Scams Encountered Trying To sell My 370Z
 

Just wanted to relate my experiences trying to sell my 370z thru the craigslist on the west coast thru craigslist. Its a 2012 with only 1000 miles on it.

So far I have a lot of locals trying to give me credit union or cashiers checks.

A lot of ppl trying to find out the vin numbers and where the car is stored or can be seen.

Some are trying to buy the car and arrange to have it shipped to other countries.

An interesting thing I found is that even if a person calls you or sends you a text message and it appears to be from your local calling area, there is actually software or phone apps that allow you disguise your phone # and have it appear to be a local, when the caller could actually be in another country etc.

How to change your phone number and call someone - YouTube

This morning I had a real interested party wanting to see the car and buy it right away and he was all set to go until, this guy really want to know the VIN and where the car was.

I said I would show him the car at the local PD or BOA with a lot of armed bank guards around. turned out to no longer send any replies and doesn't answer his phone when the # is dialed locally.

Dude that is insane.

Now I would say to stay off of CL for major transactions. Its like chumming the water for sharks.

Any luck with other sites - autotrader, ebaymotors etc? You need something that empowers you to filter out these potential buyers before you waste your time communicating with them.

Yeah, Craigslist is where you go to sell a $1000 beater. Not an expensive car.

Craigslist Killer! Check it out the movie is based on a true story.

What would happen if you gave them the VIN? Is it like a social security number?

I sold my car on craigslist. I didn't have any problems at all

When I lived back east in upstate NY craigslist was great for getting rid of all my vehicles, ended up getting good prices and quick deals.

Ebay is a waste of time unless you have something ppl really want , is cheap or rare.

Auto Trader is just flooded with to many dealers.

If I don't get what I want for it I'll just keep it , CarMax offered me $26K and I can cash in my extended warranty for $1800 back from Nissan , so I may go that route.

If you're going to be selling something high dollar on Craigslist, make sure you're taking someone with you when you meet the prospective buyers. I'd hate to hear one of our forum members got his car stolen or worse.

yah, i would just sell the car to carmax. they're fair and the one close to me bought like 3-4 cars from me already. ive had good experience. :)

Vin # could be used for a stolen or wrecked car to give it a good history, then you could end up with your ride having a screwed up record in another state or country etc.

I only give out the Vin # once deal is struck and at least a small deposit left.

You can never be to safe, specially when you live in a area where a lot of scams take place.

I've even heard where a buyer will show up with counterfeit money to buy your merchandise , then you go to deposit the funds or use them, you find out they are fake.

Even the detection pens can be fooled, the only safe way is to have the buyer follow you to the bank and at least have the bank scan the currency to make sure its real, most crooks will never do this so you avoid the problem in the first place , by taking no chances.

Plus if you do the deal at your bank, you're not running around with $26k in cash. You can just deposit it immediately.

Remove your # from craigslist and just ask them to reply with their contact # if interested. I dont think the app they use can help disguise their actual phone# right?

I don't understand peoples obsession with hiding plates numbers and vin numbers. Both are on publicly view able parts of a car. Ebay displays vin numbers on many cars sold there, they are not hard to get at all.

That's a poor idea using CL in your situation. The odds are against you getting what you want, by a lot.

Imo safest way is to do it through Ebay or another reputable 3rd party. If all else fails only accept cash and make the transaction at your bank.You accept a lot more responsibility if you handle the sale yourself.

Craigslist is still the best advertising option, the problem with getting rid of the Z is that right now I could get a 2013 new nismo at my local dealer or $36K, only trying to get about $27k-$28K for the car, paid $36K OTD and added about $2k in additional add ons.

So unless you really want to sell the z cheap like $24K - $25K, which you will be really taking a hit

Most comparable Z's in my area are going for $25K-$31K at dealers for a base to a sport model with 17k -30K miles on it, mine only has 1k on it

LOL! 0le craigslist...Where everyone wants sumthang for nothang! :icon17:

I don't think people buy a car without knowing it's Vin #
 

Take a valium :)

He could have also just lost interest.

Meeting someone in any public place during the day so they can inspect the car seems like a reasonable thing to do -- no armed guards needed.

Maybe he just found a different car -- other than not getting back to you, nothing you described about the communication sounded particularly fishy...

Knowing the VIN is normal so they can run carfax; cashier's checks are as good as cash -- although you'd want to let all of that happen through a bank to ensure funds are available and then deposited.

As to shipping to other countries -- sure, why not? I mean, that's a hassle, but it's not exactly unheard of.

Well, anyway, GLWS!

I've had nothing but scammers responding to my three ads where I'm selling a Z32 body (shell), Z32 exhaust, and Z32 mirrors.

On the shell, I had a very convincing response where the English was good enough to pass as a legitimate buyer. The first concern I noted was that his email was Ray123@blahblah email, but he signed it as "Larry". He asked for my best price and I responded with $XXX CASH. He replied immediately - almost no delay from the moment I sent my response (another red flag for me as I've never had someone reply so quickly - I doubt he could have typed his reply that fast). He said he wanted to PP me money (add another red flag since I stated it was a cash price), and he wanted to know the address where the car is stored (last and final: big red flag). I replied to him and explained that this was a cash transaction only and asked where HE was located - no reply (big surprise)

CL is a waste of time....

I bought my 350 on CL from a dealer, sold my 350 on CL, and bought my 370 on CL from a dealer.

There are VINs all over and they are easily accessible. Just have to be smart when using CL and you will be just fine. Sure there are plenty of **** bags surfing CL but there are legit people and potential buyers on there.

Yeah asking for the VIN isn't a big concern. Hell you can get it from any car on autotrader.

I sold my s2000 CR on craiglist, gave the guy the VIN#, he ran an autocheck and carfax, showed up with a cashiers check, we drove to my bank made sure the funds cleared, signed of the title to his name and that was that.
Oh and I did take it to carmax, that place is a joke. I ended up getting $4500 more by taking 5 minutes listing an add on craiglist, not to mention selling the car within a week.
I understand they are a business and need to lowball/markup cars but honestly unless you are in a serious rush there is no reason to sell or buy anything from them.

I had the North Korean super note in my hands and the only thing missing was the microprinting.

Microprinting. On the front of the note, "The United States of America" appears as a line in the left lapel of Franklin's coat.

The paper felt a little funny too. I held it up to the light and saw the water mark and strip. Later I figured it out.

I was selling an item for 1K on CL, seller sent cashier checks even though I said not to. The scam was the routine send too many cashier checks on accident and hope the seller will cash them and send back the cash (ya, I didn't fall for that). Patter research I found out the checks could be cached (each for $900) but later the bank will contact you saying the checks were fake and you owe the money! So just because your cashiers check will pass initially, it doesn't mean it's real!

dude a lot of people probably want the VIN number to get a Carfax on the car. Its not a big deal to give that out. considering you can walk up to any car in a parking lot and look at its been through the front windshield its not going to do anything terrible

agreed VIN is fine to give out, and actually seems fishy if a seller will not give it. Do you have a bad carfax history you are trying to hide? I'd walk away if a seller was unwilling to give me the VIN.

Agree with many here who have had decent results with Craigslist. I bought my current 2012 off Craigslist, and the deal went fine. I've sold several Corvettes, and had no issues. If you put a car on CL for sale, and then treat legit buyers like con men, they are gonna lose interest. Be safe, but you have to be reasonable too. I wouldn't call a seller a second time if he won't provide me the vin#.