Has anyone used LockDeal Escrow when buying a car?

TheJP

GrumpyDil said:

The element that flags this up to me is why on earth would a private seller want to use them? As a private seller, describe the car accurately, get the money, hand over keys and deal with paperwork. Job done. 

The sellers line was that he returned to Switzerland after being in the UK and wanted a 3rd party to sell the car. Lesson learnt and thankfully I came out unscathed. 

Herzlos

TheJP said:

GrumpyDil said:

The element that flags this up to me is why on earth would a private seller want to use them? As a private seller, describe the car accurately, get the money, hand over keys and deal with paperwork. Job done. 

The sellers line was that he returned to Switzerland after being in the UK and wanted a 3rd party to sell the car. Lesson learnt and thankfully I came out unscathed. 

That's the other big tell-tale sign of a scam; that the seller (or the vehcile) is away so needs to get someone else to do the transaction. Realistically in that situation the seller would wait until they were present to sell it, give the V5 to their friend, or sell the car to a buying service and get on with their life.

It's a pretty good cover for (a) the car being hugely underpriced, and (b) the buyer having to hand over cash without seeing the (non-existant) car.

Sandtree

GrumpyDil said:

The element that flags this up to me is why on earth would a private seller want to use them? As a private seller, describe the car accurately, get the money, hand over keys and deal with paperwork. Job done. 

Depends when the funds have to be deposited, I'd assume its on the deal being done in which case most the protection is for the buyer and so the only reason to do it is to try and give the buyer more confidence to handover their monies.

If the money was due beforehand then there would be more sense for the seller if they are concerned about being duped and the car stolen (something often not covered by insurance). Having to pay, even into Escrow, prior to doing the deal however would be a major turn off for many buyers I'd imagine.

caprikid1

Sandtree said:

GrumpyDil said:

The element that flags this up to me is why on earth would a private seller want to use them? As a private seller, describe the car accurately, get the money, hand over keys and deal with paperwork. Job done. 

Depends when the funds have to be deposited, I'd assume its on the deal being done in which case most the protection is for the buyer and so the only reason to do it is to try and give the buyer more confidence to handover their monies.

If the money was due beforehand then there would be more sense for the seller if they are concerned about being duped and the car stolen (something often not covered by insurance). Having to pay, even into Escrow, prior to doing the deal however would be a major turn off for many buyers I'd imagine.

I don't actually thinks this is a genuine company for one second.

This is the oldest scam in the book and only the gullible and greedy get caught. This looks a great car and is probably at least 50% below market value or 100% below market value.

As the saying goes if it looks to good to be true....