ok guys, I have a buyer from Germany who wants to buy my car and ship to Germany. He wants to send it via CFR and hand me a check. This sends off red flags to me. Anyone have experience with this? Andy?

Car Import Center Hauck

Saarstrasse 19

68723 Oftersheim

Germany

By wire in USD... or no deal.

Any check you deposit foreign or domestic is only a promise to pay... and a foreign check can take a long time to make its way back to you....

In most cases, a wire cannot be undone without your consent.

Could take 4 weeks to clear a foreign check. I would suggest wire transfer if he is legit. Contact your bank for help.

I agree with the above. Wire transfer or no deal. That's what I did!

BTDT wire.

I agree with the wire transfer. Germans deal with that much more frequently than people here in the US. I remember having a single checkbook (50 checks) lasting for several years when i had my own business in Germany. Almost all transactions are done by wire anyways.

Ask him to consult his bank. They'll know what to do. I wire money to and from Germany all the time. Funny thing is, my German bank does not charge me any fees to wire money to the US. Wells Fargo on the other hand always takes a huge chunk out of my pocket for any wires to Germany. Go figure ...

The Company looks like a legit business ...
http://autohaus.pkw.de/schwetzingen/car-import-center-hauck



Andy

I sold my race car to a buyer in Puerto Rico which is sort of over seas I guess. I was sent UP Postal money orders in two sets to cover the cost and had both the post office and my credit union verify them all. The buyer also did ALL the shipping arrangements and all I had to do was pack everything up into a trailer I bought for the journey. I would suggest having the potential buyer have the shipping taken care of and have those people contact you and then you'll know it is getting closer to being legit. My credit union said they would work with the new buyer's bank if he wanted but due to the import/export laws in PR he wanted to essentially pay in cash which was fine with me. Here's a pict of that said day!

Guess I will call the bank tomorrow and see how to proceed. I have already told him I need a wire transfer and he did not act too surprised.

have him send you a parcel (insured) full of cash. then deposit it your bank, asking thenm at the bank to check it for conterfietness. if all is good, tell him he can pick up the car at your convience.

never accept a check for car sale!!!!!!!!!

if your bank is member of the SWIFT (wiki link), a wire transfer would be easy for both sides

if you bank is not - it's PITA for the sender (the guy from Germany)

Correct, but are there any banks left that are not part of swift???

Even the small town bank i used in Germany in the 90s was hooked up over 15 years ago.
Andy

SRI Federal Credit Union in California is not a SWIFT member ...



I think every single bank institut in the European Union is a SWIFT member

oh ... and don't ask me why I know this

but I do know ...

.But......of course!!

(nigerian living in germany! lol)

I wouldn't accept a check from someone across town. Unless they want to wait until the check cleared.

My bank is not a SWIFT member. So I guess it may be an issue..

Michael

Do you think paypal is to expensive ?
Why don´t you use that ?

Niklas

Yes, PP will run a least 2% whereas a wire will run the US reciever about $50.

He says he will wire money on Monday, so Tuesday will tell the tale....

sorta mixed feelings about this sale...

I sold a 914 to a guy in Germany. He paid the deposit on Paypal, and wired the rest. took a couple days for the $$ to show up, then I Fed Ex'd him copies of the title and paperwork and gave him the tracking number. He knew everything - buys cars all the time from US to import to Germany.

One thing I thought about....would YOU wire money to a guy you never met, for a car you only saw online, in another country? I'm not sure I would...I give those guys credit, they trust that we will follow through with the transaction. Can't say I trust many of the people I've sold things too....

Sold 2 Porsches to Europe (914-6 to England, 911 Cab to Switzerland). Wire Transfers both times. Buyer Always arranges shipping. Once the shipper takes the car, it's not your car anymore.

The downside is that they don't see the car beforehand except in pictures. The 914-6 buyer had a lot of questions after the fact, mostly about the motor (that was worth more than I sold the whole package for). Fortunately I had all the answers for him and in fact he kept the motor and sold the car. The 911 Buyer was a Douche who complained forever about everything. The car had 30,000 miles, ran like a raped ape and considering the Euro/Dollar ratio at the time, he stole the car. I still think he was trying to scam me into giving him some money back, that didn't happen. But this can happen in any sale where the buyer never sees a car before hand.

T.C.

Friends, I have an offer on my car that is close enough to my ebay reserve for me to accept, but I have the same concerns. Anyone hear of this person/company?

Grüsse
Patrik Hess

HESS AUTOMOBILE
KFZ- und Teilehandel spez. Porsche
Patrik Hess
Leberbach 11
D-64658 Fürth/Odw

Tel.: 06253/932903
Fax.: 06253/932975
Mobil: 0170/9000767

www.914er-teile.de

Possible language barrier difficulties, but I might proceed on the wire-only basis as per above. Good info.

I don't know him, neither in person nor online, but I've read a lot of good things about him in german Forums

seems to be a truthworthy guy that often buys cars from the states to import them to Germany

Thanks for the response, that's one for the plus column. Guess I'm just a little jittery about a foreign sale, but will definately follow the above protocol.

Ted K

Well...my guy in Germany, seems to say one thing and do another, have not seen a contract or money. Sent him an email today today, straight to the web site. Hopefully its not someone scamming me.

Anyway...he asked for my address I gave it to him, hopefully he is not local and attempt to steal my car later.


Michael

I don't know this guy - but I know that a wire transfer from Europe to a US bank that's not a SWIFT member might take 10-20 days ...