Chapter 9 - Purchasing A Classic Car

Be sure to obtain all the original sales paperwork and receipts for work done by the previous owner(s). Documentation is important to establish current value and to pass on to the next owner when you decide to sell the car.

Escrow Services

I highly suggest using an escrow service if you will be making a long distance purchase. An escrow service is a fully licensed and regulated company that keeps the payment from the buyer until instructions agreed upon beforehand are met. This usually means the auto has been delivered safely to the buyer, but there can be other requests included.

Unfortunately there are many online scam escrow companies. Be very wary of using an escrow service suggested by a seller. This is buyer protection and sellers should not care what escrow company is being used. Be very wary if the seller is requesting a particular company to be used

I have not had the need to use an escrow service yet, so I cannot suggest any through personal experience. EBay only allows escrow.com be used with their transactions, they treat any other escrow suggested by the seller as a potential scam. You can visit the site below to calculate your charge, just enter the final sales amount. A test run of $20,000 returned a charge of $201.50, which is a great deal to protect yourself from losing lots more.

https://www.escrow.com/support/calculator.asp

eBay

Much more can be read in chapter 5 about finding and purchasing a car on eBay. The main point to remember is that you should purchase the vehicle through eBay via PayPal or a credit card. You can also set up financing through eBay also. Making the transaction through eBay enrolls you into the "eBay Vehicle Purchase Protection Program", which insures you up to the price of the vehicle or $50,000 due to many factors such as non delivery, damage, or false data in the ad such as wrong year, model, etc.

Auctions

every aspect of purchasing a car through an auction is in Chapter 6, including making sure you are preapproved for a loan or have the proper bank notes before participating in an auction.