Craigslist Scam

duquephart · April 13, 2017

I recently traded in a vehicle on a new Sierra. A couple days before the transaction was even complete the car was already listed "by owner" on Craigslist. The "owner" is the salesman I was dealing with on the new truck. I've heard of dealers doing this sort of thing to avoid FTC rules on selling used cars (curbstoning). You meet the "owner" in a parking lot somewhere and if you want to buy the vehicle he says a friend works at a dealership and would be happy to facilitate the transaction. You don't know you are really transacting with a dealership until the paperwork changes hands. Or, maybe the salesman has made a deal with his employer to buy the car himself and offer privately. Would a dealership allow such a thing? This seems a bit shady/unethical to me. Sorry if this is posted in the wrong area.

O_J_Simpson · April 13, 2017

So you are upset how the new owner of the vehicle you sold is selling your old vehicle? To put it strait, if you don't like it, buy the vehicle back and sell it like you want it to be sold. Otherwise, it is none of your business. You don't own this vehicle any longer. They can do what they want to with it. It is not a scam. The person who buys it will get the vehicle they are buying. Nothing less and nothing more.

cbrsilv15 · April 13, 2017

Idk. Buying a used car is the same to me wether I buy it from a dealer or private dealer.

Dana Mills · April 13, 2017

It is an ethical issue - curbstoning allows the dealer to avoid having to comply with the same regulations dealers are upheld to. In Florida, it's against the law and a dealership can lose their license to operate for curbstoning. If the dealership is doing this I would be wary of dealing with them in the future.

duquephart · April 13, 2017

So you are upset how the new owner of the vehicle you sold is selling your old vehicle? To put it strait, if you don't like it, buy the vehicle back and sell it like you want it to be sold. Otherwise, it is none of your business. You don't own this vehicle any longer. They can do what they want to with it. It is not a scam. The person who buys it will get the vehicle they are buying. Nothing less and nothing more.

Please point out where I said I was upset.

The point is that it is listed as for sale by owner. This is not true and is done to avoid rules the dealer is bound to abide by. It's fraudulent. Was it for sale by owner two days before I traded it in?

wetcoaster · April 13, 2017

How did the OP get scammed?

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duquephart · April 13, 2017

How did the OP get scammed?

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You don't have to be the person scammed to recognize something as a scam.

Donstar · April 13, 2017

If you believe your dealership is doing shady practices then report them to the BBB. I fairly recently had a salesman at a major gm dealership "buy" my trade for his home personal use. I thought this had the potential to appear as conflict of interest in my negotiations. I did not know he was eyeing my truck during negotiations but overall I was happy with the deal. As suggested earlier, it shouldn't matter to you what happens to your trade. However, if I was aware of illegal practices then l would report to the proper authorities. A business cheating on paying taxes is a problem and impacts others.

Thomcat · April 13, 2017

I've had instances where when I declined the trade in value offered my cherry low mileage trade in value offered by their used car manager, the salesman made a few calls to previous potential buyers to determine interest and what they would pay for the vehicle. If the amount was enough to cover their paperwork transfer, trade in price, and likely a smaller profit, dealer upped my trade-in value to what I wanted to secure him two car sales, both for my trade and my new ride. No scam there.

ewiski · April 13, 2017

Personally long as i got what i wanted. And my old vehicle was transferred out of my name. I could care less what they do with it. Thats why i traded my vehicle at the dealer and took off the plates and stickers so whoever was forced to have it reregistered.Also reported it to tx dmv so they knew i had sold it.

Course you could end up like the guy who sold his company vehicle to carmax. They never took off the company name or phone number, and it ended up over in afganistan and he was getting threats and such.

phabejhmoob · April 13, 2017

I personally do not ever trade in, you get jack $$ for your car, I rather sell it even if it's less than ideal but way more than what a trade in will offer. After it's traded in I don't look back, I do not care what they do as long as the vehicles not legally tied back to me.

KARNUT · April 13, 2017

Last private sale I did was to the mechanic who did all the work on the 94 Z28 I owned. He bought it for his son. The son wreck it and his girlfriend friend sued him. The girlfriends lawyer showed up at my door they never transferred the title and were looking for deep pockets. I was lucky I had bill of sale. While my wife was talking to the lawyer I called the father and reminded him that he had given me a check for payment for the car. Even though the bill of sale was in the sons name the check was his and I had a copy. He was trying to pin the lawsuit on me as the owner. So the father called lawyer while she was at my house and owned up to the son as the owner and I kept the copy of the check. From now on if I sell a vehicle I will go to the DMV with them and transfer. People are dicks you have to watch your ass.

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CounterMeasure · April 13, 2017

When we traded in my wife's last car, two salesmen from the dealership went to test drive it. Thought it was odd, and remembered the names on their shirts. Checked the VIN later, and it was an immediate private sale to one of the salesman, who then turned around and sold it off almost immediately. It apparently never went through the dealer. I didn't care, I got what I wanted in trade to not have to deal with a private sale and some guy hassling me later on about how something gave out and I screwed him.

dasimmon · April 13, 2017

Last private sale I did was to the mechanic who did all the work on the 94 Z28 I owned. He bought it for his son. The son wreck it and his girlfriend friend sued him. The girlfriends lawyer showed up at my door they never transferred the title and were looking for deep pockets. I was lucky I had bill of sale. While my wife was talking to the lawyer I called the father and reminded him that he had given me a check for payment for the car. Even though the bill of sale was in the sons name the check was his and I had a copy. He was trying to pin the lawsuit on me as the owner. So the father called lawyer while she was at my house and owned up to the son as the owner and I kept the copy of the check. From now on if I sell a vehicle I will go to the DMV with them and transfer. People are dicks you have to watch your ass.

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people these days, unreal.

KARNUT · April 13, 2017

people these days, unreal.

I was friends with the shop owner where he worked. He work on the car the 8 years I had it. I was floored when the lawyer showed up. I informed the shop owner later and he lost his job. His son was friends with my son, they grew up bowling on the same teem. I even gave them a discount. It still gets me mad.

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