I quit buying cars off Craigslist with cash in hand and switched to meeting at a bank branch in person, and it saved me from a $2,800 mistake last month

Nora Kelly · 2026-10-08T18:10:04.617925+00:00

For years I would pull up to some random parking lot in my city with $3,000 in my pocket and just hope the title was clean and the guy wasn't lying about the head gasket. Last month I found a 2006 Corolla listed for $2,600 and almost did the same thing, but my brother talked me into meeting the seller at his credit union branch on the west side instead. The teller ran the VIN and it came back with a salvage title from a flood two states over, which the seller had somehow left off the ad. I still would have paid cash for it if we had met in a parking lot because I was already picturing myself driving it home. Now I do every deal at a bank, even if it means the seller grumbles about the drive, and I ask the teller to check the title in front of both of us. It costs me an hour of my day but it's saved me twice now, and the second time the guy just left when he saw where we were meeting. Has anybody else made bank branches their default spot for cheap car deals, or do you all still roll the dice in a Walmart lot?

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I quit buying cars off Craigslist with cash in hand and switched to meeting at a bank branch in person, and it saved me from a $2,800 mistake last month | Cars Under 5k - Rigidtalk