is this potential buyer genuine??

[davesport172]

my 172 is for sale on pistonheads, and i have had a message from a guy on there, who lives in france. what do we think genuine or scam??? this is the message he sent me

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2167505.htm Hello david, I am benjamin a serious buyer living in fRance (i sold my clio rs 6 years ago and it an error). I am looking for a renault clio sports car with a maintenance and monitoring clear. the timing belt and the water pump change ok .The RHD isn't a problem. If the car has a maintenance log and service paper is better for transaction, I travel by plane to pick her up. For the purchase i can be there from the beginning of next week ( wednesday). do you have others pics? sorry for my english but the translate is with google thank's benjaminMy Email Address: benjamin.toulouse@gmail.com >>> This message has been sent by a registered member of PistonHeads. Their profile is available here: http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showprofile.asp?memberId=176573 >>>

any advice appreciated!

 

[Bodge!]

If you think it is, it probably is.

 

[davesport172]

im just naturally sceptical.

 

[tyranical]

For me someone who says i am a serious buyer in the first sentence sends alarm bells ringing, why would you need to state this?!

If he can't even speak english and has to use google translator then can you really be bothered trying to sort out a deal with him?

f**k him off, there'll be plenty of others.

 

[Ben]

As above, far too risky IMO.

 

[_williams_]

a french guy travelling to england to buy a cheap french hatchback? surely they're everywhere in france?

 

[SC03OTT]

^ I don't think the RS brand is that popular in France. I'm sure I read that somewhere. The UK is a huge market though.

How would the scam work if he was collecting in person? State you want cash only. He can't cancel that when he has left.

 

[Mark5290]

If the guy turns up with pound notes and they are genuine whats the problem, let him take it away, if he wants to send you money or you deliver car somewhere or more interested in your banking details then likely a scam.

I sold my motorbike to a dealer from The Netherlands, i was a bit sceptical when he rang, but i was able to trace him to a legit business, done the deal over the phone, he came over in a van with a multi bike trailer and took my bike away along with about six other bikes from the UK, he paid me in cash, 10's, 20's and 50's, was a right b**ch checking every single note lol, i bet he will have made a very tidy profit on those bikes back in The Netherlands.

 

[172Ben]

My mate sold his BMW E36 to a guy who flew over from germany and drove it back.

 

[blambert]

Yeah it's not the normal sale, but if he turns up with the cash, no problem surely?

 

[Tuomy]

Same my mate sold his Lotus Elise to a chap in France, he flew over got a taxi to my mates paid cash and drove home! Crazy if you ask me but it could be genuine but look for cash only I say.

 

[welshname]

when he comes over with the cash. make sure its between business hours and try putting it into your bank. just explain the situation to your bank and if they let you put it in, then jobs a goodun, cars his.

 

[bill]

i sold my mr2 turbo to a guy off imoc from germany, 1st day i advertised it he sent me £200 paypal deposit, then i met him at liverpool airport, gave me the rest of the cash off he went back to germany, so anythings possible, very nice guy aswell!

went to the bank and put the money in with him, just to be safe

 

[Chili Red]

Doesn't sound like your usual Nigerian scammer, and if he turns up and pays in cash...

Can't believe someone would fly over from France just to buy a shed made in their own country, but who knows?

 

[GiT]

A dodgy add would of started..."Gooood afternoon and gracious greetings to you my princely friend - I do hope god is shining on your family!"

and would of ended with "so, basically, I give you $86,000,000 ugandan dollars and I wires you the monies directly!"

I think it's a genuine but odd request!

 

[jamier27]

He isnt called franck gabor or summit similar is he??

sorry just read that he is called david..

i have someone saying he is interested in my car and planning on coming over from france next week..... i doubt it

 

[PMac]

This will turn into a scam. Eventually he will want your bank details.

 

[Austin-182]

Cant go wrong with this, if he turns up, simply say you want to go to the bank first to put the money in then let im drive away

 

[jack_kemp]

I actually think he sounds ok....
As said, there's not many of them in France, I'm sure it's 90% of RS cars aresold in the uk? Some silly figure.

 

[Kane.]

Tbh when i start looking for my RS ill be coming to Uk for it, would be cheaper for me to fly over, buy it, drive back, then put it on spanish reg than to buy it from here, dont know how much they go for over there.

 

[R-Sport.]

When I had my mini for sale on Ebay I got messaged my a guy from Malta- he ended up flying to stanstead & driving all the way back- we stopped off & bought a european sat nav @ halfords-

ask him to pay a deposit via paypal-

S

 

[davesport172]

I've done some minor detective work and found the guy on facebook, he certainly seems genuine. Deposit via paypal seems a good idea tbh

 

[Triki]

Mate of mine sold a Honda Prelude yrs ago to a guy from Holland. Came over paid the cash and drove it back.

And i know of a few bikes that people have travelled from overseas to pick up. Its not unheard of these days.

As above get a deposit and see what happens

 

[SC03OTT]

This will turn into a scam. Eventually he will want your bank details.

Then that's where you stop. If he is paying cash - like several other people have experienced -then there is no issue.

 

[Finny]

i would do exactly what most have said tell him to turn up with cash nothing else and get 2 of your mates along with you thats the best way incase he trys anything funny...i always do this and ive never failed

 

[D4N13L]

Sold my last one to a guy from southern ireland, he drove to belfast then flew to luton, collected the car and was driving it back to scotland to get the ferry back to ireland. I know its nowhere near the same distance but some people will go to crazy lengths to get the right car.

 

[Finny]

wouldnt say itwas that much further if he lives in northern france mate its nowt really i would just be aware but why not sell to him

 

[young_lew]

Bankers draft.

Then pay it into the bank before he drives away.

 

[Daniel]

^^ Terrible idea. What if the draft is false??

If he pays a small deposit via paypal, the rest cash on collection, theres no problem.

Cars are uber expensive in france. a 1999 Peugeot 206 will cost you about £5k. Over here its less than a grand!

 

[young_lew]

^^ Terrible idea. What if the draft is false??

If he pays a small deposit via paypal, the rest cash on collection, theres no problem.

Cars are uber expensive in france. a 1999 Peugeot 206 will cost you about £5k. Over here its less than a grand!

Surely the people at the bank verify it? :S

 

[Daniel]

Nope.

 

[m0rk]

Exchange rate also plays in their favour - I've known quite a few people where they've done this.

 

[Daniel]

I only know about used cars over there because I recently sold a scenic dci and a xantia td to an english bloke that lived in france.

He always buys his cars over here and drives them back over because of the extortionate prices over there.

 

[tyranical]

Surely business opportunity of the year to open a car garage over there and sell cars you buy in the uk?

 

[Daniel]

No, theres rules in place to stop you. (Unless you do it privately, but then you're only allowed 2 per year)

 

[tyranical]

Garage based in UK as close to Dover as you can get, advertise in France, Froggies sail over channel and go back with their shiny new peugeot 106?

 

[Topgeartom]

As many have already mentioned this isnt that uncommon.

We sold our old 60's MkII Jag to a dude from Germany. We sent him a couple of pictures, and he sent two chaps with a trailer and a load of cash all the way from Deutschland. Apparently everyone in his town had E-Types and MKII's were like rocking horse s**t over there.

If you look at your man's pistonheads account, he made this post back in Sep '09:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=742131&mid=0

Seems very genuine, hes answering questions a random scam artist wouldnt know.

 

[jenic]

Happens load with motorbikes, since they are easy to convert to standard lhd, just need a new headlight assembly.

A couple of years ago a new R6 was around £4k cheaper in the UK than mainland europe, so most british bikes were going abroad. Something to do with new bike prices are based on last years materials cost, so the way the £ and euro went in that time it meant our bikes were silly cheap to them europeans. Luckily yamaha UK increased our prices so we didn't lose all our bikes to them foreigners, they treat us so well :rasp:

 

[Daniel]

Garage based in UK as close to Dover as you can get, advertise in France, Froggies sail over channel and go back with their shiny new peugeot 106?

They'd never come back for warranty either!!

 

[Curtis!]

^ I don't think the RS brand is that popular in France. I'm sure I read that somewhere. The UK is a huge market though.

Absolute opposite lol! The french are absolutely mental for them. Being in a group of 7 of them in France we were stared at by every passing car, had people from all over the camp site coming over and being interested. Even got stopped in the street for photo's, right next to a parked up original GT40 which they paid no attention to.

The problem with the range in France though is the massive tax they have to pay, maybe this guy is either looking to get around that, or simply struggling with the low numbers of models in France.