Buying Cars from E.U. over the Internet using "Triple Deal"

Ste05

Hi all,

I have located a car that sounds like a great bargain, however, the car is registered in the UK and is currently in Greece. Now I'm slightly worried that this may be a scam. The seller has suggested we use TripleDeal.com to handle the transaction. On the face of it is seems like a fairly good idea. My problem is that I've never heard of TripleDeal.com. I've e-mailed them about the transaction itself but I was looking to see if anyone has ever had dealings with them.

Is there anyone here who has bought a car from mainland Europe, and if so how did you go about ensuring that:
1) The car was as described; and
2) That the car would arrive upon payment??

I understand all the old sayings such as if it sounds too good to be true it probably is etc. etc. and I undertand all the usual VRT implications, etc. I was just really looking for advice from anyone who may have had a similar experience. Or is this a known scam?

Bluehair

Ste05 wrote:

Or is this a known scam?

Seen this a few times before (or very similar storys), definate scam. As you said yourself "if it's too good to be true"...

testicle

TripleDeal.com appear to be the real deal. They are an eBay approved escrow service...

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/escrow.html#escrow

Ste05

Bluehair wrote:

Seen this a few times before (or very similar storys), definate scam. As you said yourself "if it's too good to be true"...

Yeah I was afraid of that, ah well, :rolleyes: never mind, I thought this would be the place to see if there was any chance it was legit...

Alun

Well, the Triple Deal website looks kosher enough as testicle says, but it appears though that the two parties, buyer and seller, are responsible for setting up their own contracts, so you'd have to be very careful that you didn't end up buying a pile of junk, and then having to pay to ship it back to Greece again!! All the escrow arrangement guarantees is that the seller doesn't get his cash until you receive the goods. the fine print on how to resolve any conflicts is up to you.

Ste05

Alun, that's what actually made me post this here, the TripleDeal.com looks good and the way it works out the payments would give me comfort too. I have received a mail from TripleDeal.com outlining the transaction details and a reference number was included. So I've e-mailed their fraud section to see if this is a legitimate account. If it works out then I'll think about continuing with my negotiations

And with regards to the arranging of the Contracts, this shouldn't be too big a problem, I have a legal background and I certainly hope I'd be able to make sure that the agreement was fair, at least. As it stands the seller has agreed to pay for shipping over here to be included in the selling price, and I would be willing to pay for the costs to return it, once he agrees to swallow his shipping costs should the deal fall through. I think that should be fair enough for him. But we'll have to see.

I'll still be threading very lightly... my alarm bells are ringing... :rolleyes:

Bluehair

Ste05 wrote:

I'll still be threading very lightly... my alarm bells are ringing... :rolleyes:

The best advice i ever heard was from HonestJohn on his website "after everything else just trust your instincts, if something just doesn't sit right with you even if you can't put your finger on it don't be afraid to walk away" or words to that affect.

Ste05

Very true BlueHair, after some more research and contacting TripleDeal it was confirmed by TripleDeal that in fact it was a scam. So a warning to all looking on AutoTrader.ie. Although it's been reported to AutoTrader and hopefully they'll remove the advertisement and take the appropriate action.

Wolverine_1999

I can guarantee they would have been asking you to send through Western Union. The biggest scams from Greece are always cars...

seatleon2000

seen similar scams like this were the car was in spain... guy wanted to go through a third party also

NeMiSiS

Lotus Elise for ten grand.... too good to be true.. obviously

Corespndence with scam artist..

Gayle,
One or two more questions.
Does the car have an irish number plate? Or does VRT need to be paid on the car?
What is its location ? Is it in Madrid or Dublin?
Thanks for you time
Tom.


Gayle Hagen wrote:

> Hi there,
> First of all I want to tell you that the car is still
> available and the price includes all the shipping
> costs and insurance, so you wont have to pay any extra
> charges. The car looks like new, it has never been
> scratched or wrecked. It will come with a clear title,
> bill of sale signed by me as well and all the papers
> (including the original manuals and keys) that you
> will need to register it under your name.It's so cheap
> because I've just moved in Madrid (Spain) and here
> will cost me to much to registred, also the cars from
> here have the hand drive on left so I cant use my car
> here.
> I realise that is a cheap price for such a product but
> my special situation makes me do things that i
> wouldn't do in
> normal circumstances and belive me it is not easy at
> all for me to sell a thing which was one of my
> dreams.I offer a complete customer satisfaction
> guarantee or your money back.
> This policy means, that if the vehicle is not as
> described then you may return it for a 100% refund.If
> the car is what you are looking for and if you agree
> with these conditions then I will be glad to close
> this deal with you.
>
> I will be waiting your email.
> Kindly Regards!
> --- Tom <tom@> wrote:
>
>
>
>> Is the price of 10,000 Euro correct for that car ?
>> Thanks
>> Tom

]

alan1978

I wonder which country this scam comes from........i've thought about it......it's another Nigerian scam. Don't have over a cent to those scumbags!

Ste05

NeMiSiS wrote:

Lotus Elise for ten grand.... too good to be true.. obviously

>> Is the price of 10,000 Euro correct for that car ?
>> Thanks
>> Tom

This is along the same lines of a story that I was spun. Apparently he had gone to Greece because his wife had got a job out there, bla bla bla, and again he said he couldn't handle the right hand drive any more, bla bla bla.

Unfortunately this looks to be the exact same type of scam. I reported my guy to TripleDeal.com (a very reputable company by the looks of it, apologies if my post looks like I'm blaming them) and also to AutoTrader.ie.

mike65

Anyone who spins a complex 'heartfelt' story in connection to a potential sale is to be avoided.

Mike.