Best way to handle a long-distance car sale?

[Ben Davis]

Just talked to some coworkers at the credit union here and a couple of
things they thought I should do:

1. Ask the guy for the name and phone number of the bank he is financing the
loan at, as well as the name of the loan officer so that I could call them
and verify with the bank that yes James whoever has been approved for a loan
of $8,500 for the purchase of my car. The VIN has to be on the loan document
and I haven't given him the VIN so he couldn't possibly get the loan without
it, so that would be a good time for the bank to get the VIN from me. Since
I will be driving such a long way this shouldn't seem unreasonable.

2. Definitely get a copy of the check. Call the bank to verify that that
check in in question is a valid check.

If I can get all that, I'd say that's proof enough. I emailed him this and
also said a small deposit would be a nice gesture to help out with the cost
of the trip.

Ben Davis