986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

BigShow · 02-03-2014, 01:40 PM

I’ve been looking at Boxsters for a little while. I’m starting to get a feel for the year-mileage-option-price trades. Like anyone I’m looking for a good deal. While surfing Cars.com last night I found one that blew me out of the water. The car was at a dealer only 2 1/2 hours away. I responded to the listing right away and I got an automated reply from the dealership, cool I thought, I found my Box.

Before my wife and I went out to eat I told her about the car and that if it was available that I was going to buy it, no discussion. During dinner she cautioned me that if it is that good of a deal that someone might get the car before me, “Don’t get your hopes up”. I was ready to give out my credit card info to put money down on the car to hold it (steal it really).

We got home from dinner and I looked at the listing again. There were some odd things about the listing. I searched the dealer’s web site but didn’t see the car. The Cars.com web site showed the listing as a new one. Maybe I thought the dealer didn’t post the new listing on their own site yet?

Also there was something odd in the listing about not calling because there was a problem with the phone for the next 6 days. Instead the listing instructed buyers to email cmear@comcast.com. Well I sent an email to cmear and I replied with the Cars.Com link just to cover my basses. I thought HA! I found a distressed owner that needed cash, this is going to be a deal, a steal of a deal. What a smart internet navigator I must be.

I continued to look at the Cars.com listing. I jumped back and forth between the dealership’s listings. Some listings looked like the Boxster listing with the phone number note others did not. The Boxter listing and really all of the cool car listings, Audi, Benz, BMW and so on were new listings and at historic low prices. The other listings looked normal; normal prices for normal cars.

The picture of the Boxster was kind of odd for a dealership listing. It was taken in front of a house. What dealer does that? Maybe this was an employee using dealership resources to sell a personal car, again a financially distressed employee?

I knew what was going on but I didn’t want to admit it. That was a fairly sophisticated scam. I sent an email to the dealership and one to Car.com advising that I suspected that some of the listings were scams. The Cars.com listing have been removed. I do have some interesting emails from the scammer though. So, how can I pull this guy’s chain? I’d love to pull reverse ruse on this guy like the guys at Ebola Monkey Man: Nigerian 419 Scam.

So, I’m stupid for getting too excited about a deal that was too good to be true, I was greedy. Last night after I figured it out I was feeling a little heart broken. However bad that was it’s a lot better than losing cash to a scammer though.

Here was the deal:
2007 Boxster S
12,xxx miles
$9,200

Too good to be true!

02-03-2014, 01:40 PM	#1
BigShow Registered User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 29	Scams Depend on Greed I’ve been looking at Boxsters for a little while. I’m starting to get a feel for the year-mileage-option-price trades. Like anyone I’m looking for a good deal. While surfing Cars.com last night I found one that blew me out of the water. The car was at a dealer only 2 1/2 hours away. I responded to the listing right away and I got an automated reply from the dealership, cool I thought, I found my Box. Before my wife and I went out to eat I told her about the car and that if it was available that I was going to buy it, no discussion. During dinner she cautioned me that if it is that good of a deal that someone might get the car before me, “Don’t get your hopes up”. I was ready to give out my credit card info to put money down on the car to hold it (steal it really). We got home from dinner and I looked at the listing again. There were some odd things about the listing. I searched the dealer’s web site but didn’t see the car. The Cars.com web site showed the listing as a new one. Maybe I thought the dealer didn’t post the new listing on their own site yet? Also there was something odd in the listing about not calling because there was a problem with the phone for the next 6 days. Instead the listing instructed buyers to email cmear@comcast.com. Well I sent an email to cmear and I replied with the Cars.Com link just to cover my basses. I thought HA! I found a distressed owner that needed cash, this is going to be a deal, a steal of a deal. What a smart internet navigator I must be. I continued to look at the Cars.com listing. I jumped back and forth between the dealership’s listings. Some listings looked like the Boxster listing with the phone number note others did not. The Boxter listing and really all of the cool car listings, Audi, Benz, BMW and so on were new listings and at historic low prices. The other listings looked normal; normal prices for normal cars. The picture of the Boxster was kind of odd for a dealership listing. It was taken in front of a house. What dealer does that? Maybe this was an employee using dealership resources to sell a personal car, again a financially distressed employee? I knew what was going on but I didn’t want to admit it. That was a fairly sophisticated scam. I sent an email to the dealership and one to Car.com advising that I suspected that some of the listings were scams. The Cars.com listing have been removed. I do have some interesting emails from the scammer though. So, how can I pull this guy’s chain? I’d love to pull reverse ruse on this guy like the guys at Ebola Monkey Man: Nigerian 419 Scam. So, I’m stupid for getting too excited about a deal that was too good to be true, I was greedy. Last night after I figured it out I was feeling a little heart broken. However bad that was it’s a lot better than losing cash to a scammer though. Here was the deal: 2007 Boxster S 12,xxx miles $9,200 Too good to be true!