Problem with person purchasing my car, AARGH

Tiggeroo

Grammar Nazi
Joined
Sep 16, 1999
Messages
11,334
I put my car in the paper and am selling it. I had two people here at the same time yesterday. The first person made me an offer, so the second person left. Purchaser asks what he has to do so it doesn't get sold. I tell him to leave me a check and I'll just hold the check til he comes and picks up the vehicle. The purchaser gave me a check to hold it and we made arrangements to get cash in exchange for the vehicle today. He took all the auto books with him. After that several people called and i told them it was sold. I also had the ad in the paper cancelled. I now don't consider the car mine so don't want to drive it. So I also rented a car so I could use it while car shopping and so DH can get to work.. (I didn't pick it up yet)And I made arrangements to look at several vehicles. DH took the morning off from work to take care of this stuff. The buyer calls me today and says he wants to look at it again. Then he calls and says he might not want to buy it because he hadn't talked about it with his wife. He comes by here insisting on his check back. Dh asks him for the car books. He says he will give them to him later. DH says then he will give him his check when he gives him the books. Man threatens to call police, takes check, writes void on it, and says he'll bring books back later. I am so po'd. Any thoughts on this.
 
Oh, he calls me back says he is too busy to bring back books. Can he have my address. He'll put it in the mail. I can't sell it without it. I tell him this is rude and he starts accusing me of crazy stuff. What a nut. DH now has to ride to this man's house to get the book he took.
 
Tell the next buyer that you need a certified cashier's check for the full amount before taking the car "off the market".
 
Unfortunately that's what I'll have to do. I've sold and bought alot of used cars over the years and this is the way I've always seen it done. I have never had a problem before. If he was nice about it I might have understood him cancelling. It's just that he was a jerk right away. From a couple of references I've read if you cancel you forfeit your deposit.
 

So sorry this has happened to you. I guess that's the reason why we just deal with the dealerships. I don't want this type of hassle. Good luck...hope it all works out.

I agree with you, the guy is a jerk.
 
I'd think that until that car is paid in full with a valid Cashiers Check it is still your property.

Looks like your DH will have to go to this guys house, with the car registation in hand, and demand the return of those books. He should also be prepared to call the Police himself if the man refuses to do so.

Next time I wouldn't allow anyone to take information home. If they can't decide by looking at the car and books on site, it's no deal.
 
Unfortunately you were being the nice guy, and you got burned. I'd probably do the same thing if I trusted the person.

Next time, don't give anything (at all) from the car until it's bought and gone. Even if they want the books, tell them that they are part of the car and you can't give them away.

If you have 5 people who want the car, tell the 5 of them whomever gives you the check first gets the car. Period.
 
Next time I wouldn't allow anyone to take information home. If they can't decide by looking at the car and books on site, it's no deal.
He did decide. He purchased the vehicle. I gave him a receipt for the check. We were just going to exchange the check for cash, since I won't take a check for car purchase. I know that technically the car was still mine until the title was transferred. But since the man gave me money, if I drove it and something happened it would have been wrong on my part. Also, since he gave me a check, if I sold it to somebody else who gave me more money that would have been wrong. Also, I think he could have sued me for selling it to somebody else when he paid for it. I had verified funds on check and they were there. Just preferred to deal in cash.
By the way, the car was less then $3000. we're not talking about something with high value.
 
Sold many cars, here is what we do...

If they say they will buy the car & want us to "hold it" we type a "hold receipt" which includes a non-refundable deposit of $200 to hold it. Included in that is a date which they must purchase the car, usually 24 hours. Someone has to be serious to be willingly to lose $200.

We still take calls but tell the people someone has put a deposit on it, but since it is not officially sold you can look at it. Car shoppers usually look.

However, if the car is sought after we refuse a "hold" and say whoever pays us first.

Sorry you got burned. :(
 
Please post if you get the books back.

The guy sounds strange. Tell your DH to be careful, take a cell phone and don't be afraid to walk away and get the authorities involved if the guy makes anyone feel uncomfortable.
 
Like Mishetta, we deal with dealerships to avoid this hassle.

I was going to suggest that you ask for cash as a deposit on the car, forget about taking a check as deposit. Mystery Machine has a good system to avoid getting burned. I agree that you were being honest and nice and thought that they guy was on the level. Sorry this happened.:(
 
unfortunately, others will suffer. I know how to protect myself. It just never occured to me that someone would be such a jerk. He talks to me like I"m doing something wrong. Says things like, I guess since you're being so defensive about it there must be something wrong with the car that you're not telling me. Come on. It's an older Jeep Wrangler. I let him test drive it for as long as he wanted. He could look over it as much as he wanted. He could have brought a friend with him to look at it with him. I gave him a good deal on it. If I have to be super anal about things it will just make it more difficult for an honest buyer. But I guess I have to.
 
Tiggeroo, when you mentioned it was a jeep that triggered up a memory of a few years back here in Ohio.

A woman posing as a potential buyer took a jeep and it's pregnant owner on a testdrive. She then kidnapped the woman, killed her, gave the lady a c-section and tried to pass the baby off as her own. She eventually killed herself. The baby now lives with his father.

The moral to my story ~ I would never trust ANYONE.
 
Says things like, I guess since you're being so defensive about it there must be something wrong with the car that you're not telling me.

He sounds like the paranoid type that thinks everyone is out to get them or cheat them.

I hope you find another buyer soon.::yes::
 
I just sold my truck. I wrote up my own contract that payment is in cash. Sale is final and as is. no warranty. I did not allow myself to fall victim to a person backing out. Checks are worthless until taken to the persons bank and cashed! Take your experience as a lesson learned for the future.
 
This is why we just trade ours in. Don't have the time to advertise, show the car and explain warrenties to shoppers.
 
It used to be law that a person had 3 days to change their mind on a personal sale like that, isn't it still that way? If so, then the man was within his rights to change his mind. He shouldn't have been rude though and he should have given the books back immediately.

When we sold our camper last summer, we immediately deposited the person's check into our checking account, but waited 3 days - not only for the check to clear the bank, but just in case the people changed their minds and wanted their money back. They were the only people who were serious about the camper, but if we would have had others call about it AFTER it was sold, we would have gotten their name/phone number so we could call THEM in case the first deal fell through.
 
Originally posted by The Mystery Machine
Sold many cars, here is what we do...

If they say they will buy the car & want us to "hold it" we type a "hold receipt" which includes a non-refundable deposit of $200 to hold it. Included in that is a date which they must purchase the car, usually 24 hours. Someone has to be serious to be willingly to lose $200.

We still take calls but tell the people someone has put a deposit on it, but since it is not officially sold you can look at it. Car shoppers usually look.

However, if the car is sought after we refuse a "hold" and say whoever pays us first.

Sorry you got burned. :(
DITTO!!

Do hope you can get the books back from that wacko!
 














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