Oil trick could scam you out of thousands
Posted in Volkswagen On By Connor Clayton
Please be wary of a scam when trying to sell your car privately! Buyers can attempt to knock thousands off a car's price, by tampering with the engine.
Please be wary of a scam when trying to sell your car privately! Buyers can attempt to knock thousands off a car's price, by tampering with the engine.
The scam, which seems to be making a comeback, sees con-artists secretly pour oil into the coolant reservoir of the vehicle for sale, and then offer a cut-price because they falsely claim the engine is wrecked. The latest warning comes after a Kent motorist was targeted by scammers, who offered just a third of the listed price for a Volkswagen Touareg after tampering with its engine before a test drive. [caption id="attachment_6724" align="aligncenter" width="640"]
The Volkswagen Touareg was listed at £3,300 - the buyers attempted to use the scam and offer just £1,100[/caption]
Michael Browne, from Whitstable, Kent, was selling his 13-year-old vehicle online when an interested buyer contacted him, initially asking for £300 off the car’s price.
An hour later, the buyer showed up to Mr. Browne’s house with a friend and an 11-year-old boy and began inspecting the vehicle before taking the Touareg out for a test drive.
During the drive smoke started billowing out from the car, leading the prospective buyer to ask to check the engine again, which is when he asked for a considerable discount on the price.