Bryan was selling the car he'd had since college.  He and his partner, who live in Santa Monica, Calif., had just bought a new Prius (so Californian) and now they were getting rid of the Jeep. 

Most people worry most about getting taken by the seller.  But getting taken by the buyer is equally common, and a few rules, both logical and obscure, apply.

Before we look at how it played out for Bryan, here are a few stats:

His 1991 Jeep Wrangler had a Blue Book value of $3,800, in fair condition; $4,400 in excellent condition, and Bryan determined the car, still in good running order despite its 139,000 miles, was priced to sell at $4,000.

I should add, he wisely chose not to use the car as a trade in on the Prius, because he knew he could get more, perhaps thousands more, selling it on his own. 

The job of a good car salesman is to try to get trade-ins for as little as possible, typically with offers that bare no relation to Blue Book value; what a car salesman earns on a trade-in is often much more than he'll get for the commission on the sale of a new car.  The salesperson is, therefore, highly motivated to offer you as little as possible, because he knows he can turn the car around for substantial profit that will go directly into his pocket. This is a truism often overlooked by people intoxicated by the smell of a new car, anxious to get off the lot as soon as possible, and go tooling off into the night.

The ad went up on Craig's List (yes, it's not only for personal ads), and within 12 hours Bryan had six queries about the car.  But before he responded, he asked my opinion about selling a car by owner.  As the son of a car dealer, and as someone who's been screwed over both by buyers and sellers more than once, I hate to admit, I had gleaned a thing or two I was happy to pass on.

1. If you're asking, say, $4,000, and that's really what you want, stick to it firmly and let the person doing the inquiring know that upfront on the phone. No point in wasting his or her time, or yours, if he only plans to offer, say, $2,000 when he finally comes to see the car. If you're open to negotiating, that's fine, but the nature of the beast is that people will try to low-ball you, and it's much more time efficient if you have some idea of what they're willing to spend before you meet.

2. Show the car at your house, or apartment.  It's rarely ever worth your time to drive all over town, or to another town to show it.  Bryan got several requests for this, to meet him half-way up the California coast, in one case.  He wisely declined those offers.

3. If someone comes to look at your car, and they seem like a serious buyer, and say they'll be back tomorrow, then don't be shy to ask for a deposit that will be used toward the total purchase price of the car.  You can let them know that other people are also coming by later that day, and it's strictly first-come, first-served. If they're a serious buyer, they won't mind giving you $100-$200 to hold the car; if they're just lookie-loos, they'll balk and then you'll know where you stand.

4. Bryan wanted to know if it was OK to take a cashiers check.  The answer is: generally no. My rule of thumb is -- under $5000, take cash, and immediately hand that cash off to a friend, or your partner, who will take the money right off the premises and directly to the bank without stopping. This will avoid a host of possible problems.  Over $5,000, I would only take a cashier's check if I could meet the interested party at their bank and see the bank person make out the cashiers check before my very eyes.  Cashiers checks can be forged, and the forgeries can look very convincing. 

Again, if the interested buyer balks at what I consider to be a reasonable and prudent exchange of money, then I'd pass up the deal, and move on to the next buyer. If they really want the car, and it's for a substantial amount of money, they won't mind.

5. Once a price is set and the money is exchanged, meet the buyer at AAA to transfer the title of the car over to the other party.  It's a free service of AAA when you're a member, and then you never have to set foot in the DMV, where the lighting is always hideous, and the lines are guaranteed to be long. 

Why do I suggest this? Because until the buyer of the car transfers the title into their name, you are wholly liable for any accidents or tickets the car incurs; if the buyer of the car gets into an accident on the way home from your transaction with him, and the title is still in your name, you're on the hook.  You simply cannot trust that the person buying the car will take care of this matter in a timely fashion -- even minutes count in this regard.

At the risk of sounding a bit negative, you have no reason in the world to trust the person buying your car, even if you know the buyer. So, take these few precautions and you'll be a happy seller.

Epilogue: Bryan sold his car, at the full cash price, met the buyer at AAA, and is happily tooling around in his new Prius.