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I have a truck listed on Autotrader. I still get scammers galore. It’s gotten so bad that Autotrader is removing the phone numbers of sellers and you must put the number in the body of the description if you want calls.
I got a ton of calls where the people ask if the car is still available. When I say yes we get “disconnected” and they start communicating through texts. The reason is they’re in a “bad” area. Then they send you a link where they want you to pay to have the car ran through a carfax check but it’s a different website. Lots of personal info and CC number. I just decline. Even if it was legit I’m not paying to have my own car carfax checked.
I just delete those messages.
Scamming fir vehicles has become so prevalent it’s really sad. If you want a decent car anymore you need to start talking to friends and family. Seems like 90% of the cars out there are scammers, flippers and dealers.
I don’t even waste time unless someone calls or provides a number, and even then I get some lowball tard who thinks I’m dropping 50% of my asking price because another tard 100 miles away is selling the version of vehicle with twice the amount of miles,7 owners, beat within a inch of its life, salvaged title and needs 7k worth of work. I flat out tell them you it’s best if you go buy THAT other truck since it’s in your price range.
We recently sold my father-in-laws car on craig's list when he gave up driving. Original owner, good condition, low mileage (60000), 2002 Ford sedan. We had records of maintenance and advised prospects of the need for tires. It was an interesting experience. Initial calls within 24-48 hours were what I believed were car flippers. One guy came with a sophisticated jack machine and said he found significant defects. These car flippers wanted detailed info over the phone and when I advised them about the tires, they said they were interested but were no shows. Most volunteered that they were buying for their son and I don't know if that is a rouse or not because I never asked why they were buying.
We did sell within a couple of weeks (we timed the sale during May to coincide with graduations) and someone local saw the ad and did purchase it for his son's graduation. So my tips are:
Use craigs list but make sure you get alerts for new postings and get there immediately to beat out car flippers.
You might also check out the parking lots of assisted care facilities as these residents give up driving and you may find cars with for sale signs.
When you use craigs list watch out for fraud (stolen cars, stolen registrations, etc.) There is a website that you can use to get the ownership history but I forget the name of it.
Join all the local facebook community and for sale groups you can find. Don't be afraid to join community groups near you but not your actual community. Scan them for cars for sale. Dump the groups after you find the car you want.
There aren't a lot of cars for sale unless you live in a densely populated area but people who post to facebook usually put up reasonable offers because they want to get rid of the car quickly with as little effort as possible. The nice thing about buying from an individual is that you can see the house which will give you an idea how well the car was serviced. Check where it is normally parked for stains that disclose leaking fluids.
Craigslist scares me sometimes. Sometimes I see ads where it looks like people don't know much about it. That and lying, listing base trim levels as "loaded" or as the highest trim, and ugly add on accessories. Of course it might not be as bad depending on what you're looking for.
Somehow it hasn't been difficult for me to tell scammers from the real buyers. A few minutes on the phone and exchanging personal stories can usually build confidence, especially if they are local.
It looks like craigslist started charging for cars posting . It is the cause for less cars posting in craigslist.
Craigslist is much sought out due to FREE posting and exchange place.
How does getting less posting benefit craigslist?
They're making an effort to crack down on the scammers and curbstoners that are rampant on CL.
Make sure you try Cargrus and Facebook market place
I found my son a car on Facebook market place. I bought him a 2006 Toyota Matrix, 140k miles, clean body for $3800 OTD
Edit: i keep saying, "I bought" but son put half down with money he's saved since he was 8
Thanks for your replies. I did find the craigslist not getting enough used cars from private party.
It looks like craigslist started charging for cars posting . It is the cause for less cars posting in craigslist.
Craigslist is much sought out due to FREE posting and exchange place.
How does getting less posting benefit craigslist?
Thanks for sharing.
I don't think the $5 charge is prohibitive to serious sellers.
That being said, I think a lot of people, buyers and sellers both, are moving to Facebook Marketplace and the local Facebook buy/sell/trade pages. It's just more user-friendly in many ways. I get that Craigslist is now charging to cut down on the scammers, but I'm a little surprised that they're doing this now with the emerging competition from Facebook.
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