Hello, This is definitely a scam. I am helping friends look for a T5 Cali like mine and they originally followed up the one at St Andrews. When they asked too many questions, they were told it was sold. When the one above (Livingston) , appeared I offered to email the guy "SWHILTON" As per the previous one in St Andrews (a Lee Dixon), the ebay seller id was newly registered. He, "Steve Whilton" asked me to mail him privately so I did. Said I could get to Scotland to see it, he advised he worked away, he could deliver. I checked reg, mot history on gov website and it all checked out. He sent more photo's but didn't call me as requested twice to discuss date/time to see the van. When he sent a copy of the front sheet of the V5 with the VIN it started to unravel. The VIN was definitely that van, but the V5 doc ref number (used to check tax rates), was not known on the gov website. The QR code below the owners name and address was missing on the V5, and the number of digits above the name and address were incorrect compared with standard V5 doc. His name and address and that of the previous owner (same surname as his) did not check out on the electoral roll or 192.com. He also wanted money via an ebay/paypal "holding account" that would be released when the van was delivered and I was happy with it. EBAY/PAYPAL do not do holding accounts. Said I would not pay without seeing it and no reply.
I would also say there is currently a silver one on ebay for 13.5k in Falmouth that is actually advertised currently on this site for 31k and owned by a lady I called. She advised she had been told yesterday by someone else who spotted it, of this fake ad with her pics on and had asked EBAY to take the ad down.
These b******s copy genuine ads and cause an awful amount of heartache so PLEASE DO TELL as many people as possible. I have looked for places to report this, but so far have been unable to find any org to do this to, unless you actually have been scammed.
I had this when selling a caravelle, some one had copied the pictures and listed it on auto trader, some time after I had sold it. The add looked genuine, obviously I recognised my van photos, reported to auto trader who took the add down.
Regarding the Cali in ST.Andrews ( eBay) the listing was obviously from someone who knew nothing about a Cali, despite the listing stating that the vehicle had been in their family for some time, it’s unusual for someone who has owned a Cali not to be able to list the vehicle specifics to a tee!
The MOT history checked out, although previous the MOTs were carried out in Maidenhead (serious distance away from St. Andrews! ), as said above the tax records did not marry up! the listing disappeared, then reappeared several days later, with several photos used In the original listing omitted, presumably in an attempt to make it look like a new add.
Checking the vehicle history with a dealer may have highlighted further anomalies?
The point is scams can look very convincing, for a very good reason.
if it’s too good to be true, it usually is, never part with any money if you can’t see and touch the goods in real life. (And drive it away there and then).
Look at the facts and how they are presented, approach every ad with caution, always insist on seeing the vehicle at the address where the owner lives. Never anywhere else, (service station etc)
If you see something suspicious, even little things that don’t stack up, report it to the website, if it’s genuine it will be maintained, if not it will be taken down and will prevent someone from being scammed.
When ever possible blank out the reg of your vehicle, when posting photos that are available to others
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