I've decided to sell my much-loved 1970 Jaguar E-Type FHC to make room for a Ferrari 550 I just bought. I've advertized the E-Type on both FerrariAds.com and Craigslist and I just got the following email. (BTW, the link to my ad on FerrariAds is: http://www.ferrarichat.com/ferrariads/showproduct.php?product=2437&cat=7) The email I just received says: "Hi, I am writing you regarding your Jagy on Craigslist, Is it still for sale? Please tell me the engine details and title condition, clear or ? I am looking to import it to Croatia, Europe for my client , I will arrange the shipping if we agree. I live in New Jersey, but I have a summer house here in Croatia and my client from here want that car here. Please let me know and keep in touch! - <person's name deleted to protect the innocent/guilty> " I suspect this may not be on the up-and-up. How should I respond? Should I just say that I'm not interested in doing an international sale? Should I say the only way I would sell it is if it in an all cash deal in $100 bills? Any other ideas? .
Tell him you will only do in person deals. You won't get a response. You should get another 100 of these emails. Good luck with the sale, from the pics you have posted it looks like a beautiful car.
Same guy from Croatia sent a second email today: "Please can you tell me is the Jaguar still for sale. Very interested! Kind regards - <same person's name deleted to protect the innocent/guilty> " Do you think there is any way this guy from Croatia might be legit? I feel kind of bad not responding to him and leaving him hanging. Maybe I should create a new gmail user id just for this correspondence and write him back to hear what he has to say? Any danger in that? What am I overlooking? My gut instinct says to leave it alone, but thought I would ask.
It must KILL you to be selling that car. i've seen pics of your new 550 and it is spectacular, but that Jag is the Mutt's Nutts!
Just say: Need all $100 bills, in person, in Moscow by 3 a.m. tomorrow. That should really tell you if he is interested.
Thanks. Yep, someone is going to get a pretty nice car for not too much money. But, I can't complain too much, because I got a decent deal when I bought the 550. Yes, good idea. But, wait a second, what if they say "okay"?!
No harm in responding from an email address that you don't mind dying from spam. It is possible that it is genuine and you will figure that out with the first real contact.
Don't bother responding, just delete it and move on... No way in hell it's legit! It's a S C A M... I, and others I know, as well as many people on various boards have gotten the same thing in the past on cars for sale, almost word for word!
Toggie..... Suspicion is a healthy attribute, and yours may be correct in this case. However, respond accordingly as though he may be real. There is not enough here to suggest it is totally a scam yet. You'll know after the second reply to you I imagine. Then again, it's not exactly an expensive or rare car either.....so who knows.
Wow, great price. Enjoy the 550! There's a website, I forgot what it is called. But it tells you how to scam a scammer. There have a been links to in, in some of the owned a scammer threads.
From a quick Google it seems you cannot import cars over 7 years old into Croatia. This may be incorrect; don't believe everything you read on the interweb. I live in Ireland and I have bought cars in Italy, Germany, France, and England, mostly with communication starting through email from ads. The main thing that would put me off is he says he is a broker. Its probably a scam, but it might not be. I wouldn't tell him to **** off as someone suggested, but would be cautious in response. The dollar was weak against the Kuna, but the Dollar has strengthened recently. Its common in other rapidly econmically developing eastern European countries to have to look in other countries for classic cars.
Thanks for asking. I decided not to respond to the guy in Croatia for a couple of reasons. One is I have no experience in doing an international car sale (international money orders or wire transfers, working with a transport shipping company, export paperwork, etc.) and the other is I've got a couple of local people who seem interested in the car and have gone by the place where it is on consignment and taken a look at it. Since the car is being sold as-is, I'd be a lot more comfortable with a buyer who has looked at it in person, hopefully paid to do a PPI, test driven it, etc. I'm an honest person, so I would volunteer anything about the car that I thought were areas of potential improvement to a serious buyer. The car is being sold at the same repair garage that has maintained it since I bought it, so any buyer is free to discuss the condition of the car and service history with those mechanics and they've been instructed by me to be completely open and honest about the car. However, this does raise another concern of mine, which is, how do I protect myself from a local buyer who is a car thief? I don't want to end up like Matt LaMotte who had a car stolen that he was sellng (see his story in this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223189 ). My thoughts on how to protect the car from being stolen are: - have more than one person present when the person comes to look at the car. - go with the person on the test drive. - leave the buyer's car and car keys with the other person while on the test drive. - accept only cash or a cashier's check for payment. If a cashier's check, then ask which bank the buyer banks at and go with the buyer to one of those bank branches, watch as the teller makes out the cashier's check, then, sign the title over to them as i take receipt of a cashier's check I know came from a legitimate bank. Anyone have thoughts on these steps or how to improve upon them?
Don't you have insurance on the car? If someone steals it it will be covered. Regarding a sale, ask for cash if you feel uncomfortable, otherwise a cashiers check from a local bank should be good as long as it's not CITI ;-) Good luck. Hope you find a buyer soon.
Toggie, Every one of the options you mentioned should work. I would use them collectively - they all make sense and mitigate your risk, not only to a stolen car, but any bodily harm (don't laugh, it has happened). BTW - I still love your car, but I am considering just biting the bullet and having mine worked on. I estimate it needs a fair amount of work, but it may be worth it. If only I could finagle a deal whereby MY car was on consignment and I took yours....yea, that's it!! Any way - good luck. Hope that 550 is a good replacement for the big Cat...but I bet you don't get as many looks! Rich
You would think that insurance would cover a car being stolen during a sales process, but that is the whole point of Matt's thread that I referenced. His car was stolen by a guy who was buying it. Turns out his insurance had small print in the policy so that he had no coverage for that loss. Yikes! (It is worth reading Matt's thread.) Not sure exactly what my policy says on that topic. My older cars (Jag and 65 Corvette) are covered by Hagerty on an Agreed Value policy. As far as cashier's checks, there have been stories in the news about those being faked. It takes a few days for your bank to realize it is a fake when you deposit it. By then, the title is signed over and the car is no longer in your possession. Supposedly even bank wire transfers are not safe, I've heard stories of those being backed-out a few days later. Another piece of advice I've heard is to make a photocopy of the buyer's drivers license before the test drive. And to verify it is a valid form of ID.
Thanks. Yes the 550 is huge fun to drive around. I've posted a few theads with pics of the tdf blue 550 in them. Here's a post with some good pics in it: - http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=138332019#post138332019 Lol. I kind of agree with your comment about "but I bet you don't get as many looks!". I secretly have this day-dream where my Jag E-type doesn't sell and my only option is to convince my wife that we'll just have to keep it for a few more years, given how bad the economy has turned and all.
