German Vendor

[Dermot]

I have interest from a German vendor.

He wants to come on fly over on Saturday and if car checks out he will pay cash and drive it to the ferry !!! I am just trying to do some due diligence.

The chap I spoke to is a trader acting for the vendor who is also coming. The trader has a website which lists UK sourced sports cars including another Esprit (T329 JCL). Anyone know it?

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details....amp;tabNumber=1

My immediate reaction is a scam but it is all checking out so far. One thing I have established today with Barclays is that they cannot verify Euro notes at pay in. It takes 2 weeks so there is no way I am accepting euros if he wants to drive it way on Saturday.

Dermot

[Paul C]

Hi mate, a lot of Elises are being bought by people in mainland Europe.

When i was shopping and looking at the ads on seloc there were quite a

few going that way. There are guys on there that will have a lot of very

recent experience selling privately to a european buyer, so they are sure

to have some useful info about payment, proof of insurance, logbook etc.

You can always try asking, the worst that will happen is they will gang up

and take the mickey out of Esprits, again...

For that kind of money, IMO it's a two stage transaction: See it, go home,

transfer funds, sort insurance etc, return to pick the car up.

[dodgy]

I would be VERY weary Dermot, fraud and counterfeits are rife, and once out of the country .........

[Backmarker]

Dermot,

If he's coming over at the weekend he knows that the banks will be closed for 3 days and that you will not be able to check his finances.

Cash, drafts, cheques are all risky. Ideally you would want direct transfer into your bank account.

When I sold my S4, the guy walked into his bank, withdrew the cash and then walked next door to my bank where the money was duly paid in. You can't do that on Saturday and I don't suppose he has an account with a UK bank.

You are right to be suspicious. Apart from the risk of a financial fraud these guys may be built like brick shit houses and simply take the car without bothering to make a payment at all.

Find out as much about them as possible and be very wary. Have some physical back up if possible.

I agree that really this should be a 2 stage transaction. View, pay and then collect once payment has cleared. You could even volunteer to drive it out to Germany for them once payment has cleared

[Paul C]

Don't be too armed up with baseball bats when they arrive. The Esprit is too

rare to show a trend, but recent threads show bulk buying from Europe, maybe

due to the exchange rate, but Elise and Exige are running to:

France

Italy

Malta

Austria

Norway

Germany

Here's some real life quotes from current threads:

"Another one leaves the shores"

"Is every secondhand Elise being sold abroad ?"

"they are flying over buying 2 or 3 cars and shipping them back"

"My S1 will be picked up on Monday by a nice french guy"

"Could have sold it twice today alone, one from Norway and one from Denmark"

"French buyer flew over, I met him at the airport, he got out cash

from a exchange counter, and drove the thing straight back to France"

"Elise on its way to Norway!"

"Friend also sold his Elise via PH to a French buyer"

"there's already some people making business converting RHD to LHD"

"mine went to a french guy"

"so much easier dealing with euro buyers as they are prepared to put money where mouth is"

"It does seem a shame of the number going abroad"

"had an influx of interest from Denmark, Norway and France"

"a guy from France who bought it for the asking price"

Sure you have to be careful, as with any sale, but so many Lotus are going

with such frequency that the choice might well be to accept asking price from

europe, or take an offer for a domestic sale.

By the way Dermot, this guy: "French buyer flew over, I met him at the airport,

he got out cash from a exchange counter, and drove the thing straight back to

France" hit on a pretty good way to get instant legit funds.

[esprits4de]

....

There are Esprits available here in Germany, even know 4 super sweet cars available right off the bat, prices a little high for my taste, too high in comparison to the UK.

Still your car is RHD, not so sought after in Germany ! I would say be verry carefull!!!!!!

Edited April 7, 2009 by esprits4de

[matk]

I agree with Paul, Euro shoppers are increasing at the moment as the exchange rate is providing them huge UK discounts. Be careful, but don't knock him yet. If I wanted to see a car in Europe it would be at the weekend due to work commitments, not because I was scamming someone.

I think Grahams suggestion is pretty good.

[mayevora]

Make it real easy for yourself - Treat it like selling any car. Cleared funds in your Bank or no car.

Edited April 8, 2009 by mayesprit

[Whippet]

I think the best policy is to be careful but trusting.

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Just don't mention the war.

[mike_sekinger]

I faced the exact same situation when selling my V8. In my case it was made even more worrying as I was out of the country at the time and was being managed by a third party.

I eventually took payment from my German buyer in cash euros. It turned out to be an immense pain, as the notes have to be taken off to the clearing house for validation. In my case that only took 1 week, but if I ever do it again I would demand a bank transfer. Special wire payments between Germany and the UK can be executed in approx. 1 hour. If he is coming at the weekend, then you should make it a 2 stage deal - view, agree price and then sort out payment and collection.

He can either stay an extra day or two in the UK, or come back. I wouldn

[s4simon]

Well if I was buying a car in Europe and lived in the UK I would pay in the local denom ie. Euros.

and viky verky

If I were buying a car in the UK and lived in Germany I'd pay in the local currency UK

[LSV]

Hello,

I recently bought an Turbo Esprit in the UK and I paid the car in pounds.

First amount was bank transfer, remainder was in Pounds Sterling.

Be very carefull when the buyer tries to pay by checque (don't accept it!!)

Be very carefull when he says "I'll transfer a little more, so you can arrange transport for me), these are typically scams.

However, there's a huge price difference between cars in the UK and the mainland. Elises are often bought and converted to left hand drive. Landrovers are quite populair in the Netherlands, so quite a few defenders and range rover classics find their way to the Netherlands,

Regards, Ruud-Peter

[esp88]

Hi Dermot

I think the bank transffer is the best !

in Cash in EU has a limit, I think max 10000EUR you are allow ! so, Buyer can stop be by custom !

even in case cash payment, use your bank with buyer to put cash in your account same time !

make sure get copy of id card or passport !

Good luck !

[bo90]

My girlfriend sold her TT roadster last year to a foreign buyer.

He came over after seeing the advert, briefly checked the car and paid in sterling.

I told her to go directly to the bank with him before handing over the keys so that the money could be checked and deposited instantly.

Everything went fine and the buyer informed her that eventually the car would end up in Malta as do most of his RHD purchases. Apparently there is money to be made.

[MPx]

It seems congrats are in order then Dermot. Your German vendor turned out to have real money to use? Fantastic to see an Esprit go for decent money and quickly too. Just shows what making your car something special can achieve. Well done indeed.

[mr.oogieboogie]

i know when i bought my s4 there was a guy comming over from germany to view it if i was not going to buy it

[sky_cz]

as i see only i was so stupid to trust saler a drive 1800km to buy car directly.

[Günter]

Dermont, is your car gone now ? Looks as if the 'company' does the same as an other (equal) does it overhearer in continental Europe. Do you know *Target cars* in the Netherlands ? Imports more or less cheap RHD cars with an higher mileage ,for those who can accept to sit in RHD position. And as you see Lotus prices are a little higher on our side of the water

what i think is strange is those 'Vermittlung' phrase on the page. It means there is an benefit for the company and the real new (bud probably not 'last') owner will pay even more to the company. Wounder why he is not buying the car directly from you (as it is officially advertised on the typical pages !?)

[Dermot]

yes, car is sold. The buyer paid

[Günter]

500 for the dealer !? with *ryan-air* it should be good money for a fast deal depends on the ferry company he chooses

Maybe i will see the car on one of the 'official' open-gatherings

..or on German *e-bay*

Edited April 12, 2009 by G

[Gasman GT3]

I was in Paul Mattys recently and enquired how sales were, expecting them to say poor due to the down turn, but instead said they were 75% up on 2008. Virtually everything they are selling at the moment is going to either France or Germany due to the strength of the Euro. It's an ill wind as they say.

Whats your next project Dermot? Please dont say Ferrari.

[dodgy]

It is sad to say, we will not be graced with your car again at any UK meets

Glad the sale went well Dermot

[Dermot]

Yes, sadly lost to the UK. I was surprised there not more interest from the UK. The German guy was the first to see it. The car was running fantastically well and I had spent over 30 hours fully detailing the bodywork. It could not fault it in any way.

[mangel]

Congrats Dermot,

Can't wait to see some pictures of your new purchase once you have it!!