sold my car today but feel stupid?

[911paige]

Hey guys i sold my car today i had a 1998 m3 i also have a 1983 944 that i don't want to part with but i feel i made a mistake i don't normally accept personal checks for cars but i did today now don't get me wrong i'm not stupid but i feel a little dumb let me explain i was selling my car on evilbay with no success so i posted it on craigslist every time i do that you always get many calls so this young man call me and says he likes the car and wants it but because he is working today he would send his parents to see the car and if they agreed pay for the car. they live about 40 minutes from me so i said o.k they came and liked the car by the way i gave the car away 74000 miles 98 m3 all records for 13500...any how they liked it and gave me a personal check i took a copy of his dads license and only gave him a copy of the title not the original and i told him to overnite my plates tomorrow i checked to see if the bank was legit it is and i checked the dads place of work since he left me his card i have 4 phone numbers...dads,the young man and home and work...on monday i will deposit the check and wait the three days for it to clear.then when i receive my plates and the check clears i will send the title..i know i took some precautions but i still feel stupid maybe because i lost about three grand on the car? thanks

[TerryH]

think you sold the wrong car! nice!

I'm not the expert here, but I think you are okay as long as you still own title.. you own the car. They need to trust you more than you need to trust them.

[Gogar]

Hold on, I've got to run that through Babelfish real quick . . . ..

[vash]

???

overnight plates?? i dont get it. how would you only lose 3 grand?...

[911paige]

well what i meant is i should have sold the car for more cash that's all... three grand is just the money i should have added to the sale price that's why i said that. as far as the plates they can fedex you anything overnite ...

[rattlsnak]

i just bought an 98 M3 with 67,xxx miles for $6K..




(of course it hasnt run in three years, and has front end damage,. but........)

[the]

I agree you sold the wrong car, but I assume you needed the additional cash that the M3 brought over what the 944 would have brought.

Anyways, maybe they ripped you off, but saving part is probably that you didn't give them the original title. It is possible that all the info they gave you was somehow phony, and the car is now on it's way to Mexico, though. If you let the car go after the close of banking hours on Saturday, that's not a particularly good sign, as that's when most scamster operate. It gives them the maximum amount of time to get away before the banks open.

Without the original title, I highly doubt that they could ever register the car, and if they did, it wouldn't be legal and could be undone.

Hope it works out. It isn't at all smart to release a car to any buyer until good, cleared funds are confirmed in your bank account.

[MRM]

You have nothing to regret. That's about what the car was worth, and you found someone who paid you what you thought was a fair price. You can torture yourself forever about whether you got the most for anything. The only thing that matters is if you got what you wanted from the sale. You did, now you have quite a bit of money that you can now use for something else you need more. You have nothing to feel badly about. You should be happy you had the car for as long as you did and look forward to getting a newr, faster, better one some day.

[widgeon13]

I sold a arctic silver 98 M3 two years ago for 18K, it had 50K miles. I believe I got a small premium on that car, 13.5K for a 4 door M3 w/74 K is not a bad deal. I believe you would have waited a long time for a buyer willing to pay 16K for your car in spite of it appearing to be in very nice condition. It took a while to sell mine and the buyer came all the way from Kirkland WA for the car in CT.

Since you still have the original title, if the check bounces you can claim the car was stolen.

I'll bet the check is good and you will get your money. Sounds to me like you are experiencing some reservations about the sale and making the buyer the potential bad guy when you are the one that made the sale decision. Not trying to piss you off with that statement as I had reservations for months after I sold my M3 and kept my 84 Carrera. I really enjoyed my BMW and had it since it was new but found that I enjoyed the Porsche more and could actually do more of my own maintenance. The M3 was a black box, everything electrical and I didn't know from squat when something went wrong and dealers always charged an arm and a leg when anything went wrong.

Enjoy your 944, wait for the check to clear, if possible, go to the bank it is drawn on and cash asap. Ask if funds are available to cover the check.

Hope it all goes well, keep us posted.

[911paige]

thanks a lot i feel better and i'm getting quite a laugh from some responses you may be right about the reservations widgeon i do miss the car but i did need the money .... for the move i will be doing soon but i'll be at the bank first thing in the morning .....you guys are great i'm not feeling quite as stupid any more.

[Zeke]

you could have given it away at the side of the road (you'd have to read my thread).

[widgeon13]

I had a similar situation two weeks ago, an 89 Caddy w/ 60K miles, I got from my mother when she stopped driving (she's 95) used by me as an airport car breaks down on the Whitestone Bridge, Bronx NY, coming back from JFK at 11:30Pm. The alternator goes and everything stops. I would have given it away on the spot as well if I could have gotten a ride home. With my wife in the car, thought we were dead meat or at least mugging material. Got home at 2:30AM after a 70 flatbed ride.

You don't want to breakdown on the Bronx Whitestone Bridge at that time of the night, believe me.

All is well, neither one of us are scared for life.

[aigel]

Have your bank call the buyer's bank. You will find out if the buyer's account has the funds in it. No guarantee, but it will ease your mind. Also, have your bank tell you when it is safe to release the title. Once the cash is taken out of the buyer's account, there is no chance they can get it back by canceling the check.

Hope this helps.

George

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Hold on, I've got to run that through Babelfish real quick . . . ..

My head hurts......

[3.2 CAB]

If they are only about 40 minutes from you, why don't you just go to their bank this morning and cash the check?? I just did the same thing Friday, with a similar amount, except they did not get anything till I returned from their bank with the cash!

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by 3.2 CAB

If they are only about 40 minutes from you, why don't you just go to their bank this morning and cash the check?? I just did the same thing Friday, with a similar amount, except they did not get anything till I returned from their bank with the cash!

+1 - 40 minute drive would be worth the 13.5k to me and the piece of mind.

[gassy]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Hold on, I've got to run that through Babelfish real quick . . . ..

LOL!

[the]

Definitely don't feel stupid about the price. You got WELL over the market price for a 74K mile 98 M3 sedan.

[Hawktel]

This guy has a better deal than you.

http://consumerist.com/371297/bmw-dealer-refuses-to-honor-ebay-sale

[911paige]

well you can't cash a check in bank unless you have an account in the same bank . besides after i read some of the post i started feeling like maybe the guy is not so bad after all ... when i went to my bank they said two days and i should be fine. back in the day i would do some pretty ugly things to people if i thought they were trying to get over but i say today do the right thing and good things happen ...so if i don't get my money by wednesday i will go to the guys job beat him down get my car back and keep a couple thousand just for my trouble ....na ......will see ...thanks.