Facebook motoring scams.

The Darkroom

I've had someone contact me claiming to be from a garage in Dublin wanting to buy my car. They're buying it saying they only want it for the engine but have never tested it before buying it. They're sending a tow truck who they'll say will give me the cash. When I ask who I'm signing the car over to they just give me the name of the garage. Is this legitimate? 🤔

I would appreciate your help as its my first time selling my car.

User1998

Why wouldn’t it be legit? As long as your given the cash and signing the logbook then you’ve nothing to worry about

If your in doubt you can check the CRO to see if the business actually exists

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121855906#Comment_121855906

I’d say the same if you’re not being asked for money all should be fine. It’s very unlikely they are going to hook and tow the car away without you knowing so I don’t think you have much to be worried about.

just make sure to count the cash twice 🤣

Also nothing strange about garage being the new named owner it wouldn’t usually be signed into the name of an individual almost always the business name

Nothing there sounds outrageous anyway OP. I’d say it’s likely the garage has a client and they need that engine for parts or something hence they’re happy to sort it out remotely and save themselves the hassle of coming to inspect when they only want one thing.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058339164/facebook-motoring-scams

Could be a variation on a common Facebook Marketplace scam where the "buyer" says they're sending somebody around to collect the item, and that person will pay you when they get there.

If you agree to those terms, next message you get will be a long-winded one explaining how you first have to click a link to pay "insurance" on the cash that the person will be bringing with them. It'll be a long emotional and heartfelt one, saying not to worry because you'll get that money back in the long run too, and that it's actually the "buyer" who's taking the risk.

You can guess what happens next if you actually click the link and pay that "insurance".

You could continue to reply for another couple of messages, to see if this is what actually happens, and then just stop replying and block them if this is how it pans out.

Or, you could do what I did myself once when trying to sell something else on Marketplace -

I replied to the "please pay insurance here" message with "oh, no need now, the driver is here already and he's just given me the cash anyway".

The reply I got back myself then was "what? are you serious?" and the prospective "buyer" then proceeded to abuse me for quite some time, in rather colourful language, on account of how it was apparently me wasting his time.

It was actually quite amusing 😁

colm_mcm

Ring the garage?

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121856218#Comment_121856218

Probably the obvious course of action all right! 😀

I'm just assuming in my post above that contact so far has been via messages on Facebook rather than a phone call, so the potential "buyer" could have just pulled the name of a garage off the internet at random. A phone call to that garage should sort it out all right.

Still sounds suspicious to me though that a garage would buy a car for the sake of its engine, arrange a tow truck to pick it up, and give the truck driver cash to pay for the car, without first at least checking that the engine is in good condition. I'd tread cautiously.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121856447#Comment_121856447

It’s really not dodgy at all, it’s standard practice in the motor trade. How do you know the truck driver isn’t going to test drive the car before taking it? Or inspect the engine? The garage probably has a good relationship with the truck driver

Even if the garage name turns out to be bogus I’d still go ahead with it, theres loads of unregistered lads who just want to make a few quid that will give you cash for a car

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121856742#Comment_121856742

Fair enough if it's common for a garage to buy a car like this. And obviously I don't know the mechanical expertise of whoever drivers the tow truck, or the level of trust the garage places in them to make a call on whether or not the car is worth buying at all.

However, it's also common to receive messages on Facebook Marketplace from somebody saying they'll send a driver around with cash, but first you need to click a link and pay "insurance" on that cash. I was just advising the OP of that.

If there's no mention of "insurance" or anything like that, and somebody with a pocketful of cash does indeed turn up to take the car away with no conditions attached, then I'd go ahead with it and probably think I did fairly well.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121856907#Comment_121856907

to be fair there’s a lot could be wrong with an engine you’d never find out on a test drive and driveway look over. My guess is the OPs engine is just needed to fix a car for a customer and it’s the cheapest one the garage has found.

Spook_ie

Make sure that if it's being sold to a garage/dealer that a form rf105 is filled out. As you can't tell if they are authorised to do so online make sure it's filled in correctly and post it

If they say it's a private sale then fill in vlc and post it

TLDR Make sure the vehicle is transfered out of your name

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121862573#Comment_121862573

First time ever I think, but I completely agree with you Spook.

The OP should also decline any offer from the buyer to post the form - the OP should send it

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121859198#Comment_121859198

Or they have a car that needs a VIN. If the OPs car is cheapest option for getting an engine then the car they are putting it into can't be worth much either.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121856447#Comment_121856447

Engines are normally worth more than the whole car.The garage customer will pay for it's removal from seller's car one way or the other and hoping the required part functions.Brings back happy memories for me.

Uncle Pierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121864173#Comment_121864173

I don't doubt you, but to be honest, makes no logical sense to me how just an engine could be worth more than the engine with every other part of the car with it as well. Wonder could you or somebody else please explain?

If it's not already obvious, I've no particular knowledge of the motor trade. It was just the 'Facebook scams' part of the thread title that caught my eye on this one in the first place. As stated, I was just letting OP know it's a common Facebook scam for somebody to say they need something in a hurry, they're happy to buy it without even seeing or testing it, and that they'll be sending somebody around with the money. Seemed to have been a possibility here that the OP was being set up for that one.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121868630#Comment_121868630

suppose if you got a car for a few grand to replace an engine you then have potentially replacement doors etc in the future if you end up needing so could pay off that way over buying engine alone for similar money.

Sometimes though the value can be measured merely in terms of time saved. If I need my car fixed and I have to wait a few weeks for parts it’s a huge pain. If the garage managed to sort it urgently by clever means like buying a used car with a good replacement part for my car I’d be happy enough tbh.

mind it does feel like it’s worth considering if the client should be made aware of where the parts came from or if it doesn’t really matter as long as it’s given a fair guarantee by the garage.

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058339164/facebook-motoring-scams

Beware that if you decide to do business with this ''garage'' and they pay in cash - fake €50 are no longer a rare species, being passed with a few genuine ones thrown in. Bear in mind if it sounds too good to be true it more than likely is.