[lpmatt618]

Ok, so recentally I have thought about getting a new car. I've been looking around autotrader and I found a car I really liked.

It was a blue completely customized Nissan 300zx. The car had 82k miles and the owner was selling it for 5k.

Problem is, the owner claims that he has recentally moved and that he cannot let me see the car in person. He has to send it by shipping, which he plans to take care of finanically wise.

Here is the picture of the car.

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/william70pollard/album?.dir=/ec52&.src=ph&.tok=phkj6dEB_HbFAT8x

The car seems too good to be true. And I'm pretty sure it costs a lot to send a car from england to america.

Here's a copy of his email too.

[body]Hello
First of all I want to thank you for contact me and your interest in my car. I am glad to inform you that the car is in a perfect condition, has never been involved in any accidents, has never been raced. It has a clear title and I am the only owner. The car is titled in USA .
We have to tell you that we are located in London/UK and I will ship the car from here and we will cover the fees for the shipping and insurance to your home address. This is my car but we just moved here with our business and we can't use the car here because it'S left hand drive and here we need a car with right hand drive, but i think you know that.
I don't want to get rich by this selling, just want to give it to someone who
will take good care. Because of my job I am traveling a lot and I can not stay
home and expect to meet potential clients. The car will arrive to your door in 4 days maximum. The final price is $4990.
For payment, I´ll like to use an secure way, so we´ll be both protected.
Please let me know your thoughts.
I am waiting your answer.
Respectfully,
[His Name]

P.S.
This is my car :
http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/william70pollard/album?.dir=/ec52&.src=ph&.tok=phkj6dEB_HbFAT8x
[/body]

So in return, I asked him to show me a picture of the owners manual and some document that puts the car in his name.

Looking at the car, the mods on there gotta be worth more then 10 grand. So Im asking, is it too good to be true?



[Edited by lpmatt618 on Feb 26, 2006 9:50 AM]

 

[wilburisthecoolest]

ehhh... this is what i think... but im leary of stuff like this

Yes, if you cant see it, you will never get the car, and he will get all your money.

Most likely he will ask for a downpayment, or ask for a portion of the price. Unless he thinks your stupid enough to just send the 5g to him.

Just walk away... sorry man..

But then he might be honest, and you might just walk away with a steal. You should tell him you want the car, but are unsure if its too good to be ture, and ask him a bunch of questions. How fast and how well he answers them will give an indication if it really is his car. like.... How long have you had it? your first mod? who repianted for you? howd you get the turbo? how did you get it to London in the first place? eh... i dunno... it seems too good to be ture, it follows car scam gidelines. Shows you an awsome car, then says you cant see it, you give the money, car never comes. Its up to you man...

 

[TAK82]

yeah, i smell a con-artist....

 

[ftwvampftw]

scam

 

[inferredrecords]

Just send me the money and I'll buy it for you. :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Its a con.

 

[C-DUBYA]

it is a scam or a stolen car I am sure. Still a scam.

 

[wilburisthecoolest]

You know.. ive seen that car before too... in some thread somewhere.. Yep, with that total scam..

 

[attist178]

Google the guy's name, e-mail address, or any other information he gives. Also, a little research will tell you that even though you drive on the left side of the road in the U.K., and that the standard car sold there is right hand drive (steering wheel on the right side), it is not illegal to have a left hand drive vehicle there. When I was there a few years ago, I'd say 1 out of every 10-ish cars there was left hand drive.

Besides all that, even if he lived in the U.S. I wouldn't buy that car...not a chance. There are certain cars that you do not want to buy used, because there is a very good chance that the owner drove it like crap and stomped on the gas at every light; such as a WRX, an Evo, an SRT-4, and heavily (even lightly) modified cars.

SCAM!!!

[Edited by attist178 on Feb 26, 2006 4:49 PM]

 

[lpmatt618]

He sent me 2 more emails. One included a clean looking carfax. The other was this...

[body]Hello again Matt,
So if you want that our deal to be safe here it is what i can propose you: let's use a third part to manage our deal...what about that?
I prefer the payment to be hold by a third party like Alert Pay and only after you receive and test the car the payment has to be released to me. After you will receive the car you have 5 business days to decide if you will buy it or not.
That third party it is Alert Pay, and if you are agree, provide me all yours info's: full name, address and the phone number, and I'll contact them about this sale. After that, the Alert Pay co. we'll contact us.

Respectfully,
[Name][/body]

Sounds weird...I sent him one back once again. Requesting a list of all modifications done to the car and a picture verifying him as the owner. Of course, the carfax also states that the car is currently in texas.

[Edited by lpmatt618 on Feb 26, 2006 9:41 PM]

 

[wilburisthecoolest]

Its starting to sound better... but its still not as clean as it should be. I dont know... How do you feel about 5 Grand. If your daddy warbucks go for it. But if thats your life savings no.

 

[187sks]

I had an offer to purchase a mint R34 Skyline from a guy in London once that was supposedly titled in the US for $8000 including shipping. I dunno for sure that it was a scam but I wouldn't send any money. If it's something you believe in your heart to be true offer to fly to England to look at it. If he says you can't do that it's obviously a scam. If he says you can, maybe you should oversee the car's loading on the ship yourself.

 

[attist178]

Besides all the fishy crap, like him BS-ing about left-hand drive cars being illegal in London, I wouldn't trust him just because of his obvious shortcomings in sentence structure and English skills...it's past honest spelling errors and typo's with this guy...but that's IMO.

 

[tibulucas]

Hey, let me know if you are not going to buy the car. If you keep your money I have a bridge to sell you in NY.
Good luck with the car you finally buy.

 

[meee2yo]

If you have 5000 dollars to spend and lose then do it, why not. Also, with the third party thing, who knows. As far as not buying that car because it's been abused, who cares, it's a great car worth alot more then 5000. And it will cost more then 5000 to transport it, so he is really giving it away. Maybe it's something else that's keeping it from being legal over there.

How did you find this guy??

 

[attist178]

[body]This is my car but we just moved here with our business and we can't use the car here because it'S left hand drive and here we need a car with right hand drive, but i think you know that.
[/body]

He says it straight up...that he can't drive it over there because he needs a right hand drive car. Also the phrase following that, "...but I think you know that." is something he would possibly use to try and assure you enough of the legitimacy of his reasoning to where you wouldn't try and research the actual laws over there. But this is all IMO, so do whatever floats your boat.

 

[turboxl]

Lol con artists this day... in my experience if its too godd to be true then it probably is... Keep your 5k... you'll thank yourself later. Unless you wish to invest 5k on a forced public transport pass... wel then feel free :lol: - Conclusion: DEFINATE CON.

 

[skidz]

Originally posted by 187sks
[body]
I had an offer to purchase a mint R34 Skyline from a guy in London once that was supposedly titled in the US for $8000 including shipping. I dunno for sure that it was a scam but I wouldn't send any money. If it's something you believe in your heart to be true offer to fly to England to look at it. If he says you can't do that it's obviously a scam. If he says you can, maybe you should oversee the car's loading on the ship yourself.
[/body]

^^^got a point. Wouldnt be easier to find a guy from on the boards who might be able to have a look. Theres quite a few Britts here maybe someone is willing to do the job for you.

Just my 2c but sounds like a scam

 

[lpmatt618]

Thanks for the help guys,

He stopped responding to my emails after my request that he give a complete list of all modifications and something that shows he is the owner.

In the long run, I went out and bought a different car today and im happy. So all ends well.

 

[wilburisthecoolest]

What'd ya get?

 

[NameLess]

I know the point has passed but for future reference importing a car like this(lots of mods) from uk to usa costs at least 5k, If someone says he moved to the uk AND took his car he would have had to pay 5k to get it into the uk then another 5k to send it back to you in the US = 10k to sell it for 5k?!?:??: