A car thats too good to be true?

[Paul180]

Check this out:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...COUPE&doors=&fuel=&lang=en&cardist=608


So I emailed him and apparently he is selling the car for that price and sent me the email below. I assume this is some kind of scam or the car has serious problems. It has 12 records in Carfax, curious what you all thought.

This is the email he sent me:

Hello,

The car is stil available but I hope not for long because I'm disparate to sell it as fast as I can. If you are a serious buyer as I'm a serious seller here maybe we can go ahead (I can do this only if you have funds available and we can do this fast). I am based in L.A.(Calif.), and I have the car here with me .I am willing to sell it for $4000. I listed the car on many zip codes because I'm disperate to sell it. The car belonged to my brother.
My brother is in the hospital and he will go into surgery in 6 days and I am desperate to sell this car as fast as I can because I need the money to take care of my brother. This is an expensive deal for me so I want to be covered and I think you want this too. I want to end this deal through Square Trade it's a third party service similar to escrow.com - they hold the funds until you receive the item, you will have 48 hrs for inspection after you receive and inspect the car (I'll tell you more if you realy want to buy the car).
The car will be shipped crated by DAS this is a door to door delivery service not coast to coast so the car will arrive at your address, you won't have to worry about picking it up from a dock. The shipping cost for delivering it to you is included in the buy it now price($4000), this cost includes door to door handling, insurance. The car will be delivered to your address along with all the neccesary paperwork (including the transfered title, an odometer disclosure).
If you want to continue , please email your full name and address for shipping purposes so we can get on with it . I am looking forward to hearing from you and to complete this deal.

Thank you!

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: Paul180
Check this out:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...COUPE&doors=&fuel=<=en&cardist=608


So I emailed him and apparently he is selling the car for that price and sent me the email below. I assume this is some kind of scam or the car has serious problems. It has 12 records in Carfax, curious what you all thought.

This is the email he sent me:

Hello,

The car is stil available but I hope not for long because I'm disparate to sell it as fast as I can. If you are a serious buyer as I'm a serious seller here maybe we can go ahead (I can do this only if you have funds available and we can do this fast). I am based in L.A.(Calif.), and I have the car here with me .I am willing to sell it for $4000. I listed the car on many zip codes because I'm disperate to sell it. The car belonged to my brother.
My brother is in the hospital and he will go into surgery in 6 days and I am desperate to sell this car as fast as I can because I need the money to take care of my brother. This is an expensive deal for me so I want to be covered and I think you want this too. I want to end this deal through Square Trade it's a third party service similar to escrow.com - they hold the funds until you receive the item, you will have 48 hrs for inspection after you receive and inspect the car (I'll tell you more if you realy want to buy the car).
The car will be shipped crated by DAS this is a door to door delivery service not coast to coast so the car will arrive at your address, you won't have to worry about picking it up from a dock. The shipping cost for delivering it to you is included in the buy it now price($4000), this cost includes door to door handling, insurance. The car will be delivered to your address along with all the neccesary paperwork (including the transfered title, an odometer disclosure).
If you want to continue , please email your full name and address for shipping purposes so we can get on with it . I am looking forward to hearing from you and to complete this deal.

Thank you!

Run, don't walk, away from this. The reason there's only one crappy frontal picture is because the car has no ass end. It was ripped off in a horrible logging accident. Which is why the seller's brother needs this surgery.

 

[Specop 007]

I'd bet $4k that car is seriously farked up in some way or another.
Either that, or its a flat out scam and you wont see anything.

That said, if I were interested in it I'd find a local BMW dealership in the area and schedule a ba-zillion point inspection. Tell the seller you have an appoitment for the car (which you will pay for) just to have it looked at to make sure theres no "glaring issues".
If the dealership checks it out and it looks good I'd go for it, but I'd also request the dealership hold the car as escrow and offer say 25% of the transaction price. Thats 1000 bucks for them (plus the inspection fees) so your out another $1200 or so, but you still would score the car for just over $5K which is a damned steal. If its what it says it is.

 

[DaWhim]

too good to be true

 

[DivideBYZero]

Smells rotten to the core.

 

[Bassyhead]

Ask for more pictures out of curiosity

 

[MaxDSP]

what kind of records in Carfax does it have?

 

[stevent76]

I sent the guy an email as well. I am curious to see if i get the same story.

 

[iamwiz82]

Why would you even bother emailing the person? C'mon, are you really that struck by a good deal that common sense goes right out the window?

 

[MaxDSP]

btw, the ad says the location is Nashville, TN but the seller's phone number area code is in Massachusetts

 

[aircooled]

Has to be something major wrong with it.

Tell him you'd like to see it in person and test drive it.

 

[DivideBYZero]

I'd like to see a pic other than the front end. Does it ONLY have a front end, maybe?

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: aircooled
Has to be something major wrong with it.

Tell him you'd like to see it in person and test drive it.

Remember the guy a few years back that got ripped off on the BMW in Florida? Ended up being like 3 cars chopped together or some ******?
Just cause you go see it doesnt mean you see the problems. If your serious about buying, get a dealer inspection.

 

[aircooled]

Flood vehicle maybe?

 

[Analog]

I wouldn't touch it. The whole scenario sounds shady. Perhaps its stolen.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: yellowfiero
I wouldn't touch it. The whole scenario sounds shady. Perhaps its stolen.

Would you give someone a VIN if it was stolen?
Best idea if you even seriously consider buying is check it out in person first, check for serial numbers, get a proper inspection etc, make sure you use something very secure for the transaction.

 

[compuwiz1]

Not to bust the fantasy, but the guy obviously left a zero off the price.

 

[gsellis]

Did Carfax ever show TX, LA, or MS info? Too good to be true. A BMW dealer would buy it back for that. Probably a salvage that is not listed in Carfax yet (swapped vin?)

 

[SeaMonki]

Yeah stayaway from this deal, he would have sold the car already at that price if there's nothing wrong with the car.

 

[akubi]

anyone heard of this escrow service he refers to? square trade?

chances are there isn't even a car he is selling. you put in your money into the bogus escrow service and he takes it and runs

 

[CtK]

u should fly to see it and drive it back
just to make sure its legit
which i highly doubt it is

 

[gigapet]

the title im sure isnt clear. Its probably salvaged from a wreck. Could have many many unseen issues.

 

[Syringer]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Why would you even bother emailing the person? C'mon, are you really that struck by a good deal that common sense goes right out the window?

 

[squirrel dog]

I feel like CTK , go see it if you can afford to . A friend of mine found a boat on ebay . $90,000 for a 120k boat . He sent a trusted friend(employee) to look it over , take dig pics and send them back . Anyway he got a very good deal on a four month old Fountain boat that would have been 120k+ here in La.$4k seems like a misprint , I would at least try to make some calls .

 

[wasssup]

It's a scam. Duh.