Process of selling car online

[LMBM3]

My M3 is listed for sale here on m3post, I have a buyer who is very serious about buying it, he is from california and I am from NY. I am getting a PPI at a place of his choosing, I am going to have a deposit on the car as well. Now for the process of actually selling it, he sent me a schedule on how the sale would ideally take place and I would like you guys to look at it to see if the process is correct and protects me from scams. I'm a bit worried about emailing/sending the title and registration before the wire is complete. But I'm not sure how this process usually takes place. If anyone has had experience buying/selling a car online/cross country I would like to hear your opinion/experience. Thanks!


Tuesday Morning Buyer - Send $400 deposit to Seller
Tuesday Night Buyer - Email CA REG 343 to Seller for completion
Thursday Morning Seller - Bring vehicle to TKX Performance for PPI around 9am
Thursday Afternoon Buyer to pay TKX and discuss results of PPI
If passes PPI - the following occurs
Thursday Night Seller- CA REG 343 Form - sign, and email a scanned copy back to Buyer
Thursday Night Seller- NY Title - sign and email a scanned copy back to Buyer
Thursday Night Seller- NY registration certificate - scan and emailed to Buyer
Thursday Night Seller/ Buyer- sign and email NY Bill of Sale (Sale Agreement) to each other
Thursday Night Seller- Send wire payment bank account instructions
Friday Morning at 10 am EST Seller- M3 is delivered to TKX Performance with the following - at 74,XXX miles?
Friday Morning at 10 am EST Keys are in vehicle
Friday Morning at 10 am EST Original Signed Title in Glovebox
Friday Morning at 10 am EST Original Registration in Glovebox
Friday Morning at 10 am EST TKX Performance - Email Seller / Buyer confirm M3 is in TKX possession along with the title, reg, keys and will not be released until given the ok from Seller
Friday Morning at 10 am EST Buyer- Wire payment of $21,600 to Sellers bank account
Friday / up to Oct 19th? Seller- Confirm the wire is complete and money has settled, email is sent to Henry / TKX Performance that M3 can be released to Buyer for shipping

[mrspecter]

The logistics looks very similar to how i bought my m3 from out of state.
I guess if TKX is acting as a middleman and is in contact with both the seller/buyer than it shouldn't be a problem. I considered using an escrow service but ultimately opted not to because the seller seemed trustworthy.

As for sending the title, the seller didn't send me the original title until the wire transfer was complete but i did ask him to send a picture of it along with his ID to verify the info was correct.

[ELSTL]

I agree with mrspector - using a middleman helps but I have followed the schedule below on a couple internet out-of-state sales:
-Deposit
-PPI
-Confirmation of ownership via scan of title, drivers license, VIN pictures
-BOS via DocuSign or just scan back and forth
-Wire transfer
-Sign title and scan and send via FedEx
-Coordinate shipping

[BimmerSixDeuce]

Another option is to use an escrow service as a responsible 3rd party.

[Cyberdemon]

This seems OK to me. You aren't mailing him the title before cash transacts and that is the "Gold" here.

TKX is a reputable shop so I wouldn't worry about that either. GLWS, buyer seems to be getting a nice deal @ $22k

[Davey27]

Agree with all of the above, including your list, with the one exception being that you'd be putting the title in the glove box, presumably to be kept there through shipment of the vehicle. That seems a bit risky having the title in the vehicle during shipment, and as others have pointed out, I would recommend you overnight mail the title once you receive the wire, via FedEx. Much safer and avoids the car and title being together in case the car was stolen. If you have a second key, I'd throw that in the FedEx package to keep those separate as well, again as an extra layer of security in case the other got lost. This is what I did when purchasing my car across the country, worked well.

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by Davey27

Agree with all of the above, including your list, with the one exception being that you'd be putting the title in the glove box, presumably to be kept there through shipment of the vehicle. That seems a bit risky having the title in the vehicle during shipment, and as others have pointed out, I would recommend you overnight mail the title once you receive the wire, via FedEx. Much safer and avoids the car and title being together in case the car was stolen. If you have a second key, I'd throw that in the FedEx package to keep those separate as well, again as an extra layer of security in case the other got lost. This is what I did when purchasing my car across the country, worked well.

Valid point, but the buyer might be asking TKX to actually do that. Theres no action plan once they accept the vehicle but I suspect they're responsible for arranging shipping.

[tdott]

Normally, wire is sent first before I sign title and bill of sale.

I usually overnight the title + documents to the buyer. Then they arrange shipping.

IMO, I don't feel comfortable signing a bill of sale or title until I have the funds. But upto you if you feed comfortable doing that. I suppose using an independent 3rd party is good, but I have never really needed to, I assume they would need to be compensated for their time also.

[LMBM3]

Thanks for the replies, When I email him the title(day before wire transfer) should the back of it be signed or just blank for it to be proof of ownership. That's the main thing I am worried about, the fact he has a signed title and a signed bill of sale before the wire transfer. And I'll tell him about mailing the title rather than keeping it in the car, as that seems safer.

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by LMBM3

Thanks for the replies, When I email him the title(day before wire transfer) should the back of it be signed or just blank for it to be proof of ownership. That's the main thing I am worried about, the fact he has a signed title and a signed bill of sale before the wire transfer. And I'll tell him about mailing the title rather than keeping it in the car, as that seems safer.

He needs the original title to register and prove ownership of the vehicle, a copy isn't going to get him anywhere. I think most important for the buyer here is you are showing in good faith that the title has been signed over, even though it's not in his possesion. Means you couldn't leave it blank and then sign it to some other stranger after he wires the funds, and he has some proof in hand that he is in fact the legitimate buyer if you were to flake.

[bukt66]

Escrow might just be what you need.

[BeaterM3]

Sold my old 1994 Mustand GT about 12 years ago on Ebay and, this Jan (2020), I sold my 335i on Car Gurus.

When I sold my Mustang on Ebay back in 2007, Ebay was actually full of car enthusiasts and the sale, shipping, transfer of paperwork was smooth. If I remember correctly (not sure if this is right - memory is hazy); the buyer mailed me a bank check for the car and shipping. I mailed him the signed over title once the check cleared. Once he received the title, the shipping pickup was scheduled and they came to pick up the car and keys from me.

Now Ebay is worthless; full of car auctioneers/dealers looking for undercut prices.

Car Gurus gave me the most amount of exposure and replies back. Sold the 335i to a kid off there.