A 1994 RX-7 Bargain Question

[swtslvrmonkey]

About three days ago, i was surfing through the net looking for used cars on Yahoo Auto. I looked up for RX-7s (i was being curious) and found a black 1994 RX-7, heres the mods and pics of the car the seller made:

http://used-cars.autos.yahoo.c...JYLTc-

Anyhow, to me that seemed like a MAJOR bargain, dont you think? (In my mind, i was like, "o what the hell, ill email this guy, see what is the catch behind it all") so i decided to send him an email, and get more info.

However, the following day, that guy emails me back and give me this email:

--FIRST RESPONSE (FROM HIM):

Hi there ! Well before whe talk further,u must know some things.Right now i am in London,UK . i live here now .i moved here in London 2 months ago,anyway, about the car , i really think thats a resonable price for u and i really need to sell it as soon as possibly. the car is in great condtions , absolutely great to drive , the engine runs great , no accidents on this car , except the regular cracks from small rocks from street roads,thats normal , the car has great handling and as u can see in the pics its looks very good, i could even say that its GREAT !!To sell it here in England,believe me i tried but no luck . here they have different standards , left steerin whell drive and above al my car still has US title . another great advantage for you cause you will not have any problems when you will registered the car in your name ! The car passed the test emissions and comes with all the documents you need to registered !Please reply in email with any kind of question ! if your really interested i will tell u how whe can do this deal ! Thank u Sir Warm Regard !

I did not like his first response because there were a few doubts in my mind. So i went ahead and emailed him this:

--FIRST REPLY (ME):Hi there! Once again, i truly understand your situation about your location as of right now. I do have a few questions, however, and hopefully i am not being too picky. First question is, where is this car located, as of right now, and do u have its maintenance records?Also, it is to my understanding, according to the Kelley Blue Book, that this car's price ranges from the 14-15K stock, i am curious as to why sell it at this price? (Sorry if i sound a lil uncertain, I just need a little bit more info) Also, has this car passed a smog check? And if so, will there be documentations recorded? My last question is, if i decided to purchase the car, would there be a chance where i could take a closer look at it and pay u right at the spot? And if there was a spot, where would it have to be? Please consider these questions, and hopefully i did not make u uncomfortable asking. Thank you Sir

This was his response to my email:

--SECOND RESPONSE (FROM HIM):Hi There Sir ! I am really glad that u are still interested in my car , and i hope that i will close this deal with u,anyway , this is how whe can u so u get this car from me and how u can pay me for it : Car Shipping : 1.The car will be shippt from my location ( London , UK ) to your HOME ADRESS , the shipping is done via AIR ( LUFTANSA AIR CARGO ) and the company told me that the car arrives in 72 hours to the your destination.The car will be insured at the delivery service and insured for the transport !i take car of the shipping,so be cool , u will not pay any shipping fees ! i take care of that ! As soon as the package arrives, you will test the car and if it does not matches 100% to your expectations, you will return it in max. 15 days since the arrival date. In this case I will send you the deposit money back and you will send me the product in the original crate and you don't have to pay the return shipping and insurance!please in your next email send me your FULL ADRESS AND NAME !!Payment : 2.u must know that i only deal with WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFERING . all u must do is this . first u send me a deposit(2000 $) at my home adress in London that i can only pick up with my ID ! after u make the wire transfer u will send me all the Informations in order to collect the deposit Full Sender name and adress ,Full reciver Name and the MTCN(money transfering control number) !After i pick up the Deposit in the exact day i will take the car in the shipping warehouse and complete the formalities for Shipping. as soon as the car arrives at you u have 8 days to send me the rest of the money ( Balance ) or if you dont have all the money i could accept monthly payments !! To avoid fees from Federal Express and from Western Union all we have to do is:ME --> I have to declare the car as a gift for you and in this way you will pay NO custom fees and you will receive the car very fast. YOU --> have to declare at Western Union that you send the money to a friend in England that need this money, in this way when our deal will be finished and I get the money from Western Union they will not gone ask me 10% from the total amount that you have send it, they will gone ask me just 3% or 4%. (ALL OF THIS IS ONLY IF YOU AGREE).

Im still uncertain as to whether his offer is fraud or not. However, the way he is explaining things is also very catchy and tempting to go ahead and make the purchase. However i need feedback from any of you guys on whether or not i should go ahead and make the purchase or not. Keep in mind that he has not given his name or his address at all. Neither have I, so i am hoping someone knows about similar situations like these. please let me know your opinion.

[SeVa-S13]

Don't do it unless it's a proper sale. No under the table "gift" BS. He has no legal obligation to give you the car.

[szh]

It is a simple way for him to bilk you out of $2k (the so-called deposit). Total scam, IMHO.

Z

[gabossie]

That's what I thought too. See what happens if you insist on COD and a deposit that he can't cash till you authorize it. Just tell him (even if it's not possible) that you'll send him a deposit, but that your bank will not allow it to be cashed until you give them the go ahead... see what he says. I bet he'll back out and hope he can punk some other kid for his 2k. If he backs out, report his ***. We don't need his kind around.

[gabossie]

The other thing that got my suspicion going, is that the car looks familiar. I think I've seen pics of it before.

[BadMojo]

It's 100% a scam. I'd bet my lunch money on it. The tip offs are a) it's too good to be true b) he's demanding on payment via Western Union. There are variations on the theme, but it's pretty common. Lots of places you send to will let

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thr...67902

Don't do it. However, please feel free to waste his time and ask endless questions, haggle about the price. Waste as much of his time as possible. Ask him all kinds of bizarre questions about rotary engines, ask him how the weather is in England, just don't send him money.

As the above info points out, he not only doesn't have the car but any name and address he gives you will be fake and he's most likely not in England either, hence is sketchy command of the English language.

[Axel Grungy]

if it sounds too good to be true, it usually isnt.theres no way that car could be that cheap. NO WAY!!

[JDMaholic]

Why don't you ask him if you can fly over to England and see the car and pay him there. You don't actually have to do it, just see what he says. Even if you did a ticket is probably less than 500 and you would at least know there is a car.

[Icepik240]

Sounds like a scam to me too. Just for fun, tell him you will place all $5,700.00 in an escrow account, the amount to be made immediately available when you recieve the car. I'd bet my paycheck he wont take it, because he has no car to give.

I totally agree with Seva-S13: if he is trying to "avoid fees by making it a gift", offer to pay the fees. See what he does with that. The fact that his is trying to conceal the purpose of the wire transfer ("you say you have a friend in Great Britian that needs money") is a huge tip off.

I'd stay away.

[andrave]

this is a very very common scam, and I can't believe you are even thinking about it. My friend was interesting in buying an evo for 12,000 from a guy who claimed he purchased the car brand new in the US, was stationed by the military in Italy, and brought the car with him, but decided he didn't want it. So he wanted to sell it for 12k cash and he had the US title. I've seen it repeated with other variations. If the deal looks too good to be true....That **** about not being able to sell it in england is a crock of **** anyway, plenty of LHD cars there.