Is this a used car scam?

[Julie in CA]

We have been looking for a used car for dd. She has been working hard, and is looking for a car under $10,000.

There are no used cars in that price range from dealers that have less than 90,000 miles on them.

 

We found a car on Craigslist, a 2011 Chevy Impala with 64,000 miles on it. We went and looked at the car, and it's nice. A little dirty, but no visible issues. No oil drips in the parking spot or on the undercarriage, oil on the dipstick looked clean, no rust, a few dings here and there. Motor sounds good & smooth, and the car drives well. The tires have some wear left in them. The air conditioner works, but could be a little colder. Owner was asking $9,900

 

Here's where it gets worrisome--

The owner of the car has such a strong accent that it was difficult to understand when he told us the address to come see the car. He was easier to understand in text messages, because I didn't want to keep saying, "Pardon me?" every time he said something. The neighborhood was not super-trashy, not really wealthy either, just middle-of-the-road small condo.

 

The owner of the car explained (when we asked why he was selling the car) that his friend had owned the car, but had to go back to Russia unexpectedly. The friend had checked into having the car shipped, but found that it was too expensive, and had signed the car over to him, telling him he could drive it for a while (he has a toddler and a baby on the way), or sell it and get what he could for it. Sounds shady, right? Hmm...

 

We pulled a CarFax report, and the ownership seems straightforward, it was a rental, then sold to a private party (friend), then title was transferred to this owner. There are some routine service records shown in the CarFax, and it appears to be fine. No accidents, no title issues, no service issues shown, and no recalls on that make/model.

 

We looked at the car last night, and texted him this morning, asking if he would take $9,000 and he countered with $9300. We said that we had $9000 only, and he accepted that offer. I asked him if the registration was in his name, and if it matched his driver's licence, and he said that it does. We will confirm that in person before buying the car.

 

Should I worry? I know that on the face it sounds...suspicious? I can't figure out what else could be wrong, or what else to check. The ownership seems clear, and he's not doing anything fishy like asking us to send a check somewhere else, or anything like that. What do you think?

[Miss Peregrine]

Do not pay him unless he has the actual title.

[Julie in CA]

Do not pay him unless he has the actual title.

Yes, I made it clear to him that there was no sale unless all paperwork was present & in his name, and that it matched his id. He said that that would be no problem and that he has clear title & registration.

[Annie G]

The price seems almost too good to be true- without listing any options, Kelley Blue book thinks it's worth$2000-$4000 more than what you're paying. People get good deals all the time- this might well be one of those- but when the price is really low you do want to make sure there's no hidden trick.

[TravelingChris]

I would check Kelly Blue book about the value of the car (or your equivalent in Canada). Furthermore, before I buy used cars, I have a mechanic check it out. That 100 dollars you spend for not getting a huge problem is well worth it. Again, in the US, almost all states have private party sales mean As is, meaning if the car breaks down on the way home, you have zero recourse. I don't know the laws in Canada, so maybe you have more protection. IF not, get the mechanic to check it out.

[Julie in CA]

Ha! How United States centered am I? It never occurred to me that someone might think CA=Canada rather than CA=California. :D

 

My dh, while not a mechanic professionally, is very, very experienced with cars. He's not seeing anything worrisome, though we know that there can still be hidden issues. From his perspective, at this price he can replace the motor and/or transmission if necessary, and still not come out terribly behind financially. If it were an accident such that it would cause frame damage, it would likely show on the CarFax, or there would be signs of repairs made.

 

I think it's possible that this guy is so difficult to understand on the phone that people are simply not making the effort to follow through. He mentioned that he's had calls, but that no one commits to coming to see the car. Honestly, I almost gave up also, until I finally sent him a text and his return text was easier to understand. His english is fine, but his accent is impossible.

 

If there's a catch, I'm not finding it, and I'm not sure what else to even check. :confused:

[tex-mex]

Test drive it to an auto shop for the inspection. Then haggle for a lower price based on the needed (if any) repairs the mechanic recommended.

[Spryte]

You could ask that he meet you at the DMV to change the title over into your name, etc. We did that once for a young couple - they were buying our car, and it was their first car. English was their second language and they were unsure about how to do it. We were happy to help them out. So meeting at the DMV is not totally unheard of. In your case, it would make me feel more confident that the title, etc is authentic.

 

FWIW, we are selling a car right now - it was a company car for visiting colleagues of DH's, but is no longer needed. We're going to put it on the market as a screaming deal because we just want it out of our hair. Reading your post made me think that someone is going to think it's too good to be true and post on some other board asking if it's shady! :lol: We are too far from you, but it's only got 26,000 miles and we're going to ask under $10K. It's going to make someone very happy, if they can get past wondering if we are for real!

[Miss Peregrine]

If you are prepared financially to have it looked at by a mechanic, let him know you want to schedule it. His reaction might give you your answer.

[Julie in CA]

FWIW, we are selling a car right now - it was a company car for visiting colleagues of DH's, but is no longer needed. We're going to put it on the market as a screaming deal because we just want it out of our hair. Reading your post made me think that someone is going to think it's too good to be true and post on some other board asking if it's shady! :lol: We are too far from you, but it's only got 26,000 miles and we're going to ask under $10K. It's going to make someone very happy, if they can get past wondering if we are for real!

Just how far away *are* you? :bigear:

I'm hoping that his is one of those things too. I almost felt a little sorry for the guy. He seemed surprised that no one who called would even come to see the car. I almost didn't myself. Hopefully I'm not just being a chump. He seemed like a nice guy who's trying to support his family, and he can't get someone to even look at the car because he can't make himself understood on the phone. {sigh} I think maybe I've done all I can do, and that if the paperwork is in order, we should do it.

 

ETA: When we asked him for the VIN number so we could check for accidents on the record, he didn't seem concerned, just said that as far as he knew, his friend had not been in any accidents, and that he didn't think the friend would have bought a car that had.

[Spryte]

We are about as far away from you as we could be within the 48 states. :) We're in VA. It would be great if we were closer!

 

Will you get the car checked out? (Or, wait, you said your DH did that already?) ...I think if you do that, and just do your homework on the paperwork... You'll be fine.

 

I hope you are just getting a great deal!

[MissKNG]

MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO LIENS AGAINST THE CAR!! Any liens should be listed on the title or else it says NO LIENS on the title.

[Julie in CA]

MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO LIENS AGAINST THE CAR!! Any liens should be listed on the title or else it says NO LIENS on the title.

I will be sure to check that. THANK YOU so much!

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

We bought our 89 Honda for a good price with a similar situation. The current owners had received the car in lieu of payment (title loan?) and just wanted to get cash out of it, so they listed it lower than blue book.

[Annie]

We are about as far away from you as we could be within the 48 states. :) We're in VA. It would be great if we were closer!

 

Will you get the car checked out? (Or, wait, you said your DH did that already?) ...I think if you do that, and just do your homework on the paperwork... You'll be fine.

 

I hope you are just getting a great deal!

 

 

Hey, I'm in Va! What kind of car is it? :lol:

[Spryte]

Too funny! It's a 2009 Jetta. :)

[LMA]

I would still get a mechanic to check out the car before you buy.

[Little Nyssa]

If you feel at all uncomfortable, I would recommend not buying it.

[Starr]

This sort of thing happens here with visiting professors. They leave their cars with friends to sell if they don't get it all done before they leave. You would certainly know if all the paperwork was correct if you meet at the dmv.

[Halftime Hope]

I would put something down on it in cash as "bring it back" money, then take it to a body shop and to your mechanic. I'd ask the body shop to look for water and/or collision damage and have them look it over with you, showing you what they look for.

 

FWIW, the Car Guys (radio show) say that Accuchek is much more accurate than Carfax. It might be worth the $ to get a one year subscription so you can check out the VIN #s until you find the car she buys.

 

hth

[gardenmom5]

I would be suspicious. hurricane sandy cars have been showing up on the west coast.

[plansrme]

My guess is that he priced it based on the trade-in value, not private or retail sale value on KBB, and that as far as he is concerned, it is fairly priced. If it were a scam, I also think he would have taken your offer the first time. After all, if he has nothing in it, what is another $300 in exchange for an instant sale?

 

I would buy it and not be deterred by the accent.

[SLT]

Too funny! It's a 2009 Jetta. :)

 

I am sending you a private message! We are close and looking for something just like that. :)

[Hen]

I'm in Ca and our church runs a 2 year Bible college, this scenerio is not uncommon in our community, people come here for 2 years, and then leave, sometimes they have to leave early because of Visa problems. I happen to have 4 Russians from church staying with us right now for 2 weeks. So, I'm saying that this might just be what it seems, if you've checked everything out and are satisfied everything is legit, it could be. In our circle, this wouldn't seem weird.

[Word Nerd]

I don't see anything in what you've shared that sounds like a scam or fishy. The CarFax was fine, and your personal mechanical check didn't find anthing; you may want to have a mechanic check it over as well just to make sure. As long as nothing odd or out of line comes up when it's time for the transfer, it sounds like a good deal that you got for being willing to find a way to communicate with him.

[TranquilMind]

He needs to have title in hand in his name in order to sell it to you.  You need to see driver's license and the Title itself.   Casually ask the name of the friend to make sure it matches the Carfax owner who sold it to this guy. 

 

$9000 is a good price, according to Edmunds, but the mileage is really high for only being 2011.  If it is dirty as well as high mileage, I would be more careful.  12,000 per year is standard, and any more reduces value.  Why is it so high?  You need to know. 

We have been looking for a used car for dd. She has been working hard, and is looking for a car under $10,000.
There are no used cars in that price range from dealers that have less than 90,000 miles on them.

We found a car on Craigslist, a 2011 Chevy Impala with 64,000 miles on it. We went and looked at the car, and it's nice. A little dirty, but no visible issues. No oil drips in the parking spot or on the undercarriage, oil on the dipstick looked clean, no rust, a few dings here and there. Motor sounds good & smooth, and the car drives well. The tires have some wear left in them. The air conditioner works, but could be a little colder. Owner was asking $9,900

Here's where it gets worrisome--
The owner of the car has such a strong accent that it was difficult to understand when he told us the address to come see the car. He was easier to understand in text messages, because I didn't want to keep saying, "Pardon me?" every time he said something. The neighborhood was not super-trashy, not really wealthy either, just middle-of-the-road small condo.

The owner of the car explained (when we asked why he was selling the car) that his friend had owned the car, but had to go back to Russia unexpectedly. The friend had checked into having the car shipped, but found that it was too expensive, and had signed the car over to him, telling him he could drive it for a while (he has a toddler and a baby on the way), or sell it and get what he could for it. Sounds shady, right? Hmm...

We pulled a CarFax report, and the ownership seems straightforward, it was a rental, then sold to a private party (friend), then title was transferred to this owner. There are some routine service records shown in the CarFax, and it appears to be fine. No accidents, no title issues, no service issues shown, and no recalls on that make/model.

We looked at the car last night, and texted him this morning, asking if he would take $9,000 and he countered with $9300. We said that we had $9000 only, and he accepted that offer. I asked him if the registration was in his name, and if it matched his driver's licence, and he said that it does. We will confirm that in person before buying the car.

Should I worry? I know that on the face it sounds...suspicious? I can't figure out what else could be wrong, or what else to check. The ownership seems clear, and he's not doing anything fishy like asking us to send a check somewhere else, or anything like that. What do you think?

 

[Word Nerd]

$9000 is a good price, according to Edmunds, but the mileage is really high for only being 2011. If it is dirty as well as high mileage, I would be more careful. 12,000 per year is standard, and any more reduces value. Why is it so high? You need to know.

I don't think the mileage would be that high for a former rental car.

[Roadrunner]

It could be a scam, but it also could be a legit story. I have a friend who ended up in a similar situation when one of his neighbors moved unexpectedly to Lebanon due to family illness. They couldn't sell the van quickly, so they left it with my friend and made a deal to have some sort of revenue split when the car sold. I think shipping rates from here plus taxes were going to run then about $5k.

[violamama]

In Oregon there have been problems with some kind of a ring selling previously wrecked cars with doctored titles. They usually say at first that they have no title (some people will buy it anyway) and then that they can get one. I'm not at all saying you've stumbled on one of these, but we did and we were glad to have dodged that bullet. We ended up not liking the car (price seemed too good to be true, one panel looked replaced but they said it had only ever been in a parking lot fender-bender, and when we mentioned we would run a CarFax, they got all funny about the title- so we were out of there). A police officer later confirmed this is a relatively common scam thing here. While he said it's generally Russians in our area, I have no evidence that part is true and have never heard of other people running into that. 

 

I'm surprised she can't find something that matches her criteria. My dad has had fabulous luck finding great used cars (mostly Honda sedan type cars) out on runs through country neighborhoods. Don't know if you have suburbs around you, but if so you might try a fact-finding mission. Garage sales have brought us a couple of great deals, and we've sold cars that way too.