Used Car Purchase

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I hope it runs in ten days. He'll prolly run the piss out of it. Frankly youll be lucky to even see the car again, let alone him.

[Fandango 1,440]

I wouldn't have done that at all

Good luck, hope you don' get screwed!

[Mags 112]

More than likely you'll be lucky and he is a genuine bloke and honest too. I have to agree with the other comments here in that a cash deposit wasn't the most sensible thing you could have ever done. Something else to consider is that he has done this to a few other people too, all of whom have given him a deposit and are expecting the car in a week or so. He has made a few grand out of it and is then leaving the country. As has been mentioned before it is hard to enforce a contract if the other party is out of the country...and only one of you will get the car at the end of it. It might be worth your while to get someone to phone him, pretending to be an interested buyer, and see if the car is still available. If it is, you might be able to get the police involved and re-coup your money before it's too late.

I really hope you haven't been conned out of a grand, I really do.

Good idea, Mags. I'll have someone call his number tomorrow.

Let us know how you get along.

He has made a few grand out of it and is then leaving the country.

Leaving the country with, what, 10 grand? 20 grand? He wouldn't be the brightest tool in the shed if he did that.

I really don't see a problem leaving a cash deposit. You'll be just fine, Pants.

For a student, 10 or 20 grand is a huge amount. Especially if he isn't coming back AND really does live in Sri Lanka.

[eric&gen 0]

If i was in that type of situation i would have backed out of the deal not give a dime not one cent i just move on looking for other deals. I don't like handing out cash without having the product in hand first.

[mawilson 2,133]

For a student, 10 or 20 grand is a huge amount. Especially if he isn't coming back AND really does live in Sri Lanka.

Hmm. I re-read Steven's post and I think you're right - it does look a bit dodgy.

[JVKn'CVO 11]

Good luck Steven, hope it works out for you and you get the car on the 26th

Saludos,

Caro

[desert_fox 32]

Make sure that he has the pink slip and that it is not encumbered.

[*julez* 124]

Yikes, Steve.

I hope the seller is an honest guy, but even more than that, you should have had a mechanic check it out before you decided to buy it based on what it looks like. (I don't mean to assume that you don't have mechanical knowledge, but you didn't mention it in your original post.)

I wouldn't buy a car for any amount of money before taking it to my mechanic to look it over. It could need $1,500 worth of work within the next few months and you (or indeed the seller) wouldn't know.

Sorry, I know I sound like someone's overbearing dad, but I've bought and sold a few used cars, and a hour's worth of a mechanic's labor to do a prebuy is money well spent!

I sincerely hope the seller's honest and that the car doesn't need any major work. Civics are great cars (we have one), but stuff needs to be replaced every now and then!

Very good point! 5 years ago I bought a car from my mom's friend's and was told that they maintained the vehicle very well..blah, blah, blah. Turns out it had a cracked engine block. Although I only paid $1,500 for it, at the time, it was a lot of money for me and I had no money for such a major repair and a few months later it was dead and gone.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

More than likely you'll be lucky and he is a genuine bloke and honest too. I have to agree with the other comments here in that a cash deposit wasn't the most sensible thing you could have ever done. Something else to consider is that he has done this to a few other people too, all of whom have given him a deposit and are expecting the car in a week or so. He has made a few grand out of it and is then leaving the country. As has been mentioned before it is hard to enforce a contract if the other party is out of the country...and only one of you will get the car at the end of it. It might be worth your while to get someone to phone him, pretending to be an interested buyer, and see if the car is still available. If it is, you might be able to get the police involved and re-coup your money before it's too late.

I really hope you haven't been conned out of a grand, I really do.

Good idea, Mags. I'll have someone call his number tomorrow.

Let us know how you get along.

My son called his number with a different, blocked phone, asking if the car was available and he immediately told him it's already sold. In retrospect, when he told me he needed to hang onto it a little longer, I should have said I'd call him back when he's ready to actually sell it and left it at that, but now what's done is done. I'm reasonably confident that it will work out.

[HAL 9000 96]

Hey bud,

I hope the deal goes through without any issues... I sold my first car back in college to an international student, cash, and the deal was also a bit tense at the get-go... but all went well and the title was transfered flawlessly.

Luck

[LaL 418]

More than likely you'll be lucky and he is a genuine bloke and honest too. I have to agree with the other comments here in that a cash deposit wasn't the most sensible thing you could have ever done. Something else to consider is that he has done this to a few other people too, all of whom have given him a deposit and are expecting the car in a week or so. He has made a few grand out of it and is then leaving the country. As has been mentioned before it is hard to enforce a contract if the other party is out of the country...and only one of you will get the car at the end of it. It might be worth your while to get someone to phone him, pretending to be an interested buyer, and see if the car is still available. If it is, you might be able to get the police involved and re-coup your money before it's too late.

I really hope you haven't been conned out of a grand, I really do.

Good idea, Mags. I'll have someone call his number tomorrow.

Let us know how you get along.

My son called his number with a different, blocked phone, asking if the car was available and he immediately told him it's already sold. In retrospect, when he told me he needed to hang onto it a little longer, I should have said I'd call him back when he's ready to actually sell it and left it at that, but now what's done is done. I'm reasonably confident that it will work out.

So far so good Steven!

[Nessa 23]

I hope it works out for you

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

My son called his number with a different, blocked phone, asking if the car was available and he immediately told him it's already sold.

Excellent!

[Flames9_RN 359]

Sounds promising!! Good to hear!

[Mags 112]

Did it all go well, Steven? Give us an update!