Scammers sabotage my car then try to knock the price down

[nicholsong]

If it does not reach the reserve cos bidders get put off, the scammer then goes in with a low bid 'off the books'

But surely the auction house cannot accept a low bid without the sellers approval?

 

[34127]

But surely the auction house cannot accept a low bid without the sellers approval?

No they don't, they will get in touch with the seller and try to agree price with potential buyer. Most sellers don't want the hassle and time delays of having to put vehicle through auction again and will usually accept a below reserve offer.

 

[Gary217]

This is one of the reasons we just px, really don’t need the hassle. I know we probably don’t get as much money but we are not dealers so take the easy life.

Same with us - not worth the hassle plus you're never sure what else the strangers who turn up are eyeing. We sold our MoHo a couple of months ago and sold it back to a dealer as we just didn't want the risk/hassle. Yes, we maybe got less than we could selling privately, but it's a price worth paying for peace of mind, no wierdos turning up and no come-backs.

 

[vin0114]

Another one often used at auctions and no doubt other places is to draw a line up the side of a spark plug using a pencil
The grafite line will course the spark to short and a misfire occurs

bloody hell John! where do you pick up these jewels?

 

[Geo]

A comment I often see and hear
" it couldn't possibly have happened on the test drive" or it was fine yesterday
In reality there is no more than a split second and a yard or two between all is well and a fault occurring.
Why is every one allways in denial.

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[Jaws]

.
error

?????????????

 

[Jaws]

bloody hell John! where do you pick up these jewels?

Years of being involved with all things automotive

 

[The Dotties]

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Fat fingers!! And I can never delete the quote page, so it’s either a full stop or “errorl”. Due to your exalted status you were awarded an “error”

 

[Jaws]

But surely the auction house cannot accept a low bid without the sellers approval?

Correct, but what has that got to do with it ?
The car goes on the block
Bids are made but the reserve is not met
After the auction scammer sidles up to the seller and offers a low price
Seller has a few choices
Accept the lower price
or
Take the car back home again and try to sort out the issue
And remember, the seller has in the back of his mind that he will not have to pay an auction fee ( plus vate ) so a few hundred quid off what he wanted agin no fees, no hassle, and he has got shot of a motor he now believes to be faulty

 

[ShaKen]

If they phone again tell them they were captured on CCTV squirting the oil and the Police Fraud Investigation will be contacting them shortly.

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[Wildbill]

Wee went to a auction to buy a car for my son we got one fairly cheep it was smoking a bit but i knew i could probably fix it
Any way i went to the garage to put sum fuel in it and checked the oil it was over filed we got approached by sume one who offers us £50 over what i had payed of it.
Na just need sum oil drooped out of it my son had that car for three years and never put a spanner near it
bill

 

[Realist]

I sold my Range Rover a few years ago and two Polish guys in a posh car came to look, explained the one main issue and that was the alternator needed changing (honesty).

They then started showing me pictures of Range Rovers up on ramps body off etc and started spouting crap but luckily I was aware of why the bodies needed removing and that was for turbo work and not alternator change.

So yes be aware and be smart if in dought call a friend that’s in the know.

 

[bobnick]

My E-Type was bought at auction. My bid was the last and highest but well short of the reserve. Lot's of telephone calls over many hours between auction house and the seller resulted in the seller accepting my well below reserve price.
I kept a very good contingency back for works i knew would be needed on any classic car bought at auction.

 

[tonyidle]

Fat fingers!! And I can never delete the quote page, so it’s either a full stop or “errorl”. Due to your exalted status you were awarded an “error”

Just leave it and carry on. It disappears eventually.

 

[Wack]

Make sure you have a few mates over then invite them back on the pretence of accepting their offer.
When they arrive tell them you sold it a few minutes ago for the asking price.

Sensible, then you get up next morning and find your bonnet covered in brake fluid

Report it to the police , get your crime number so they're aware its happening , block their number and forget about it would be my advice , you really don't want to be winding criminals up.

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[Jaws]

A customer of mine many years ago brought an old Rover from the auction cheaply because it
Was missing, when he got home he removed the plugs and found one oily with no gap,
He thought result Put a new plug in and started her but still missing,
That’s when I got involved, no compression at all on number 2 so removed the cylinder head,
Looking down the bore their was no piston or conrod and the crankshaft journal was badly worn,

the oil feed to the crankshaft on number 2 cylinder had been welded up so it had oil pressure for the
Other three cylinders, Basically the engine was scrap, so the cheap buy at the auction was anything but,
Caveat emptor,

I can EASILY top that
1) A guy who owned a small garage asked me ( I was at a loose end ) to go with him to collect a really old but nice looking Austin A7
There was no battery in it but he used the starting handle to turn it over to check compression
All seemed well and it was a done deal.
About 3 months later he foned and said come and look what I found in that car
Turned out he had tried to start it but nowt could bring it to life
He took the head off, and found.............


A small rubber ball on top of the pistons.. three of which had holes in !!!!!!!!!!!


2)Chevy Impala.. Mate bought it from a septic on Mildenhall base
Ran it for a couple of weeks and then it started loosing oil pressure.. badly
Dropped the sump to take a look and found ALL the big end shells had been removed and replaced with strips of leather !!!!!

3)Mk2 Zodiac.. I bought it at auction.. looked good and sounded sweet.. Was not till I got it home I realised both seals were nicely carved 4 x 4 timber !!!

4) Another auction buy.. An old mini
Did a quick test of the CV joints, checked the rear subframe.. it had a years ticket on it so bid on it..
On the drive home the steering became errrr... odd
On inspection the bottom ball joint had been pumped full of concrete... No play in them and lasted long enough for the MOT LOL !!!

There have been lots of others but they are the ones I always remember

 

[Garfields]

I can EASILY top that
1) A guy who owned a small garage asked me ( I was at a loose end ) to go with him to collect a really old but nice looking Austin A7
There was no battery in it but he used the starting handle to turn it over to check compression
All seemed well and it was a done deal.
About 3 months later he foned and said come and look what I found in that car
Turned out he had tried to start it but nowt could bring it to life
He took the head off, and found.............


A small rubber ball on top of the pistons.. three of which had holes in !!!!!!!!!!!


2)Chevy Impala.. Mate bought it from a septic on Mildenhall base
Ran it for a couple of weeks and then it started loosing oil pressure.. badly
Dropped the sump to take a look and found ALL the big end shells had been removed and replaced with strips of leather !!!!!

3)Mk2 Zodiac.. I bought it at auction.. looked good and sounded sweet.. Was not till I got it home I realised both seals were nicely carved 4 x 4 timber !!!

4) Another auction buy.. An old mini
Did a quick test of the CV joints, checked the rear subframe.. it had a years ticket on it so bid on it..
On the drive home the steering became errrr... odd
On inspection the bottom ball joint had been pumped full of concrete... No play in them and lasted long enough for the MOT LOL !!!

There have been lots of others but they are the ones I always remember

Used to come across some truly horrendous rust "repairs"

 

[Welsh girl]

This scam was featured on the TV a few weeks back, one of the daytime consumer programs.

I was about to say that very thing. It did acua work with one poor lady I think.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Another scam is key swapping

 

[Nanniemate]

funniest one I saw was a dealer at an auction trying to 'upbid' his own car, not sure if the auctioneer knew what was going on but the car went for more that expected and the auctioneer seemed to suddenly put the hammer down. The dealer bought his own car , had to pay both buyers and sellers fees and took the wreck home.

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