Buyer beware : suspicious Roadster listing on eBay right now

[TEG]

I noticed this listing for a used Roadster claiming to be VIN #1333:

Tesla Roadster 2 Door | eBay

First sign of concern was that they called it a Sport, but 1333 VIN is not a sport.
Then I see "limited time 55% off" which is unheard of for a Roadster sale.
The ebay listing points to this listing:
2011 TESLA ROADSTER - Autos Bay Inc.
Which says $59,900 instead of $90,000 for a limited time.

Well, to further put the whole thing into question, I see that the photos they provided were taken from old listing of Roadster #1206 that sold a while back:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/161589439811
2011 Tesla Roadster for sale in Santa Monica California - United States

 

[ecarfan]

Agreed, that new eBay and Autos Bay listing for 1333 can't be legitimate because it uses photos of a different car, 1206. And of course the price is about $15K below the typical market value of a 2011 Sport.

 

[RiverBrick]

Fuel type: Gasoline

They are kicking in a new oil filter, though. Might be a good deal.

Edit: The BMW 7-series photo comes from a car listed as sold for twice as much in New Orleans several months ago. It's amazing how these scam sites can appear and manage to trap people.

 

[TEG]

This is perhaps the real #1333:

Used 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 for sale in the Buffalo, NY area that is available! Buffalo Buick, GMC, Cadillac Dealer in Orchard Park | Basil New Used Cars

 

[ecarfan]

Though strangely that car has different wheels and no rear Sport badge compared to the car shown in the "for Sale in Santa Monica" ad you linked to in your OP.

 

[RiverBrick]

The supposed general manager's picture was lifted from a UK hotel site.


http://autos-bay.com/images/manager.png

http://www.hotel-magazine.co.uk/wp-...anager-for-Rooms-Lancaster-London-low-res.jpg

 

[TEG]

I think ATF-Autos-LLC may be the same "people"...
atf-autos.com
atf-autos.com: atf-autos.com offers
atf-autos.com: ATF-AUTOS.COM - ATF AUTOS LLC - Used Cars for sale at affordable prices

 

[tinm]

Just some data points about this supposed "Autos-Bay" business:

• The domain autos-bay.com was created on May 1st, 2015.
• The domain registrant has a Yandex email address. Yandex is a Russian search engine company.
• The registrant's name is "Sandra McCray" which happens to be a women's clothing brand name.
• The registrant's address is in Clymer, NY.
• Autos-Bay says it's located in Plant City, FL.
• The photo of the General Manager, "Frank Chapman," is also the photo of one Florian Broemel who lives in the UK
• The photo of the Sales lady, "Jean Greene", is also the photo of Kate Watkins who works at Missouri Institute of Mental Health
• The photo of the Support person, "Alan Ferguson," is also the photo of one Jake Ernd, an Iowa high school varsity tennis player.
• The photo of the warehouse with the cars in it appears in forums and other websites all over the place.

I think you see where this is going....

 

[TEG]

It was suggested that I post full VINs in this thread so that people searching on the VIN can find this.

So, the questionable listing claims to be selling 5YJRE1A19B1001333, but instead shows pictures of 5YJRE1A30B1001206


*EDIT* it looks like all of the bids were canceled and the listing was just eneded on eBay...

(Weird that eBay says it ended on June 8th which is 5 days away)

 

[ecarfan]

Nice work @tinm! "Autos-Bay" website looks like a scam.

 

[TEG]

Some general advice:

Avoiding online car buying scams - National Consumers League

Tampabay: Stolen photos conjure up cars for eBay scam

- - - Updated - - -

The supposed testimonials page for autos-bay made me cringe:

Autos Bay Inc. Customers review

...I paid with bank transfer...
...I paid a 50% deposit first and the rest cash on delivery...
...I paid a deposit first...
... I paid with bank transfer...
...I paid straight to that gentlemen bank account and after that they send me his car....

Um, yeah, I guess you can see where that is going too...

 

[Ben W]

Some general advice:

Avoiding online car buying scams - National Consumers League

Good advice. Also another tip (which I nearly learned the hard way): If you're selling a car on eBay etc., be sure to establish a minimum feedback requirement for bidders. I tried to sell a used car recently on eBay and forgot to do this, and with a short time left in the auction a brand new high bidder jumped in: new account with garbage screen name, zero feedback. Fortunately, I got a solid local offer for the car and was able to cancel the auction. (eBay allows you to list cars in local newspapers etc. simultaneously with online auctions, and doesn't penalize you for canceling if they sell offline.)

 

[brianman]

it looks like all of the bids were canceled and the listing was just eneded on eBay...

(Weird that eBay says it ended on June 8th which is 5 days away)

Does eBay update the end date for auctions that are cancelled?

 

[Jaff]

I think this was "Bill from Buffalo's car"...he was up here a month ago at a GHEVA meeting and mentioned that he was going to trade his Roadster in on a Caddy ELR...

This is perhaps the real #1333:

Used 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 for sale in the Buffalo, NY area that is available! Buffalo Buick, GMC, Cadillac Dealer in Orchard Park | Basil New Used Cars

 

[bart513]

I just had someone from the UK respond to my "WTB Front set of Black Forged Wheels for my 2.5" giving me his name and wanting me to send money via Moneygram. Of course the price was right including shipping! I looked him up on FB and he looked to young (sorry) to have a Roadster and there was no mention of any EV involvement or any pic. I asked him to send me a pic of the wheels and never heard back.....

 

[TEG]

Looks like autos-bay is starting to get blocked by anti-malware tools:

 

[TEG]

Looks like 'it' has been relisted again:
Tesla Roadster 2 Door | eBay



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