The playbook we run for every ValetSold listing. Use it even if you never pay us a dollar.
Price gets agreed in writing before anyone meets. Our relay does this for you; the showing is a confirmation, not a bargaining session. Anyone who shows up and starts renegotiating hard is running a play — the answer is "the price is the price, thanks for coming out."
First meeting: look and test drive, public parking lot with cameras (police-station exchange zones are ideal). Second meeting: paperwork and handoff, same kind of place. Bring a friend when you can.
Photograph their driver's license before the drive (real buyers never object), ride along, and stay off empty roads. Your insurance covers licensed drivers you permit — confirm your policy language.
Cashier's checks are the #1 private-sale scam in America — counterfeits clear for days, then reverse. We only close with payment verified through a licensed dealer service. If a buyer insists on a cashier's check, meet them INSIDE their bank and watch the teller cut it. Never wire "refunds", never accept overpayment.
Overpayment + "refund the difference" · buyer's "shipping agent" collecting the car sight-unseen · fake escrow websites the buyer "always uses" · VIN-report phishing ("just run it on this site I trust") · gift-card anything · pressure to move to WhatsApp in the first message. Screenshot anything weird into our free scam check and get a verdict in seconds.
In California, file the DMV release of liability the day the car leaves — the buyer's red-light tickets become their problem, not yours. Our closing kit files-by-walkthrough so nothing gets skipped.