For those of you whoi may be motivated to get out of a used car to get into a mini (like i was), BE CAREFUL. I placed my car in autotrader and recieved a proposed sale. after much correspondence, they sent me a "certiifed" check form a bank in Texas. Heres how it works- they send a check for the price of the car plus shipping to wire the car. now i now that it sounds stupid to believe, but after much correspondence and a lot of wishing that your prayers are answered to get your mini. you begin to have faith in the unbelievable.

I was extremely skeptical (but hopeful bc i wanted my mini). I went to my bank and told them about this potential sale and we decided to hold the title to my car and freeze their money until this certified check cleared. needless to say, the check was bogus.

The next day on the evening news, they showed a man who had the same experience, but he chased the check and wired the $. he's now out of 7k and still has the car (they really had no interest in the car). i contacted the news and they called me and told me that this scam is major in florida right now, and posibly in many other areas.

Nonetheless, i now have my mini and my money. can't wait to show you the special rims i have on it. i wondered what made you guys so excited about your minis, but really, you can't talk enough about this car.

tell all that you now about this Nigerian scam

 

A common scam is that they will agree to buy the car and send you a check for over the amount. They then email you and tell you that they sent too much and their mom is dying in the hospital or whatever and they need that extra money back - please wire it ASAP. You wire the money, the check bounces, then you never hear from them again. You are out the money.

If it is too good to be true, it is. Nobody in their right mind is going to send a check to a complete stranger without seeing the car. It should be obvious to a seller because the "buyer" is typically much more interested in the financial arrangements than they are the condition of the car.

 

Before I got my MINI, i had to sell my mustang. Same thing happened to me. Several times. It was almost annoying, cuz EVERY day I'd get an email saying..
"Id like to purchase your car, and a friend of mine owes me $17,000. So he will send you that check, and you send me the difference."

If it smells like a scam...even REMOTELY...its a scam.

 

The easy lesson here is, if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

I've got some mountain top land in Florida for sale if you're interested.

 

Is it near the famous Florida twisties: 11 turns in 318 miles?


Clover

 

Hey! What Florida lacks in twisties, we make up for with dry...dead...heat.

 

You'll hit all 11 coming down the mountain.

 

Is that near Blue Mountain Beach, along scenic 30-A? Great little area!


Um....DRY heat? Uh uh....that's what we have here in SoCal! Florida is very much alive with wetness!



Clover

 

It's SpongeBob country down here.

 

This is an extremely common scam. But I'm sure some people are dumb enough to fall for it. Luckily, you were skeptical and took precautions.

One big tip-off in these cases is there are very few, if any, questions asked about the car. And the person is willing to give you almost the entire asking price, without any negotiating and not having seen the car or asked any questions. Frequently, the inquiring person claims to be some kind of agent ("my client wants to buy your car...").

What's the seller's version of caveat emptor?

 

Caveat venditor. :smile:

-mike

 

Read more about these kind of scams here:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

 

That sounds like where I live,we get bizzards,not hurricians

 

Gratia!

 

Yea, this is were faith became wishfull thinking. i was not going to leave myself liable, however, although most people probably would not have went as far as i did. I now it was a slim to none chance, but i would have hated to lose a potential deal bc now i have 4 cars for 2 drivers.

 

And really bad windy days