insisted I knew the pump was bad, even though the car had never
overheated for me. What a jerk.

-rev



On Apr 25, 11:09 pm, "Toller" wrote:
Oddly, there are no good usergroups I know of for a question like this. ahr
seems as good as any place.

I have my car for sale.
Is it okay to let them take it for a test drive? If they don't come back,
have they stolen it, or have they just borrowed it for longer than I
intended? When I bought a used car two years ago nobody thought twice about
letting me test drive them, but I look really harmless.

Is a bank check secure enough? Except for cash I don't know of anything
safer. And I suppose if they gave me forged check it wouldn't be much
different than stealing the car.

Any advice, or good websites on the subject, would be appreciated.