Hi, I need your input here (also listed under 'opinions' & RWD, but want to reach more readers).

I'm selling a '91 240, and there is someone that wants to buy from Africa. I'll be receiving and clearing the check (if not cash) before handing it over to his shipping agent, and the buyer is arranging the shipping himself.

What do I do with the title? Hand it over, with the signature, as if it was a local sale? Any issues with the fact that the car is going overseas?

One person is suggesting that I need to make sure the title gets transferred in the US, but I don't know what that involves. To me, it seems like, once I hand over the title, I have no say or control in what the buyer does with it. Is it bad if I'm the last owner of the car in registry and the car disappears off the face of the earth?

Lastly, have you heard of a scam like this? Way to take money out of the country under the radar?

TIA.

Yup, it smelled too funny, and I had already decided it was a scam, mostly because he wanted to act fast, and never ever asked anything about the car itself.

I couldn't spot the loophole, especially if the buyer waits for the check to clear, and if I insisted on the check for the exact amount of sales. I didn't think about the possiblity of check bouncing 'after' getting cleared.

I wouldn't have, and my wife would NEVER let me have, done a deal like this, but learned something new today - even the money in the bank isn't necessarily mine!

Thanks all, I'm not sure which agency to contact about this. I'll at least let the Consumer Protection Agency know. I already asked them about this, but they were not aware of this type of scam, and said it probably is ok to go ahead as long as the certified check clears, and I don't have to wire the money back to the buyer.

Btw - the guy was allegedly from Behin Republic.

Doesn't it seem odd to you that the price of shipping a car of the value of a 91 240 all the way to Africe seem prohibitive? You don't say where in Africa the car is going but Volvo's of that year and make are not scarce anywhere in the world. What's the car worth? 5 ot 6 thousand? Freight, customs and duties+ brokerage would probably be about $2k. Even if you contact the local authorites the scam is being directed from foreigh soil. Not sure how much co-operation there would be from African authorities or if Interpol would even be involved.

Something similar happened to a member of a Rolex watch forum that I participate in...the cashier's cheque cleared the bank initially but came back NSF 4 weeks later!!!! He got the Feds involved because it happened thru the mail and mail fraud is a Federal Jurisdiction.

You've heard it all before... if it is too good to be true... run like hell in the opposite direction!!! Be carefull...it is always best to make a sale of this calibre face to face....

Good luck!
--
1998 S70 T5Se Silver, 83,000 km

Don't remember the details, but there was a story a couple of months ago on tv about a scam that ran almost exactly like you're describing. The bottom line was the owner lost the car and the shipping costs. The check bounced big time, being a phony cashier's check on a non-existant bank. I highly recommend you get the police involved in this deal.

This is probably--almost certainly-- a scam;the excess "check " is the tipoff. Notify the FBI immediately.
You really think the guy is going to give you real money for nothing?
Wanna buy a bridge?

Forgot to mention - he is giving me a check that's way over the selling price (almost double), so I can deduct any expenses, then wire him the balance. Not sure if he is insisting on it, or he said that because there are some items that needed to be fixed (I mentioned an estimate of how much each item would cost if they were to be fixed). I don't like the fact that I'd end up owing him any money. I'll have to wait and see if he'd just send me the exact price for the car.

This got me excited at first at the prospect of my car traveling overseas, then curious, now I'm weary and cautious.

SCAM!!!!!!
Cashiers check will be forgery, and wire ends in blank spot in England-
see my reply in RWD.

you've probably heard this before....if it sounds too good to be true...chances are, it probably is....