I’ve sold a couple of cars privately in the last 6 months. It’s easy if you stick rigidly to a couple of rules. 1. Do not discuss price with anyone who has not seen the car in person. 2 A legitimate buyer should be contacting to arrange an appointment to see the car - anything else is a scam. 3. Ignore any questions asked by text / email about things which are clearly already mentioned in the advert. 4. No transaction sending money either way with anyone you haven’t met, that is most definitely a scam. 5. NEVER give sensitive information like the V5 serial number, bank details etc to anyone until they are with you and have the money to make the purchase. I sold my 996 recently and it attracted numerous attempts to scam me - but it’s really simple to avoid if you remember that a scammer will never actually visit you they’ll just come up with excuses - if they don’t want to see it, they don’t actually want to buy it - end of story.

Absolutely never click any link sent by anyone that isnt a friend in any circumstance.

Soon as he said he wanted me to pay for the car Report I would refuse to sell the car to him even if he was genuine.

Selling a car privately today terrifies me

Every car I have sold I used eBay - whilst it does attract more weirdos it does allow you to force potential scammers via the eBay message system. Once I have their number I call them. You can tell a lot about a person within the first few seconds. Your cut instinct isn't perfect, but it's a great initial gatekeeper.

Stock answer for the "What's your best price" is "we can't talk about price until you have seen the car and evaluated for yourself" If the purchaser is genuine they will usually accept that.

the first thing that comes to my mind is the links hes sending you are actually his, they probably save your bank info after you pay for a report. also i wouldnt click dodgy looking links, that alone could give you trouble.

I know times have changed but I’ve sold a lot of cars over the years & sticking to… you turn up with the cash & we can have a deal… no links no credit card no hassle 👍🏼

Trust your gut.... If it smells a funny colour.... run!

Bradford says it all 😂😂😂

Sold one or two cars as a private seller in the past, best possible way I've found in filtering out the time wasters is done in my very first reply. They say they're interested, I invite them immediately to test drive, telling them to bring a driving license and proof of adequate insurance before we discuss absolutely anything else about the car, including the price. Those that turn up usually end up buying. No time waster wants to waste too much of their own time!

Good for you, brother! Similar thing happened with me here in Canada. I wasn’t aware of it in the beginning of the texting back and forth. But when I insisted we speak on the phone, he suddenly ‘disappeared’. Wow! These low-lives are everywhere.

It’s like the scam about paying a courier for redelivery, they just want all your credit card details

Good on you fella. There's so many scammers nowadays. Especially on Facebook..

Had exactly the same thing about a month ago. Thankfully I twigged on to the scam...be careful out there folks!

Thanks for that - asking you to click on a link , was where the line was crossed..can't be that interested if he doesn't even want to pay for a report - good to get a reminder about this kind of thing.

Yep, for that reason I Would rather trade it in with a loss than go through a hassle of being scammed.

After clicking on a link from this guy, I would run a deep, virus scan on your device.🤔

Very useful. Most scams begin on a plausible, "test the water" basis as the scammer reads the potential victim and will profit from the volume of success. While most of us communicate via text or social media, an interested party will get in there first by phone. We can learn alot about the seller and buyer this way. Word of warning, if you are desperate to sell or buy, you are more likely to be scammed. Have your wits at hand!

When I was a teenager I used to buy and sell cars, to make a bit of money. Then I went to University! After about 30 years years I sold a car privately a few months ago. The arrange was exactly the same and I sold without difficulty. 1) Cash only acceptable. 2) Bought as seen and, the buyer signs off on it, (duplicate book). 3) If you show the cash I take you for a test drive. 4) The appropriate part of the Log Book I always sent to DVLC. I never had any comeback, I sold decent cars. I had no problem selling, I remember a Mark two Cortina, they were queuing up with their cash. People who come with the cash are always genuine. So, that's how you do it. Happy selling. Oh and don't be desperate to sell. Re-advertise if you have to.