1GT on Craigslist

Found a FG on Craigslist and looked like gold. Have chatted with seller only a few times. Today more than ever - organized a phone call and it was very one sided - me asking questions - and a few uh huhs on the other side. Broken English - then nearing the end of our conversation (which was seriously lacking words from seller) I heard a loud yelling some mumbling, then click.
I can’t stop thinking about how strange it was. I have asked for a few specific details - mainly in imagery and have not received - starting to think this is a scam seller. Not confirmed yet but I’m scared.

 

Too many in my area if I was looking to trip on it. Move on, so many sellers, let alone buyers are hard to deal with.

 

What do you want us to do? Tell you that Craigslist is shady? OK. Craigslist is shady. Move on to sellers advertising on legit car websites.

 

Nothing. I just wanted to voice it out there lol - certainly can be a shady area - like the Craigslist murderers
. Honestly the yelling and then mumbling and the click of the phone had my head spinning hahaha

 

I murdered Craigslist once.

 

Sold a few vehicles on CL, even one SUV in the dark of night, but I would never consider buying one from there unless it was just for parts. Even then, I would be lookin' really close at the product, seller, and process. My experience is people go plain crazy when they get desperate to buy. Sold both a SUV and a horse trailer in the damn dark of night in seperate transactions. I still can't hardly believe that craziness! Just Nuts IMO!

 

I've bought a handful of cars off of CL, before FBM took over. You can get an idea of the seller based on the ad, if they put in a modicum of effort with their listing, they'll probably be alright. If the ad leaves you asking a lot of questions, pass.

 

That’s the thing. The ad looks mint and the truck, if real, looks mint. The phone call however, was like a scene out of horror movie

 

Could have just been the 50th call he had that day and had just had enough (or his missus had).
Some people just don't want to deal with 50 questions from 50 people, many of whom are tire kickers or they would have bought one already. And some sellers don't really need the money, they just need the space, so they are in no hurry.
CL is shady, but it's not just sellers, many of the buyers are shady too.

 

Agree with Fragman on the proverbial Rest Of The Story.

Have chatted with seller only a few times. Today more than ever.

Only a few times?

For me... A call or e-mail to ask pertinent questions including condition, history, maintenance and address to see vehicle, fine. Come over to inspect, fine. Buy, don't buy, fine. Beyond that... not much interested in entertaining an indecisive Chatty Cathy.

 

If they were speaking broken English they probably didn't understand you. Have one of your Spanish speaking friends call them.

 

Funny story....I once looked at free stuff on CL and saw an ad for free shovels. Called the number and it was US immigration office.

 

Craigslist is now almost entirely hit or miss. Up or down.

Case 1: Older/old, generally more honest and humble people who do not have FB accounts, or are not entirely computer literate.

Case 2: Crackheads, idiots, scammers

I'm generalizing here.

I sold an appliance on Craiglist last year. The emails I received were vague, but the email address appeared to be a first initial and a last name (I assumed an older guy at that point). Text messages were barely readable, I am not sure the guy knew how to delete incorrect or unwanted characters, wasn't sure what to expect at that point. Turned out to be an older gentleman who did not own a computer, had a flip phone and told me that he was having to email from the library.

And then the case 2... I was trying to give away a lawn mower, no charge, "just get it the hell out of here" kind of deal. I had a guy who was either drugged out of his mind or mentally in very, very bad shape asking if I could deliver it to an apartment, a fucking apartment. Ultimately, I ended up hauling the damned thing to a landfill.

 

Last spring tried to buy a dump truck from a guy who didn't speak English. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

If a buyer asks questions about issues the seller wants to conceal, seller knows he doesn't have the right buyer so he is evasive, cuts conversations short and doesn't return calls. Look elsewhere.

 

Exactly! If I'm selling something, I'm looking for a buyer not a buddy. I'll field ONE conversation with a buyer (text or email or phone call). If it's something you're interested in, come look at it. Otherwise, move along.

 

Bought my truck off CL. Don’t have FBM so that limited me. Have bought and sold three other vehicles off there. Agreed with the two types of buyers/sellers though…..

 

I've had good luck with laborers doing work in the neighborhood. Got rid of a riding mower and push mower at the neighbor's installing a covered deck. They followed me down to the shop and pushed both out. I didn't understand much of what they were saying but they seemed to understand.

 

Think you and I are looking at the same truck and have talked to the same guy.

 

Overpriced (IMO, based on comments from a Ford truck forum) F350 dump truck seller last spring flat out refused to answer questions over the phone. I had developed a list to go by. I replied "if you don't have time to answer these questions, then I won't make time to drive to Georgia. Good luck on your sale." Atlanta, GA is 500 miles one-way from my house. His loss....I'd have brought cash had the truck been what he claimed it was.

 

I would be willing to fly to Sacramento for the truck OP is talking about, sure he would be too. I text the guy about 20 minutes after his original listing on CL. Judged it too late to call so I messaged and asked that he call me when able. Think he called around 1 the next day, answered some questions and seemed friendly enough. When I asked for the VIN he got weird, wanted to know why i wanted it. Explained about the VIN decoder and he asked that I send him the link so he would run it. I told him I also wanted VIN to run a carfax report and he offered to send me a copy of the carfax he had already run.

So that's where we left it, he was going to send me the carfax and if everything checked I would buy the truck at asking price. Carfax never came. Couple days later original listing was taken down and few hours later the same truck was listed again. This time for $100 more and in a different town near Sacramento. I messaged the guy and said I was still interested, if he would send VIN and carfax we could finalize a deal. He messaged late last night to say he'd send today but, so far nothing.

I really don't get these scams if it is one. If you're trying to get people to send cash across country for a truck you don't have, better choices than the niche market of a 20 year old truck.

 

Probably hung up on EyeSpy to talk to you.

 

Sometimes it's easier to scam with weird niche market older vehicles, or they could just see it as selling an older truck to someone that's in desperate need of a truck and an easy mark.

The other thing with scammers, they usually leave enough red flags so the more diligent buyer will quickly realize it's a scam and move on. They don't want to waste their time answering questions from a person that's smart enough to not send them a cashiers check or venmo them a deposit. They want the person that is hard up and ignoring all those red flags, possibly against their better judgement, because they need a vehicle and it seems like too good of a deal to pass up. All of those email scams have typos and are blatantly fake looking for a reason, sorts out all the people they can't scam.

 

That's just it though, if you're looking for someone desperate you sell a clean looking truck with reasonable miles at 70-80% of market value and a price point under 10k. You don't list a low mileage cherry example at a price that most people looking at a 20 year old trucks can't afford.

Really the same point as far as not wanting educated buyers. Who else is looking to spend 20k on a 20 year old truck but people like us that have done our research and know just what to look for.

But to your point, not being a well thought out scam doesn't mean it isn't one. Kinda sad that there are people in the world stupid enough to fall for these. As far as the scum that target the elderly...

 

I want that truck BAD but I'd be happy to see it go to another forum member, even if I did see it first

 

Got a link for the truck?

 

If I was looking for a gen1... I'd set my criteria like this.

1. AC or DC / preference, 4.7 4wd.
1a. No rust issues
2. No accidents, factory paint, good appearance
3. No history of heavy towing, no lift or big wheels.
4. Not over 200k miles
6. $10k.

Put aside $5K for whatever it might need... timing belt, radiator, tires... whatever. Old vehicle is gonna need attention regardless of how well kept it might be.

 

Solid Criteria. Here's one that might fit the bill, was involved in a minor accident but that was more than a decade ago. Guy I spoke with at the dealer today claims the 2 owners are their master mechanics father and then brother. Short on service records as they're a do it yourself type family but he's trying to dig up what he can in regards to lower ball joints, timing belt, water pump, brake work, and any fluid swaps. They didn't skimp on the pictures anyway.

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/5TBDT44116S510407

 

This single video has probably helped me avoid getting ripped buying CL cars more than any other thing I've watched on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/uPUs08g7-3g​