Is this the latest car-buying scam?

"Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom" (will-alib) 01/30/2018 at 23:19 • Filed to: None

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So I’m looking for an old convert to cruise around in with the fam, and I’m looking at Ford Galaxies. I found this 1966 7 Litre car online that looks to have been restored, with original 428 and A/C which should be worth $30-35k but the asking price is $15k. The seller says the car is in the Netherlands and due to the cost of registering a US car there they are selling it rather than let it sit. It’s also got US plates on it in the photo. Naturally, my bullshit detector is squealing, but I can’t figure out how the scam works if there’s a shipping company involved.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/30/2018 at 23:21

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Hey man, I just need the shipping fees up front. Now I need you to go buy 100 iTunes gift cards....

WilliamsSW > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/30/2018 at 23:34

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For any “restored” car from the 60s, I’d want to inspect it in person. A lot of those cars are mostly bondo, especially if they’re cheap.

I’d be very worried about things just not being what they seem.

But that’s a gorgeous car- did you do a google image search?

Chariotoflove > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/30/2018 at 23:36

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So I’m looking for an old convert to cruise around in with the fam, and I’m looking at Ford Galaxies.

This sentence has so many wheels turning in my head. I can just see us heading out for ice cream piled in the Galaxie (or Falcon, or whatever) on a Sunday evening.

Chariotoflove > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 01/30/2018 at 23:37

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I’m thinkin so.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > Chariotoflove 01/30/2018 at 23:37

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Pretty much what I envisioned.

Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom > WilliamsSW 01/30/2018 at 23:38

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No. How is that done?

WilliamsSW > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/30/2018 at 23:47

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Save the photos of the car, and google “google image search”. It allows you to upload a photo and do a search on the photo instead of a phrase.

If you find multiple for sale listings in different cities with that photo, it’s a huge red flag.

RacinBob > WilliamsSW 01/30/2018 at 23:48

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Visual search is pretty awesome..... LINK PS. it’s sold here in New York....

Hmmm $34,000 here

  http://classiccardb.com/ford/321496-1966-ford-galaxie-500-7-litre-convertible.html

and $40,000 here

http://classicvehicleslist.com/ford/392236-1966-ford-galaxie-500-7-litre-convertible.html

$49,000 here

http://7litre.org/forsale.html

WilliamsSW > Chariotoflove 01/30/2018 at 23:49

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Fantasy of mine too.

WilliamsSW > RacinBob 01/30/2018 at 23:54

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Yeah this is step 1 for any listing that sounds too good to be true.

Oddly the 3 you posted all seem to be in the same city - so they may be legit. But they’re not in the Netherlands.

C62030 > WilliamsSW 01/31/2018 at 00:00

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You can also usually right-click the photo itself and hit “Search Google for image.” A bit quicker.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/31/2018 at 00:26

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It’s probably a scam, because registering a 40+ year old car in the Netherlands is relatively easy and cheap (it get’s excempt from nearly all regulations, so no homologation work is needed), next to that it would be exempt from road tax too. So all in all no way it would be sensible to sell for such a low price.

I hate it when they start using my country for scams, makes us less trustworthy :(

Jewish Stig > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/31/2018 at 06:04

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Yes. Definitely

It was a very popular scam where l live.

You would see ads for almost brand new cars, for a third of their list price.

The story in my case was a bit different,

Mostly a diplomat who was returning to his home country, and couldn’t register the car there after he shipped it.

He of course was in touch with a company that could return the car back and register it. For a small fee.

All he needed is some up front cash, and you photo id card, transfered to somewhere in eastern Europe.

A lot of people fell for it, to the extent that there was a big news article about it.

The funny thing is, that the import laws where i live are very strict, you can’t import a used car if its not at least 30 years old.

And still people fell for it and were sure that they were getting the best deal ever

Be warned.

WilliamsSW > C62030 01/31/2018 at 07:00

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Ah, didn’t realize that, thanks!

functionoverfashion > Turbineguy: Nom de Zoom 01/31/2018 at 09:37

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If you search long enough you’ll get a good feel for what the good ones are worth. It’s still necessary to inspect in person, and drive it of course. But I searched for nearly 10 years for my truck. I drove a few that looked good in pictures, but were rattle traps in person; or had some weird thing like a floor made entirely of plywood while the rest of the body looked totally fine. All the ones that I thought were a good deal, weren’t. I didn’t want a fully restored example, though, so what I was looking for was harder to find than if I’d been willing to spend $20k on a nice one.