Does this lead on a 996 Turbo sound like a scam to you?
 

So, over the weekend, I got on Autotrader.com to see what's out there.

Lo and behold, on Sunday morning I see a listing for a 2003 996 Turbo. Seems like a great deal, one that seemed too good to be true. I run an AutoCheck on it. I run it through a VIN decoder. I look for record of theft, accidents, salvage title, etc. It's listed at a dealer in NJ, Wholesale Outlet Automotive Group. I try to make contact with the dealer via the contact form on Autotrader. Less than 24 hours later, the listing is gone, vehicle unavailable. I hear nothing for a few days. I figured it might have been a mistake, an error, sold, or something.

Today, I get an email from a guy. He apologizes for the delay in response, because he's in Canada. Sounds like he's an individual owner of the car. Supposedly, the story is he's selling the car, because he went with his employer on an eight-year contract in Calgary. Supposedly, his employer is giving him a car, and he doesn't need this 996 TT. The guy presents the car as a having been in no accident, no mechanical problem, no lien, perfect condition, yada-yada-yada. He says he'll pay for shipping and insurance.

At the end of his email, he asks me if I'm interested in buying, and he asks me for my location, which I did not give.

I asked in my reply about the story. Why is the car listed with dealer in NJ? I mention that there's no listing anymore. I ask why the dealer website does not have this car listed in inventory. I ask about why the last registration of the vehicle is in 2014. I ask about service records. AutoCheck shows no service records. (Not sure if it normally does like Carfax seems to show.) I ask about PPI.

It all sounds fishy to me. So, what do you think, Rennlisters? Does this sound like a scam to you?

If it is too good to be true....it is. You can follow thru if you want, but the next email slid deposit $$$ in this account and no one can touch it until you agree to released the money. Then the money $$$ will disappear

Sounds decidedly scam-ish.

Insist on a thorough PPI at some independent shop. If he tries to avoid this by offering an amazing price, then it's almost certainly a scam.

Agreed. It sounds like a scam, but I'm interested to see what he has to say in response. I'm sending no money. I will require PPI by a neutral third party. Only after that's completed will I consider doing a deal. My wife and I are skeptical, but I'm interested to see what he says next.

Ran the Carfax. It shows similar history to the AutoCheck report in terms of the last registration being done in 10/2014. It shows some record of service with the last service in 10/2015: "Electrical system checked" Next entry, 2/27/2016 the car is listed as dealer inventory, vehicle offered for sale. Then, somehow, 2600 miles get put on the car, and the car is listed on 1/20/2018 as dealer inventory, vehicle offered for sale. Nobody bought it in that time between 2016 and 2018. Nobody registered it. No title. Nothing. Bizarre. This guy sounds like he's playing the role of a private seller, but the car is listed as dealer inventory.

Unless / until you, or someone else on here, can put eyes on the car, it sounds like a scam to me!

Dealer may have enjoyed it for 2500 miles...
Scam!

The 996t that I got scammed on came with an e-mailed title, a 4 page carfax report and the scammer had a phone number consistent with the car's vicinity. He's now 2k richer and I've moved on to buy a "real" car.

The seller got back to me with the following plan.

The idea is to handle things through an "escrow shipping company" that will allow me to test the vehicle before finalizing purchase. The company he mentioned was Autobytel, which he described as a shipping company. He states that I'll have up to 5 working days to inspect, test drive, PPI, etc. Autobytel will supposedly take care of."shipping, payment, etc. to complete the deal "safely and smoothly." Car will be shipped in enclosed container. Delivery agent will bring the car with all original documents. They will ship and transfer vehicle on his behalf.

Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

The car: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%...AC7E5A59B59AE9

Still no answer about service records, car's location, etc.

If any money exchanges hands before you have eyes on the car, expect to lose it.

Sounds really fishy to me.

Autobytel says that it doesn't do escrow, shipping, etc.: https://www.autobytel.com/fraud-awareness/

Also, those are 3 year old pictures.