How safe are wire transfers from other people?

I had a call this morning from NY about my Insight I have for sale here in MO. Ok, that isn't too weird as I have had calls from all over the midwest about it. Well this guy said his Insight was just totaled and he wants another one, like today. So he wants to send me a wire transfer as payment and then have a delivery service pick up the car and take it to NYC. Naturally, my wife starts losing her E36 M3 about being robbed. I think the guy is legit as we talked for 15 minutes about Insights and how mine ran and such. No worries from the conversation about him scamming me, just his location.

Long story short, if someone sends me a bank wire transfer, are there any safety issues to worry about?

Receiving them is totally safe (in itself). Sending them is a whole different story.

I would think some sort of a bank transfer would be the way to go. Any chance both of you belong to the same bank (Chase, etc) ?

The delivery thing screams scam to me. get a cheap 1 way flight and drive is what I would tell him.

Im not so worried about the delivery as I will have the money by then. My mom and wife both think I should just have him over night a cashier's check. To me, this isn't really any different than receiving a wire transfer. I am at a regional bank so no help there.

Ask your bank. They will know about these things. I would think it's one of the safest ways to be paid.

A wire transfer seems like it would be safer than a cashiers check. I've heard quite a few scams involve counterfeit bank checks so it seems like an actual wire would be safest. I also know higher end cars (read $$$$$$) are often paid for via wire transfer and then shipped. I have never done this myself, but it's what I've heard. I'd recommend going to your bank branch and talking to an actual banker.

Yep it's very common for big-money cars to be paid for by wire transfer. For the 7+ digit ones, between Swiss bank accounts

Cashier's checks, bank checks, money orders (non postal) are all subject to the same fraud risks as a personal check. They are not worth the trouble. Wire transfer, ask your bank, but I think that's pretty instant and permanent. The risk there is giving out your account number, and I'm not sure on the exact risk level there.

I talked with my bank and they said that other giving out my number, there aren't any issues. The fix there is set up a new account to receive the funds and then transfer those to my main account and close the new one. Nice and easy.

Wires are safe. New account, wire it to that one, transfer funds, close account. Money is in there safe and sound.

With our international business, we get wire transfers regularly. We have a dedicated account to receive them. Perfectly safe that way. I was quite surprised to find that bank drafts can be faked, as easily as a personal check. The only truly safe way to send and receive money is by wire transfer.

You can't 'undo' a wire transfer. If you're receiving a wire payment, you're good. As was mentioned already, it's sending a wire where the real risk lies.