Shipping a car I've just sold -- anything to look out for?

Earlier this week, I sold a car on eBay. The buyer set the required deposit by paypal almost immediately.

We exchanged a couple of e-mails, and have spoken on the phone a couple of times.

The buyer has sent the remainder of the purchase price via paypal and is making arrangements to have the car picked up by a shipping company. This is my first time buying or selling a car without a face-to-face handoff, so I'm just making sure that I get it right.

What do I need to worry about on my end -- both in terms of getting the car on the truck, physically, and in terms of covering myself? I've looked at the title transfer requirements for my state, and I think that's pretty straightforward.

I have the money in my paypal account; and from a legal standpoint, I think that once I transfer the car to a common carrier, I'm done. Am I being naive or overlooking a point where I might get berkeleyed?

Thanks for the advice. Matt

Take lots of pictures. They'll be your best proof of the condition of the car when it was handed over to the shipping company.

I've done this a few times and I'll second "take lots of pictures".

The truck driver will usually go over the car with a fine tooth comb and document any flaw on the car. You have to sign for anything that he finds before the car leaves your possession. You will get a copy of the form. Keep it.

When I sold my '65 Mustang Fastback, the truck driver threw straps over the top of the rear wheels and strapped it down so tight that I was sure that the rear axles and wheel bearings would be destroyed. Lots of positive camber on that straight axle. I took photos of that and sent them to the new owner so he could look it over closely when the truck arrived.

But I didn't send them until the truck left my house.

Get the money out of your paypal account and into a non-linked account before you transfer the title.

The loading and transport of the car is up to the shipping company. Take pictures of the car just before and during loading to prove it's condition should something happen on the road.

skruffy wrote: Get the money out of your paypal account and into a non-linked account before you transfer the title. .

Never thought of that.

I've been on each end of this transaction once. The driver does the loading.
I'll third for taking pictures, mostly to cover you. If it gets hit by a bigass hail storm in Texas and the driver says "What hail damage?" you're good. Keep a copy, send a copy to the seller if you wish.

The pickup can take a while. I bought a car in San Antonio, Tx and shipped it to New York. The driver gets his route from a base somewhere. When there are enough cars for a run, he is sent from one to another. I think it took five weeks to get picked up, four days for delivery. Talking to the dispatcher, I was getting a little pissy and they explained that I could drop the request and go to another driver, another company. They all use the same dispatcher, so now you start at the bottom of the list again. Could be BS.

Dan

skruffy wrote: Get the money out of your paypal account and into a non-linked account before you transfer the title.

Interesting -- what is the concern here? Is there some possibility that the buyer could un-do the transfer? I'm a bit of a paypal noob.

Thanks Matt

www.paypalsucks.com

I would have only accepted payment in cash, cashiers check, or wire transfer.

At least clean out your paypal and move the $$$ to a separate account at a separate bank before the car/title leave your sight.

make sure you get a bill of sale and notify your insurance carrier....

If the buyer claims they never got the car or are otherwise unhappy with the transaction paypal will immediately freeze your account or just pull the money back out. Then it's up to you to somehow prove the buyer actually got what they paid for. Then, after a while, you might get your money back. That's pretty much the only reason I stopped selling stuff on ebay (aside from the fee hikes and new feedback system).

Yeah, I really don't like eBay these days. But it hits a lot of eyeballs, fast. The feedback system is horrible.

Anyway, the guy seems to have realized that the fees for transporting a car ~200 miles are enough that it's worth a road trip to pick up the car. That's part of the reason I was suspicious in the first place.

But we'll get the title signed and notarized this weekend, and he can drive off in to the sunset.

Thanks for all the help. Matt

I'll add that the seller can insure a vehicle with the signed title as his only document - he needs to have done so before the car is touched by the truck driver.