[tptacek]

You'd think there'd be a good opportunity here for an auto shop to set up a Craigslist auto clearinghouse, where buyers and sellers can meet in a neutral location, give the car a once-over, have someone with experience make sure the paperwork is in order, and conduct the sale without (gak!) cash.

[larrys]

The idea is good with the exception of the auto shop doing the once-over. I think they would be leery of providing a statement regarding the condition unless they were sufficiently compensated. Or unless the idea was large enough to involve a network that provided the guarantee.

What you are suggesting is in a sense what used car dealers do. Even if there is no long term guarantee on the condition of the car (many times there are though) there is an implicit guarantee that the car isn't going to die once you drive it off the lot. The point is, they charge for that because they have to cover that as a contingency if something hidden turns up.

[tptacek]

They'd just offer the same service mechanics already do for used cars, and using the clearinghouse function as a lead generation mechanism for it.

[nandemo]

Aren't you just describing used auto fairs?

[tptacek]

No? I bought a used CRV last year in February. I found the car on the Internet. There was no "auto fair" I could meet the owner at to conduct the transaction.

[nandemo]

Hmm, not sure if we understand each other. To clarify, in Brazil we have "used auto fairs", a day-long event where a company provides a place where individuals can take their cars to sell. Individuals can go there and buy directly from the sellers (dealers can go there and buy too, but that sort of defeats the point for the sellers).

I tried googling the term in English and didn't get many hits, so I assume you call it by another name. And if for some odd reason you don't have such events in N. America, you should start a business and get rich easily :-).

Another interpretation is that you do have access to auto fairs but would still prefer to shop on the net, while still having the option to go through a third party. But I guess that scenario is not so attractive to the third party (unless that third party is a dealer which again defeats the point).

[paulgerhardt]

It would also alleviate a secondary concern where you have to give the seller your current address to complete the title transfer.

While not as common as simply holding up the potential buyer, it's much easier to steal a car to which you have a backup key and know where its parked.