Selling a car to an overseas buyer???

[FrankF]

I recently put my '79 911 SC up for sale. I put it on the local craigslist, in the local paper and on cars.com. I've received a few responses so far, but mostly tire-kicking. This afternoon I received a call from an odd phone number. The fellow calling said he was in Germany and had somehow found my ad on craigslist. He asked a couple of questions about the car then offered to send me an e-mail so that I could send him some detailed pics. A few minutes ago I received the e-mail from the guy. The e-mail address was (hisname)@t-online.de. I wouldn't normally consider selling to an overseas buyer, but I'm in the middle of a divorce and I really need to unload the car. The guy claims that he has friends here in Fla that would handle the transaction. Obviously, I would have to have funds clear my account before I would release the car. And of course I would not do a bank transfer or any other transaction that would require sending my personal banking info to any outside party. The thing is, I'm not aware of the potential scams out there for these cars. Just wanted to get some input from you guys. Should I consider selling this way? Thanks for your feedback.

Frank

[dan79brooklyn]

Lots of cars being sold to folks in Europe, so it might be legit, as long as you're paid in cash.

I sold my SC to a European, but he looked at the car in person and paid in cash before shipping it overseas.

[jbrinkley]

guy from england bought mine last month.
no worries.
just get the cash first, you know the drill

[johndglynn]

Europeans are swarming through the US classifieds Frank, so there have been a lot of similar threads on here in recent months. One safe way is to handle the incoming cash through a 'spare' account and transfer from there to your real account when the funds have cleared. Only then do your guy's shippers get the car. If the friends in FL are gonna pay USD for the car, then behave as though it were a US buyer.

I run a Porsche board in the UK and know 10 or 12 guys here who have brought 911s back from your side of the pond in the last six months. Lots of cars coming this way at the mo.

[MrPerkles]

I bought a car off here and I was great to deal with

[e p slick]

Sold a 930 to a guy in Kuala Lumpur last year. Lots of red flags warning of possible cautions. I opened a separate account at my bank in Indianapolis and had funds wire transfered from his bank of Malaysia and then instantly removed funds and wired to my brokearge account in San Diego. Good as gold. FedEx-ed title to him in Kuala Lampur after I was guaranteed the funds were actually mine and in hand. Transport truck showed up three weeeks later to take car to Miami and stick it on a boat. Easy deal - just be sure to have funds wired with guarantee from your bank that the $ is now yours and subject to your disposal. No money orders, cashiers checks or Nigerian Mumbahs.

EP Slick

[Pingo]

I have bought my 912, SC Targa and 930 from US. I am from Norway.

[LakeCleElum]

Our weak dollar makes us attractive to somebody, somewhere!

[tcar]

Don't do bank transfer to the bank where you have any significant money. There may be ability to pull money from one account to another. It happens.

I have a Credit Union checking account that only has a few hundred dollars in it. I had the funds bank transferred there. It was a bank transfer, not the dreaded cashiers check.

As soon as it arrived I pulled it out and put it in my 'main' bank.

Was actually pretty easy. No test drives, tire kicking, etc. Sent a fax copy of the title to him with the word "COPY" written on it, so he knew it was clear.

The foreign buyer (Spain) contacted DAS in the states and they handled all the shipping. I delivered it to a depot here in Denver w/ the title and the keys. Done.

Guy sent me pics of the car sitting on the dock next to his Morgan that he bought the same way.

[jonbot]

John, these 10 or 12 guys, what do they say is THEIR reason for buying cars from over here?

I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth. (As my grandfather used to say)

Jon

Originally Posted by johndglynn

Europeans are swarming through the US classifieds Frank, so there have been a lot of similar threads on here in recent months. One safe way is to handle the incoming cash through a 'spare' account and transfer from there to your real account when the funds have cleared. Only then do your guy's shippers get the car. If the friends in FL are gonna pay USD for the car, then behave as though it were a US buyer.

I run a Porsche board in the UK and know 10 or 12 guys here who have brought 911s back from your side of the pond in the last six months. Lots of cars coming this way at the mo.

[muis]

How about using Paypal? Easiest way imho

[yelcab1]

Sold my GT4 to a broker in Florida who bought it for a buyer in Brazil. The broker paid a $1000 deposit, flew over, looked at the car, started the engine, gave me a US cashier check, picked up the title, left the car at my garage, and the transport truck picked it up 3 weeks later.

The check cleared, and I felt very safe because the car was in my garage still. If the check had not cleared, the cops would have been called of course.

Legit deal. The cheap dollars make it very attractive to buy cars, cameras and such from the US.

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by muis

How about using Paypal? Easiest way imho

Paypal is no guarantee that the money is yours. Lots of people get yanked around by Paypal. All that has to happen is have the buyer complain and dispute the sale and then you are at their mercy.

Cash, cash, cash...
Accepted the world over.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by jonbot

John, these 10 or 12 guys, what do they say is THEIR reason for buying cars from over here?

I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth. (As my grandfather used to say)

Jon

One very good reason is the weather. I have imported several cars back to Germany. A very good friend of mine wanted a nice bathtub. Looked and looked in Germany and just could not find one. Was taking a vacation in Tucson and ran into a 1957 A model 356. Immaculate. Sent him photos and he wired me the money overnight. I drove it to Phoenix, stuck it in a shipping container and it went to Germany in 3 weeks.

Happens a lot. The salt and snow on the roads over there make for a lot of rusty cars. America and especially the SW part of the country do not have this problem. As well the Euro is very strong right now.

[aigel]

Indeed, there are a lot of European buyers out there these days. I have friends in Europe who shop for cars here now, even newer models.

That address is of one of the largest ISPs in Germany and it is not a google or yahoo type server that anyone gets an address at. It is more like porschedude@cox.net or buymyjunk@sbcglobal.net - an address that is connected with having an ISP.

Do NOT, under any circumstances accept funds via PayPal. I have personally had money taken back out of my PayPal account by PayPal. If they get stiffed by a user going belly up, they will come after funds that were sent by that person unsecured to make up for the difference. www.paypalsucks.com

If he has someone in the US that will handle the deal, have them come to you with cash in hand. If that is not possible, a wire transfer to your account is safe. It can not be taken back. If you are in doubt, have them send you cash by Western Union. (Only problem is that they may now think you are trying to scam them. )

Good Luck,

George

[beasty]

Sold my 87 cab to a guy in Germany. Got the cash quick, no problems, no hastles.

[Joeaksa]

By the way, T-online.de is Deutsche Telecom, the German telephone system. Its also the same company here in America known as T-Mobile.

They are a very valid company and not anything to be concerned about.

[F350Lawman]

Just helped my friend sell a 993 C2S on Ebay to a German fellow. He wired 3 separate ammounts and then came overseas w/ the final paymnet in cash. All the risk was his, so no problem for us. The final payment was made at the dock, and then and only then, did he get the car delivered to the shipper.

[rnln]

When you said cash, you meant cash cash or you mean wire, check, money order?

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

Paypal is no guarantee that the money is yours. Lots of people get yanked around by Paypal. All that has to happen is have the buyer complain and dispute the sale and then you are at their mercy.

Cash, cash, cash...
Accepted the world over.

[MrPerkles]

Originally Posted by jonbot

John, these 10 or 12 guys, what do they say is THEIR reason for buying cars from over here?

I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth. (As my grandfather used to say)

Jon

$ VS £ ,choice of cars and most are overpriced rusty sheds in the UK........