Selling my car and afraid of geting scammed w/ a bad check...looking for advice

[TurboRegal84]

USAA is a legitimate company that does alot of lending. Sometimes the member they have may not have been in the military themselves. To be a member an immediate family member needed to be part of the military. The best option would be to hold the car/check/title until funds clear but sometimes that is not an option.

I have had several customers use USAA and they have sent wires to us as a form of payment. They give a customer an approval amount with a loan number and the customer hands us the sheet USAA provides. We then fax in the sheet to USAA with our bank wiring account # and routing # and they send the funds directly to your bank via bank wire. We always call first to insure the approval is for more than they are buying the car for. I do not know if this is something they will do with a private individual as I have only done business with them being a dealer.

With all the scams going on down there it is hard to let your guard down but I am sure you want to sell the car!

 

[salvageV6]

Regardless of what method of payment is used the final say as to whether or not you have the money, and it's free and clear, is whether or not you can get it in CASH from your bank.

I would not release a car until I could go to a teller and get cash in the full amount for it. Or a substantial amount of it well over what you have in the account presently, some banks require days notice for over around $5K in cash withdrawls they really like to hold onto your money for no good reason.

I like the new account idea but make sure it's available in cash to you, not simply "trasnferrable" to your main account, before transferring it.

I don't think any outside bank is gonna cash a check for you for thousands of dollars even with good ID.s. unless you have an account there to back it up.

A wire transfer from a reputable company would be great, just make sure once it's in your account it's available to you in CASH at the window!!!

Then let the car go.

 

[theMonch]

Certified Check

I don't think any outside bank is gonna cash a check for you for thousands of dollars even with good ID.s. unless you have an account there to back it up.
QUOTE]

Untrue. I have done this many times and it works. A bank certified check is as good as cash and banks have to cash it by law. The only problem that you might run into, is that you might have to fill out an IRS form for a transaction in cash that is over 10,000 dollars. I didn't see a price mentioned anywhere for your car, but am assuming that it is propbably under 10k.

Good luck, hope you get a sale.

 

[JayC]

I sold my WRX exactly like this. Guy wasnt out of state but he was military and went through USAA. The buyer didnt haggle whatsoever on the price, apparently because USAA will pretty much loan military guys whatever on whatever.

 

[fireberd350]

I've called USAA once more and they do not offer wire transfers on personal loans. The reps have guaranteed me that once the check is issued that it will not have any stops on it. I was told by some friends that checks could take 2 weeks to a month to clear so I didn't think that was an option for me. However the USAA rep told me the longest he's ever heard of is 5 days but each bank is different. If it's only 5 days then I can certainly hold the car until the check clears.

I will keep everyone posted on how this works out. I feel a lot better after talking with USAA and validating that the loan exists and is ready to be activated. They are a Fortune 500 company with a great rep so that helps ease my pain.

I'm still going to be skeptical until I have that cash in my hand though.

I'm not sure if it's neccessary or not but I think I will open a new account at my existing bank and once everything clears I will transfer the money and close the account.

Thanks for the great feedback thus far.

 

[TurboTR]

Good luck with it. I can vouch for USAA at least, been with them for like 30 years now hehe... They are one of the best service companies in the world IME- we need more like them.

TurboTR