Buying coche secundo mano

[Don]

Having never yet bought a second car in Spain but having heard a few scary stories, who has some good advice as to what to do? Apart from price, money transfer etc., the one thing I have heard of is that you can buy a car and only at the last minute do you find out there is an embargo on the car because the previous owner didnt pay something he should have done. So, can you easily find out if a car is really free of any debt or embargo as advertised before handing over any money or entering any contract? On other threads re property you can apparently get nota simple off the internet, is something equivalent available for a car?
Saludos a todos.

[malagaman2005]

I don't think, but I'll probably be corrected, that there is an equivalant to HPI as in the UK. The only thing I would suggest is that you get the matriculation number of the car your wanting to buy and visit a Gestor who could run it through the system to see if there are any outstanding debts/finance against it. I would imagine it would only be a very small fee but well worth it.

[hillybilly]

I can recommend a gestor in Osuna for the transerencia if that's any help?

[Don]

Thanks, I already have a tame gestor and I have the matriculacion number off the advert. Deal sound too good to be true and I dont want to get caught out buying something with a debt around its neck. It is advertised as free of all lien but what can you trust these days. Can a gestor easily do the investigation with Trafico or Hacienda?

[karandjon]

Don - Be careful if advert sounds too good to be true. There are a few adverts on internet for vehicles in spain where it seems too good to be true...because it is!

There is a scam going on, where it is advertised real cheap, but when you phone up the owner is in Madrid/germany wherever, but they want to do it thro a 3rd party company.

to cut a long story short, you pay 3rd party, they take vehicle. 3rd party keep money and deliver u the vehicle for 7 days. if you like it, the owner then gets the money....except that doesnt happen. your money is kept and you never see the vehicle, as some of these well known (i have forgotten the name of the main one ) money transfer companies do not use a secure method and actually advise you (in small print) to use this service for only transferring to known friends/family.

I was gonna PM you, but having phoned up for quite a few "bargain priced" vehicles, feel this is something everyone should be aware of.

I have reported them to the internet sites and the adverts are removed...only to crop up 2 weeks later!!

[malagaman2005]

Good point but I don't understand how anybody would hand over a wedge of cash to an unknown party without first 'touching metal' but obviously that's how these people make their money by dealing with gullible people

[karandjon]

i agree malagaman, but there must be quite a few who do, or there wouldnt be so many scams on here! One suggested if i wasnt happy paying 3rd party to go to him, then i could pay via Western Union to a member of my family and give him the ref number , so he knows i have the money. On checking western unions site it says its not secure and only pay to people you know. Obviously these scammers know how to work the system and get the money for themselves, via just the reference number.

I am currently selling a sprayer machine for the garden for €470 and have even 2 spanish scammers trying it the other way ie wanting me to send the machine to them 3rd party to madrid, while they send money.

I can´t believe people are taken in by this, but some surely must be, for them still to be going.

[Don]

Thanks Karen, if I had been sure about this, it would never have ended up here as a thread. Here is what the first response to the advert says:

Vendo el coche porque ahora vivo en Inglaterra y es dificil manejar el coche con el volante a la izquierda ,ya sabes.
El coche tiene los papeles en español y matricula epagnola 9248DLK , seria como comprarlo en España. Toda la documentación esta en regla, transferido a mi nombre, sin cargas ni gravamenes,esta perfecto de motor,chapa y pintura.
La expedición del coche y matriculación a su nombre se hace con una empresa aseguradora que es una compañia de Escrow.
Con esta compañia usted puede ver y comprobar el coche antes de comprarlo. Tienes 3 días para todo esto y un máximo de 500km para conducir el coche en España y decidir.
En el periodo de prueba lo puedes traer a un mecanico en españa para comprobar el motor y todo lo mecánico.

Esto es como se hace:
-Yo dejaré el coche a la compañia.
-La compañia investigará todos los papeles con la gestoria para ver si todo es legal antes de hacer la entrega.
-Despues que todo esta comprobado y no existe ningún problema la compañia contactará contigo.
-Ingresará usted entonces a la compañia un 20% del precio (2400 euros) como fianza y para que ellos puedan hacer la entrega a tu casa.
Si el coche no te gusta la compañia te devolverá la fianza (2400 Euros) y me devolveran el coche ,yo pagaré esos gastos ,para que veas lo seguro que estoy de que te lo quedarás.

Interesting that the seller is apparently in the UK! I cannot find any link to Escrow.es but I can find Escrow.com (USA) and it is pretty much the recipe of scam with a third party set to receive a significant amount up front. I agree that this is the kind of thing which is worth showing to everybody as it is all worded to draw you in to "have a go". Just this morning I spoke with one of my neighbours who has an identical vehicle and is very pleased with it but could not believe this selling price. And so far I have not received any reply from the apparent e.mail of the seller.

I am still tempted to try and find out who owns 9248DLK and if it is for sale at all.

[Don]

And so to add a little more to the saga, for all to see if they wish, having made a first enquiry and got a response with some data, googling for the apparent seller (from his e.mail addy) and the make of vehicle, turned up 2 hits - identical cars for sale in Spain and ........................... in Mexico, even down to the same photos although the Mexican advert and pics didnt show the number plate. Same price as in same number of dollars or euros and so scam it is. But who can you report such stuff too Karen? Thanks for sharing.

[karandjon]

And so to add a little more to the saga, for all to see if they wish, having made a first enquiry and got a response with some data, googling for the apparent seller (from his e.mail addy) and the make of vehicle, turned up 2 hits - identical cars for sale in Spain and ........................... in Mexico, even down to the same photos although the Mexican advert and pics didnt show the number plate. Same price as in same number of dollars or euros and so scam it is. But who can you report such stuff too Karen? Thanks for sharing.

Hi Don, Glad i was able to help. I really wish there was some way to make these scams well known. I found out, only by knowing the value of what i was looking for, and when i saw it extremely cheap i knew i was onto something. And the i searched the internet, and found the same advert in many south american countries, etc also.
The only thing i could do to report them, was on some websites they had a "report abuse" button, where you could email the advertisers about the specific scam. The trouble is, if it gets removed (not always), then you will see it reappear a few days later! There isnt anything more you can do, unfortunately Don.

[Don]

I found out, only by knowing the value of what i was looking for, and when i saw it extremely cheap i knew i was onto something.

All true Karen but occasionally there is a real snip (pardon the association to other post) to be had. Years ago when I drove over 25000 miles per year for work, we got through cars quite quickly so we were always looking for a bargain. None of us could afford luxury but one day one of the lads appeared in a nearly new Rover 2000, which in those days (just before you were born I think - early 1970s) was quite a car. He explained to us all that he had seen this car for sale at 25 quid (in those days a mark2 Jag used to cost me 150 quid and a Aston Martin Vantage DB5 would have cost me 1700 quid). He answered the advert and went to see the car and finally asked the lady why she was selling such a perfect car at such a low price. Her answer astounded him but he bought it there and then in cash, exchanged paperwork and all was above board. The reason for the sale ...





Her "man" had just walked out on her and after some weeks of utter hassle, he told her to sell his car and send him the money. And so she did. He was not a happy bunny. She was over the moon as was my colleague who drove a bit of luxury for a few years. Now that was a bargain.


One day I will find my bargain.
Saludos.

[karandjon]

wow, i cant comprehend how things must have cost those prices (you´re spot on Don, i was born 1973)!

When i saw " my bargain" advertised at €8000 (book price above €20,000) and the guy emailed back the spoof about 3rd party, am in Germany yaddah yaddah yaddah, i emailed back and asked where his nearest airport was as we would be prepared to fly over and pay him...thats when the correspondence stopped. Earlier questions were answered very promptly.

Like you, one day too, we shall find our bargain!

PS I love the story of the lady gettin one up on her ex!! Made me smile

Karen

[Don]

1973 ..... Now that was an interesting year. I was on my second Jag at the time. Rebuilt the engine, tuned and balanced then had a tyre blowout at 110 mph on the "new" M4, before the 70 mph overall speed limit came into force I hasten to add. Was an interesting experience and we spun round 3 times before stopping but all I had to do was to change the tyre and carry on to Essex, ............ for a family funeral. Petrol broke through the 5 shillings a gallon barrier just before then I recall. Yes in "new" money that would be 25 pence a gallon or just under 6 pence a litre.

[karandjon]

Blimey, 6p a litre!!!!! and i thought the 70mph had been around for donkeys years, not just since the 70´s.

you know what is a shame? when growing up, you´re not really into what your nan and grandad have to tell you, but when you´re old enough to understand and appreciate and be really interested in what they experienced in their time, unfortunately they´re not around to share their stories with you. (i´m not saying for 1 minute that you´re old enough to be my grandad tho, Don) I find it interesting tho, about the "olden" days.

[Don]

For the record Karen, my only grandson is almost 5 months old and his Mum is a tad younger than you so you can do the maths, mas o menos. At the moment I am just so glad my Mum lived long enough to 97+ to become a great grandmother so that should help you with the maths too. However I remember it well as 4 galls of petrol approached and then broke through the 1 pound mark and what a furore that was.

[karandjon]

well, if your mum was 97, you could be 80 and if your daughters about 33, you could be 50, so i´m guessing somewhere between the 50-80 age! no seriously, only joking! honest. what i meant was that when i was a kid i wasnt interested in stories about the past, and now that i´m of an age where i am interested, there are not so many rellies (by that i mean realatives not relics ) around to tell me them
love karen xxxx