Bank details for deposit

user1977

Catonthemoon said:

4. All I can think is that he’s being very cagey/cautious & I can’t say I blame him with everything that goes on these days! He’s probably thinking that now I know (a) the original number plate, (b) the private number plate, (c) his bank, the a/c no & sort code. If I also had his full name then maybe he’s concerned about what I could potentially do with all of that info!!

Almost nothing in practice. Whereas if you send him £250, you'll be stuffed if you ever want to claim it back from him - you'd at least need his full name and address.

paul_c123

Brie said:

He's got another buyer so you better pay that deposit soon!!!  I'd call that scam behaviour.  

Meanwhile I've trying to figure out how I might sell my some random neighbour's car providing the details and a picture of it in the drive.  Bank transfer done, I vanish. 

Ok it's only £250 but you do that 20 times......

Its not a scam but its the "oldest trick in the book" for closing a nearly-closed sale. However if you've not even looked at the car, I'd not be putting any money down yet. Go look at it and then decide? Do you have all the money available quickly? If so, go see it, decide to buy it (or not), pay in full, do the admin (ie registered keeper swap) and either drive it away or arrange collection later, leaving it safe but accessible and take the keys too.

Catonthemoon

paul_c123 said:

Brie said:

He's got another buyer so you better pay that deposit soon!!!  I'd call that scam behaviour.  

Meanwhile I've trying to figure out how I might sell my some random neighbour's car providing the details and a picture of it in the drive.  Bank transfer done, I vanish. 

Ok it's only £250 but you do that 20 times......

It’s not a scam but it’s the "oldest trick in the book" for closing a nearly-closed sale. However if you've not even looked at the car, I'd not be putting any money down yet. Go look at it and then decide? Do you have all the money available quickly? If so, go see it, decide to buy it (or not), pay in full, do the admin (ie registered keeper swap) and either drive it away or arrange collection later, leaving it safe but accessible and take the keys too.

He’s now provided his full name. What I had agreed with him was once I had paid the deposit he was happy to keep the car on his driveway (covered) until convenient for me to collect… by the end of January at the latest. This may sound like a strange thing to do, but, it’s a very suitable arrangement for me in that it buys me some time to:

(a) decide how to finance the £6k (loan, own funds, cashing in investment which will take some time)  And

(b) probably more importantly, be able to rent a garage locally in which to keep it. That’s proved much more difficult than I had thought & I can only hope that one becomes available if I join a waiting list. I’d rather not park it on the street outside my flat, especially during the Winter. 

It’s an MX5 and my intention is to be a fairweather driver. It’s on the Isle of Wight (I’m in London) & ideally I only want to make one trip down there. Yes, you could say that I’m buying without having gone to view (which you’re always advised to do), but having seen all the photos & the MOT history plus it only has 16000 miles on the clock, makes me think that it’s worth securing with a £250 deposit. Worst case scenario, when I eventually go to pick it up, if there were any issues, I wouldn’t complete the deal. I know I would lose the deposit but I feel this is a chance worth taking.

Am I missing anything glaringly obvious?

paul_c123

If he's willing to store it until January, with only that size deposit, I'd say you have a good deal.

I can't really advise further as I'd not be looking at a car, or that type of car, where there might be "scarcity of supply". One of the main advantages of private sale is you can go and see a car, poke around it, test drive it etc before deciding. Fair enough to buy sight unseen at trade price or if really cheap though.

Herzlos

That really sounds fishy. If he's had another offer, why is he willing to hold the car until January with just a deposit?

Throw in the mix that he's too far away to for you to see it, it's sounding the the setup to the common escrow scam where later he'll offer to ship it to you and get you to send the money to a safe 3rd party. You pay, then both vanish. That's assuming he doesn't just vanish after the deposit. 

If you want the car, book a flight to go see it, buy it, and drive it home.  If booking flights isn't enough to show the buyer you are serious, then walk away. 

I'd also be doing a reverse image search of the photos he's provided to see if they came from an owners club or another listing, and a look on streetview to try and confirm the house actually exists. 

Also, I wouldn't be looking at buying a car until you're already in a position to pay for it (at least having finance arranged) and somewhere to store it. A serious seller isn't going to want to deal with the hassle of a buyer who isn't actually ready. 

user1977

Catonthemoon said:

paul_c123 said:

Brie said:

He's got another buyer so you better pay that deposit soon!!!  I'd call that scam behaviour.  

Meanwhile I've trying to figure out how I might sell my some random neighbour's car providing the details and a picture of it in the drive.  Bank transfer done, I vanish. 

Ok it's only £250 but you do that 20 times......

It’s not a scam but it’s the "oldest trick in the book" for closing a nearly-closed sale. However if you've not even looked at the car, I'd not be putting any money down yet. Go look at it and then decide? Do you have all the money available quickly? If so, go see it, decide to buy it (or not), pay in full, do the admin (ie registered keeper swap) and either drive it away or arrange collection later, leaving it safe but accessible and take the keys too.

He’s now provided his full name. 

Am I missing anything glaringly obvious?

His (verified) address?

Catonthemoon

Arunmor said:

I wouldn't pay a deposit.  Just sort out payment out when you collect the car by bank transfer.

Does he live at the house the car is registered?  Check the V5

I was looking at one of the online car checkers (CarVeto) to do a check for o/s finance, stolen etc. I then saw that they don’t disclose the name & address of the current registered keeper as it’s illegal to do so!!

So how do I find out if this guy really is the registered keeper?

Herzlos

Catonthemoon said:
So how do I find out if this guy really is the registered keeper?

Knock on the front door at the address he tells you and confirm it matches the one on the V5. The current keepers address is there, but previous ones aren't. 

You may be able to do an electoral registration search to see if someone with the name given lives at the address given, but that's about it. 


Have you searched for his phone number to see if he's selling any other cars?

angrycrow

At that price point / milage mx5 I am guessing 15 to 20 years old. Rust could be and probably is a massive issue. With mx5s you really need to personally inspect the vehicle before agreeing to buy as they are prone to rust in structural areas. 

Sale could be genuine but so many red flags. 

Did not want to give full name. 

Pressure of saying another seller at same price but will keep it for you for several months in exchange for £250 deposit. Why not just take other buyers money now.

Was it advertised on Facebook marketplace which is the current home of such scams. 

Never pay anything for a second hand car you have not personally inspected. 

Catonthemoon

angrycrow said:

At that price point / milage mx5 I am guessing 15 to 20 years old. Rust could be and probably is a massive issue. With mx5s you really need to personally inspect the vehicle before agreeing to buy as they are prone to rust in structural areas. 

Sale could be genuine but so many red flags. 

Did not want to give full name. 

Pressure of saying another seller at same price but will keep it for you for several months in exchange for £250 deposit. Why not just take other buyers money now.

Was it advertised on Facebook marketplace which is the current home of such scams. 

Never pay anything for a second hand car you have not personally inspected. 

Yes, a 2008 model. Seller has had the car for 2 years. Only covered about 100 miles a year as he stated he’s more of a biker, hence the very low mileage. Previous 2 owners each covered 300 -400 miles each per year, most likely because the car is located on the Isle of Wight. 

I was a little concerned that given its location it may be prone to rust due to the salty sea air. Seller has assured me that there are no signs of rust on any of the wheel arches or the sills. As for underneath, well you could only tell when up on a ramp.

I saw it on eBay but he said he was paying to advertise it elsewhere (think it was Car & Classic). As it didn’t sell, he decided to end the listing, stop the paid advert, leave it covered up until next Spring, as then it’s more likely to sell.

Because I had built up a bit of a rapport with him, in the event that he had any subsequent interest, he promised to give me first refusal, which is where we are at now.