International sale

targa911S · 03-26-2007, 07:27 AM

Well the deed is done. My 911 was sold this weekend on ebay and the buyer is over seas, in Slovakia. Have any of you sold a car out of the country? How does the money transfer work? Any guidelines from you all? Anything (besides everything) I should be cautious about. The buyer is actually "coming to America" to get it this summer, but we want to do the money transfer now. I'm a bit lost here.

id10t · 03-26-2007, 07:56 AM

Direct bank wire transfer... or perhaps an escrow company ?

targa911S · 03-26-2007, 08:26 AM

Direct bank wire transfer is what he wants to do. I know nothing about such matters, or how to go about it.

Joeaksa · 03-26-2007, 08:53 AM

Done several. Direct wire transfer and sit down with your bank manager and tell them what is going on. Make sure that the funds have actually arrived in your account before moving forwards.

Is he going to put the car in a container to ship over or us a RoRo ship? Take EVERYTHING out of the car and ship it separate. Done several cars and anything left in the car will get stolen unless its done in a container.

Give him a notarized bill of sale and the signed title. The overseas DMV may not know what to do with the title and the bill of sale will help the new owner.

If he is not coming for a while you could put the car in a storage facility to keep it safe and out of your hair. Should cost only $100 or less a month. Depends on what he wants to do with it and if you have the room to keep it where you are.

Shuie · 03-26-2007, 08:55 AM

A wire is the only way to go. For a US wire, the bank needs the name, address, account number, and routing number. Its a slightly different for an International wire. Call your bank and find out exactly what they need for an International wire and don't send any other info.

Preferably, everything communicated in some written form so its all transposed perfectly. If one of those numbers gets jacked because of a miscommunication or a language issue then its not going to work.

Joeaksa · 03-26-2007, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shuie
A wire is the only way to go. For a US wire, the bank needs the name, address, account number, and routing number. Its a slightly different for an International wire. Call your bank and find out exactly what they need for an International wire and don't send any other info.

Preferably, everything communicated in some written form so everything gets transposed perfectly. If one of those numbers gets jacked because of a miscommunication or a language issue then its not going to work.

For international you may need the SWIFT number of the bank in addition to what Schuie mentioned above.

targa911S · 03-26-2007, 11:16 AM

Went to my bank today and they walked me right through it. They gave me a form that I can scan and send him or send him the info by email. Thanks Joeakas for all the info on the other good stuff and to all of you.

targa911S · 03-26-2007, 11:23 AM

Ok ya got me thinking of another thing. What about the title? Should I send it to him now, and just issue a notarized bill of sale, or should I give him the title when he shows up to get it? He plans on driving it from here to NY, 480 miles, then shipping it to overseas and meeting it there and driving it again home about 250 miles.

I don't know, but if I were him I would just have it done and meet it at his port there if he wants. Personally I would just do a door to door..

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

Be careful T-bird - more fraud in that part of the world these days.

Shuie · 03-26-2007, 11:44 AM

I would want him to have the title as soon as I had the money and signed Bill of Sale, and he has every right to insist on that, but if he is meeting you face to face, it would probably be a lot easier to go to a notary and do the title and bill of sale there. I think he is going to need the title on the US side to get the car through customs anyway.

The Bill of Sale is crucial. Your insurance company can retroactively refund any payments up to the date on the BOS, but do not drop coverage until you have that paper safely in hand.

Shuie · 03-26-2007, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JeremyD
Be careful T-bird - more fraud in that part of the world these days.

A bank wire is as safe as can be. As soon as the money hits your account it cant be taken back. And your not giving out any info that anyone you give a check to doesn't already know. Just don't give ANY information (personal stuff like SSN, etc.) thats not required by the bank and you will be fine. I never worry about people that want to do bank wires.

Joeaksa · 03-26-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shuie
I would want him to have the title as soon as I had the money and signed Bill of Sale, and he has every right to insist on that, but if he is meeting you face to face, it would probably be a lot easier to go to a notary and do the title and bill of sale there. I think he is going to need the title on the US side to get the car through customs anyway.

The Bill of Sale is crucial. Your insurance company can retroactively refund any payments up to the date on the BOS, but do not drop coverage until you have that paper safely in hand.

Agree and I would offer to FedEx or DHL him the documents. If he wants them then send them, otherwise hold them for his arrival. He will need the title heading back overseas so its up to him.

Good call on the insurance. Cover that puppy for the $36k until you have cash in hand.

Shuie · 03-26-2007, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Cover that puppy for the $36k until you have cash in hand.

AND the signed Bill of Sale!

targa911S · 03-26-2007, 01:17 PM

Hey Jeremy, yeah I know that's what made me come here for some help.
Input from here and my bank both have put me more at ease with the proceedure.
I intend to keep her insured until it's all done.
Sorry I didn't get more than $36K, but it's done.

on-ramp · 03-26-2007, 01:38 PM

Why don't you just ask for a money order, wait 15 days and you're done. No wire transfer hassles.

Or can a money order go bad after 15 days?

dtw · 03-26-2007, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Shuie
A bank wire is as safe as can be. As soon as the money hits your account it cant be taken back.

Almost true. Most banks will reverse a wire no-questions-asked upon request by the wire initiator within 24 hours after issuance. For this reason, I wait 24 hours after the funds post to my account, before sending bill of sale and title overnight.

You should also look at the wire remittance advice when the funds post, to ensure that the initiator name matches the buyer's name (which you have surely validated) in some way. If the buyer has seized control of someone's bank account and is using it to make fraudulent purchases, you don't want any part of that.

Last sale-by-wire that I did was international - it went smoothly but I spent about 3 hours on the phone with my bank covering all the fraud-prevention bases. Something else I did was open up a brand-new checking account in which to receive the funds. The bank set it up so that the new account was not associated/linked with any of my other accounts. As soon as the wire posted, I withdrew the money in cash, waited 24 hours, DHL'ed the sale documents, and closed the new account.

on-ramp · 03-26-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dtw

Last sale-by-wire that I did was international - it went smoothly but I spent about 3 hours on the phone with my bank covering all the fraud-prevention bases. Something else I did was open up a brand-new checking account in which to receive the funds. The bank set it up so that the new account was not associated/linked with any of my other accounts. As soon as the wire posted, I withdrew the money in cash, waited 24 hours, DHL'ed the sale documents, and closed the new account.

so let me get this straight: you opened a new account, accepted a wire transfer, withdrew the money as cash, and then closed the account within 24 hrs?

sounds like very suspicious activity

Joeaksa · 03-26-2007, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by on-ramp
so let me get this straight: you opened a new account, accepted a wire transfer, withdrew the money as cash, and then closed the account within 24 hrs?

sounds like very suspicious activity

Its normal overseas procedure for many these days.

You close the new account after withdrawing the cash, this way there is no way that any funds can be reversed by the sender. If you want to be really careful, you deposit the funds in a different bank. Its called CYA.

Sounds like you have not done many overseas wire transfers! I do at least 2 a month and if the receiver is not sure of the source this is the best way to make sure you get and keep your funds.

on-ramp · 03-26-2007, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Its normal overseas procedure for many these days.

You close the new account after withdrawing the cash, this way there is no way that any funds can be reversed by the sender. If you want to be really careful, you deposit the funds in a different bank. Its called CYA.

Sounds like you have not done many overseas wire transfers! I do at least 2 a month and if the receiver is not sure of the source this is the best way to make sure you get and keep your funds.

it just sounds like suspicious activity...

no, i havent done wire transfers of any kind. so why not money orders? After 2 weeks, is there any way they can be reversed?

Opening and closing accounts every time you accept a wire transfer sounds like a big hassle.

Shuie · 03-26-2007, 02:46 PM

A bank wire is no hassle at all. I only accept money orders from Nigeria.