Question of the Week: Do you vet the buyer of your vehicle?

Watching a beloved car leave your garage, for the last time, with someone else driving it, can be a trying time in an enthusiast’s life. How can we be sure that vehicle is going to receive the same love that was belabored upon it during our time as its caretaker?

The short answer is that we can’t. The long answer is to do our homework if we want to entrust the car to buyer who shares our passion and will treat it just as we did. This can be accomplished a number of ways, a few of which we will outline here. And we want to hear from you in the comments below on how you vet your buyer.

• Only list the ad on marque specific club publications and sites. Club members tend to be more passionate and faithful to a marque or badge and will therefore be less likely to mistreat your treasured ride.
• When contacted by a potential buyer, have a conversation where you express the elaborate care you have placed on the car. Gauge their reaction and see if they share the same intentions.
• When showing the car to the potential new owner, see if ask they questions and notice the things that indicate they’ve done their homework. A buyer who cares will have done the research.
• If you choose to allow a test drive, riding with them and seeing how they drive can indicate the kind of owner they might be.

So we send the question to you, do you vet the buyer of your classics? If so, how?