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I can not imagine buying an auto online for myself to drive. I like to kick the tires, test drive it and shop around a bit to compare comparable automobiles. But, many folks are OK with getting a new ride this way. To each his own I say...
1. The vehicle is located out of state."That can mean they don't want you to come and physically inspect the car because it doesn't exist,"
2. The price is too good to be true. Research what the price should be for that car, at that age and in that condition. If the price you're being offered is thousands less, think twice. "Sometimes scammers will use the military, saying a car's being sold by someone who's deploying or pretending to be a parent selling for a deployed son,"
3. The dealer makes you wire the money. "They'll have you wire it to an individual, not to the business itself." "If you do that, your chances of seeing the money again are pretty much gone."
4. The website offers free shipping or can ship immediately. Anyone might jump at the chance to get his or her dream car for a great price in record time. But always investigate the shipping service and background of the seller if the shipping time frame or price seems too good to be true.
If you see these warning signs, call the dealer directly to learn how long it's been in business and other details about its legitimacy. You also can call the BBB office in that area and ask for help researching the dealer and the offer
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We bought our car from out of state and worked all the details out online. Granted, we were buying from a large dealership. I wouldn't have been as comfortable buying from an individual this way. Here's how we did it. We got a cashier's check from the bank which we handed over when the company driver delivered the car and all the paperwork to our door. (Part of the deal was they brought it to us, saving us a drive of a couple of hundred miles). I guess with us being pretty net savvy, it was second nature for us to check them out first before dealing with them. We also had the insurance arranged to start the day it arrived.
There's no way we would have given them a check made out to an individual nor done a wire transfer, especially without having the car right under our noses. We wanted to see it properly and in our driveway before any money exchanged hands. It all went smoothly and no problems whatsoever with the car or transaction since then and that was three months ago. They were quick to follow up with us to make sure we were happy too. We'd use them again.
This was our first experience of doing so and all went well. We felt confident we'd safeguarded ourselves best we could for the transaction and if anything went terribly wrong, we were close enough that we could go to the dealership or the police there.
It's like anything else, keep your wits about you and you're less likely to be conned.
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(Part of the deal was they brought it to us, saving us a drive of a couple of hundred miles).
Sweet job of negotiation there!
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I don't know if I'd be comfortable making such a big purchase online at all, and definitely not from a private seller. Thanks micharch and Kay for the information. And that was a sweet bit of negotiation!
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(Part of the deal was they brought it to us, saving us a drive of a couple of hundred miles).
Sweet job of negotiation there!
Thanks! Actually I wouldn't have known to even ask for that. My husband worked in the car business decades ago. He knew they would have drivers that deliver cars. It saved us the cost of fuel as well as the time too! :)
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That was a very good bargaining strategy! I'll remember that if I ever want to buy anything large from a place that's not on my doorstep. You don't ask, you don't get. :)
There's another thread on this topic too. http://savingtools.com/content/how-avoid-internet-car-scams
Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. - Cree Indian Proverb