drfeelgood73 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Hi Guys.... Just read a thread about a car on Gumtree and thought I would throw in my Tuppence worth... Whilst looking for a Z originally I spent months and months sifting through all the usual sites looking for just the right one.....after a while and you get to know the ads and skip them on your routine searches.... Whilst on Gumtree I noticed a cracking Z with pics and a good write up with semi descent history..... At a very very good price....Based down Surrey way.... I sent the guy a message and he promptly replied..... I asked all the usual questions as well as the...' Why is it so cheap' question...' The reply I got stated that he had just split from his wife and wanted to sell the car quick...... Ok... I thought.... I can understand that...... When I wanted to arrange a viewing , he told me the car was in Ireland, but here's what he would do..... We would arrange the sale through Google Checkout...... This involved signing up to it.... He would give me a sale reference to the car.... I would make payment to a third body at Google checkout, where the funds would only be released after I accepted the car... Once I made the payment he would ship the car over to me, and I would have 7 days to accept, or decline.. If I declined, the car would be shipped back..( at sellers cost) My goodness, I thought........what a bit of really good luck..... But, me being me,.......and a non too trusting individual..... I decided to look into it..... Turns out it is a massive scam not only here, but US side as well.... Google itself takes no responsibility for any transactions, it is only a payment site... The seller gives a false name to sell the vehicle, and puts his real name as the 3rd party..... You transfer the funds straight to him and he disappears ........ Or various variations of the same con.... I initially thought, that with it being linked to Google it would have been ok..... But it is open to a lot of scamming... About a week later the same car appeared on Ebay, for what I would have expected the price to be in the first place.... I sent him a message and told him ......... So just be wary of Gumtree Ads..... As well as the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhackyWill Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 All the sharks use Gumtree..put up a link to it on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 These things have been going on for years with all types of products and it is quite clearly a scam from the off. If the price is too good to be true and there is a sob story behind it, then it's a scam. Gumtree as a whole I think is great. I bought my car from it and sold my motorbike, just have to be careful as with all online situations that could potentially involve money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) Nearly bought a Focus ST on gumtree - exact same scam!!! Reported it to gumtree and they took advert down. Surprisingly (NOT) it re-appeared - same car, same pics but total different location in UK. Go figure. B) Edited October 27, 2013 by aidan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Any ad which asks you to pay via paypal, google checkout etc where the car is uber cheap are cons, these things have been so highly publicised over the years. You get these ads on Pistonheads as well where they put the email address on the car photos and tell you not to use the dealer link as its not working, then they take it from there and all you have is an email address to god knows who. Plenty of guides to good buying practices all over the net, autotrader have a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Gumtree is a joke!l 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 An issue that is so prevalent that Pistonheads have this warning all over the classified section; Please be aware that PistonHeads.com is never directly involved in sales transactions. If the seller claims PistonHeads are handling the sale DO NOT proceed. Together with a link to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djb55 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Autotrader have the same scams reguarly, you smell a con when the ad says contact me by email on blahdebla@yahoo.com. The sad thing is people must be falling for these scams otherwise they would nhave stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grundy Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 At the end of the day, would you ever pay full price for a car without seeing it first? ( And don't give me an answer which involves a brand new car being built up lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumping350 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Ive never had problem with gumtree bought and sold loads just make rule number 1 as always go and collect or look at it, never do any online/paypal payments...cant go wrong then, if its to far i wont be buying it full stop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4RE Leather Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 All the sharks use Gumtree..put up a link to it on eBay. Oie I use Gumtree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 At the end of the day, would you ever pay full price for a car without seeing it first? ( And don't give me an answer which involves a brand new car being built up lol) no of course not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 At the end of the day, would you ever pay full price for a car without seeing it first? ( And don't give me an answer which involves a brand new car being built up lol) I did, when I bought my VXR220 back in '06. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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