Thoughts about buying safely a car

[Borph]

Hi all,
I'm very new to Bitcoins, but I'm very fascinated about the system and I hope it grows and becomes popular!

Today I will get my new car, about 22,000.00 EUR worth, and I just wonder: How would it be in future buying with Bitcoins?

I mean the transactions in the Bitcoin sytem are safe, of course. The dealer is pretty sure after lets say 10 confirmations/blocks, that the money is his. I'm rather talking about the real world transaction money against car.

Maybe it's a German thing, but in Germany the traditional bank transfers are not popular with buying a car. People rather put the cash on the desk, even in this amount! The reason is that in Germany, for a car there is the "vehicle title" ("Fahrzeugbrief"), and no matter which name is on it, at the end of the day who physically has this paper in his hand owns the car.

The dealer gives this certificate only when he is sure to have the money, and the customer of course doesn't want to give money without getting the car. I actually did it by bank transfer, taking the risk that the money is gone when the company gets bankrupt in the meantime.

I could imagine that you can prepare the transaction of Bitcoins to this specific address from your wallet at home and then trigger the transaction remotely by a mobile phone or so. This way you are face to face with the dealer, can inspect the car, and when you do the deal wait an hour, drink a coffee or so, until the dealer confirms the transaction and gives you the certificate.

Would it be the other option to transfer the money to a new address, which private key you own, and then physically bringing the private key to the dealer (on a pendrive or so), giving him the key and with it access to the money?

[nubryu]

Physically handing over a wallet seems the safest way to me. Transfer the money ahead of time and it'll be confirmed by the time you actually give the wallet as payment. He opens the wallet, confirms that the wallet has the required balance, and hands the title over. Not really any different than him receiving cash, counting it to confirm the amount, and giving the title.

[Borph]

Hum, but the customer could have a copy of the wallet. Wouldn't he be able to spend this money, too? But maybe I just didn't understand how the wallet works.

[xcooling]

if you don't trust the dealer, don't buy the car.

[Borph]

It's the question if the dealer is trusting the customer. It would be no double-spending of Bitcoins, but the customer could spend them _before_ the dealer, effectively taking the money from him.

[realnowhereman]

If I were a car dealer; I'd trust 22,000 EUR worth of confirmed BTC transfer more than I would trust 22,000 EUR worth of cash.

Not being an expert, would I be able to tell a counterfeit Euro from a real one?  I have more faith in cryptography than I do in special printing techniques.

For this reason, when I eventually sell my car; I'm planning to accept bitcoins should someone want to pay like that.  And I'll feel far more secure than any cheque or pile of cash will make me feel.