Are these red flags for a dealer?
Discussion
I wouldn't hand over any money until I was taking the car then and there.
and that would be only after doing all the usual checks to establish he has good title to the car.
I refuse to pay any deposit for anything by bank transfer as you have no recourse in the event of a problem. It has to be by credit card - so if you end up shafted you can claim from the credit card company.
I understand this applies even if you only pay a portion of the deposit / balance on a credit card.
and that would be only after doing all the usual checks to establish he has good title to the car.
I refuse to pay any deposit for anything by bank transfer as you have no recourse in the event of a problem. It has to be by credit card - so if you end up shafted you can claim from the credit card company.
I understand this applies even if you only pay a portion of the deposit / balance on a credit card.
Personally if I was a dealer I wouldn't want to sell a car to someone who admitted they had to sell their car first. I suspect he is asking for £1K deposit incase you can't sell your car and string him along for weeks/months and then back out at the last minute.
Look at it from his point of view, would you want to hold a car for £100 deposit for someone who may not actually ever come back to buy it?
Maybe I am cynical after dealing with so many timewasters on eBay who back out at the last minute as their mums, dog had to have an operation at short notice.
Look at it from his point of view, would you want to hold a car for £100 deposit for someone who may not actually ever come back to buy it?
Maybe I am cynical after dealing with so many timewasters on eBay who back out at the last minute as their mums, dog had to have an operation at short notice.
I can see it from the sellers POV, he presumably has a small amount of stock and you asking him to hold a car whilst you sell your own holds him back on his business functioning too, and it's not worth his time to him for £100 if you never come back, £1000 makes it worth while him doing.
All that being said if it was me I would just sell my own car and hope the Lexus is still available when you have the cash ready to buy.
All that being said if it was me I would just sell my own car and hope the Lexus is still available when you have the cash ready to buy.
I had a similar situation when looking for another Shed on Facebook Marketplace.
Drove to look at the car, everything was in reasonable condition and would be in fantastic condition once I worked my magic on it. Small haggle on price as is the norm. Then the bombshell. I would have to pay them now in full and collect the car when they found and picked up their replacement car as they needed my funds for that car. Nosirree!
Drove to look at the car, everything was in reasonable condition and would be in fantastic condition once I worked my magic on it. Small haggle on price as is the norm. Then the bombshell. I would have to pay them now in full and collect the car when they found and picked up their replacement car as they needed my funds for that car. Nosirree!
"Coopers of Hampshire are proud to offer this immaculately presented Lexus IS IS250 V6..."
I think it is far from immaculately presented going off the pics...
Grubby leather and interior carpets needing a good vacuum is hardly well presented imho
I think it is far from immaculately presented going off the pics...
Grubby leather and interior carpets needing a good vacuum is hardly well presented imho
Edited by lord trumpton on Wednesday 15th November 21:09
Pickle_Party_247 said:
Been to see a car this afternoon- an IS250, lovely mini barge of a thing.
The dealer sells cars as a sideline to his main work, so he currently operates from home off his driveway while he gets premises arranged as he told me.
Viewing was fine, test drive was fine, his house was in a regular suburb of Southampton and there was no weirdness.
I rang him back after and we came to an agreement on price, I want to leave a deposit while I get my car sold so discussed that with him and he wouldn't take a deposit of less than a grand?? He goes on to say that most high street bank apps tend to flag transfers to his account as potential scams, and not to worry because it happens with all of his sales.
Dealer has no google maps presence, no online reviews, no Autotrader profile (where I found the car) and what seems like a new website. The dealer has been registered with Company's House since October last year and is registered on there as premised at a random industrial estate in Suffolk.
Am I overthinking it or is this all quite dodgy?
Do you have a friend who'll let you park the car outside of their home for a few days?The dealer sells cars as a sideline to his main work, so he currently operates from home off his driveway while he gets premises arranged as he told me.
Viewing was fine, test drive was fine, his house was in a regular suburb of Southampton and there was no weirdness.
I rang him back after and we came to an agreement on price, I want to leave a deposit while I get my car sold so discussed that with him and he wouldn't take a deposit of less than a grand?? He goes on to say that most high street bank apps tend to flag transfers to his account as potential scams, and not to worry because it happens with all of his sales.
Dealer has no google maps presence, no online reviews, no Autotrader profile (where I found the car) and what seems like a new website. The dealer has been registered with Company's House since October last year and is registered on there as premised at a random industrial estate in Suffolk.
Am I overthinking it or is this all quite dodgy?
Pickle_Party_247 said:
He goes on to say that most high street bank apps tend to flag transfers to his account as potential scams, and not to worry because it happens with all of his sales.
This is nonsense. The banking apps are not able to pick out specific accounts as possible scam accounts. There is just the normal scam notices whenever you do transfers, not specific to him at all.lord trumpton said:
"Coopers of Hampshire are proud to offer this immaculately presented Lexus IS IS250 V6..."
I think it is far from immaculately presented going off the pics...
Grubby leather and interior carpets needing a good vacuum is hardly well presented imho
Website mentions warranty protect3d by ‘our Promise’ - a link which then takes you to page not found!I think it is far from immaculately presented going off the pics...
Grubby leather and interior carpets needing a good vacuum is hardly well presented imho
All smells fishy to me. I would walk. Always another car somewhere.
As other say - only ever give a deposit with credit card.
BertBert said:
Pickle_Party_247 said:
He goes on to say that most high street bank apps tend to flag transfers to his account as potential scams, and not to worry because it happens with all of his sales.
This is nonsense. The banking apps are not able to pick out specific accounts as possible scam accounts. There is just the normal scam notices whenever you do transfers, not specific to him at all.As for the deposit, I'd be cautious about giving anyone that much even a dealer with a forecourt. But I can see his reasoning as well so doesn't necessarily make it dodgy.
When I bought my previous Focus ST, they wanted a £200 deposit I believe, just to secure the car and start the work required on it, so full service and MOT with a clean sheet, no advisories and a few other bits it needed. The agreed final price was £4900, so £1000 does seem pretty steep.
On the car itself, I personally wouldn't get one of these without the media screen in the middle. Makes the interior look much better and you get alot more features with it that I'd personally want.
On the car itself, I personally wouldn't get one of these without the media screen in the middle. Makes the interior look much better and you get alot more features with it that I'd personally want.
Giantt said:
Tend to flag transactions to his account as a scam....all you need to know I'd say,no thanks,not really a dealer is he?
This is my thought also.Educate us bank people, do all transactions/transfers to a non business bank account give a scam warning?
I guess they probably do?
Sorry OP, I am with the seller... It sounds like he is a part time trader which I know gets up people's noses generally but profit isn't a dirty word and if it's a nice car sold in good faith then there is no more risk for a buyer than if it was sold by a private seller or fancy garage somewhere.
It must be nice/well priced or you wouldn't have been interested (I haven't seen the ad)
He's is either
Derisking the deal by wanting the £1000 deposit because you are basically asking him to hold it for an undefined period of time.
or
Simply doesn't want your business due to the fact that if he is only selling a couple of cars he will want it gone so he can keep the cash flowing and the deals happening.
Both/either of the above fair enough to me.
Where you've both probably gone wrong here is lack of upfront contract. Your situation wasn't disclosed prior to viewing and he didn't qualify you properly by asking the right questions early on...
Edit to say regarding the bank transaction fraud - This only usually happens on the sender's side (to new payees) so I do find that comment odd. If he was ltd and had a business account there wouldn't be any problems. Often when transacting with a new payee outside of your typical average range it can flag as fraud which means long phone calls to the bank's fraud team. The way around this is to send a small amount first then the rest in one go (checking you haven't got a transfer limit). Obviously only do this if you're sure everything is legit because there aren't a lot of comebacks with this type of thing.
Caveat emptor always applies!!
It must be nice/well priced or you wouldn't have been interested (I haven't seen the ad)
He's is either
Derisking the deal by wanting the £1000 deposit because you are basically asking him to hold it for an undefined period of time.
or
Simply doesn't want your business due to the fact that if he is only selling a couple of cars he will want it gone so he can keep the cash flowing and the deals happening.
Both/either of the above fair enough to me.
Where you've both probably gone wrong here is lack of upfront contract. Your situation wasn't disclosed prior to viewing and he didn't qualify you properly by asking the right questions early on...
Edit to say regarding the bank transaction fraud - This only usually happens on the sender's side (to new payees) so I do find that comment odd. If he was ltd and had a business account there wouldn't be any problems. Often when transacting with a new payee outside of your typical average range it can flag as fraud which means long phone calls to the bank's fraud team. The way around this is to send a small amount first then the rest in one go (checking you haven't got a transfer limit). Obviously only do this if you're sure everything is legit because there aren't a lot of comebacks with this type of thing.
Caveat emptor always applies!!
Edited by Llew on Thursday 16th November 10:52
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