Morris Minor Owners Club

beware CAR AND CLASSIC WABSITE On There is a Scam. A Morris Minor Convertible Split S creen 1950s But is Advertised A S A 1967 fOR sale In Cornwall (PENZANCE).I Paid a Good Deposit On This Car .And when I Came To Collect It There Was No Car . Today Ive Lost A Lot Of Money On Petrol And Transport. Im Upset By This "Con Artist"And A I Don"t Want Anyone Else To Fall For For iT,Also I"M working With The Police At The Moment From ian From Devon

The 'Morris Minor owners' forum' have suggested creating a network of enthusiast's able to inspect vehicles prior to purchase.

A superb idea, especially if the vehicle is located a great distance from the prospective purchaser!

I'm dismayed when hearing tales of enthusiasts being ripped off/duped!

Ian that is a terrible tale. Is it a website that is just a place for sellers/buyers to meet rather than being a business that actually sells the cars? If so I hope you have complained to the website so that they know that seller is not trustworthy?

Hope the Police are taking it seriously and there is a prosecution at the end, though sadly you probably won't see your deposit again and as you say costs were involved too in your time, petrol and transport and those monies are now lost too.

Thank you for your warning.

So - what happened when you got there - did the address not exist, or was it just a random address where the owners knew nothing of the sale?

Sorry for your loss but as you say we need to be aware, perhaps you could tell us exactly how this one works.
Regarding setting up a group of people to inspect vehicles for others----yes great in theory but much as it's nice to help others, you stand the risk of giving a different opinion of what's good/bad, and if the buyer finds hidden trouble later he's not going to be a happy bunny. Lets face it the future owner needs to see the vehicle him/herself, even if another attends, often suggested here. I suspect the op would agree.

Paying a deposit in advance seems a little dubious. A deposit is normally paid after seeing the car to 'hold' it until you return with the rest of the funds. Being asked to pay a deposit before even seeing it should have raised alarm bells.

Sorry to hear that you have lost money Ian. Unfortunately there are a lot of fraudsters about on the internet and a common scam is to try to get people to pay a deposit before they have even seen the vehicle. I don’t think the website itself can be considered to be at fault though, and they provide comprehensive advice on how to avoid on-line fraud:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/doc/fraud_warning

Is this the car, and if so, have you let the website know so that they can remove the ad to save anyone else becoming a victim?

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C339359

There are certainly a few things about the ad that seem a bit ‘fishy’ eg no number plates on the car, described as a 1967 then a 1950’s car, says it has a 1000cc engine but the photo is of a side valve, said to have a “good quality original canvas hood” but it hasn’t - it seems to be off a midget or something similar Thanks for flagging this up so that other people are made aware.

the address existed it was a flat you could not get to it a big gate infront of it rang the seller when i arrived he said he would be out in one minuit .waited a hour and he wouidn"t then answer his phone. heard nothing since from him thanks ian

If he took a deposit on a non existent car, then that is Fraud and a Police matter so be careful what you say on line as it could be used against you in a court of law.