I found a car on auto trader that I am interested in. I emailed the guy with some questions, and here is how he responded...

"Hi again,
As you can see the car is in excelent condition. The pictures show its exact shape. Garrage kept, no scratches, excellent condition! This car runs and drives great. The transmission shifts like a dream. This vehicle's engine is in perfect working condition, no mechanical problems. Oil pressure is good. All mileage are highway mileage. No accidents. No paintwork. All power and optional equipment work perfectly. This vehicle is perfectly sound, no known defects. It has a clean exterior that looks new. Interior is clean and well taken care of. All electrical and optional equipment on this vehicle are in perfect working condition You will receive the car along with all papers and recipts that you need, everything signed, ready to register it in you name. You will receive the TITLE,keys,owner manual...The car has a Clear Title and it is in Showroom Condition. I am an US soldier deplyed in the UK (i will be deployed in Iraq soon, but i can not give you such info) and I will not be able to sell the car in person. So I am ok with a lower price than have the car sitting for nothing in the garage till I return. My only request is that we complete the deal with Autotrader.com's supervision. I work by the principle that everything will be supervised by autotrader and the deal will be closed under their safe guidance. I hope that you are ok to make the deal through Autotrader.com since this way is the only way that I can move forward. Since I saw a strong interest from you and because I need the money I have contacted Autotrader.com and asked them to send you the invoice hoping that I
can speed things up a bit. Please wait for the Autotarder.com invoice and contact me after you read it with your questions. The car is in California and it will be shipped from there on my expence. Shipping will take no more then 3-4 days and it will be delivered directly to your address. I know that autotrader said that u were supposed to pay me the total amount but you'll just have to pay me 2400USD now and the rest only upon delivery and only if you'll be 100% satisfied with the car (i'm sure of that).

Autotrader.com must have contacted u by now with all the details regarding our transaction.
I will wait your reply.
Thank you, Michael
P.S.: I will also reply u with the tracking number from the delivery service, so that you'll be able to track the car for yourself."

Now this almost seems too good to be true. He doesnt want ALL the money up front? And the whole "car in california" thing seems odd. But it's through Auto Trader. What's the deal?

yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a scam. fucking people.

me unno... :shrug

definately a scam.

yeah, i thought about it for like 2 seconds, and now i feel dumb for even having to post it. lol.

yea that is just screaming scam

It only doesn't sound like a scam because of the third party (autotrader.com)

Shit, if you actually do get an invoice, call autotrader and get this doods phone number and contact hime by phone.
Other than that, I'd probably buy the car.

Originally posted by Blizare
It only doesn't sound like a scam because of the third party (autotrader.com) Shit, if you actually do get an invoice, call autotrader and get this doods phone number and contact hime by phone. Other than that, I'd probably buy the car.

thats what i thought too, but then I checked auto trader's fraud awareness tips, and they said that they dont get involved in any sale of a vehicle. They said that they only list the cars, nothing further. So I guess that is how people get fooled... they think they are buying it through Auto Trader... but Auto Trader doesn't do that.

All you have to do is call Autotrader when you receive the invoice and ask if it's legit.

I wouldn't back out yet.

Find out where in California it is. There's plenty of 2GNT brother's out here that'll go look at the car for you and verify it's existence. If it's anywhere between Bakersfield and Merced I'll be happy to make a trip out for you. PM if you find anything out :thumbsup

Is this car blue?

I was looking at a blue turbo eclipse that sounded too good to be true and when I questioned the seller I got a pretty similar reply to what you've posted. I immediately thought it was a scam and moved on.

Not only that, but I was unaware that we had troops in the UK that are getting deployed to Iraq.

Like mentioned above, tell him you have a friend that can take look at it and you need the address to where the car is. He'll probably give some song & dance about no one being able to show the vehicle because he's out of the country.

You could always respond with if the car's going to be shipped at his expense, there's obviously someone available to show it, seeing as the shipping company would have to have someone make it available to them, as well as sign the shipping papers.

Even call him out on the fact that Autotrader does not get involved in the transaction.

I just love fucking with scammers.

I just emailed him back this...

"No thanks. I'm not interested. Nor am I retarded. I'm not buying a car that i can't drive, let alone one that doesn't exist. How about this, you send me the car, and then I'll send you payment of $5000 when it is sitting in my driveway?"

I feel bad for people who fall for this shit, thinking that auto trader is a third party, and they can't be ripped off. Then they dont get the car, and they call auto trader, who can't do shit.