[ksmgumbi]

i was looking on the web for used minis and i came across a 2003 mini cooper that has 19,434 miles, bristish racing green,automatic, cloth interior, power everthing and only asking 5000 for it. i emailed them and ask why so cheap they havent emailed back yet. i was surprised im still socked. so what do you all think is there something really wrong with it?? or does she/he just want to get rid of it. let me know what you all think. im thinking about going to test drive and look it over. if the cars runs great this is a dream come true

[jason2025]

[quote=ksmgumbi]i i emailed them and ask why so cheap they havent emailed back yet. i was surprised im still socked. so what do you all think is there something really wrong with it?? QUOTE]

As they say, if something seems too good to be true, it likely is. This sound extremely fishy to me and I suspect it's a scam. Step carefully...

J\

[Jim Ray]

[quote=jason2025]

Quote: Originally Posted by ksmgumbi

i i emailed them and ask why so cheap they havent emailed back yet. i was surprised im still socked. so what do you all think is there something really wrong with it?? QUOTE]

As they say, if something seems too good to be true, it likely is. This sound extremely fishy to me and I suspect it's a scam. Step carefully...

J

Try and get the VIN and run a carfax. Sounds like a salvage title price wise. Repaired damage or flood damage. Flood is really hard to detect.

Repaired body damage is better than flood. Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Sure is a good price. Wrecked ones on ebay sell for more than that.

[cct1]

Is it this one?

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99705

[Mister]

I'm thinking a "1" was left off the the front of the price by accident. Happens all the time.

[ksmgumbi]

thats why i emailed the owner to make sure that was the price. still 15,000 isnt a bad price i would pay that im hoping they email me back soon i want to go look at it and test drive.

[ksmgumbi]

so they dealer emailed me back and they moved to london and there selling the car because the steering wheel is on the wrong side. anyway he said that the car will be shipped to your door he's paying for all that. he wants the buyer to use bidpay. and it will take 3 to 5 days for the car to be shipped to your door. if you dont like it it will be shipped back to him. its a good price but i dont know if my parents want to do that. it seems kinda funny. i wish he would have left the car with a good neighbor instead of taking it to london.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Treat with extreme caution!

I came across an instance where a friend sold their MINI via e-bay for a fair price. About a month later exactly the same advert re-appeared at about 1/3rd the price.

The only other differences were a new contact number, a convoluted story as to why it was so cheap and very specific details on how they wanted to be paid; they then made all sorts of promises about shipping.

The idea was to get paid quickly, by someone who thought is was a bargain and then run. They never had title to the car in the first place. This is not an uncommon scam.

It might be genuine, but I would say beware adverts for cheap MINIs on the web.

Come to think of it, if they are offering it for 5,000 (and let's assume that's £'s, not $'s) and then they pay the shipping that leaves them very little for the car and they are then offering to ship it back if you don't like it! Now, any decent used MINI, even a LHD one, is going to be worth at least £8,000 in the UK. This whole thing looks like a very quick way to be parted with 5,000 (£'s or $'s) and then be left with nothing...

Tigger.

[Eelke]

Second that. I have heard numerous stories about cheap Mini's, where some kind of scheme very similar to what you are saying now is being used. Cheap Mini for whatever reason, they are overseas or at least abroad, so getting a look at the car will be a problem, but "don't worry, we'll ship it to you, and if you don't like it we'll take it back". Payment anything from a down payment to the entire sum. You pay up, Mini never gets shipped, seller disappears.

If they really do have a LHD car in the UK, they'd probably be a lot better of to ship the car back to the mainland and get it sold over there. [Oh, wait, they came from the US... Anyway, moving right along]. They can easily pay the shipping for the enormous difference in price between "normal" prices and this high-discount-we-really-have-to-get-rid-of-this price.

Of course, this might be an exception, but it is much too similar for my liking.

[ksmgumbi]

yeah i dont think im going to buy it. i dont know the person and its hard for me to say this but i cant trust them. if they would have left the car in dublin with a family member or friebnd i would have drove and looked at it but it sounds kinda funny to me. he said other people are looking at it so they can have it. thanks guys for your advice. ill have to find another mini else where

Kim

[Eric_Rowland]

Wise decision. You would have purchased only a very expensive lesson in caveat emptor.

ANY 'deal' which requires the car to be shipped overseas (oh, and in 3-5 days would require air freight!) is not a deal, it's a scam.

[AprilWhine]

Wise decision.

You just described the second most common car scam on Ebay. If you go to the Trust & Safety forum, you will see people posting about getting caught in this scam almost every day.

The first most common car scam is the one where someone sends you a cashier's check for more than the selling price of your car. You do a wire transfer of the excess funds and wait for someone to pick up the car... Then the check bounces and you are out the money you sent.

[ksmgumbi]

i think these people are really scamming people i found another mini 2002 with 15,000 miles and they are asking 6,000 so i emailed them to ask whats going on and they told me the same story about them moving to london.and another 2005 mini convertible with 3,000 miles and there asking 5,000 for it. i hope people arent really interested in these cars. what should i do? or should i just be quiet? i dont know.

kim

[AprilWhine]

Quote: Originally Posted by ksmgumbi

i think these people are really scamming people i found another mini 2002 with 15,000 miles and they are asking 6,000 so i emailed them to ask whats going on and they told me the same story about them moving to london.and another 2005 mini convertible with 3,000 miles and there asking 5,000 for it. i hope people arent really interested in these cars. what should i do? or should i just be quiet? i dont know.

kim

Kim, are these cars offered on Ebay? If so, you can report them as scams.

[ksmgumbi]

let me check ebay

[ksmgumbi]

i didnt see the cars on ebay

[AprilWhine]

Let's just hope no one falls for their scam.

[Elsewhere]

If the person you communicate with asks for you to send the money via Western Union or they try to send you a money order or check for which you will need to return the difference.... I would decline to do any business with them. Both are scams.

For something that big, make sure you use an escrow service... and remember NO escrow service will ever have you send the money via Western Union.

Western Union is used by many internet scammers because it is impossible to tell who actually picked up the money.... then they disappear.

The check thing will back fire because about a week or two after you deposit the check it will identified as a counterfeit and you will be out whatever "difference" you sent the scammer.