Can you get scammed selling a car?

Private car sales between individuals can be a great way to find a deal but come with a high potential for financial and personal risk, made even worse by scammers pretending to be private buyers or sellers.

Is it safe to provide VIN number?

In most cases, it is safe to give out the VIN number when selling a car. Generally, it is preferable to give out the VIN only to a potential buyer or professional dealer.

How secure is a cashier’s check?

Compared to personal checks, cashier’s checks and certified checks are generally viewed as more secure and less susceptible to fraud. Cashier’s checks are generally regarded as the safer bet since the funds are drawn against the bank’s account, not an individual person’s or business’s account.

Should I accept a personal check when selling a used car?

If say you sold your used car for $11,500 you may not feel comfortable holding such a large amount. To mitigate the risk, have the buyer to meet at your bank. This way you can immediately deposit the cash upon receiving it. Accepting a personal check is not advised.

Can you sell a car if you still owe money?

If you still owe money on the car you’re selling, discuss how to handle the sale early on. It’s easy to sell a car with a loan, but it will require extra steps — for example, a cashier’s check to pay off the bank and another for any equity you have.

Should you sell your car to a friend or relative?

There’s a lot of misplaced fear around selling cars to friends. People seem to imagine that the car will conk out the day after the sale and your friend or relative will never speak to you again. That could happen, sure. But handling the sale correctly makes both of those things less likely.

Should you surprise a potential buyer when selling your car?

Surprises will only irritate buyers, diminish trust, and probably extend the time it takes you to sell your car. There’s no reason to waste a potential buyer’s time. Chances are, they’re not going to buy your car if they feel misled, which means you just wasted your own time, too.