My car has suffered serious damage in an accident (it can be driven, but only a few miles, I think). I am selling it as it is online via Craigslist. As soon as I posted the ad, I got a dozen emails with people willing to come, pay cash, and drive it away right now. I’m a bit concerned about these folks’ overenthusiasm about a damaged vehicle. Should I be worried? If so, what precautions should I take?
Thanks for all your advice!
That is a legal question and we are not lawyers, I would be sure of ~ as is, no warranty expressed or implied in the bill of sale as a start, Contact a lawyer to make sure your sale of your damaged vehicle under your circumstances does not hold you liable, it used to be a nice world but now you can get sued for the stupidest of things and loose. I am a bit on the precautionary side, but are there any other options? see if a junkyard will give you what you are asking if liability is a concern and be done with it, or trade it in.
Also, before you sell check with your state DMV to make sure that you fully and correctly transfer title.
Thank you for your advice.
Some of those replies could be scammers. One type of scam is to give you a check and they take the car before you find out it is a bogus check. Sometimes even “certified” checks are worthless.
If someone wants to take the car immedicately, get cash before you release the car to them.
I spoke to some of the guys who are interested. It seems like old Corollas are in very high demand in Afghanistan. These guys are buying up old vehicles, and shipping them to Afghanistan right now. That’s what the frenzy’s all about it seems.
Just my uninformed opinion, but that still sounds fishy. A quick Google search on “toyota corolla afghanistan” does show that the cars are, indeed, popular there. And a search at snopes.com for “toyota afghanistan” finds nothing, indicating that this is not some widespread scam. But a “frenzy” to get a near-dead car to ship overseas??? I’d still take the advice to make it a cash deal.
I would insist that they tow it or have temporary tags for it. And when you say cash, you mean folding money and not a check or money order, correct? If they fork over long green, take it and be rid of your old car.
I’d be worried a bit because there’s always a possibility of someone stating they’re “only going to drive it a very short distance and fix it” when nothing could be further from the truth.
They get in a crash a month later after doing nothing and they may try to come after you. People routinely sue for a lot less than that.
Have them tow it away from your place and also have them sign a waiver acknowledging they’re aware of the damage no matter how obvious the damage is.
It’s best to check a few of your state’s laws about things like this and I agree; green cash only. Even U.S.P.S money orders can be forged. In Oklahoma City about 5 years ago there was a rash of forged ones being passed around even for car purchass.
Since MOs are limited to 600 dollars some scammers were buying cars (say a 3600 hundred dollar car) and paying for it with 6 MOs for example.
Thank you all for your feedback. All of the guys who showed up and were interested were 100% genuine. A couple of them said they’ll be shipping the car to Afghanistan, and the others were a little cagey about it, but their plan was obvious enough. They all brought green bills – real cash – and were even ready to get into a bidding war. I made a more-than-satisfactory deal in the end.
We have a lot of Afghan expats in our area, so I’m not surprised. If you have a Corolla to sell, now is the time. Afghanistan is knocking.
If you read the report from the recently rescued British reporter in Afghanistan you will see that the vehicle he and his interpreter were often put in when they were moved from place to place was a Corolla.
Seems the Taliban like reliable, fuel-efficient cars. They also like Nokia cell phones.
It’s a strange world we live in.