Dealing with car buyers
From arranging a viewing to taking payment, selling a car involves plenty of discussion with potential buyers.
We show you how to arrange a viewing, negotiate a price and receive payment safely.
What you need:
- A well prepared, clean car
- An advert on Auto Trader
- A contact telephone number
- A price for your car
Directions:
Over the phone
- 1. Emphasise the car's strong points and encourage the buyer to view it.
- 2. Ask for their telephone number so you can contact them if you need to re-arrange the viewing.
- 3. Avoid making any firm agreements or sales over the phone without meeting first. You may receive a better offer from a different buyer.
Test drives
- 4. Check the buyer is insured to drive your car. If they are not, do not allow them to test drive your car - if they damage it, you will be responsible.
- 5. Always accompany the potential buyer on a test drive. Consider taking a friend or relative with you if possible.
- 6. Let a buyer follow their own route. Be prepared for people to drive your car hard, but if they are abusing it, ask them to calm down.
- 7. Never leave keys in the ignition when swapping seats. Thieves may use this opportunity to drive away in your car.
Haggling
- 8. Buyers will inevitably know how to haggle about the price; it's all part of buying a car. When the buyer makes an offer, try to be firm, without being unreasonable - lower your price slightly but avoid taking their first offer.
- 9. Set a price limit beforehand and keep it in mind during negotiations - tell the buyer you can't drop below this.
- 10. Avoid rejecting a sale when you are close to a deal. It may cost you more in re-advertising fees to keep the car for sale.
- 11. Get the buyer to sign an agreement and hand over a deposit before accepting payment.
Handling the money
If the buyer is paying by cash...
- 12. Try to receive cash at a bank so you can deposit it straight away.
- 13. Ask for a receipt from the cashier.
- 14. Avoid carrying around large sums of money - arrange the viewing during bank opening hours so you can make a deposit on the same day.
If the buyer is paying by cheque...
- 15. Never hand over the keys before the money has arrived in your account. Check with your bank to see if it has cleared properly.
- 16. Cheques and banker's drafts can be fraudulent or counterfeit so be aware before accepting these - check with your bank to make sure they're legitimate.
If the buyer is paying with a money transfer service...
- 17. Never accept payment from a money transfer company which exists for exchanging money between people who know each other.
- 18. Be careful when using escrow services as some are bogus and set up by fraudsters.
- 19. If you do use escrow make sure it's based in the UK and verified by the FSA.