Buyer from Switzerland?
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
Buyer from Switzerland?
So this guy from Switzerland called me today wanting to buy my car, and he said he is moving to the states in 2 weeks and was asking me all kinds of questions (scammer trying to cover himself?), he said he is going to have a dealer contact me and come and pick up the car, lol in case somebody showes up to buy the car, what should i do? take him to the bank make sure the money clears?
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From: San Antonio
09 c63 p30 mars red
I would suggest having him wire a $5000.00 non-refundable deposit. Give him 4 weeks to complete the deal in person. If he is for real you will find out. Do not give him your acct info!! Do not let anyone pick-up your car!! Remember there are a lot of fake cashiers checks out there! The bank will accept them but when they pursue payment the bank on the check will deny it !! This can take several days to happen and by then your car is gone. Beware!!!
Last edited by jim07; Feb 26, 2011 at 01:18 PM.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
I would suggest having him wire a $5000.00 non-refundable deposit. Give him 4 weeks to complete the deal in person. If he is for real you will find out. Do not give him your acct info!! Do not let anyone pick-up your car!! Remember there are a lot of fake cashiers checks out there! The bank will accept them but when they pursue payment the bank on the check will deny it !! This can take several days to happen and by then your car is gone. Beware!!!
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From: Basel, Switzerland
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Even if real this can drag, because there's a ton of paperwork to be done in the US before you can even open a bank account, let alone get a title transfered or insurance arranged. The guy is also likely to not know a lot about how a car sales goes in the US.
I would just tell him that you only deal in person (or state side), and that he is welcome to come see the car in 2 weeks when he moves.
I would just tell him that you only deal in person (or state side), and that he is welcome to come see the car in 2 weeks when he moves.
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From: S. Florida
GT3
Almost guaranteed a scam. I have been contacted with the same story multiple times. Just tell him when he arrives you can work the deal in person at your bank. In fact I was just contacted a few days ago about one of my race bikes. Somehow they like to throw the paypal thing around and then theres a shipper involved and they are always over seas working. If he is coming here in two weeks then it only makes sense to do the deal then. You have to be very cautious on excepting money even if its through something like paypal or even a bank check. You can become resonsible for the money. I dont really understand the inner dealings and its hard to explain. Just be careful and do everything at your bank. GLWS.
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Some of us move around a bit, and if it's a company sponsored move, it's not that hard to get bank accounts, etc, sorted out very quickly - even stateside. What tends to be more problematic is moving large sums, usually the IRS & Dept of Treasury want to tie things up for a few days.
All the advice you've been given is great, and your bank can tell you how long it will take for a cashiers check to clear. Wire transfer is probably the safest way to have the money delivered, as the transmitting bank clears the funds, and most banks won't transfer for non-account holders.
Last car I sold stateside I had a guy send me a cashiers check that looked like it was printed on an inkjet on grubby paper for $10k more than I wanted for the car - and then called me to ask for me to wire the difference back to him. I kindly deferred and asked when he wanted to look at the car. Conversation generally went downhill from there! :P
All the advice you've been given is great, and your bank can tell you how long it will take for a cashiers check to clear. Wire transfer is probably the safest way to have the money delivered, as the transmitting bank clears the funds, and most banks won't transfer for non-account holders.
Last car I sold stateside I had a guy send me a cashiers check that looked like it was printed on an inkjet on grubby paper for $10k more than I wanted for the car - and then called me to ask for me to wire the difference back to him. I kindly deferred and asked when he wanted to look at the car. Conversation generally went downhill from there! :P
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From: EURO Style
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Even if real this can drag, because there's a ton of paperwork to be done in the US before you can even open a bank account, let alone get a title transfered or insurance arranged. The guy is also likely to not know a lot about how a car sales goes in the US.
I would just tell him that you only deal in person (or state side), and that he is welcome to come see the car in 2 weeks when he moves.
I would just tell him that you only deal in person (or state side), and that he is welcome to come see the car in 2 weeks when he moves.
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
Thanks for all the great advice guys, he sent me a text earlier saying his dealer friend is going to contact me on monday, but even so i m not selling the car unless somebody shows up at my door and goes to my bank to make sure the money clears up!!! Thank you once again!!
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From: San Antonio
09 c63 p30 mars red
Thanks for all the great advice guys, he sent me a text earlier saying his dealer friend is going to contact me on monday, but even so i m not selling the car unless somebody shows up at my door and goes to my bank to make sure the money clears up!!! Thank you once again!!
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Thanks for all the great advice guys, he sent me a text earlier saying his dealer friend is going to contact me on monday, but even so i m not selling the car unless somebody shows up at my door and goes to my bank to make sure the money clears up!!! Thank you once again!!
Go to his bank and have him cash it and give you the cash. Going to your bank is no go for this.
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Don't let him test drive the car if he shows up. First thing you should say if and when he shows up is show you money then talk.
Thread Starter
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
Thread Starter
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
this seems pretty legit so far, a guy from Enterprise called me today, they are handling the transaction. they are sending me a check, and i'll call them to pick up the car once the check clears!
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The thing about checks, is that they tend to clear in a few days, and sometimes the money will remain in your account for a few more days to weeks afterward, however, even a forged or scam check can clear during that period, and suddenly get reversed. Even with current electronic banking systems, checks are one of those crappy things that can still get you into trouble, this is how those lovely 419 scams work (Nigerian scams), and they are sometimes effective, especially when the check is from a small bank. Larger well known banks will clear checks pretty quickly and safely. Cashiers and bank guaranteed checks are your best bet, since the money is withdrawn from the account immediately upon creating the check by the issuing bank (just make sure its a real bank).
Cash of course if the best option
but who want to wander around with a bag full of $100s (well.. I would love to heh.. but I am strange).
Also, for those noting issues with the IRS and Treasury, any transaction over $10 000 at a bank or any financial institution triggers a potential investigation, as banks and such are required to report it to the IRS and treasury, but their is no waiting time to do so (although you might get a call later on). Can be done in a day, or however long it takes the transfer to occur. Coming into the US, they could care less how much you have, as long as you have enough to not be a burden on the social system (ie, have enough money to survive during the duration of your stay). Leaving the US though, there are limits to how much money you can take with you, unless your immigrating to another country.
Cash of course if the best option
but who want to wander around with a bag full of $100s (well.. I would love to heh.. but I am strange).Also, for those noting issues with the IRS and Treasury, any transaction over $10 000 at a bank or any financial institution triggers a potential investigation, as banks and such are required to report it to the IRS and treasury, but their is no waiting time to do so (although you might get a call later on). Can be done in a day, or however long it takes the transfer to occur. Coming into the US, they could care less how much you have, as long as you have enough to not be a burden on the social system (ie, have enough money to survive during the duration of your stay). Leaving the US though, there are limits to how much money you can take with you, unless your immigrating to another country.
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tasho, I would still be careful since the buyer is sending you a cheque without even inspecting or looking at your car?
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From: TEXAS
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The thing about checks, is that they tend to clear in a few days, and sometimes the money will remain in your account for a few more days to weeks afterward, however, even a forged or scam check can clear during that period, and suddenly get reversed. Even with current electronic banking systems, checks are one of those crappy things that can still get you into trouble, this is how those lovely 419 scams work (Nigerian scams), and they are sometimes effective, especially when the check is from a small bank. Larger well known banks will clear checks pretty quickly and safely. Cashiers and bank guaranteed checks are your best bet, since the money is withdrawn from the account immediately upon creating the check by the issuing bank (just make sure its a real bank).
Cash of course if the best option but who want to wander around with a bag full of $100s (well.. I would love to heh.. but I am strange).
Also, for those noting issues with the IRS and Treasury, any transaction over $10 000 at a bank or any financial institution triggers a potential investigation, as banks and such are required to report it to the IRS and treasury, but their is no waiting time to do so (although you might get a call later on). Can be done in a day, or however long it takes the transfer to occur. Coming into the US, they could care less how much you have, as long as you have enough to not be a burden on the social system (ie, have enough money to survive during the duration of your stay). Leaving the US though, there are limits to how much money you can take with you, unless your immigrating to another country.
Cash of course if the best option
but who want to wander around with a bag full of $100s (well.. I would love to heh.. but I am strange).Also, for those noting issues with the IRS and Treasury, any transaction over $10 000 at a bank or any financial institution triggers a potential investigation, as banks and such are required to report it to the IRS and treasury, but their is no waiting time to do so (although you might get a call later on). Can be done in a day, or however long it takes the transfer to occur. Coming into the US, they could care less how much you have, as long as you have enough to not be a burden on the social system (ie, have enough money to survive during the duration of your stay). Leaving the US though, there are limits to how much money you can take with you, unless your immigrating to another country.
Thread Starter
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
Guys it's Enterprise that is sending me the check not the guy! Enterprise the car renting company. They buy carsfor customers at a cost to the customer! I'm not letting the car go till the check clears and I cash it out, but thank you for your advice, highly appreciated!
Thread Starter
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From: Westmont, IL
2014 C63 Sedan
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If its Enterprise.. even worse.. they will screw you legitimately :P (okay, so my personnel feelings about them aside)...
Make sure.. I can claim to be whomever I want. What you want to do is call the main corporate Enterprise number, make your way to the HR department, and request a work verification for the person who is supposed to make the pay off for your car, do not call the branch directly. Once that is done, ask for the employees contact info, and then call him directly to verify he is aware of the deal.
If he draws a blank, then you know its a scam and someone snagged the name of the employee from somewhere and has someone claiming to be him purchasing your car.
Here is the deal, and this goes for anything, not just cars, any high value transaction, do your homework, there are some incredibly smart criminals out there (although 95% of them are stupid and end up on Cops or some other show like it), and while the transaction may look legit, you could still get scammed.
Take it from someone who's job is in security field, that you can never trust anything not done face to face.
Make sure.. I can claim to be whomever I want. What you want to do is call the main corporate Enterprise number, make your way to the HR department, and request a work verification for the person who is supposed to make the pay off for your car, do not call the branch directly. Once that is done, ask for the employees contact info, and then call him directly to verify he is aware of the deal.
If he draws a blank, then you know its a scam and someone snagged the name of the employee from somewhere and has someone claiming to be him purchasing your car.
Here is the deal, and this goes for anything, not just cars, any high value transaction, do your homework, there are some incredibly smart criminals out there (although 95% of them are stupid and end up on Cops or some other show like it), and while the transaction may look legit, you could still get scammed.
Take it from someone who's job is in security field, that you can never trust anything not done face to face.
