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MG MGA - Selling an MGA

Old age is setting in a bit, and I am having to face the facts that I've hardly done 300 miles in my Ash Green 1959 MGA in the last 12 months. It's time to sell as I'm just not using it.

So I've put the car on a few websites (and this one) and find that for every genuine enquiry that I get I'm getting a couple of suspicious ones. I've just finished with a flurry of mails from someone who airily proposes to send me a 'money order' if I will send his PA my details and, with others of this type, wants to introduce a note of urgency, as he will want this to drive away immediately 'when he returns from a business trip', the purpose of this appearing to be to try to stampede me into abandoning any reasonable caution (and, probably, to surrender my bank details at some later stage, I suspect).

So far these characters have proved fairly easy to spot, but has anybody noticed any new scams I might need to watch out for?

By the way, the car's still for sale!

G
Gus Gander

Hi Gus, seen your car on a few sites looks lovely, having just sold mine I got lots of phone calls/emails from people from Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland etc all saying they wanted the car , didn't need to see it, would fly over, some may have been genuine but I suspect they were all scams, just stick to people who are prepared to come and look and talk about the car.


Gordon
g c pugh

Gus,
Don't get caught by someone who sends you a cheque for more than you're asking, and asks for the balance to be paid into an account. Then their cheque bounces after some days.
Sure you have heard of other such scams, but they get more sophisticated every day.
Had a friend who lost his Mustang when he met up with a "buyer" at a local MacDonald's Restaurant, and who asked to test drive the car in the car park. He promptly drove the car away never to be seen again!
Peter.
P. Tilbury

Thanks for the encouragement, chaps. I feel I need it, as selling a valued car can be a rather depressing experience. So far nobody's been to see it at all, but I've been kept busy sending photos to a number of contacts (some of which seemed suspicious, but you never know) and dealing with others on the phone and email whose only concern is how much less than the advertised price they can buy it for, this without even seeing it.

Today's mail brings me an email contact from someone with a rather African sounding name who wants to offer me a proposition (which doesn't seem to involve the car) whereby I gain some $4,000,000. Oh well.

G
Gus Gander

Hi Gus , I know what you mean just having done it myself, also those are the classic scams you mention, some are trying a variation because the normal one just offering pay transport costs to you then asking you to send a cheque back to them are getting well known, they now just say that they will come and see the car, that they are booking flights etc and will even arrange the date to see the car, what I suspect will then happen is a couple of days before said visit you would get a call to say that at the last minute they can't make it and that is where the original scam would begin


regards gordon
g c pugh

Gus
I don't know about your side of the pond but I've bought and sold several MGA's and others lately. I've never had anyone come and look a car over in person, I know that sounds crazy but it's the way things are done for lots of us. I buy cars sight unseen but I have to have lots of pictures and information and I sell them the same way. Bank transfers are the payment method for most I just use an account with little or nothing in it to recieve the money, all it takes are the numbers on the check and I've been assured by many (bankers) that it's a one way deal and your account cannot be accessed except for a deposit. You can take a bank check too just make the buyer wait till your bank clears the funds, even for a cashiers check. You've got nothing to loose if you don't release the car or title till you have the $$. If the buyer won't accept this don't sell. I've been able to get much better prices from this type deal than requiring anyone to come see the car, just be painfully honest about the condition of the car and everyone will be happy. You take on all the risk as a buyer not a seller, so keep answering the questions and sending the pictures and good luck!!
Ricky
R May

Hi I think the problem is that your bank will tell you that a cheque has been cleared after about 3 working days and that the money is in your account and can be used, it is at this point that you send the overpayment back to the buyer, you are then waiting for someone to pick the car up who never arrives, after about 10 days I the main clearing bank then informs your bank that the original payment has bounced but by then they have your money for the supposed transport costs and you still have your car


gordon
g c pugh

There seems to be quite a number of threads at present on this subject. Is something up?

I still seem to be unable to attract anybody to look at my car, though the email and phone traffic still seems to be considerable. My impression is that the only current prospect I have is a chap from Italy, with whom I have been exchanging info and photos for some time (would seem a pity in a way, since one of the attractions of my car is that it is an original RHD UK car, and not a converted import). He has now made me an offer, which I am thinking about, but I still have misgivings about which form of payment I might accept that would guarantee that I get paid. I've asked at my bank, but the staff there find this so far beyond their experience that they can't really help. I've never done this before, so can anyone offer any ideas?

I've got a PayPal account, so would it cost much to do it this way? I tried to find out from PayPal's site, but I couldn't really be sure what it said.

G
Gus Gander

Gus

The ONLY safe ways to get the money are

1. Cash, that is paid in at your local bank and verified as not being forged

2. A Wire transfer that sits in your account for a week before the buyer takes delivery of the car. You need a confimation (in writing) from the bank that the payment cannot be recalled after a certain period, only after that period has ended do you release teh car.

PayPal at 4.5% would be an expensive way of doing the transfer. It's not secure from someone making a claim either -and PayPal always seems to give the BUYER the benefit / advantage
dominic clancy

What about escrow?

I sold a rather expensive guitar awhile back to a fella in the UK. We got an escrow broker and a contract. He paid for the guitar, but the money was held in escrow until he got the guitar, had it checked out and was satisfied at which point the escrow company released the money to me. These were the terms with the escrow broker and everything went off without a hitch.

I don't see why this same thing wouldn't work with a car.

Cheers,
Christopher
Christopher Wilson

Hi Gus regarding the chap in Italy he hasn't got a wife called Julia I think it was


Gordon
g c pugh

This thread was discussed between 20/01/2009 and 28/01/2009

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