Selling my car on kijiji - tips on avoiding scammers?

[AnnaBanana]

Hi-
So i am selling my car on kijiji, and seem to be getting emails / calls from people who are VERY interested, and are offering a certain amount of $ without ever even seeing the car. FYI it's not a "great" car or anything, so it seems weird to me that people are "so interested!"...
I keep hearing people talk about car scams on kijiji so i'm asking RFDers for tips.. as in:
1) should i only accept cash?
2) or certified cheque? how do i even guarantee it's a certified cheque? i know it may sound crazy but i don't even know that i would recognize a fake from a real one...

Anything else to avoid being scammed?

thanks!!!
A.B.

[Tha_Doggg]

For larger purchases I have always gone with the person to the bank to see him take out the money to make sure it's not counterfeit.

[airodus]

Never settle on a price over the phone, because that will give them the opportunity to prepare a forgery if they are a scammer. Yah, make sure you negotiate the price in person, then go to the bank with them to get the money. Also, to be fair, you should give the keys and sign the registration over at the bank after you get your money. That way the purchaser will not be worried about you taking off on him (you might have to ask for a ride home tho hahah).

The only way to completely eliminate the issue of trust is to use an escrow service (or law firm), but i doubt it would be worthwhile for a used car.

[stuntman]

I got a few people telling me they would buy the car for x dollars (mostly lowball) without seeing it. I ignored those emails. I had plenty of legit enquiries and insisted that negotiations take place in person.

If they were from far away I took extra pictures for them so they could have a better idea what they were coming out for.

Never take a certified check, bank draft or money order for any big amount. Working in retail I had seen a few pros pass off fake ID and notes. Go to the bank with them and get cash. If it is a really high amount tell your bank your concern and ask their advice.

SM

[etherfast]

What car are you selling if I may ask? .... just a curiosity

[yurcov]

Never heard that someone will scam you with the car. I sold many my cars and never had any problems up to now. You can get certified check, money order etc, untill you didnt get your $$ in your account, dont hand over your title.

[AnnaBanana]

thanks for everyone's tips. the car is older and is being sold or around $2500 - nothing major. the problem with going to "my bank" is that i use PC... so there is no teller for me to talk with or anyone to help me check out the cheque! this is when i wish i had a secondary bank account - although can i just bring the cheque to ANY bank and ask them to verify it?

[canadiankorean]

It doesn't have to be your bank.

Go to their bank or any bank (for money orders).

[JAGpilot]

If a relative of Dr. Boogoo Manawala of Nigeria has contacted you inquiring about shipping the car for a graduation give, you're getting scammed. :D

[airodus]

thanks for everyone's tips. the car is older and is being sold or around $2500 - nothing major. the problem with going to "my bank" is that i use PC... so there is no teller for me to talk with or anyone to help me check out the cheque! this is when i wish i had a secondary bank account - although can i just bring the cheque to ANY bank and ask them to verify it?

Well don't take a personal check, it should either be certified or a bank draft. The problem is that these are being forged quite often these days. So the safest thing is to go to the bank with them and ask them to withdraw cash ($2500 isn't much). If they already prepared a certified check or draft, just pay them the cost for it (like $5) and ask for cash anyways. Just say you got scammed before or something and don't want to take any chances. They should understand.

[zoolander]

kijiji email responders are sometimes the rudest lowballers, or they reply with a fake return email.
If this is occurring, don't let it discourage you into dropping your ad price. If you want, mention in your ad to the effect that you do not reply to email.
Then, only serious buyers will call you.

You might have more success with Autotrader.ca (http://www.autotrader.ca/default.aspx)

Here's what you should be asking pricewise.
http://www.vmrcanada.com/
http://www.trader.ca/members/valuefinder/default.asp

[Pete_Coach]

By all means, make a deal on the phone but, make sure you tell them the car is not off the market and the first person with the cash takes the car. Yes, cash only. If the individual has the wherewithal to get a certified cheque they can also get cash. Do not accept a personal cheque as the bank will cash it for you but it may bounce once it reaches the other persons bank a few days later and then they come after the money.
When you sell the car, make sure you have the Ontario and make up a sales receipt that has the statement that the car is sold as is where is and that you are absolved of all liability as of that moment in time. Make sure you have the date and time for the transaction. Also make sure you have the buyer provide ID, license number etc. print the name as well as signature. Give them a copy and you have a copy. Cancel your insurance immediately.
This all sounds anal but, having sold a number of vehicles, I can tell several stories. One is of guys who buy a car, don't register it in their name because they turned the vehicle over for profit, the car gets wrecked and only my name was still on the registration. I had proof of date and time of sale and the Cops had a fraud case.

[eastwood]

Thanks for the replies. I too plan to sell my car using Kijiji, UsedCanada, etc... . Please keep the tips coming.

[superdsi]

cash
cash
cash

[big tuna]

don't forget craigslist. in about 3 weeks i had ~120 total views on kijiji while my CL ads pulled in 300+ on days just after posting, trickling down to about 50/day by the end of the week. CL didn't have many lowballers but the people were REALLY flaky so make sure you ask for some sort of deposit once you have come to an agreement on the car

as for payment... cash or bank draft. i got a mix of both and deposited them during the transaction. the bank manager mentioned that they just got a fraudulent bank draft deposited a few days ago so if you can, go with them to the bank when they get their draft/cash and you should be golden

[CaptSmethwick]

We just sold our old car on kijiji for ~$3000. We advertised it at a great price, stressed "firm" and insisted on cash only. It was sold within 4 hours for our asking price and the ad came down. During the brief time the ad was up, we got lowballers - some with sob-stories, others claiming our car wasn't worth our price. Yadda-yadda-yadda.

Other advice:

Find a bill of sale contract on line (I found a good one from the Alberta government) and get ID from the seller when you make the sale. Insist on a deposit when they sign and the balance when they pick it up.

Finally, it's reasonable for them to want a mechanical inspection but don't get suckered into the mechanic's findings - be ready to kill the deal if you think they are asking for too much. Everybody needs to keep in mind that you are selling a used car so it will need some kind of maintenance - it is NOT the seller's role to put the car in "like new" condition prior to sale.

Years ago, a buyer of one of our cars took the car to his mechanic and that mechanic said the car needed transmission work (it didn't). The buyer demanded a lower price but I pulled. He then reconsidered but I wouldn't go back - I sold it to the next guy (who turned out to be the brother of a colleague - the last I recall was the car was still performing reliably five years later. "Transmission work" indeed! :mad:)

[Hothersale]

I sold my car last weekend using Craigslist, and the whole process went very smoothly. I put the ad in Thursday afternoon, received about a dozen inquiries that night and the following day, and started showing it first thing on Saturday. It was sold by 9:30 am. I asked for cash and the buyers were happy to oblige. There is nothing wrong with insisting on cash!

[Ryedhel]

I recently sold my car on Kijiji, 07 G6. I went down like this:
- guy calls and asks to come see car
- we test drive it and talk pricing afterwards
- we decide on a price, he gives me a $500 cheque as a deposit to hold vehicle until he can get a certified cheque or bank draft
- next day I take the car over to his house and he has the certified cheque ready
-we both sign a bill of sale he printed of the SGI insurance website
- i give him the deposit cheque back and go to the bank to cash certified cheque

I guess I could or should have deposited cheque before I actually turned the keys over but other then that it was pretty straight forward.

If I were interested in a car on kijiji i wouldn't offer a price before I saw it but theres a lot of people who are probably trying to lowball you right from the get go. Thats pretty normal for Kijiji.

[cOmAtOaSt]

If you get a certified cheque, could you call the bank branch that did it and confirm that they certified it? With all the fraud going on these days, I'd be afraid of getting a fake certified cheque.