Slightly dumb question I know but I am planning on selling a car. Normally I just take the hit on a trade in so I’ve never done it this way before. Valuation is ~£5k. I wondering if I should expect people to turn up with cash / cheque or if they will plan on doing a bank transfer.

Any experience on how to make this as painless as possible much appreciated.

I have had both cash and bankers drafts and also paid in both. A bankers draft is as good as cash plus its eaiser to trace it and its a bit safer.
Most buyers will have a way they prefer.

I’d be a bit wary of bankers drafts as they can be easily forged by people who scam for a living and £5K is a fair sum.

I’ve sold three vehicles; car, van and motorbike and bought two cars and did it with cash each time.

Best to have someone with you without amount around and don’t hand over the keys/documents till you’ve got your hands on the cash. Same if they want to test drive it.

If they suggest bank transfer make sure the money is fully yours before letting anything go.

Cash everytime here. Buy one of those pens from Staples etc?) I wouldnt trust a bankers draft (or it would have to clear before keys handed over).

I’ve always torn (tried to tear through the silver strip on the note as well).

Well, if I was paying £5000 for your car, I’d rock up with cash.
Why?
Easy: Because you’d come over all emotional at the sight of readies, and I’d probably only be paying £4500 as a result, for a quick, safe, sale…..

🙂

Cash is king, once sold my EVO 6 TME and the buyer turned up with 21k cash in a brown bag, jobs a goodun 8)

If you go with a bankers draft, make sure you phone the issuing bank before letting them drive off, the bank should be able to confirm its good or not.

Another good way is to go with the buyer to the bank and over the counter do a bank transfer of funds into your account. Done this way before a couple of times, no worries.

Good luck, and don’t be suprised if a man from Africa would like to offer you payment via western union etc etc….

bankers draft’s only mean that the funds were available at the time the draft was written.

that money could be long gone by the time you bank it.
the last car i sold was £13k in cash and the one before that was a bank to bank transfer never had a problem with either.

IMHO you would be mental to take a bankers draft

Last two cars – one cash and the other by internet transfer.

On the cash one I carefully checked all the money to make sure there were no obvious forgeries (which was tricky ‘cos the guy was from Scotland and had about three different note issuers).

On the transfer one I asked the buyer to wait until I had independently checked that the cash was in my account and cleared.

BTW – have you any idea how big a pile £5k would make? It would be a small suitcase 😉

5k in £50’s is obsenely small

Thanks all – Keep the advice coming. I’d “missed” the potential Nigerian factor.

I’m no idea how much £5k in 50’s would look.

5k in £50’s is obsenely small

But don’t accept £50s! You will be safer with £20s – easier to spot a fake (purely because you are more used to seeing them).

which was tricky ‘cos the guy was from Scotland and had about three different note issuers

Im not implying anything but I was very annoyed with a Tesco’s manager who said it was company policy NOT to accept Scottish notes. Apperently they are easier to forge than English. Just something to consider.

Apperently they are easier to forge than English. Just something to consider.

I was nervous as I banked them at my local bank and even the clerk looked a little perplexed and checked with her supervisor on one occasion. Fortunately (in my case) they were all genuine.

And (in my case again) I knew the buyer was from Glasgow so had little reason to distrust his paying in Scottish notes. Had he come from Manchester I might have been a little more suspicious.

BTW – have you any idea how big a pile £5k would make? It would be a small suitcase

Nahh, I’ve taken 7k to the bank before and you can tuck it inside your coat.
I used to take £3-4k regularly, and that was shop takings, so mostly in tenners.

cash is king. £5k in 20s will be about a 2.5″ thick wad of notes if they are used, or if they are fresh and tightly packed about 1.5″ 🙂

Had he come from Manchester I might have been a little more suspicious.

Either that or hes bloody keen on your car!

slight aside, but my Dad sold a car when I was much younger for £3K in cash. Which he gave to me the next morning with STRICT instructions to put it in the bank.

The trouble is – it was gold cup day, and Desert Orchid was running. At 3-1 odds. And there’s a betting shop 3 doors down from the bank.

Of course, I bottled it, Desert Orchid romped home, and I could have pocketed best part of £9K at the age of 20.

Either that or hes bloody keen on your car!

He came from Glasgow to Harrogate which is further than Manchester to Harrogate!

What do people have against Scottish notes, it still says sterling on the side… I often got paid “cash” in scottish notes, even the Woolich building society wouldn’t let me bank them. Finally figured out that if you put petrol in your car, they will grudgingly accept scottish notes as payment. 🙂

Nahh, I’ve taken 7k to the bank before and you can tuck it inside your coat.

That’s what I meant – the OP mentioned suitcases of cash and I suggested it would be a small suitcase (ie – a VERY SMALL suitcase, like mouse-sized) for that amount of money

One scam is for the buyer to rock up in ‘his’ car ask for a test drive leaving the car with you never to seen again or your car. His car turns out to be stolen you are now 5k out of pocket.

Just a thought, if you take a large amount of cash into a bank, don’t they get sniffy about it, something to do with money laundering regulations?

Anyone know?

Once sold a old Mini Cooper for cash, agreed to meet the buyer half way, some 100 mile drive for me, which for the Mini was a touch and go trip 😉

Agreed a meeting point, petrol station in the middle of nowhere, he opened his boot of the car, gave me £2.5k in cash, signed the paperwork, did not even look at the car and went!

We had agreed on £1.5k, but had decided afterwards the car was worth more! I was absolutely speechless!

Proper cash, no con, just a mad Mini fanatic!

Had to hitch myself home, which was a bit of a nail biter with a wad in my pocket 😉

if the car is valued at 5k put it on at 5300.
make sure you count the 5k when you take it. i had some guys try and stiff me for 200 quid once. his mate tried to say ‘oh, can’t you just let him off?’
like ****. we drove to the cash point. signed the v5 after he’d handed over all the money. cheeky fecker.

Statistically, £20s are the most forged note…

£7k is disappointingly small even in 20’s.

Took most of it to Liverpool in my coat pocket to buy my last vehicle!

That’s what I meant – the OP mentioned suitcases of cash and I suggested it would be a small suitcase (ie – a VERY SMALL suitcase, like mouse-sized) for that amount of money

Ok, sorry. I’ve not got my sense of humour properly turned on yet today.
🙄

I shall be buying in cash, just easier an you get the car easier!

Cash.
most of it in one pocket, rest in other pockets, so I can say “Look here’s £4.5k” and wave money about in front of seller. usually works, but the rest of the money’s on hand, just in case.

we drove to the cash point. signed the v5 after he’d handed over all the money. cheeky fecker.

When I bought my forester. The seller would not budge on £30. £30! We were at loggerheads and guess what? He drove me to the cashpoint so I could give him the last 30quid. Sheesh.

Pound notes are best.

on and on, what you said is not strictly true. Bankers drafts are drawn from a bank internal suspense account. The money is transfered out the parties account into this before the cheque is issue. However bank drafts can still be cancelled by the issuing bank and/or forged.

I would have made you drive there too! You obviously want it enough, so pay the extra 30 – that’s another two hours work for me. If 30 quid is not a big deal, then give me 60 – the thirty you owe, and then another thirty for the hell of it.

“What do people have against Scottish notes, it still says sterling on the side.”

There was a point a few years ago when tons of fake jock notes were being dumped around London – they were easier to pass because English people don’t know what to look for. Now it’s just hard to spend them anywhere.

Yes, people show up with cash. Don’t take the cash after the banks have closed for the day/week so that you can bank it straight after.

Money laundering is not a problem. You can just fill out a form that says “I sold a car”. I don’t think the threshhold is that low anyway.

SOld my Mini recently – buyer had cash so I drove them to the bank. I think once cash is paid in that’s the job done, but a bank can come back on banker’s drafts until the issuing bank says it’s paying up. Check it on the scams bit on the Autotrader website.

on and on – Member

bankers draft’s only mean that the funds were available at the time the draft was written.

that money could be long gone by the time you bank it.
………

That’s not true – a banker’s draft is not drawn on a specific account, it’s drawn on the bank’s own account so unless the bank goes pop ..

There are other issues though, forgery etc. but you can usually call the issuing bank for verification

but you can usually call the issuing bank for verification

I’m sure some banks wouldnt release certain information? Better idea, I once met a seller at a nominated branch of my bank (basically rang up the branch and arranged to pick up the draft there with the seller present at/near the counter in eye-shot.

I paid cash for both my previous car purchases. The last one, I met the bloke 1/2 way to look the car over, test drive and check him out. Then a few days later we drove from Leeds to Chester with the cash to collect the car.