Buying Private, is this buyer genuine?

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LiE

LiE

LiE

Caporegime
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Evening folks. I'm looking at a used car that is 2 years old and it's being sold privately. I've never bought privately so could use some guidance on how to spot something amiss.

I've been in contact with the seller today and wanted to share our emails, to see if this seems genuine. I have stared out some info.

Me:

Hi, Could you tell me if the Audi is still for sale and where abouts you are based?
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Seller:

Yes car still for sale. Based in ********, near *******
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Me:

Thanks for letting me know.

I'd like to come and see it, what's your availability like after 5pm tomorrow? I'm more flexible on Saturday.

Could you let me know a few things as well.
- number of previous owners
- condition of the tyes/alloys/paint work
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Seller:

Will give you bit of history first. Then you can make a decision to come and view or not.


We have owned the car for a month and a half. Currently in the middle of moving house and I lost my job last week. So need some cash quickly to complete purchase of new house. Liquidating assets such as my car will help me get there. The car was bought to replace my Audi RS4, which was stolen at the beginning of May and found in bits up north a week later!!


We bought the car from West London Audi as an approved used. As such it has pretty much come straight from them, bar the 800 miles we have done in it. As an approved used it has to go through their inspection process etc so its all up together. It was serviced the day before i picked it up. We are the second registered keeper. Registered in my name with no outstanding finance.


I paid a lot more than the price I am advertising it for for it back in May hence why I am not taking offers on it and want a quick sale. It is also a very rare variant. Just to be upfront and please don't be offended, if you do want to view, please don't come expecting to knock any money of the asking price. Just wouldn't want you to have a wasted journey.


The condition you can judge for yourself but its as you would expect buying straight from Audi. Alloys all in perfect condition, Tyres all good. All original Hankooks. A few tiny bodywork blemishes but no more than you would expect on a car with 16k miles. I am picky with my cars, hence buying it from Audi directly as i did with my previous RS4. TBH its not that much slower than the RS4 was. The spec is very high. Only thing its missing of any value is pano roof. It has manufacturers warranty until Nov 2019, Audi AA Roadside assistance until the same date and Audi Key cover. I think Audi connect is also paid up until the end of the warranty period as well.


I am about tomorrow from xxxxxx. Saturday will be a bit of a push as out most of the day but could do between xxxxxxxx.


Let me know your thoughts and thanks for your interest
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Me:

Thanks for the background, and sorry to hear about the job loss it must be pretty stressful.

I've just been through selling privately on AT and can appreciate you may have had a lot of time wasters. I sold my BMW after 1 month as I stupidly bought a coupe and couldn't live with the lack of doors and boot space.

I'm happy with the price and not looking to make any offers, but I am a bit nervous going into a private sale for such a large amount. I normally buy approved used, much like yourself.

Saturday would be best for me, I can be there just before xxxxx if that works for you? I will be coming with my brother, he's a VAG Mastertech so will help asses the the car.

Assuming all is well, how would you want to do the payment/handover? Do you have the paper work from the purchase from Audi with details of the warranty and break down cover?
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Seller:

No worries. Yes have all the paperwork, book pack etc from Audi when i purchased it. V5 in my name etc etc. My RS4 was stolen to order when I had it advertised on Autotrader back in April / May and stolen without the keys!!. They got the layout of my driveway and house etc from the ad pictures and posed as potential buyers to get my address...


The pics of this car on the ad are consequently not outside my house and I am now extremely nervous and suspicious of anyone now showing an interest in buying this car.. Its been a bit of a crap couple of months!! If you don't mind, I will give you my exact address and postcode closer to the time, suffice to say you will need to navigate to xxxxxx, which is the closest town, to get an idea of distance from where you are. Whereabouts are you coming from?


The car is exactly as i bought it from Audi, so i guess its as close to a main dealer buy as you will get privately. No probs with your brother coming to look over it. If you can make it as close to xxx as possible that would be great as really need to be out of the house by xxx as we are meeting my relatives for lunch at xxxx.

Payment wise, if you decide to buy, I would like a direct transfer into my bank. I think the limit is £25k in one transaction though to clear instantly so you may need to bring cash to make up the difference. Depends who you bank with I guess. Suffice to say the car wont be leaving my house without cleared funds.


If you could send me your mobile number it would be much appreciated. Mine is xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Just call me and let me know if you aren't intending on coming to view etc.
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Any advice on the emails and in general how to approach the sale if it seems good?

I was going to ask to see the V5 and check it matches the name and address he has given. Run a HPI check and look at the paper work he will have from the purchase of the car recently.
 
Sounds a bit suspicious to me but then again I don’t trust most people :D. Ill always be suspicious of someone shifting a car on after a month “usually means it’s faulty” and not taking pics outside there home etc but then again he could be genuinely telling the truth about having his RS stolen from the previous advert pics etc as it does happen.
If he gives you his full address when you go to view the vehicle and it matches the V5 and he has all the receipts etc from Audi when he purchased it then i can’t see a problem. Especially if your brother knows his way around cars to check it over and it’s all fine on the test drive and hpi check.
How much cheaper are we talking vs buying approved used from a dealer?
 
There isn't anything with the right spec but from a dealer for the same car I'd say a saving of 3k .
 
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That’s quite a saving. It’s worth going to look at imo and check if all his receipts and v5 etc match up with his home address. I think you will get a gut feeling upon meeting him if he seems genuine or looks like a chav trying to scam you.
 
Not sure I would be overly worried. Make sure wherever you go to see it that you can actually go into the house / you're looking at the car in his drive etc.

Check the v5 is at his current address, ask to see the receipt from purchase (easy given it was only a month ago)

You should get a pretty good feel from the guy when you're there, if all seems well and you are still concerned ask him if you can come back and physically go to the bank with him to complete the transfer with them. In reality this doesn't really do much for you that an online transfer won't, but if he is particularly funny about it I'd start to wonder why
 
Dav4 said:
That’s quite a saving.
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Not really on a £25k+ car (judging by his comments on bank transfers etc.).

I wouldn't be overly worried. Reading between the lines of that he wants to put off any 'Mike Brewers' wanting to "'ave a little deal" with him and I'll bet you he owes some people money who he thinks can track him down via the car hence being secretive about the address... or maybe his story is the genuine reason.
 
Yea the saving if any is not the reason I'm looking at this car. It's got the spec I want and it's within my budget, and it still has Audi approved warranty until end of next year. That mitigates the risk of someone selling it because it's broken.
 
I'd say go and have a look at it, check v5, receipts etc :) I've bought a few cars privately and haven't had any issues
 
Have you tried contacting the dealer he bought it from to check how long he's had it and whether any warranty will carry over?
 
would pre-assert that you willl be seeing car at v5 address, checkout where vin locations will be.
Have no problem showing someone a utility/council/driving-license for ID, and would expect them to reciprocate.
 
I was just going to suggest a Cazana check, I've used it for my last two car purchases (both private at ~£12k each) and is very comprehensive. Essentially though consider the basic scam detection method in that if it feels dodgy then it probably is, but don't judge that until you go and see it. Certainly having a VAG Mastertech with you will certainly help in identifying if it's a shed or not.
 
fastwunz said:
This. 100% this.
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As suggested, get in touch with the dealer and just check that they did sell it. Also, see what Cazana has to say...

When I bought my car the dealership wouldn't accept an offer, telling me "we are 12k underwater on this vehicle". I thought it was bullocks until I checked Cazana and saw they'd first put it up for sale nearly a year before. It is quite new so it had depreciated a lot over 10 months.
 
thewanted said:
Is it this one? I assume not since the warranty would expire in September 2019 and not November like he said.

If it is, Cazana says that the car was listed for sale for £28k in May, so I'm not sure if I buy the story that he paid Audi West London much more than he's selling it for:

https://cazana.com/uk/car/LG66KFK
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Yea that's the one, I don't know why he said November, probably a mistake. September is the correct date, Audi have 3 years warranty on new cars and that ties in with the registration date.

So looking on Cazana, the car was bought by the current owner for 500 less than he is selling it, a couple months later. Seems reasonable.

I will definitely call West London Audi to check the details of the warranty, but I imagine it's with the car as it's still within the 3 year period.

He's obviously telling porkies here though:

I paid a lot more than the price I am advertising it for for it back in May
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Unless carzana isn't accurate.
 
To be honest, at this volume of money, I would walk away from someone selling a car after only owning it for 6 weeks. Especially since he's lied about the price he's paid.

Clearly if he can buy it at that price AND have dealer warranty for 1 year, you can wait and find the same thing eventually.
 
He may be breaking even, if he got a bit of a discount on the advertised price. That said, if it's a fair price for a private sale, it's a fair price. Trying to sell a car of that value privately isn't easy and it would not surprise me if you are the only private buyer he's had an enquiry from. When I sold the 340i I only had one private enquiry and about five or six from trade...He will have had a few approaches from traders looking to turn it around - newish cars in warranty present low risk opportunities for them (except for the risk of depreciation, of course).
 
ci_newman said:
To be honest, at this volume of money, I would walk away from someone selling a car after only owning it for 6 weeks. Especially since he's lied about the price he's paid.

Clearly if he can buy it at that price AND have dealer warranty for 1 year, you can wait and find the same thing eventually.
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I agree, but this car ticks all the boxes and I may find myself waiting for a car that doesn't turn up, or does turn up at the wrong price. Carzana reckons it's worth 30k, not sure how accurate that is?
 
ci_newman said:
To be honest, at this volume of money, I would walk away from someone selling a car after only owning it for 6 weeks. Especially since he's lied about the price he's paid.

Clearly if he can buy it at that price AND have dealer warranty for 1 year, you can wait and find the same thing eventually.
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Fair comment. Why would you buy private when you can have the protection offered by the Consumer Rights Act for moreorless the same price?

I don't think there's anything sinister. I think the OP should send him the Cazana link and call him out on the price, though. The seller says 'I paid a lot more' but doesn't say exactly how much more. He's been a bit coy, you could argue that £500 is a lot I suppose, but it isn't in the context of a £28000 car.

It sounds like a case of buyer's remorse rather than a problem car.
 
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