suspicious dealer
Author
Discussion

deeno65

Original Poster:

17 posts

39 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
hi all , im selling my audi to a dealer he wants to come and view the car and wants to take picture of v5 and keys then do paper work.then sys he will send some one to pick the car up and they will pay me, not him , he claims he is from synter audi, im unsure what to do

DirktheDaring

873 posts

42 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Does their email end in sytner.co.uk or gmail.com laugh

andy43

13,229 posts

284 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Ask his name and which dealer, then google the dealer phone number and phone them direct asking for him by name?

E63eeeeee...

5,766 posts

79 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
When you say "they will pay you" do you mean in cash? Because I somehow doubt Sytner buy cars for cash.

Monkeylegend

29,361 posts

261 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
deeno65 said:
hi all , im selling my audi to a dealer he wants to come and view the car and wants to take picture of v5 and keys then do paper work.then sys he will send some one to pick the car up and they will pay me, not him , he claims he is from synter audi, im unsure what to do
Definitely a scam if he says he is from Synter Audi hoping you think he is from the Sytner Audi.

Rough101

3,059 posts

105 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
My father did something similar, not Sytner, same process and they sent a big transporter, the driver had an envelope with a cheque in it and the V5 slip exchanged and them the car loaded. Driver done 12 cars a day, all back to a central compound.

This was a formal approach though, emails etc. checked out.

deeno65

Original Poster:

17 posts

39 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
he has replied through autotrader, no not cash bank transfer, looked him up on linked in, looks official just feel uneasy as i think they should pay as soon as the deal has been agreed. he could take pics of log book leave and in a couple of days car has been stolen etc, so payment whilst he is here i think

Monkeylegend

29,361 posts

261 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
deeno65 said:
he has replied through autotrader, no not cash bank transfer, looked him up on linked in, looks official just feel uneasy as i think they should pay as soon as the deal has been agreed. he could take pics of log book leave and in a couple of days car has been stolen etc, so payment whilst he is here i think
It is your car so tell him that. If he refuses don't let him have the pics.

If you feel that uneasy I would look to sell elsewhere.

andyA700

3,452 posts

67 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Rough101 said:
My father did something similar, not Sytner, same process and they sent a big transporter, the driver had an envelope with a cheque in it and the V5 slip exchanged and them the car loaded. Driver done 12 cars a day, all back to a central compound.

This was a formal approach though, emails etc. checked out.
"Driver done 12 cars a day" - really?
Assuming a twelve hour working day, every car would have to be collected a maximum distance of around 15 miles away from the "central compound". This means the transporter would be travelling at an average speed of 40mph plus waiting and loading time.

deeno65

Original Poster:

17 posts

39 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
thanks all im going to email him, and state what i want.


swisstoni

24,061 posts

309 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Why not take the car to the Sytner dealership and get the deal done there?

deeno65

Original Poster:

17 posts

39 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
Why not take the car to the Sytner dealership and get the deal done there?
thats a great idea thanks

Gigamoons

18,084 posts

230 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
Why not take the car to the Sytner dealership and get the deal done there?
Is the simplest way.

LuS1fer

43,525 posts

275 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
I had new keys cut for our Toyota just by sending a photo so alarm bells would ring for me. The only time I would be producing the log book is after they had bought it.

V8 Stang

4,509 posts

213 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
I know when i sold my £40K Mustang to a ford dealer via Motorway. I was asked for a copy of the V5 before hand and a signed declaration, then a trade plate driver turned up, had a quick check around, called his office and a instant bank transfer was done there before he left.

It was all very relaxed, but was comfortable in the fact it was a big ford dealer with 10+ locations. What surprised me was the trade plate driver took it from Stroud all the way up to Scarborough, even though they had a dealer in Hereford!


deeno65

Original Poster:

17 posts

39 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Yes it seems the normal way now. Linked in confirms what he does and he sent me his business card. I'll be ringing synter first thing Monday morning to clarify. Thank you

CloudStuff

4,261 posts

134 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Taking the car to a Sytner dealer is a good shout.

This *might* just be a very rare example of an "is this a scam?" thread actually being genuine. Possibly.

I have sold to a couple of Sytner dealers one Audi, the other Porsche. On both occasions, the buyers came to my house, did a visual inspection, looked at the paperwork and keys and (with the 911) did a lot of digging into the service history, via a call with the workshop.

Once they were happy, the deal was agreed. After that, paperwork was signed (I think by Docusign), money transferred and then one of their freelance drivers travelled to collect the car. But in both cases, contact was via their 'home' dealership.

So it may check out. A business card, call via a dealer and maybe even a look at their linkedin profile would probably flush out any dodginess if a dealership visit is not convenient.

CloudStuff

4,261 posts

134 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
deeno65 said:
Yes it seems the normal way now. Linked in confirms what he does and he sent me his business card. I'll be ringing synter first thing Monday morning to clarify. Thank you
Lol! All sounding much better now :-)

egomeister

7,603 posts

293 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
deeno65 said:
Yes it seems the normal way now. Linked in confirms what he does and he sent me his business card. I'll be ringing synter first thing Monday morning to clarify. Thank you
Linkedin confirms nothing - anyone can set up a profile. And anyone can get a card printed.

Ring Sytner, but don't use any info he's provided you with, get the details off the Sytner website so you know they are legit.

swisstoni

24,061 posts

309 months

Sunday 30th July 2023
quotequote all
Probably all fine then.

But it wouldn’t be hard at all for a scammer to approach a private seller, pretend to be from a well known dealer group, and even to be a particular employee from that group.
Because all you ever see is a person who collects the car.