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Selling a car abroad - scam??
Nickctp - 6/9/13 at 10:03 AM

Morning all,

My car has been up for sale on here for a week or so now. I stuck it on pistonheads and have had interest from a guy in Cyprus among others.

He has asked about shipping the car abroad - I said it can go anywhere provided I have cleared funds before the car is released and he pays the shipping and associated costs. He has said this is fine.

Does this sound like a scam? The last email I received from him was asking for some further pictures of the car and confirmation that he will arrange and pay all associated costs with shipping the car. Upon his response, he is happy to pay the asking price for the car although I did state that there was not much room for negotiation with the price in an original email to him. He is also happy to pay and arrange the shipping.

Also - does anyone know what is involved with the car going abroad with regards to the log book etc?

I look forward to your responses.

Cheers


Nick

luke2152 - 6/9/13 at 10:39 AM

Are you selling it for a bargain price/ or is it something particularly sought after? If not I'd say the buyer sounds a bit too keen considering he has the whole UK to choose from. I guess it would make sense to look for a British car though since they also drive on the left.

Norfolkluegojnr - 6/9/13 at 10:46 AM

A good test is to ask for a phone number, name, and address details so you can call to discuss. If he dodges the request, or never answers scammer.

If he does answer, no guarantees, but a lot more likely to be genuine.

Jon Ison - 6/9/13 at 11:01 AM

Paid by bank transfer direct into your bank, nothing moves till you see it in there will be fine, bank transfers are 99.999999999999999999999% yours once in your account. I will stand corrected but pretty sure they cant be reversed so in reality it 100%

I sold a car to a guy from Holland no problem similar circumstances. Don't know about Cyprus but Holland for example they struggle to get kits road legal unless they are imported fully registered if that makes any sense, maybe Cyprus is the same.

Log book, send it to DVLA there is a permanently exported bit to fill in from memory.

Peteff - 6/9/13 at 11:05 AM

Mine went to Holland as well, no problem. Money cleared two days before his man came with a trailer to take it to the docks.

Mr Whippy - 6/9/13 at 11:46 AM

tbh there are more than enough people on this island to not require the risk and hassle by trying to sell it abroad

unless you are utterly desperate for the cash why chance it?

Nickctp - 6/9/13 at 12:45 PM

I am not desperate to sell - but if it is all okay why not sell to someone abroad?

I have asked for his contact number - and he has supplied it - I have sent him a text message with an engine video that he requested - which he replied to.

I still have no reason at the moment to believe this is a scam. He said no problem to me asking for cleared funds before the car is released to anyone.

whitestu - 6/9/13 at 01:09 PM

We sold our last house to a Nigerian guy claiming to have his own oil company. It all looked about as dodgy as possible but the transaction went through smoothly enough!

As long as you get the cash why care who you sell to?

Stu

jps - 6/9/13 at 01:10 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Nickctp
Morning all,

My car has been up for sale on here for a week or so now. I stuck it on pistonheads and have had interest from a guy in Cyprus among others.

He has asked about shipping the car abroad - I said it can go anywhere provided I have cleared funds before the car is released and he pays the shipping and associated costs. He has said this is fine.

Does this sound like a scam? The last email I received from him was asking for some further pictures of the car and confirmation that he will arrange and pay all associated costs with shipping the car. Upon his response, he is happy to pay the asking price for the car although I did state that there was not much room for negotiation with the price in an original email to him. He is also happy to pay and arrange the shipping.

Also - does anyone know what is involved with the car going abroad with regards to the log book etc?

I look forward to your responses.

Cheers


Nick


If the funds are cleared into your account before you ship it I really can't see there could be an issue? If he's willing to pay shipping costs - which i can imagine might not be cheap - i'd personally be tempted to offer to drive the thing down to the nearest port to Cyprus and sail over with it (at his cost) - as long as he was paying for the flight home! :-D

puma931 - 6/9/13 at 01:46 PM

Don't forget the Euro/GBP exchange rate is in the favour of the Euro, so there are a number of Euro buyers looking at the UK (especially for LHD cars that previously imported to the UK - specialist Porsches and BMWs etc).

T66 - 6/9/13 at 01:51 PM

My Saab went to the Czech republic - deposit paid, guy turned up and bought it no problem.


And my Freelander went to Romania - guys turned up paid the money and left.



Their money is the same colour as ours

Wheels244 - 6/9/13 at 01:57 PM

I sold an XR400 for a friend on ebay to a guy from Malta.

I was very dubious - he said he'd send a courier to inspectcollect the bike and pay cash - he did, honoured everything he said he would.
He even sent a picture of it on Maltese plates - turns out he was a bit of dealer and they can't get that sort of bike over there.

All went very smoothly - I've had much worse experiences with people over here !!

Nickctp - 6/9/13 at 02:04 PM

Thanks all - I am not saying any ones money is better than others - I have heard of scams going about in the past that's all with buyers from abroad and just wanted opinions. Of course I will not let the car go until money is received.

Thanks again

PSpirine - 6/9/13 at 02:10 PM

Nick,

I'm from Cyprus, so message me if you want anything clearing up - easy enough to help liaise etc. as I've got friends over there


*ETA: Many people buy cars from UK in Cyprus, so definitely not uncommon. LHD and rock-bottom used car prices in the UK mean that it happens a lot..

[Edited on 6/9/13 by PSpirine]

Nickctp - 6/9/13 at 02:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PSpirine
Nick,

I'm from Cyprus, so message me if you want anything clearing up - easy enough to help liaise etc. as I've got friends over there


*ETA: Many people buy cars from UK in Cyprus, so definitely not uncommon. LHD and rock-bottom used car prices in the UK mean that it happens a lot..

[Edited on 6/9/13 by PSpirine]


Thank you very much - very kind of you to offer.

Nick

PSpirine - 6/9/13 at 02:56 PM

Obviously I meant RHD long day.

on_eighty_runner - 6/9/13 at 07:04 PM

I have just bought a car in the uk and exported it.
The correct approach with the dvla is that you hand the v5 to the new owner who uses this to register in the new country.
The new owner is effectively exporting it not you.
You then write a letter to the dvla telling them you have sold the car on that day and counter sign by new buyer.
Don't get involved in the arranging or paying for any part of the export as you then assume the risk. If its collected from you by someone paid by the buyer they are accepting it as it is and bumps and scratch are accepted then

I paid for mine by visa debit no issues.
Talk to your bank about their policy on any clawback time frames for bank transfers
Steve