Meeting at gas station to buy a vehicle.. strange experience

[gfh77665]

Oh, I agree but there were too many red flags here

I agree, I am speaking "in general", not specific to this incident.

 

[wtd]

Definitely sounds sketchy. You probably did the right thing by not stopping at his house. I always carry a firearm when I'm buying stuff off of CL or FB MP.

 

[daves87rs]

Glad you left.

 

[The motor guy]

If I drove an hour, I think I would have at least pulled over and called the guy. 'I'm right here staring at you. Where's the vehicle and what now?'

You know what's funny is the vehicle I did buy

No telling but the fact he would not meet you nor was in the vehicle that was offered for sale when you drove by the house tells there was something afoot.

A lot of these folks are just plain shysters. They have no problem wasting other peoples time and then do a bait and switch or try to convince you to accept something less.

It took me close to 5 months to sell my last private party sale vehicle and it was not because it was not price correctly. Selling through Facebook Marketplace is a colossal waste of time for me and Craigslist has it's pitfalls also.

I've found unless you call within 5 or 10 minutes of an ad being posted, someone else will buy it before you.

 

[Mainia]

I exchange money and get the title at my banks sitting area. The person is then "on camera". A high chance a scammer won't come in a "cameraed" bank.

 

[zzyzzx]

So i go to look at a truck and drive about an hour away to meet the seller.

Driving an hour or more to see a vehicle should be a deal breaker.

 

[The motor guy]

Driving an hour or more to see a vehicle should be a deal breaker.

Depends on where you live. Im on the edge of the world here. I got maybe 3 miles until I hit the gulf and their isn't anything but rice fields I believe in between that, so it's a good 20 minutes just to get into a good non redneck city area with a good amount of people.

 

[The motor guy]

Well it was a long drive home, so don't think I didn't play his game back. I'm pretty sure I wasted a good hours worth of his time on the drive home

I forgot about this thread! I crack myself up. Yeah, I had him waiting a good hour after he told me where he actually lived because I'm pretty sure he was just a car flipper is all. Makes me wonder how long he sat at the end of his driveway.

 

[Arc]

I forgot about this thread! I crack myself up. Yeah, I had him waiting a good hour after he told me where he actually lived because I'm pretty sure he was just a car flipper is all. Makes me wonder how long he sat at the end of his driveway.

I ended up in a situation like that when I bought something from fb marketplace. Ended up an hour from home and down a long dead end dirt road. The guy was supposed to meet me in the town but changed the location. Him and his wife kept telling me about this better deal but it was over in the barn. I told the guy I wanted the four Wheeler ramps I came to get and then asked him why so many cop cars where at the gas station we were supposed to meet at a mile from the house. I said it made me a little nervous because they were all watching me turn down this road. There were no cops but he didn't know that. They couldn't load my ramps fast enough and get me out of there. But hey I bought a $400 set of ramps for $50.

 

[4wheeldog]

Well, that's kind of how country people are. My neighbor comes over anytime I get 2wd truck stuck which has been atleast 4 times now. One time I was pulling my truck and trailer out of the grass that was too wet and he came over and steered the truck for me while I pulled with the tractor. I think the truck has a dragging front caliper because I pulled it three different times thinking it was far enough out and had to unhook the strap each time to get the tractor out of the way. After the 3rd time I had no more room to pull without taking the neighbors fence out. Another time I turned too sharp and the boat went partially in the ditch and I couldn't get enough traction to pull it. He came over again, but I already asked the other neighbor for help, because we'll that was a sticky situation lol luckily it was clear of the road so nobody could run into my lower unit

I hate it when someone runs into my lower unit. Except if she is cute.

 

[MaximumMini]

Don’t meet strangers online.

It doesn't always go wrong.
The vehicle I bought recently was a two and a half hour drive from where I live.
It was at his home, but I went with an armed accomplice JIC.

I needed to change a piston and rings on one cylinder but I suspected that when I bought it so just do your homework.
I always ask for a home address so I can verify the seller actually lives there and see how it looks. If they refuse then I move on.

You have to trust your instincts. Try to TALK with the seller ahead of time. Exchange phone numbers.
You can get a good feel for the seller if you talk with them (usually).

 

[MaximumMini]

Driving an hour or more to see a vehicle should be a deal breaker.

definitely NOT always true.