With gas heading for US$3/gallon (already there in California), Andrea and I have been thinking about getting a vehicle that gets better gas mileage than our two Ford pickup trucks (yes, we’re a two pickup family). You’ve probably noticed the theme in recent posts about wanting a new, smaller car.
Well, she went out an found a PDF which lists the fuel economy of various cars, and was pleasantly surprised with the mileage of the new Beetle, specifically, the diesel version.
Diesel would be nice, since my friend Lyle has started a co-op that produces biodiesel, and it may actually become affordable at US$3.50/gallon.
I went off to AutoTrader.com, a past client of my company, and started looking for cars. The Beetle TDI’s are expensive, perhaps because of people like me looking at them due to gas prices. I sent the URL to Andrea and she found this beauty:
It seemed too good to be true. At US$5000 this is about US$11K off of the market value for this car. Plus it is in eastern Tennessee, which is drivable from our house. So I wrote to the seller, and got this reply:
Dear Customer, The car is located in Morristown TN. It has all the papers(complete) as well as the servicebook. I want this transaction to be smooth enough as I am caught in the middle of some very important events and have very few time at my disposal. The car is in perfect condition, no scratches, no special marks, no need for additional repairs what so ever.It has no accident or any engine problem. There are no other costs regarding this transaction. Now, in order to be able to buy it please let me know if you have any negative feedback and, if this is the case, for what reason. I apologize for asking for such information but I need to be sure. Please also provide me with the following details necessary to take a decision: -your full name and address for shipping -your ph# Regarding the payment I am aware of the buyer's protection and we will use Autotrader's secure payments which will hold the payment until the buyer receives the car. To complete payment the you must have cash available. If I receive the requested information you will be informed by Autotrader during the next 12-24 hours. Thank you.
Hrm. This sounded very similar to the guy who wants to send me several million dollars from Nigeria. Couldn’t be him, though, right? I’m mean this car has a VIN number, lots of nice pictures, and even a phone number in Tennessee. Hoping for the best I wrote back to insure that the price was indeed $5K and not $15K, that the title was clear, and he understood that I was coming to pick up the car.
He replied that it was indeed five thousand dollars with clear title. I thought “Sold!” and sent that as a reply.
While I waited, I decided to call my buddy at AutoTrader, and he sent a note to their internal team that looks into things like this. I figured things weren’t going well when after about 10 minutes the ad was dropped from their site.
The next e-mail from the “seller” screamed Nigerian Royalty:
Hi, Thank you for a prompt answer.I can see that you are a decided and serious person.Let me tell you some more:the price is with shipping for free(if necessary),since a friend ownes a shipping firm,and it will cost me nothing to ship it to you.I am currently in Honolulu,with my work.Here is my mobile phone number in Hawaii where you can call me:9037714868. The car and the keys are in Autotrader's custody.There is nobody that can show you the car but me. In this situation, I know that Autotrader's payments could help us to make our deal in good condition and also help me to be sure that the buyer is a serious and decided buyer. Now if you want to take advantage of this rare oportunity please send me your full name, address and phone number so i can forward the details to Autotrader . They will contact you immediately and tell you how we can close this sale in good condition for both of us. Best regards!
Oh well, anything too good to be true probably is. Since our road isn’t paved, there’s no need for a new car at the moment.
I did write back to him:
“You’re just a dirty scammer. Go away now”