OT: flogging a car on ebay

[Lobster]

I hate to add to the plethora of OT stuff here, but are there actually any active car-related ngs left now?

I've decided to offload my car on ebay; it's probably worth around a grand. It's in good nick, low mileage, and I've owned it since new 13 years ago, so it has excellent provenance which I want to make the most of to attract buyers. I can make available scans of all the old MOTs, maintenance invoices etc. Question here is - what is the risk, if any from a security point of view? Stuff like home address, garage details, reg number, maybe VIN,.. anyone think of any potential issues?

Presumably best not to display the logbook.

[Fredxxx]

The biggest risk is from scammers who want to pay with a cheque or other nefarious ways.

For me cash only.

If you leave the reg in a photo, it means that a prospective buyer can check up on the MOT status for free, and if they are serious check if it has been written off and its HP status.

I would likely blurr out my address in any photos of documents. No need display the V5 or anything with its VIN!

[Theo]

uk.rec.cars.maintenance or uk.people.consumers.ebay are still active, if not busy.

The flip side of that is it's a easy place for someone who wants to make up some fake plates and wants to find a reg matching the make/model/trim/colour of their getaway vehicle. How much of a problem that is in real life I don't know. It does make the buyer's life easier to have the reg.

Yes... you can casually obscure parts of documents so that they can't be printed out and used as fakes - eg arrange them so the important bits just happen to be overlapped.

Theo

[T i m]

... and also not in a 'non nice' setting. The number of times you see stuff for sale online and it's photographed against a load of dustbins or what looks like a breakers yard (which is fine if you a selling a dustcart or are a car breaker etc). ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Weatherlawyer]

How do You check its MoT?

[Fredxxx]

All you need is the reg and manufacturer.

[Michael Chare]

As a purchaser I would be reluctant to bid for something like that on ebay because it is difficult to ascertain the condition.

I would think that a local paper is better. As a seller I would want cash, I would reserve the item if say £100 non refundable deposit was paid. I would not take the vehicle to any purchaser, they have to visit. Accurate pricing is important, don't ask to much, but let the purchaser negotiate a reduction.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Hope you have a way of checking for forgeries.

[Mark]

These days perhaps mobile banking apps/paypal would be a good option?

[Andy Burns]

I would worry about the buyer making a spurious complaint, paypal siding with the buyer and reversing the payment.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are there any decent car auctions near you?

Relatively low priced cars with proper history often sell well to private punters. Without the hassle of Ebay. I've never bought or sold a car on Ebay but have heard lots of horror stories from those who have. Many seem to think winning the auction doesn't commit them to buying the car.

Basically, very different from pretty well all Ebay transactions for things other than cars.

[Tim Watts]

No. More or less any bank transaction can be reversed. Even a Banker's Draft is not 100% foolproof.

Possibly the best way is to take matey and his cash into a bank and deposit it in your account. They'll check the notes there, so after that you are pretty safe.

In practise, unless you are selling a car to a major criminal, if you read the online guides to checking for forgeries, get a UV light and/or note test pen and glance to see that the notes are not obviously sequential, your practical risk is extremely low - vanishingly so.

The bigger problem is to make sure they don't make off with your car during the test drive.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Don't think I've ever seen a car for sale on Ebay where Paypal was accepted. Costs too much. Maybe for the deposit.

[Roland Perry]

In message , at

20:08:02 on Thu, 7 Jul 2016, Lobster remarked:

It's always worked for me (even one that was an MOT failure - a breakers yard bought it).

Best to offer people the chance to inspect, I find that having an "open day" at the weekend for an auction finishing late Sunday is probably the most sensible. I don't have a problem giving out a mobile number for people to call, and it's never had any consequences after the sale.

If someone buys and then doesn't turn up, simply cancel the sale and relist.

Biggest problem is being approached by large numbers of "fly boys" practically insisting you sell it to them for cash *today* off eBay and at about half the price you were expecting. Best way to fend them off is to say you won't stop the auction early.

Oh, and don't say in the listing it's also for sale in the paper/whatever, because I'm sure that puts people off.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

One I've heard of most is the auction winner turning up to collect the car

- then trying to negotiate a lower price.