Private Seller Best Practices
We encourage private sellers to carry out their own research on the best way to conduct their sale but can highlight some best practices:
- Trust your gut and be cautious with aggressive buyers.
- Avoid purchasing a vehicle history report from a third party site that is not listed as an approved provider by the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. We recommend AutoCheck, which is offered by Experian Automotive. Some third-party sites have been designed to collect your personal details for identity theft purposes and you should use caution if a prospective buyer asks you to purchase one of these to proceed with the transaction.
- If you agree to a test drive, get the buyer's details and ask for a driver's license.
- State your payment terms. If accepting payment in person from a prospective buyer, we recommend that sellers wait until their payment has been received in full and all funds have cleared for a wire, check or money order before releasing the vehicle and title to the buyer.