‘Mr.Shark’ coming to view my vehicle for sale. Advice?

[0500hours]

My husband died in April leaving some business debts. I have to sell his work truck.

’Mr Shark’ is driving from an hour away to view at half 3 today - does anyone have advice that’s done this before?

It’s parked outside my house. Like 99% of others who enquired he wants it for Ukraine he said.

Its taxed/MOT’d/insured/alarmed etc but how does he test drive it? Does he bring his driving licence and paperwork from his own insurer to prove he’s insured? He’s just come over from Ukraine he said and wants to drive it back there for the war. What if he damages it on driving?

Should I drive it instead with him as passenger?

I’m still waiting for the DVLA new owner papers to come back so it can’t be sold today anyway, he’s just viewing it.

He wants to leave a small deposit to secure it, but then how can I be sure he’d pay the balance?

Any advice welcome. There’s nobody I can call today to help me when he views.

Thankyou so much
posted on chat for traffic

Is this like the woman with the crow post?

It sort of sounds like the OP didn't exactly invite the guy though

My husband died and I sold his car. I took it to one of those we buy any car places for this exact reason. Might have got less but Honda’s a single female don’t let them test drive it safetly and knowing they won’t do a runner.

I completely agree.
Hope all is well @0500hours

Our friend sold two cars through Motorway and said they were excellent. We buy any car offered my husband two thousand less than he easily sold his van for.

That's not the way I read it but it doesn't specifically say how the appointment was made, I'm assuming he didn't randomly set off without agreeing a time

Isn't this exactly what 'The Gift of Fear' is about? How to tell when something feels 'off'.

The Gift of Fear - Wikipedia

The Ukraine story is 'too many details'.

OP please tell me you didn't answer the door to this scammer?!

Saying he's 20 minutes away is no concern, I'd have just replied well I won't be home.

I hope you are okay and dodged this.

Jeez he sounds like a stalker. What happened? Fit a crook lock and a wheel clamp pronto.

No, I'm not surprised.

What i am surprised at is that the op isn't horrified by it.

I immediately thought of Mr Kipper as well.

I was in a similar position @0500hours . I sold to trade, as I was worried about getting scammed. Even so, I felt anxious and I made sure my son was here with me when they came to collect the vehicle. Afterwards, I kept checking my bank account to make sure the money was still there. I would probably have got more selling privately but my nerves couldn’t take it.

Oh this is a joke, any normal person reading this and getting the advice they have would have got in the truck and driven It somewhere where it couldn’t tracked and hidden the keys, then told the “buyer” it’s gone. Sorry and all that.

HMRC has all that info freely available. If you know the name or business name it is there for everyone to see.

I totally understand why everyone is panicking, and I fully support all of the "keep safe" suggestions. BUT I also think there is a lot of over-reation. Im my view...

(1) It is totally normal to let people test drive a car so long as they prove they are insured and have a driving licence (but it is risky if they are only covered 3rd party on your car, so bear that in mind). Last car I bought the seller literally let me take it for a test drive on my own on condition he kept hold of my driving licence.

(2) It is totally normal for cars to go to eastern europe. The last car I nearly bought I viewed, went away to think... and by the time I came back the seller said "too late... a bloke is turning up with a triler tomorrow - it's off to poland!"

(3) When looking at adverts it is absolutely normal to do a bit of digging to see where the car is before making contact with the seller, not least if it look like a bargain.

As I say, all good advice in terms of keeping safe - I agree all of it. But I don;t think people need to worry about OP as much as they are.

Nobody wants this car "for Ukraine" lovely

Does Ukraine even use right hand cars cause I thought Europe (& America) use left hand sided cars anyway

Just sell it to a dealer like other players have said a simple "sorry to cancel but the cars been handed over elsewhere" is all it takes to avoid getting robbed/scammed

No update? Hmm hope OP ok.

When my mum died we sold her through we buy any car, yes we could have got more but the MOT was coming up and I just didn’t have it in me to deal with people. Even then they tried to say they’d collect then pay later, literally refused to hand over the car until the money went into Monzo, and I sent to a second bank.

The golf course car park I ended up in was far from the road. I pulled off thinking It was not going to be that much of a drive and just glad I made it to the actual car park bit before engine cut out. I was kicking myself for choosing to drive up this driveway thinking it was only going to be a short drive and not the length it was. I could feel the golfers looking in horror as my beat up mini was driving into their club and the stuttering noises coming from the engine.

The only time my car and treasured possessions were stolen was when my car (which wasn’t for sale anywhere) was on my driveway locked, keys in my bag in the house and a prolific local car thief stole it

Don’t know how between the two of you someone you were giving a jump start to would have been able to steal your car. Surely someone sitting in the car when the engine was going and with the door shut and bonnet up it would have made it impossible for him to drive off with your car.

It’s a van/truck

Fucking hell you lot are a paranoid bunch.

I’ve sold plenty of cars that have been exported….cars a cheaper here than some countries can get them. And some of them just export for parts….some countries have a hard time getting parts so it’s easier just to buy a donor.

Nothing about the original post had me worried. I’ve sold plenty in this way even without DH at home. I’m guessing OP underpriced it hence his eagerness to get to it.

Do not give the van to anyone without receiving the FULL amount and IN CASH.
you hand write a simple receipt stating the price, time, date, ‘sold as seen’, and reg and you both sign it before you give them the keys. You give them the new keeper slip from the V5C. You keep the rest of the v5c for dvla.
it’s up to them to fix their insurance beforehand. It’s no longer yours after the moment they sign the receipt and you have the money- but you do need to inform the DVLA that it’s been sold asap.

do not and I repeat DO NOT give keys to anyone who only pays you or offers to pay you a deposit!! It does not work like this. They pay you all the money BEFORE they leave with the car. For test drive you can go in car with them or ask a friend to. You can ask them for their keys or driving license and keep it until they get back with van.
all these things are very normal and legit to do when selling or buying secondhand vehicles.
so sorry for your loss op xxxx

What happened @0500hours ? Hope you're ok. As an alternative we sold our via www.motorway.co.uk. Can rrecommend. Money in my account before they completed paperwork in my kitchen!

I really wonder how anyone sells anything on FBMP or Gumtree or any of these websites.

There is basic level safety. But selling things where someone comes into your home to collect I think is far more of a risk than stood in your driveway or on the street selling a car
I always put anything I am selling and know someone is on their way into my car or outside the house so they don’t have to come inside.
I also have house cats who get frightened when people come into the house

Doesn’t matter if you don’t hand over the keys for a test drive.

The scam is that the ‘buyer’ turns up with at least one other person.

One distracts you while the other quickly fiddles with engine (my partner who has sold many vans told me the details of how but not being a car person I can’t recall them, something to do with oil in the wrong place I think).

They then get you to start it- it’s not working boo boo what a surprise there is clearly something wrong - but they kindly offer (very disappointed) to take it off your hands anyway for a VERY reduced price.

Unless you are very experienced & tough enough to deal with people who may be intimidating if you obstruct them or refuse the offer, use a dealer!

But given it worked before they arrived and the engine didn’t have oil all over it, surely you would just refuse to sell to anyone before you checked what was wrong out.

I don’t really get this. Surely people don’t sell at a discount price just because the buyer has told them something. If it was such a discount price then surely you would be looking to find out the problem before selling. It isn’t going to lose you any money if there was genuinely a problem and if it is an easy fix then you are quids in.