Is this a scam?
 

Good morn,
I don't know much about the Amazon cars (I'm more of a 244 and P1800 bloke) but I'm always on the lookout for interesting projects. I saw this one on Car & Classic:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1365207

... would I be right in thinking it is a scam? It seems a bit improbable (to me) that someone might have owned a nice old car like this for 8 years then moved overseas and misplaced the V5, that there might be only be one photo of an historic car and that the registration plate doesn't seem to exist on the MoT history register... and probably more.

I'm guessing this is just a photo taken from someone else's restoration with a made up story by a chap wanting the cash to be transferred to his Nigerian bank account?

Seems like a accurate description but then the moved abroad, no V5 and a good price. Would want to inspect the car, the rear is the hardest area to fix but that is a very good price for a estate.

No V5 is something to be concerned about - I'd get the seller to rectify that situation if he / she wanted a sale...

...note a V5 is not proof of ownership - it is acknowledgement of responsibility of road tax! On the documentation it says "registered keeper"

I wouldn't buy a car like that with out seeing it - paying money before seeing the vehicle would be a daft thing to do so I don't quite see why you are concerned about foreign bank accounts at this stage (unless you are someone who would do that!)

Good morning, both. 70 plus years on planet Earth having taught me the voracity of the words: 'If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is!', I'm inclined to agree with Alan. The ad does however state that 40 more photos are available and it might be interesting to follow that link, Alan?

On the other hand, the circumstances that 'Burdekin' describes, while improbable, are not impossible, and it would greatly increase my faith in human nature if he is indeed correct.

Either way, the ad could have been better worded in order to avoid the ambiguity and subsequent doubt. Perhaps we are both simply too cynical, Alan?

Regards, John.

I agree John, I'm more than a little cynical about this one. I'll watch it for a while and think about it, but I'm wondering why some of the 40 photographs were not posted with the ad. A likely explanation is this is bait for an attempt at phishing - to get one's email address and personal details.

:-)

If someone's asking, the answer is typically yes IME :)

If you are worried about that kind of stuff you could just ring the number from someone else's landline and see if you can contact the seller that way - go old school - you used to be able to buy a phone call from a hotel (for example - if you no longer have a handy work landline)

The person writing the advert did not have to mention the now living abroad situation. Is 6K particularly cheap for a car that doesn't present especially well in the picture without a V5?

Wouldn't a non runner with work but with a V5 only be about 2K more?

Is it really an attractive price? (This is a serious question - I'm not "up" on the UK market - here in NL 8K euros would get you something similar I think but that would be road legal)

From my database
GHU28B 12/11/1964 01/02/2017 03/01/2017 T Grey-blue Ross in Edenbridge Andy "Speedsnake74" 17/1/12 eBay sold £300. No engine/gb 07976041444 Nick Pye. KG Nugent

Sounds about right. That website doesn't allow many pictures but I have seen ads with about 5. Message them for the 40. Makes sense, especially if they show the areas at the rear that need repair.

EDIT: I have 24 various pics of this from the original eBay ad onwards. Here's one of the rear.

I think estates start about £4K for poor but restorable up to £25k for obscenely good. The rear is rusted through on the arch so I would bank on the rear quarters, rear and possibly floor area at least will need a good bit of welding. These areas apart from the arches on the estate can’t be bought so needs to be fabricated.

I think you can post up to 12 (can't you)?

I didn't know you were tracking vehicles like you do. That's pretty cool.

Sounds like the car has been a project car for a long time