When to walk away ?

[mrsmackpaul]

Me been me I like different things and for almost as long as I can remember I have wanted 63 - 65 Chev Impala or Belair 

Gotta be RHD from and Australian delivered, 4 door with pillars and Canadian built

So been searching pretty seriously for some time and came across one with a rust free body that did meet all my criteria 

Went and looked a was what I wanted 

Original, RHD, bench seats, 4 door pillars, complete and fairly rust free

I agreed on the asking price and would transfer the money that night

I drove 150 km or around 100 miles to look at this but was happy 

So a 300 km round trip

The bloke was hard to organise to come and look at the car 

He told me to meet him at the race track (horses) this is  pretty common in  country areas to meet at the pub or some were simple then follow the farmer to his farm

I was stunned to see the car on a tilt tray, I  must also say this town is probably only 150 people at the most and the next closest town is at least 60 km away 

I had just driven off not even 100 yards and I think to myself "hang on Pauly boy, you dunno who this joker or anything about him, you dunno were he lives, you dont know if is who says he is

He did ask to be paid in cash for his tax reasons to which I replied "that aint happening as I cant get that much cash over 2 days from the whole in the wall  at the bank"

So asked him for his bank details and I would just transfer the cash

When I asked for the account name he never answered but asked for a pen and paper and he would right it 

I also asked to see his drivers license but he claims he doesn't have it with him

This is also quite common in rural areas as I rarely  carry mine 

He tells me he will take a photo and send it thru on the phone

So I head home and when I arrive last night he had sent the photo and I have a look at the photo his name is different and he has blanked out his address

And when I say his name is different it is very very different 

So I get hold of him and ask what the hell's going on and who hell is he

He carries on a bit and wont give me his address or any other details 

So in the end I told him Im gunna have to give it a miss as the amount of money Im expecting to hand over and his cagey nature it all sounds to sus to me

 

I can see been a big bucket load of coin out of pocket and a empty place were my Chev is meant to be lol

 

That girls and boys is "when to walk away " lol

Some things we are best not to have some times

Another will be along and these are quite rare in Australia so I will hang in there 

 

Paul

 

 

 

[HeavyGunner]

Good for you Paul. The right car will come along. Don’t be a gullible fool like me and get burnt because you can’t even fathom someone being dishonest to your face. Keep us posted.  

[Bullheaded]

Yes, there seems to be a lot of scamming going on now. I have a couple vehicles I don't use so I put them on Kijiji (kinda like a Canadian Craigslist I guess) It is the most popular site people use here, they kinda surpassed Auto trader.

 

Anyway, I never made it 4 days and I removed the adds. I'd rather have them rot into the ground in my yard. I had nothing but calls from people that can't speak English, and all those clever stories like "I would love to come to showing, but alas, I work on offshore drilling rig. So you put in shipping container and send to this address and I will send cheque."

 

I even got that same one for a dump truck I had listed. Ya, I'll just put that in a shipping container, LOL

[41chevy]

15 minutes ago, Bullheaded said:

Yes, there seems to be a lot of scamming going on now. I have a couple vehicles I don't use so I put them on Kijiji (kinda like a Canadian Craigslist I guess) It is the most popular site people use here, they kinda surpassed Auto trader.

 

Anyway, I never made it 4 days and I removed the adds. I'd rather have them rot into the ground in my yard. I had nothing but calls from people that can't speak English, and all those clever stories like "I would love to come to showing, but alas, I work on offshore drilling rig. So you put in shipping container and send to this address and I will send cheque."

 

I even got that same one for a dump truck I had listed. Ya, I'll just put that in a shipping container, LOL

So I gather they were mostly Nigerian Kings flush with their inheritance of 5 billion naira? ( value of .0027 of 1 USD)

[mrsmackpaul]

So  car seller has been in contact again 

Sends me a photo of the rear of his license, the address is for a part of the country 6 hours drive away 

Still wont give me his address were the car is 

He also offers to get a statutory declaration to say the car is his etc from the police station 

A statutory declaration is a written statement that a person (the declarant) signs and declares to be true and correct in the presence of an authorised witness.

So I  say fine but it must have the chassis number engine number and were its garaged and also state that owns the car and no money is owed

So I say this fine but nothing happens as in money changing hands till all of this is sorted

Anyway will see what happens ,  he may be legit but I  leaning towards the side of not likely 

 

Paul

[Hayseed]

Paul, Go & have another Look at it in Person. Sight the VIN & run It through Here      https://www.ppsr.gov.au/how-motor-vehicle-search           It'll cost you a couple of Bucks But will be money well spent ..

[CaptainCrutch]

I hope all works out for you. Sounds like you're doing your due diligence on this deal. I've heard too many stories of someone getting scammed on deals like this. I'd be sure to really inspect that car before you buy it too, just to make sure it is what you've been told it is... This is either the one or it'll be the one you should avoid.

[mrsmackpaul]

6 hours ago, Hayseed said:

Paul, Go & have another Look at it in Person. Sight the VIN & run It through Here      https://www.ppsr.gov.au/how-motor-vehicle-search           It'll cost you a couple of Bucks But will be money well spent ..

Shall do seed 

If I  get back to have another look I will go down this path 

At this stage I  have pretty much relegated it to the one to avoid

Or to be more correct the seller is the one to avoid

Sometimes in life we are better off to just walk away from things

 

Paul

[Vladislav]

Funny but nervous story. And frustrating so far. Of my (huge) experience of vehicle purchases I took worthes off many cases which looked absolutely cantencerous and the persons who I had to deal with were at least to say clowns. One exciting thing in such entertainments is you seldom get a really nice thing by really easy way. Maybe excepting cases when you pay high price but that is also not always an exception as we know.

In this particular case if the cost was not low (as I figured) I would let the things to cool off and see if the seller gets more clever figuring he met a buyer who could really pay the price. So in this case he would better slow down on his "complicated tricks" and put actions in a common order. If he does you would have your hands freed up to inspect the car more deeper and if Ok offer him 75% of the original cost as "things got changed on your side of the life during the time passed".

I sure don't talk you to go buy the car in the situation you have now but just think the case might develop in different directions including the positive one. If nothing good or no news at all it might worth to visit that town in a month or two when you have ocassion driving that direction, come to a local pub or another public place and try asking about that car "a friend of yours once saw there" or so. Pretty sure the car is quite remarkable for such the small city and many people would share facts about it and its owner.

Anyway it's always easier to change matters as long as the money are with you. And don't forget to keep us posted

Edited February 13, 2020 by Vladislav

[mrsmackpaul]

Well this is how it ended up

 

Seller provided the stat dec which doesnt really mean much as a criminal type isnt gunna care about filling out a false document 

So I  as agreed tried to pay the quite considerable amount of money into his account with details he provided me of his account

This is many many thousands of dollars

Anyway the payment came back from his bank as his bank rejected his account details

I phoned my bank and they said I had all the correct details and all was confirmed as been correct and matched the details provided

My bank suggested fraudulent activity on his behalf was the reason why, they wouldn't go into any further details but I felt they clearly new what was what

My bank advised extreme caution before going any further and also advised me they thought it would be extremely unwise to proceed

So I  contacted the  seller and left a message

I heard back from him today and got a mouthful of abuse 

 

So looks like its not the car for me

 

Paul 

Edited February 15, 2020 by mrsmackpaul

[66dc75]

I think you dodged a big bullet there Paul.

Sounds like you would have had an empty wallet and an empty garage

[mrsmackpaul]

Im thinking you may well be right

[mowerman]

wow a hussle glad you did the right thing paul.....god love ya....bob

[Vladislav]

Not bad at all. Life's going on, you have your money safe on the account what means you still can choose.

A bit of time spent but some emotions and life experience.