I have a car for sale on autotrader. I guy wants to buy it but doesn't have all the money yet. We negotiated a price which is less than i was asking but i am happy with.
He wants to pay a deposit and then pay the rest monthly.
I keep the car and the money until it is fully paid and then he gets the car.
I am not in a rush to sell the car and this seems to good to be true. What am i missing?
IDK about scammed but that does sound like a potential pain in the ass in several ways.
Do you want ass pain (and potentially help someone out), or do you want to be free of the object (help yourself out)?
Wants to pay monthly....how long will this take?
Where will you leave the car ?
Who is nsuring it ?
Who is paying road tax or is it SORNED
I would not enter into this arrangement. Get paid for the car in full..Job done.
Maybe not a scam but a definite ball ache. Hard pass for me.
The deal is that o get to keep and use the car as i do at the moment. It is almost a daily driver but i have alternative cars.
I well set up s new bank account to get the money deposited into and then move to one of my other accounts so he can't have access to my normal bank details.
No real hassle to me and not fussed about keeping the car for 10 months more.
Seems strange to me which is why i am asking but i don't see a down side. If he doesn't pay, he doesn't get the car. Just can't work out why he would risk giving me £17K on a promise.
The negotiation on price still left be about £1k up on my lowest price.
Why a ball ache?
Seems strange to me which is why i am asking but i don't see a down side. If he doesn't pay, he doesn't get the car. Just can't work out why he would risk giving me £17K on a promise.
Depends what car it is. If it's something rare / special or if it's in particularly good condition, local to him etc, he may just want that one but (as with many people) he may not have credit rating to get finance or any ability to borrow a large sum.
It sounds fairly legit - he transfers the money into a one-off account set up for the purpose and you transfer it straight out into a savings account so there's no (or very limited) money sitting there at risk, he gets the car at the end of it. Critical thing is not to spend it all cos if you write the car off while he's still paying for it, he will (not unreasonably) want his "deposit" back. That's the only risk I can see.
Sort of like an unofficial finance agreement but without it impacting his (probably fairly shite) credit score.
On the other hand if it's some kind of generic banger, I'd be wondering what he was playing at.
FWIW, I'm in a similar situation looking at buying a S/H car but I also don't have £17k sitting around idly, I need to source credit, borrow from parents etc. And frankly, it's a PITA.
It is a one of one car. I am sorry if in agreement with Crazy legs. He had given his name and a quick Google agreed with who he said he was.
I don't understand why i would be stressed or why it is a ball ache.
How do you deal with missed payments? I'd get that sorted out in advance, and for me it's one strike and he's out. One day late or one penny short and the deal is off, he gets the money back (you keep any bank interest), you keep the car.
Yeah forget that. what happens if they refuse to pay anymore?
I would be selling to one of those supermarkets and if they want the car that much they can get it on finance
Why doesn't he just get a loan and buy the car?
If you're asking here then it's obviously ringing alarm bells and that tells you all you need to know.
Sounds complicated.
He’s short on cash but can afford (over a few months) to cough up £17k yet can’t get finance it with his bank? That’s a chunk of cash so either earning good money with horrendous credit, or is relying on selling something to pay the balance.
If he changes his mind you have to pay him back and the car is not sold. Perhaps you can keep the deposit, maybe it gets nasty.
If he can’t afford to pay for ages you end up lumbered with a half owned car.
If it gets nicked or whatever the ownership is complicated.
In the buyers eyes, it’s a huge risk, where is his security once he’s got near enough £17k transferred to you?
I don't see why you would agree to this instead of just leaving the car listed for sale and waiting for a buyer who can pay up front.
Is it really that unlikely that your car would take a year to sell?
Do you really want to be receiving money every month from a stranger? What happens when the stranger is not able to pay one month. At what point does the agreement get terminated?
I would only do this for someone I know and trust.
I think you should go with it, so you can find out what it was you missed. And then tell us.
What happens if you are involved in an accident and car is written off?
Dodgy. From his perspective: How does he know how much your car is worth in a years time? There is all sorts of wear & tear, mechanical failure or accidental damage that might happen. I can’t see anyone realistically proposing this sort of deal.
How do you deal with missed payments? I'd get that sorted out in advance, and for me it's one strike and he's out. One day late or one penny short and the deal is off, he gets the money back (you keep any bank interest), you keep the car.
This covers any 'hassle' situations.
As I said, it's not a car we rush to sell. If I sell it for the price he is offering, I can then get the engine for the other car I need. If I crash or write the car off, I simply give them the money back.
He claims to be a chef, and the name and few details he's given check out on Google. I know chefs and most hospitality people have real troubles with credit because their job histories and earnings are really at risk, which might explain the loan situation.
The car's not owned by anyone but me, even partially, until he pays everything, so basically all I'm doing is sitting, getting money put into a bank account, and then at some point my car's sold.
It's just the risk that he is taking that puzzles me.
Tell him to save up and then buy it outright in mumble months if it's still available for sale.
It might well be legit. But why care? There will always be other buyers.
My Advice = go no further.
But feel free to go ahead!
alternative is that he/she's involved in money laundering/crime and it's an easy way to turn ill gotten gains in to a tangible asset. i wouldn't involve myself.
It is a one of one car. I am sorry if in agreement with Crazy legs. He had given his name and a quick Google agreed with who he said he was.
I don't understand why i would be stressed or why it is a ball ache.
Then why are you asking for advice? 🙂
I guess the original question was whether this was a scam and, whilst strange, nobody has really identified it as a scam.
So if it's not a scam, is it still with proceeding given the potential risk and hassle if the buyer stops paying or changes his mind? That's really up to you and your appetite for risk; if you didn't need the cash now and would benefit from having use of the car plus you're up for doing the guy a favour then crack on
No. Just not right, not the normal way of doing these things. Its dependent on him paying, or he might not, so now its in 2 sections, original deal plus not paying. Next if what happens X months later when he wants to stop paying, or/and wants all the money back he's paid, and has 5 handy mates. Just too many variables adding well beyond simply selling a car. You'd beholden to him.
Nope. just too many things is too many to go wrong.
Is this 'agreement' going to be verbal, or written down somehow? If the latter, who is going to draft it, as it has to be pretty carefully worded! His risk is that you keep the money and don't complete the deal, yours is that he pays half then says he owns half the vehicle!
If he wants finance, tell him to arrange finance with a company covered by the FSCA and then give you the full amount.
No way would I touch this in a million years. Not with all the barge poles in all the canals in all the world.
You seem to have made your mind up that it's fine and are just wanting someone to tell you it's fine, which it isn't. And nobody has. But if you want to, go ahead and do it, then go for it, but sympathy when it inevitably goes south will not be forthcoming.
You literally said
I know chefs and most hospitality people have real troubles with credit because their job histories and earnings are really at risk, which might explain the loan situation.
Yet you are considering being a loaning agent?!
I don't know what the scam is, but I wouldn't even give finding out a second thought
He's relying on the big dangly carrot of you having 'sold' the car. It may not be a scam, but it's 100% 'Crown Prince of Nigeria ' tactics.
Go for it WCA, life’s too short. I’m assuming this is the little red car that you’re selling? Getting that Portroën on the road for the summer is priority number one, can’t wait 👍
A bonus Equus africanus asinus, an ASS (two in fact)!
We love you STW 😃
Yes it is the red one. I think that on balance i will accept his offer to buy the car, accept a deposit and then let him save up himself.
I won't actively try to sell the car in the next 12 months while he saves.
If he changed his mind before he had saved the money then i keep the deposit.
Basically it is the same as he suggested but he keeps hold of most his cash instead of me.
Perfect 👍
Spoiler alert: it's all going to go pear shaped.
I'm not sure if you're doing him the favour you think you are - in that if you can't afford to buy a car you definitely can't afford to run it. Cars are available for a lot less that £17k for people who need them. Credit is available for people who have the means to live beyond their means.
Are you doing him a favour? Or has he got a problem? Are you helping him dig a deeper hole for himself? I've known someone who'd seek similar deals - a deep seated frustration that he wasn't the kind of person who could have the kind of things he wanted, or even deserved. Every once in a while he'd convince himself he was, and devise a scheme that would solve the impasse, and do the kind deals the guy wants to do with you as part of a spiral that ended with head injuries, arrests and a Section 28. We'd then have to travel the country finding the people he'd made these comitments with - tell them he wasn't really able to buy that car, that caravan, and that holiday home.
How different would this deal be if it turned the guy is actually talking to 10 people on Autotrader and wants to put deposits on 10 cars to buy on the never never?
Are you charging him a storage fee? Or if you’re going to carry on using it as a daily, will he be happy paying the same amount for the car as it is now but with an extra year of milage/wear and tear? Who pays for any maintenance/servicing over the next year? I guarantee he’s gonna try and beat you down on price in a year ‘well you can take 85% of the original offer, or list it for sale again, a year older, more milage etc. I’m doing you a favour mate’
He clearly can't afford it, and you'll be chasing your tail forever until you give up trying to get your money back.
Don't get involved with any hair brained scheme, he either has the money up front, or no sale.
Don't do business with 'Dell boy' types, you'll only end up angry and out of pocket.
EDIT.. wow I just read the thread in more detail.. a 17k car/ lol, I'd initilaly assumed this was a 15yo focus or something worth about 2k max.
Honestly you'll get a much better deal from 'we buy any car.com' at least they pay up front.
The boy needs to adjust his expectations... he can't afford a 17k car, he needs to buy himself a nice little ten year old Jap hatchback.
What a bizarre situation.
What would I do....?
It's a no from me. Hassle in the making but sounds like you have accepted the whole deal so good luck. 🤞
My money is on "it's money laundering"
The payment will come from the 3rd party dodgy account. Then in 6 months he'll say "can't afford it, can you refund me, but I have a new bank account". The some time later when fraud squad catch up, they will see your brand new account that took 1 payment in and 1 payment out as "fishy".
Then you will be the one needing to explain to to cops, something that you already suspected isn't quite right.
Or he wants the refund back pretty quickly to a different account, and simultaneously tries to reverse the original payment, if that's possible.
I'd walk. And maybe even inform the fraud hotline. The chef stuff is just a story to trap you. Phone up that chef if in doubt.
You're drunk for even humouring it
How about PayPal Friends & Family instead? If you won't accept that from a random, you should really know better than to accept this. A fool and his money etc...
<edit> You just reminded a conversation with a chum I had during the Club ride yesterday. His brother was selling his Camper via Autotrader recently. Many £1000's, good nick, low miles, full service etc. It was eventually purchased by a chap with a faux Irish accent working in the tarmac industry. Predictably, the van developed a 'serious engine fault' within a few weeks that 'couldn't be fixed'. The buyer wanted a full refund - 'we know where you live' etc. The chap lost his van and his money. You might think this doesn't apply to the cooking industry but do you really KNOW who you're dealing with and are you really CERTAIN?
Your money, your risk. Have at it.
I still wouldn’t go with the latest proposal but if you do, I think it would be fair to take a storage fee out of the deposit each month, then if he doesn’t keep his side of the bargain, he gets the deposit back in 12 months less 12 months storage.
That might help clarify if he’s just dreaming about owning the car or actually has intentions to raise the cash. He might just be using it as a tactic to get you to hold the car for ages whilst he decides if he wants it (or thinks he can sell it for more so is trying to flip it without actually buying it in the meantime) or once you’ve formed a bit of a bond will try and lowball you to complete the deal.
I suspect the best outcome with this is that you end up refunding his cash and annoyed that you could’ve sold the car several times in the meantime.
Nick - your life is chaotic enough as it is!
"No real hassle to me and not fussed about keeping the car for 10 months more. "
F@#k keeping hold of a car I wanted to sell for another 10 months!
Call me intolerant, but I have littel sympathy and refuse to go 'theextra mile' for strangers in situations like this. I always have a policy (on FB marketplace etc) - "first to pay and take it away gets it". No 'holding on', no 'I'll come visit in a week, i promise" - first to pay takes it away.
He'll realise he needs a car ASAP, so will pull out, or something equally as annoying.
Tell him you'll leave the car advertised and sell to the first person with REAL money. However, IF it takes 10 months, then by all means he can give you the cash then!
Avoid!
DrP
Not a chance in hell I'd be entering into this deal!
Can't even fathom why anyone would entertain it for a more than the 30 seconds it would take to type 'NO' in a message.
Not a chance in hell I'd be entering into this deal!
Can't even fathom why anyone would entertain it for a more than the 30 seconds it would take to type 'NO' in a message.
I would file this under internet crackpot to ignore and block.
