Car Sale Contract Questions

VTBalla34 · November 6, 2012, 3:18am

Hey guys, I am selling my car to a guy on Craigslist for $5,300. He has seen the car and we went for a test drive yesterday and he definitely wants to buy it.

The thing is that he doesn’t have enough money for it right now and wants to make installment payments on it (in cash).

Now before you accuse me of being an obvious idiot and getting ripped off, he agreed to let me keep the car until he makes the final payment!!!

The installments will be:
-$600 this weekend
-$1100 by December 15
-$3600 by January 20

Basically, he needs to wait till after the first of the year to get his tax returns before making the larger final payment.

All payments will be in cash and he agreed that if he misses a payment, I reserve the right to keep the car and the money he has paid up to this point. I don’t plan to be a hardass about the dates if he is a couple days late and keeps me in the loop, but the agreement will basically say that I reserve the right to do so if needed.

Obviously we will need a contract for this, and to get it notarized and all that. So my questions to you guys:

-Do you know of a good template I can use to get me started?
-Is there some sort of scam angle I am not seeing here?

02Thief · November 6, 2012, 9:29am

Seems like a pretty good deal, and that immediately rings alarm bells. How good is the security on your place?

Dr_Pangloss · November 6, 2012, 1:11pm

As long as you keep title in your name, I don’t see any issues although you will be paying insurance on it for an extra couple months.

Don’t sign it over until you’ve received payment in full.

What happens if he backs out between now and January? I would make the first $600 a non-refundable deposit.

That being said, I don’t like it. I don’t see what’s in it for him. Is your car especially desirable? Does the guy think there will be no cars for sale come January when he has all the money?

Jewbacca · November 6, 2012, 3:31pm

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Hey guys, I am selling my car to a guy on Craigslist for $5,300. He has seen the car and we went for a test drive yesterday and he definitely wants to buy it.

The thing is that he doesn’t have enough money for it right now and wants to make installment payments on it (in cash).

Now before you accuse me of being an obvious idiot and getting ripped off, he agreed to let me keep the car until he makes the final payment!!!

The installments will be:
-$600 this weekend
-$1100 by December 15
-$3600 by January 20

Basically, he needs to wait till after the first of the year to get his tax returns before making the larger final payment.

All payments will be in cash and he agreed that if he misses a payment, I reserve the right to keep the car and the money he has paid up to this point. I don’t plan to be a hardass about the dates if he is a couple days late and keeps me in the loop, but the agreement will basically say that I reserve the right to do so if needed.

Obviously we will need a contract for this, and to get it notarized and all that. So my questions to you guys:

-Do you know of a good template I can use to get me started?
-Is there some sort of scam angle I am not seeing here?

[/quote]

Run away. Run far, far, away.

You, unlike a bank, do not have a collection agents. You, unlike a bank, will not be able to draw up lien papers to repo the car.

You do not want to leave title in your name because you have to insure it and will be liable for his accidents.

Cash or hit the road.

If he can’t get a loan from a bank, you should not loan him the money, either. There’s probably a reason, like he’s had multiple repossessions.

Terrible, terrible mistake.

super_saiyan · November 6, 2012, 3:37pm

Just tell the guy to save up his money and call you on January 20 when he’s ready to pay in full. Don’t make any promises about holding the offer open and don’t take any money up front. Tell him you WILL sell to someone else if they can come up with the money before him.

Testy1 · November 6, 2012, 4:43pm

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

Now before you accuse me of being an obvious idiot and getting ripped off, he agreed to let me keep the car until he makes the final payment!!!

[/quote]

Run away. Run far, far, away.

You, unlike a bank, do not have a collection agents. You, unlike a bank, will not be able to draw up lien papers to repo the car.

[/quote]

He retains possession until it is paid for.

Not saying something doesn’t sound shady, just not sure what it would be.

Teledin · November 6, 2012, 7:17pm

This guy likely has liquidity issues. Don’t bother selling to him as I am willing to bet beyond the $600 deposit he won’t be able to make payments on time if at all. In which case you just picked up a problem.

People underestimate how much in incidentals they incur regularly, so I’m guessing the payment plan is just an ‘ideal’ scenario. It isn’t difficult to get a personal loan from a bank, and if the bank rejects him, then there is obviously a good reason. I.e. not enough cash flow, bad credit history, no job security, etc.

It’s a lot of pissing around for such a small acquisition.

melanieamber12 · November 6, 2012, 7:30pm

[quote]super saiyan wrote:
Just tell the guy to save up his money and call you on January 20 when he’s ready to pay in full. Don’t make any promises about holding the offer open and don’t take any money up front. Tell him you WILL sell to someone else if they can come up with the money before him.[/quote]

THIS. sounds about right to me.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:08am

[quote]02Thief wrote:
Seems like a pretty good deal, and that immediately rings alarm bells. How good is the security on your place? [/quote]

He doesn’t know where I live. We met at a neutral location and will make all transactions there.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:11am

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
As long as you keep title in your name, I don’t see any issues although you will be paying insurance on it for an extra couple months.

Don’t sign it over until you’ve received payment in full.

What happens if he backs out between now and January? I would make the first $600 a non-refundable deposit.

That being said, I don’t like it. I don’t see what’s in it for him. Is your car especially desirable? Does the guy think there will be no cars for sale come January when he has all the money?

[/quote]

Yeah my insurance is pretty cheap and I am going to drop a lot of the coverage I have on it since I won’t be driving it.

If he backs out, he loses all the money. That is why he starts out small and makes a bigger payment then a final payment at the end to get the title. The most he could be out would be $1,700, which would obviously suck for him.

The car isn’t particularly desirable, but I did list it for about $1,500 under the KBB value just because I was desperate to sell (I already bought a new ride) and Carfax only offered me $4,500 for it. So I figured if I could get another $800 above that it would be worth it to check out CL.

I guess the price makes it a great deal if you look just at KBB.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:12am

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:
Run away. Run far, far, away.

You, unlike a bank, do not have a collection agents. You, unlike a bank, will not be able to draw up lien papers to repo the car.

You do not want to leave title in your name because you have to insure it and will be liable for his accidents.

Cash or hit the road.

If he can’t get a loan from a bank, you should not loan him the money, either. There’s probably a reason, like he’s had multiple repossessions.

Terrible, terrible mistake.[/quote]

Reading fail

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

Now before you accuse me of being an obvious idiot and getting ripped off, [u]he agreed to let me keep the car until he makes the final payment!!![/u]

[/quote]

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:14am

[quote]super saiyan wrote:
Just tell the guy to save up his money and call you on January 20 when he’s ready to pay in full. Don’t make any promises about holding the offer open and don’t take any money up front. Tell him you WILL sell to someone else if they can come up with the money before him.[/quote]

Yeah it would be great to do this (I guess) but I haven’t gotten that many hits and most are trying to lowball it. There is absolutely no benefit for me to wait until he has enough money, and then maybe or maybe not decides to buy the car. I don’t see your point.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:16am

[quote]Testy1 wrote:

Not saying something doesn’t sound shady, just not sure what it would be.
[/quote]

That’s what I’m saying, which is why I presented it to the open forum. Thanks to the guys that actually took the time to actually read what I wrote.

I met the guy and didn’t get sketchy vibes at all from him. He seems like a nice normal dude. Not to say he couldn’t be conning me, but he is pretty good at it if that’s the case and truthfully, I can’t think of an angle that I could be scammed here, especially if the contract is good and stamped by a notary.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 1:22am

[quote]Teledin wrote:
This guy likely has liquidity issues. Don’t bother selling to him as I am willing to bet beyond the $600 deposit he won’t be able to make payments on time if at all. In which case you just picked up a problem.

[/quote]

The only “problem” I can see that I could pick up is him trying to take me to court for keeping his money and the court, and at that point the contract would have to hold up.

If he does miss the payment, then I make an extra 600 bones (or 1700) and get to sell the car to someone else. Seriously, are you people even reading what I wrote?

super_saiyan · November 7, 2012, 3:24am

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

The only “problem” I can see that I could pick up is him trying to take me to court for keeping his money and the court, and at that point the contract would have to hold up.

[/quote]

Could the contract hold up? Sure. Does it HAVE to? No. Unconscionability could come into play if you kept a large portion of the money to be paid and he got nothing. You both appear to be on fairly even ground when it comes to bargaining power so it might not be an issue, but it’s still a possibility.

Teledin · November 7, 2012, 7:15am

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]Teledin wrote:
This guy likely has liquidity issues. Don’t bother selling to him as I am willing to bet beyond the $600 deposit he won’t be able to make payments on time if at all. In which case you just picked up a problem.

[/quote]

The only “problem” I can see that I could pick up is him trying to take me to court for keeping his money and the court, and at that point the contract would have to hold up.

If he does miss the payment, then I make an extra 600 bones (or 1700) and get to sell the car to someone else. Seriously, are you people even reading what I wrote?
[/quote]

I read your op clearly. You seem to be missing the point that it is A LOT of bullshitting around for just a low value asset that isn’t even a scarcity on the market.

Good luck with it all. I hope it turns out well for both parties.

VTBalla34 · November 7, 2012, 7:39am

[quote]Teledin wrote:

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]Teledin wrote:
This guy likely has liquidity issues. Don’t bother selling to him as I am willing to bet beyond the $600 deposit he won’t be able to make payments on time if at all. In which case you just picked up a problem.

[/quote]

The only “problem” I can see that I could pick up is him trying to take me to court for keeping his money and the court, and at that point the contract would have to hold up.

If he does miss the payment, then I make an extra 600 bones (or 1700) and get to sell the car to someone else. Seriously, are you people even reading what I wrote?
[/quote]

I read your op clearly. You seem to be missing the point that it is A LOT of bullshitting around for just a low value asset that isn’t even a scarcity on the market.

Good luck with it all. I hope it turns out well for both parties.[/quote]

I’m not claiming I’m making waves on Wall Street with this transaction bro lol…I am very comfortable financially but the way I see it, I have an opportunity to make $800 for performing a couple hours worth of work to include:

-Drawing up and signing a contract
-Meeting a guy twice in person to be handed money

This coupled with the fact that I am not letting some bullshit auto dealer rape me by offering me half of what KBB says my car is worth and then turning around to sell it for 3x that amount. I don’t give a fuck what amount I’m talking about here, I will avoid that based on principal.

Seems like a pretty good deal to me! Good to know you are so well off financially though that this isn’t worth it to you. Can I borrow a dollar?

02Thief · November 7, 2012, 10:59am

[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:

[quote]Teledin wrote:
This guy likely has liquidity issues. Don’t bother selling to him as I am willing to bet beyond the $600 deposit he won’t be able to make payments on time if at all. In which case you just picked up a problem.

[/quote]

The only “problem” I can see that I could pick up is him trying to take me to court for keeping his money and the court, and at that point the contract would have to hold up.

If he does miss the payment, then I make an extra 600 bones (or 1700) and get to sell the car to someone else. Seriously, are you people even reading what I wrote?
[/quote]

I get what you’re saying mate, absolutely. It’s just so random of a deal, that it immediately screams ‘suss’

niksamaras · November 7, 2012, 1:25pm