Paid Rs 5.9m Upfront for an SUV That Never Came — How Do You Pay a Seller Safely?

A Colombo man was arrested on 28 October after a complaint that he took Rs 5.9 million from a buyer, promised to deliver an SUV, and never did. He was released on two personal bails of Rs 2.5 million each while the Fraud Investigation Bureau looks into it. Cases like this keep showing up, and they all come down to the same moment: how much do you hand over before you actually have the vehicle and the registration book in your hands? Some buyers say never pay more than a small token before transfer — if a seller won't wait for that, it's not a deal worth taking. Others say in a market where decent SUVs and vans move within hours, refusing to pay any advance just means you lose every good deal to the next buyer who moved faster and trusted the seller. Have you ever lost money on an advance that went nowhere, or lost a vehicle because you wouldn't pay one? What's your actual rule — percentage cap, lawyer-held funds, bank transfer only, or strictly cash at the RMV counter and nothing before? ඔබ වාහනයක් මිලදී ගැනීමට කලින් කීයක් අත්තිකාරම් ලෙස ගෙවනවද?