Selling a Car out of State

[thetalonguy]

Hey Everyone,

Figured I would ask here since a lot of you have bought / sold a car out of your state. I have a buyer lined up for my 07 Mazdaspeed 6. He's in Florida and I'm in Long Island. I've done all my car sales / purchases through local dealers except for my Talon which I sold to a friend down the block. The buyer is in a similar boat never having purchased a car site unseen out of state.

He said he has looked into shipping and can get a price that's he's comfortable with. I know most carriers charge a few hundred dollar surcharge for pickups in Long Island. I'd be willing to have it picked up somewhere in Northern NJ or Westchester NY.

How do you typically run through this type of transaction? Both he and I don't want to get scammed. I'd also want to make sure that there was no damage done during delivery that I would bet blamed for. Or if he takes delivery of the car, and is unsatisfied, withdraws payment, then I'm stuck with a car in Florida.

Appreciate your insight.

[13COBRA]

Question...why would he travel 1000 miles for a 13 year old vehicle?

[thetalonguy]

Question...why would he travel 1000 miles for a 13 year old vehicle?

Mazdaspeed 6's were a pretty limited car. There's usually only a handful available sale and those generally have very high mileage, were extensively modified and/or are rusted to crap. I think autrader.com has like 5 available for sale nationwide.

[13COBRA]

Mazdaspeed 6's were a pretty limited car. There's usually only a handful available sale and those generally have very high mileage, were extensively modified and/or are rusted to crap. I think autrader.com has like 5 available for sale nationwide.

Ah, obviously I'm not versed enough on them to make a valid statement haha

I would strong suggest to him to fly up and drive it home. Tell him if he gets there and it isn't what you said it is, you'll cover his flight home.

[BSLSK]

I've bought a couple cars this way and felt completely confident in my purchase. These are the steps I would recommend from my experiences.
1. Agree on price for the condition. Take 100's of pictures and make sure the buyer knows what he is buying. Photos of engine bay, tire condition, interior condition are ones a lot of people forget about.
2. Gather both of your personal info (driver's license would be a good way to do that).
3. Fill, sign, and execute a legal bill of sale that clearly states the condition of the car, the sale price, and anything else you want written.
4. Buyer wires funds to the seller.
5. Confirm funds have been received, then the seller next day air the signed title and maybe the spare key.
6. Arrange transport for pick up. Take 100's more pictures while the vehicle has been already loaded.
7. Buyer MUST inspect and take pictures once the car has been received.
7A. If there is no damage or issue, good job!
7B. If there is damage or issue: confirm there was no pre-existing damage or issue upon pickup. If there was no pre-existing issue, then file a claim with the carrier. (If I were you, I'd make sure to let the buyer know that he would be responsible for making the claim and seeing it through, but you would be willing to cooperate and assist as much as possible. Basically you provide him all the photos you took during pickup.)

[RedTanRT/10]

Talon, there's risk to buying a car sight unseen, but you should never have risk selling a car that way, you need to protect yourself.

BSLSK gave a number of good points above.

The buyer needs to give you good funds before your put a car on a carrier. When you say you have concerned about getting stuck with a car in FL something is wrong in what your doing.

All money up front and verified by your bank, and executed buyers order that in effect says "as is condition."

Instead of a million pictures, take a go-pro and do a walk around video and narrate any flaws, extras, etc.

He's hiring the shipper, any damages are on the shipper or the buyer, not you. Any reputable shipper is insured and will do a good condition report pointing out any/all issues before they load the car. Good luck! Mike

[thetalonguy]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info!

We've agreed upon the price. Gave him a ton a pictures and several videos including cold/hot start up, engine running, video of exhaust showing no smoke or leakage of turbo, video of me rolling through gears.

I would definitely take a pics/video of the car being loaded on trailer.

I guess my concern if is he wanted to do an escrow type transaction in which the funds wouldn't be released until he received the car and went over it himself. But if it's completely customary and normal to wire the funds prior to the car being picked up, then I'll all for that!

Thanks much!

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Over the years, articles and people I trust say that FLORIDA is the #1 State for laundered title / rollback and other scams. KY is # 2.

You cant paint the whole state with that brush, but keep your guard up before relinquishing car/title/bank info, etc.

[RedTanRT/10]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info!

We've agreed upon the price. Gave him a ton a pictures and several videos including cold/hot start up, engine running, video of exhaust showing no smoke or leakage of turbo, video of me rolling through gears.

I would definitely take a pics/video of the car being loaded on trailer.

I guess my concern if is he wanted to do an escrow type transaction in which the funds wouldn't be released until he received the car and went over it himself. But if it's completely customary and normal to wire the funds prior to the car being picked up, then I'll all for that!

Thanks much!

Matt, go ahead and take pictures loading but any reputable shipper is going to do a complete documented inspection before they load.

Get the funds upfront and have your bank verify the funds are good before you put on a carrier. If this guy insists the funds in escrow till he has it in FL, it's a scam or an extremely naive buyer. Tell them your not Carvanna!