Selling cars is a highly profitable business that attracts not only honest car owners but also scammers who want to make a quick profit. Some dishonest sellers can sell a stolen car, or even collect prepayments for a non-existent vehicle. In order not to fall for the bait of scammers, you need to know what to look for when choosing a car. Today we will talk about the five such factors.
1) The Cost is Below the Market Average
Price is the first thing most buyers look at. Everyone wants to save money on the purchase, especially when it comes to a used one. But you need to understand that no owner will offer a good car for cheap. The exception is urgent sales, but the owners declare about them directly, and such ads are not active on the sites for a long time. The low price is usually used by scammers to attract the attention of buyers. Therefore, if you want to make sure that the car is real – check it on the FaxVIN site.
2) Photos are Taken in Another City
You can understand a lot from the photos, so consider them carefully. The first thing to pay attention to is the location. If this is a small provincial town, then there should not be metro signs or large skyskrapers. Such objects immediately suggest that the photo is a fake and you are dealing with scammers. Therefore, compare the area in the photo and the city of sale.
3) Formal Phrases in the Description
Real owners know the history and peculiarities of the car, and they have a lot to tell about it. Therefore, they usually describe the auto in detail, without hiding anything. Resellers and fraudsters, on the contrary, want to hide the defects of the car, therefore, they do not disclose truthful information. They do not usually write long texts and use common phrases in the description.
4) The Seller Asks Which Car You Are Interested in
If during a call, the owner asks which car you are interested in, it means that there are several options for sale. Be sure to ask if the owner will be present at the showup and show the documents to make sure that he/she has the legal right to sell a vehicle. If not, then, most likely, these are scammers and there is no point in the meeting.
5) Suspicious Records in the Documents
In order to sell a vehicle at a higher price, people often indicate the fewer number of owners or incorrect data on a car (for example, the VIN number is wrong so that it is impossible to check a car in databases). Therefore, always ask to send a photo of the relevant documents. If you find a record that the registration of the vehicle has been terminated, this is an alarm, which may indicate the complete loss of the auto and its further restoration for the purpose of sale.
What factors do you pay attention to when choosing a car? Write in the comments.
