@Kale D
For the benefit of others in avoiding these sorts,
can you note any more detail as to how this scam operated & how you found it out?
After the test drive I told him I wanted to think about it as the very dirty engine, like grease covered battery included, was another red flag in addition to the high mileage and engine/tranny transplant.
He had provided invoices for the work he said he had done. So I looked into those as they had a vin attached and information of vehicle pulled from. I found the donor vehicle online and that’s where it got very weird. I asked the pick a part place where the vehicle was if that donor vehicle had an engine and tranny in it. Person said yep, got the 4.6 in it and talked about the tranny. I said, so the vehicle physically has those items in it? He was confused and said yeah why.
I said I was looking at buying a used ST and the seller is saying he put a new engine and tranny in it, THAT engine and tranny and he even has receipts. Now I had his attention. He asked if I would send the receipt so he could see it, which I did text it to him. He text me what their invoices actually look like then called me back. Told me I can come look for myself but they had a couple STs there and they all had engines and trannys. He mentioned the only thing in his system that lines up with the seller is that he did buy a driveshaft.
So it looks like he bought a driveshaft for cheap(which the seller did say he put a new driveshaft in but never mentioned much else about it). Used that invoice to create a fake invoice with the engine and tranny on it. Two other invoices I’m assuming are fake as the garage name on one is not in business and the other is a weird looking e-transfer for payment, they describe 12.5 hrs of labor for the installs and the parts in question.
So he most likely still has the original engine and tranny still in the vehicle? Or this seller himself got scammed himself somehow?
I never got back to him but he did reply to me asking if I was still interested. I just said things aren’t lining up for me, I’ll pass. Told him I seen the engine and tranny he said he put in and it’s at another lot in the city. He messages me back saying how is that possible he has the invoices? I said dude this is too weird for me but you might wanna call that place and ask about it then.
Never heard back from him.
There is some other weird stuff I found on possibly where the vehicle came from and it’s some conspiracy level weird, I won’t elaborate as it just sounds too crazy.
It’s too bad, I was getting excited I found a great deal. Body was mint, interior was mint. It just needed a thorough detailing in the engine and interior. But I ain’t getting involved in fraudulent invoices and lies for a vehicle with zero maintenance history. Even the carfax was not ideal, not a single service for anything at all. Which, ok, maybe a person did all their own work.
But 1st owner had it for a year, no records other than it was registered. 2nd owner had it for about 9 almost 10 years and put on 400,000kms with no service records. Then this current seller has it for a year and a half, no records of anything other than what I posted above and put about 10k kms on it even though he says he drives about 100kms a day with it for work. So 2000kms a month? For a year and a half? Numbers aren’t adding up.
Am I crazy or would someone else still buy this knowing what I found?
