Idiots while trying to sell a car!!
Discussion
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
Hi all,
Can someone please tell me that when trying to sell a car why I should keep getting ridiculous emails from pillocks asking to p/x cars that are quite obviously more expensive with than the one i'm trying to sell.
Basically i've recently advertised a BMW on the sheds section and e39 catergory for reasons stated in the advert. I have said that i would accept a possible part exchange but all i've had so far is people emailing from bogus email addresses, mostly in the same format as the last but with different names. All of them asking whether i'd do a swap with some "made up" car thats vastly more expensive than what i'm trying to sell.... eg. swap a "55" Merc CLK with a 1999 BMW 520i. In an ideal world this sounds brilliant but.... The way the email is written is exactly the same as the others that are sent but are all in different names.
I'm aware of scams that may be going around, but call me stupid where is the scam in this?! I reply but yet nobody responds, so what is the point in this? What are they getting out of it?
An example of this is had a bloke with a foreign accent phone me the other day offering me a price for my car that he hasn't actually seen yet. Would i take "£xxx" for it blah blah. I said come and have a look first and then decide. He said he would come straight away and give me the money! This in theory sounds ideal but i'm realistic and bearing in mind that it was 10pm at the time and that he was coming from Bristol and i live in Wariwck. This would've been an 80 odd mile journey just to get here. Who buys a car in the dark anyway?! I gave him the postcode but that was it but he never showed up. He had rang me over 30 times the previous day so i thought he was obviously a genuine buyer because of how determined he was to get hold of me. Haven't heard from him since.
I mean is this some sort of scam that i'm overlooking or am i being stupid?! Has anyone else had this sort of thing because its begining to annoy me. I've sold many a car through pistonheads before and had no problems other than the usual email scams from tribal warriors in Uganda wanting you to ship them a K reg Peugeot 205 because it would be ideal for him and his family. But all the emails i've had recently all sound dodgy in more ways than one, so any help with this would be much appreciated. Because at the moment i may be dismissing genuine buyers because of this!!
Many Thanks
Andy
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
Hi all,
Can someone please tell me that when trying to sell a car why I should keep getting ridiculous emails from pillocks asking to p/x cars that are quite obviously more expensive with than the one i'm trying to sell.
Basically i've recently advertised a BMW on the sheds section and e39 catergory for reasons stated in the advert. I have said that i would accept a possible part exchange but all i've had so far is people emailing from bogus email addresses, mostly in the same format as the last but with different names. All of them asking whether i'd do a swap with some "made up" car thats vastly more expensive than what i'm trying to sell.... eg. swap a "55" Merc CLK with a 1999 BMW 520i. In an ideal world this sounds brilliant but.... The way the email is written is exactly the same as the others that are sent but are all in different names.
I'm aware of scams that may be going around, but call me stupid where is the scam in this?! I reply but yet nobody responds, so what is the point in this? What are they getting out of it?
An example of this is had a bloke with a foreign accent phone me the other day offering me a price for my car that he hasn't actually seen yet. Would i take "£xxx" for it blah blah. I said come and have a look first and then decide. He said he would come straight away and give me the money! This in theory sounds ideal but i'm realistic and bearing in mind that it was 10pm at the time and that he was coming from Bristol and i live in Wariwck. This would've been an 80 odd mile journey just to get here. Who buys a car in the dark anyway?! I gave him the postcode but that was it but he never showed up. He had rang me over 30 times the previous day so i thought he was obviously a genuine buyer because of how determined he was to get hold of me. Haven't heard from him since.
I mean is this some sort of scam that i'm overlooking or am i being stupid?! Has anyone else had this sort of thing because its begining to annoy me. I've sold many a car through pistonheads before and had no problems other than the usual email scams from tribal warriors in Uganda wanting you to ship them a K reg Peugeot 205 because it would be ideal for him and his family. But all the emails i've had recently all sound dodgy in more ways than one, so any help with this would be much appreciated. Because at the moment i may be dismissing genuine buyers because of this!!
Many Thanks
Andy
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
Ive had another scam type story when trying to sell a car. This guy emails me claiming he is an engineer on an oil rig with only flakey internet connection. He wants to buy my Boxster for his father, he wants to organise payment immediately to my paypal account, when I suggest bank transfer he claims he can only do paypal due to his poor internet connection ??? He wishes to make payment and then arrange someone to collect car, I think the next part of the scam may involve asking for me to pay freight or inspection costs to his "mate" before the paypal monies are cleared.
After a few back and forth emails did not hear anymore, however when selling another car I had another contact with a variation on the above story...
After a few back and forth emails did not hear anymore, however when selling another car I had another contact with a variation on the above story...
I once sold an Alfa 156 on ebay.It was on a matter of minutes when some foreign guy contacted me asking if I would accept a certain amount straight away.I accepted expecting him to say he would pick it up in a couple of days as it was 7pm.Anyway he wanted to pick it up immediatley but would not send a deposit via paypal. I live in Cumbria and he lived in Oxford.I honestly thought this was a scam of some sought.Anyway he arrived at 2am hardly looked at the car (not that he would see much as it was pitch black)coughed up the cash and drove off into the night.The whole affair was very weird but luckily it turned out ok.
silver141 said:
I once sold an Alfa 156 on ebay.It was on a matter of minutes when some foreign guy contacted me asking if I would accept a certain amount straight away.I accepted expecting him to say he would pick it up in a couple of days as it was 7pm.Anyway he wanted to pick it up immediatley but would not send a deposit via paypal. I live in Cumbria and he lived in Oxford.I honestly thought this was a scam of some sought.Anyway he arrived at 2am hardly looked at the car (not that he would see much as it was pitch black)coughed up the cash and drove off into the night.The whole affair was very weird but luckily it turned out ok.
I've sold 5 cars on e-bay now one of which the buyer parted with 7 grand all he was intrested in was if the dvd player worked!!!!!!he never asked for a test drive,checked the car over or previous MOT's.The strange thing is every other buyer as done almost the same thing bloody crazy if you ask me!!
andy3781 said:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
Hi all,
Can someone please tell me that when trying to sell a car why I should keep getting ridiculous emails from pillocks asking to p/x cars that are quite obviously more expensive with than the one i'm trying to sell.
Basically i've recently advertised a BMW on the sheds section and e39 catergory for reasons stated in the advert. I have said that i would accept a possible part exchange but all i've had so far is people emailing from bogus email addresses, mostly in the same format as the last but with different names. All of them asking whether i'd do a swap with some "made up" car thats vastly more expensive than what i'm trying to sell.... eg. swap a "55" Merc CLK with a 1999 BMW 520i. In an ideal world this sounds brilliant but.... The way the email is written is exactly the same as the others that are sent but are all in different names.
I'm aware of scams that may be going around, but call me stupid where is the scam in this?! I reply but yet nobody responds, so what is the point in this? What are they getting out of it?
An example of this is had a bloke with a foreign accent phone me the other day offering me a price for my car that he hasn't actually seen yet. Would i take "£xxx" for it blah blah. I said come and have a look first and then decide. He said he would come straight away and give me the money! This in theory sounds ideal but i'm realistic and bearing in mind that it was 10pm at the time and that he was coming from Bristol and i live in Wariwck. This would've been an 80 odd mile journey just to get here. Who buys a car in the dark anyway?! I gave him the postcode but that was it but he never showed up. He had rang me over 30 times the previous day so i thought he was obviously a genuine buyer because of how determined he was to get hold of me. Haven't heard from him since.
I mean is this some sort of scam that i'm overlooking or am i being stupid?! Has anyone else had this sort of thing because its begining to annoy me. I've sold many a car through pistonheads before and had no problems other than the usual email scams from tribal warriors in Uganda wanting you to ship them a K reg Peugeot 205 because it would be ideal for him and his family. But all the emails i've had recently all sound dodgy in more ways than one, so any help with this would be much appreciated. Because at the moment i may be dismissing genuine buyers because of this!!
Many Thanks
Andy
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
You have mail Hi all,
Can someone please tell me that when trying to sell a car why I should keep getting ridiculous emails from pillocks asking to p/x cars that are quite obviously more expensive with than the one i'm trying to sell.
Basically i've recently advertised a BMW on the sheds section and e39 catergory for reasons stated in the advert. I have said that i would accept a possible part exchange but all i've had so far is people emailing from bogus email addresses, mostly in the same format as the last but with different names. All of them asking whether i'd do a swap with some "made up" car thats vastly more expensive than what i'm trying to sell.... eg. swap a "55" Merc CLK with a 1999 BMW 520i. In an ideal world this sounds brilliant but.... The way the email is written is exactly the same as the others that are sent but are all in different names.
I'm aware of scams that may be going around, but call me stupid where is the scam in this?! I reply but yet nobody responds, so what is the point in this? What are they getting out of it?
An example of this is had a bloke with a foreign accent phone me the other day offering me a price for my car that he hasn't actually seen yet. Would i take "£xxx" for it blah blah. I said come and have a look first and then decide. He said he would come straight away and give me the money! This in theory sounds ideal but i'm realistic and bearing in mind that it was 10pm at the time and that he was coming from Bristol and i live in Wariwck. This would've been an 80 odd mile journey just to get here. Who buys a car in the dark anyway?! I gave him the postcode but that was it but he never showed up. He had rang me over 30 times the previous day so i thought he was obviously a genuine buyer because of how determined he was to get hold of me. Haven't heard from him since.
I mean is this some sort of scam that i'm overlooking or am i being stupid?! Has anyone else had this sort of thing because its begining to annoy me. I've sold many a car through pistonheads before and had no problems other than the usual email scams from tribal warriors in Uganda wanting you to ship them a K reg Peugeot 205 because it would be ideal for him and his family. But all the emails i've had recently all sound dodgy in more ways than one, so any help with this would be much appreciated. Because at the moment i may be dismissing genuine buyers because of this!!
Many Thanks
Andy
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2363414.htm
[Genuine BTW; I'm not a Ugandan Priest with $1,000,000 which I'd like to give to you please]
Edited by Great Pretender on Monday 3rd January 13:25
I sold my E60 520D in November for £12600 to a Polish builder from Wimbledon.
He came to see it with mate, but couldn't prove insurance so I drove it on a 2 mile journey with him in the passenger seat. He wanted to take it there and then - it was 7.30pm and dark. There is no way that he could have seen the paintwork etc. The only question he asked was about the cambelt - er, no cambelt mate.
He came to see it with mate, but couldn't prove insurance so I drove it on a 2 mile journey with him in the passenger seat. He wanted to take it there and then - it was 7.30pm and dark. There is no way that he could have seen the paintwork etc. The only question he asked was about the cambelt - er, no cambelt mate.
I had some guy call me from France wanting to buy my MX5 - he was due to be in-country the next day anyway and was offering to pay cash. Sounded iffy so I fobbed him off; the only scam angle I could figure would be him using funny-money to pay me; if you get an 'odd' cash buyer, check the notes very carefully!
Edited by bluetone on Tuesday 4th January 08:42
If you are being paid cash, walk them to the bank and ask them to stand next to you as the teller counts out the notes, prints off the reciept and hands it to you saying the money is in your account. No problemmo.
I sold my old Boxster to the dodgiest of dodgy geezers who looked at the history, didn't drive it and then paid me the asking price with an envelope full of fiftys. I was properyly s
tting myself but paid it into the bank who confirmed that the risk on the notes passes to them on paying in.
I sold my old Boxster to the dodgiest of dodgy geezers who looked at the history, didn't drive it and then paid me the asking price with an envelope full of fiftys. I was properyly s
tting myself but paid it into the bank who confirmed that the risk on the notes passes to them on paying in.stick it on ebay, with a note saying resonable offers considered and expect to sell it before the auction finishes.
I sold a passat recently - was looking for 6500 so put on ebay, guy turned up with 6300 cash before the auction finished and it was his - end the auction early and you don't pay the final fees either.
Car looks good, but for me the whole had it 2 weeks thing would put me off - sounds like you bought, found a massive problem and are trying to offload it - i know its not a whole lot of money though so you'd think someone would take a punt - you could probably break it for more than that!
I sold a passat recently - was looking for 6500 so put on ebay, guy turned up with 6300 cash before the auction finished and it was his - end the auction early and you don't pay the final fees either.
Car looks good, but for me the whole had it 2 weeks thing would put me off - sounds like you bought, found a massive problem and are trying to offload it - i know its not a whole lot of money though so you'd think someone would take a punt - you could probably break it for more than that!
micron750 said:
I've sold 5 cars on e-bay now one of which the buyer parted with 7 grand all he was intrested in was if the dvd player worked!!!!!!he never asked for a test drive,checked the car over or previous MOT's.
The strange thing is every other buyer as done almost the same thing bloody crazy if you ask me!!
Same here, once sold a Mini for over £11k sight unseen! The buyer won it through the auction process and collected two days after having travelled from Wales to London. The strange thing is every other buyer as done almost the same thing bloody crazy if you ask me!!
And there is me, typically asking at least 20 questions even when I look at £500 cars...
...well I stand corrected, might take a punt and let an oddball view it then! Mattman, obviously having the car just a few weeks isn't going to come across well but it's a genuine story and I'm just being honest. Anybody that was to come to view is very welcome to come and drive the car for as long as they want and to make sure that everything works as it should. I've used to twice now to drive from London to Manchester and back and it really does drive very well! It's amazing to think that you can now get cars like this for so little nowadays when only a few years back you'd be paying the best part of 20 odd grand for it. Depreciation, it's a terrible thing!
I had an odd one when selling my old track E36 M3. Guy from abroad yada yada and I initially thought it was a scam. He did ask some interesting questions so I did respond. Turned out to be genuine. I dropped the car off to a local supplier he uses in the UK when one of his drivers was over and they gave me the cash. All checked and paid in with no problems.
I have no idea how he was going to get the back though...certainly it wasn't fitting on any of their lorries and his guy had no idea, had just been told to give me the money.
I have no idea how he was going to get the back though...certainly it wasn't fitting on any of their lorries and his guy had no idea, had just been told to give me the money.
BMW looks nice and I was momentarily tempted to offer my E36 Auto in exchange but I'm not sure that swapping something with 189K for 203K makes a lot of sense. You should sell with ease?
Interesting thread as I've been approached by someone wanting to export my car to Japan, cash sale. It's a sole trader so no business info to work off but seems genuine despite multiple alarm bells ringing in my head.
Seems the German guy who wanted to come on Sat night at 9pm might have been genuine as well, I figured I had better plans for Sat night than a time waster and told him Sunday or Monday mornings only, perhaps not so odd now.
Interesting thread as I've been approached by someone wanting to export my car to Japan, cash sale. It's a sole trader so no business info to work off but seems genuine despite multiple alarm bells ringing in my head.
Seems the German guy who wanted to come on Sat night at 9pm might have been genuine as well, I figured I had better plans for Sat night than a time waster and told him Sunday or Monday mornings only, perhaps not so odd now.
When i sold my RS6 the buyer viewed at my work car park, transfered 26k to my bank account and picked it up a week later didnt view paperwork or know where i lived crazy crazy people.
Also had someone ring me at 7pm about a jetski i was selling he was from scotland me essex we done the deal he said he will leave now and be with me in the morning before i go to work, true to his word i woke up to fine a scot asleep in his car outside lol cash paid and he took it.
Also there are a lot of messers about
Also had someone ring me at 7pm about a jetski i was selling he was from scotland me essex we done the deal he said he will leave now and be with me in the morning before i go to work, true to his word i woke up to fine a scot asleep in his car outside lol cash paid and he took it.
Also there are a lot of messers about
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