I know, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. I'm looking at this '34 five window at a very good price. Seller says illness forces sale. He has sent me a bunch of photos and I talked to him on the phone. Has a heavy French accent but is in Maine and a lot of French Canadians live there. Difficult to understand though and poor cell connection so didn't talk long. He says he has owned the car for 26 years but because of the language thing I couldn't ask a lot of questions. Here is my concern. I asked him where this photo was taken and he said Maine. Now, I used to live in NH and been to Maine many times. I've never seen terrain like this in Maine. I now live in northern NV and it looks an awful lot like the landscape around here. He does have a 207 area code and came up as Portland when he called. I asked him to send me his address along with a photo of the car in front of his house. When he does I will Google Earth his address and do a street view to see if it matches up. Anyway, wondering if any one here knows this car either in Maine or out west.
If it's that good a car as he says and it and I had nobody I trust nearby I'd have to make a road or air trip for a personal inspection. I've been doing this for 50+ years and have bought 3 old cars. (built about 40) I had the opportunity to inspect 2 and I had a trusted friend inspect the third which turned out great.
oh yeah.... looks like New Mexico is where he stole the listing from. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1934-ford-5-window-coupe-18/
If he sends me the house photo I'll ask for a photo of title and VIN tag on car. If that is good I'll either drive out with my truck and trailer of fly and drive it home (which I'd love to do. I love a good road trip). All my friends from back east have either died or moved away so I don't have anyone local but may ask if someone here can look at it for me (and hope they don't buy it out from under me! ).
That's the car, dang it! I knew it was too good to be true. He was asking $32K for it. Good detective work, Squirrel. Thanks for saving me a bunch of trouble and time! I'm going to send that to the "seller" and see what his reaction is.
The trick if the picture looks out of place, is to go to google and do an image search using the picture he sent you. If you find it on another for sale listing, especially from another location and for a higher price and with "sold" on it, you know damn well it's a scam.
I'm bummed but not surprised. Still a nice car except for the hideous wheels. Would look so much nicer with some steelies on it.
If I were in your shoes I don't think that I would tell him what mistakes he made that gave him away. Why help him get educated to better scam the next victim? It might be fun to string him along for a while and get his hopes up. Feed him some bullshit stories about how you have to sell a few more cows to put together enough money....... or you're having to wait a few more days for the insurance check to arrive. Certainly, ask for fresh photos, but with some type of ridiculous twist. You want a photo of the seller holding a watermelon while standing next to the car. If he keeps hanging in, ramp up the photo request to one of his wife or daughter, next to the car, wearing a bikini. Might as well have some fun. Who cares if you piss him off?
I agree with the Shift Wizard, string him along with BS as long as possible to make him think he has a sale.
Tell him your cousin that works for the local P.D. is going to swing by to check it out for you. I bet he tells you it's no longer available.
before I saw that Squirrel found the BAT ad I did a google image search and found the same BAT listing. In other words folks, google image search is a great tool when in doubt of suspicious ads.
Well , poo . I’m in on the string him along , tell him you can pay in Walmart gift cards or frozen fish whatever he wants and keep him going . tell him just a couple more loads to the sperm bank and your golden to give him full asking price . Tabernac ! Dang frenchies !!
He may have a "Maine area code" but he can be anywhere in the world. Google says "French is the official language of 20 African countries", 29 countries if French is commonly spoken there. Anyway, it's a lot of them.
Well, he deleted the ad so I guess he figured out I was on to him and his BS. I'm sure I'll never hear from him again. Here is the phone number he used: 207-420-8269 if anyone wants to try to call and mess with him.
That number comes back to an 82 yr old woman in Sanford ME. That's probably not the actual number he called from. You can change the caller ID name and number simply by going into the settings of your phone. Lots of red flags on that one. The biggie being "too good to be true" factor. The language barrier/not being able to answer a lot of questions. The poor connection (because he's calling from a 3rd world country?). Always right click the ad photos then select "search google image for picture". As Panhead Pete said. Video chat (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc) or Face Time. I've used Face Time to help someone buy a distant car by having the owner walk us around/under the car. I've used it to buy parts to verify the person actually has the part and see the condition before sending payment. What venue did he list it on? Did you report the ad to them? Keep an eye on the venue for other too good to be true cars as he may list another scam. Then you can report him again. Make thing uneasy for him.
Interesting... I also found a 33 Ford coupe that I'd like to buy, but. It's been in a couple of apparently scam type sites, also on BaT, where, I think the photos came from for the scam sites. The car didn't meet the minimum price during the "Bring a Trailer" sale. I have the license number, I have the VIN, I have the city, I even have the main cross streets where the owner lives ! Just not a contact number. I don't know if the owner still has the car or was it sold in another manor. Mike
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