[ard]

Title is not meant to be funny or alarmist.

I need the collective wisdom of this group on how to make sure I don't get ripped off.



Here is my situation:

I am selling an SUV and have an interested buyer. He is from out-of-town and wants to come in person to inspect the vehicle before buying it. So far so good.

He has rescheduled the visit twice now with excuses that border a little on "dog ate my homework", but I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Now he wants to come Sunday. We had previously discussed payment and agreed that he would get a cashier's check drawn on Wells Fargo Bank, which is fine with me since I also bank there. We would together go to a branch near my house deposit the check and if no red flags were raised I'd hand him the title and part ways. I have done a previous transaction on a different car with a local buyer that way and everything was very easy and cordial.

Turns out (not surprisingly) Wells Fargo is not open Sunday. In light of the excuses I have gotten so far I am growing a little concerned about being presented with a phony cashier's check and that coming on Sunday is a calculated move to make it impossible for me to verify the validity of the check.

Here are options I can think of. I'd love to hear thoughts.

1) insist on cash
- I could see how someone wouldn't want to drive across the state with a wad of cash, but what do I know

2) tell him (ahead of time) that I'll accept the cashier's check in trade for the car and mail him the title once the check clears
- what is my recourse if the check is really phony? I'd imagine it would be a royal hassle to retrieve a vehicle under such circumstances.

3) have the money wired to me ahead of time
- I wouldn't do that if I were in the buyer's shoes since he has not seen the vehicle yet and committed to buy it

I don't see how getting cash is any harder than getting a (real) cashier's check. Still have to go to the bank to obtain it.

I don't want to come across to the buyer as being unreasonable to deal with if he is legit. The vehicle is an SUV and I am not exactly having people trip over each other to buy it.

Thanks in advance