Hi recently advertised my sons car on Facebook Marketplace (VW POLO on for £12k). Got a guy messaged me , usual opener "is this available". Wanted for a run around, asked about engine and body etc. Then requested a "PI report". At first I refused but said if he wanted to get a report I would knock the cost off the value of the car. He was quite insistent that I give him the report so I paid for an RAC HPI and sent it to him (no detail info on it like address, owner name, VIN no etc. but clearly shows MoT is current, and number of owners etc.) This wasn't good enough for him so I asked what he specifically wanted. He sent me a link to a website - alarm bells start ringing! Instead of clicking the link I searched and found what seems to be a legitimate website pulseinspect.com. I said I would generate the report and send it to him the next day - wanted to do a bit more research. However, he was getting very pushy telling me he wanted it now so he could review it. He was also using phrases like I will pay the full asking price. That was the final straw so I said car wasn't available any more, blocked him and took the ad down.

My view is if it looks like a scam, quacks like a scam, then it is a scam! I'm trying to work out the mechanism of scammage and can only conclude that either the link he sent takes me to a fake website which steals my card details, the website that I found independently going by the same name is also fake, and/or he is after full details about the car including VIN number so the docs can be cloned for some kind of dodgy dealings.

Do any of you lovely people have a view/ experience of something like this?

I have no experience of the website you mention but in your position I would have done exactly the same as yourself, it could well be a scam so avoid no matter what they ask or offer.

Some people suggest something such as https://motorway.co.uk/ or similar is a good place to sell your car, might be worth looking at this option.

Trust your instincts.

You can easily check a car's MOT history online and after that you would expect a prospective buyer to come round for a look.

If they live a long distance then you could do a video call with them to show the cars condition prior to them coming in person.

And anyone offering the full price sight unseen would certainly throw up a red flag for me. 😬

Edited 19 July, 202519 Jul by Sofo

7 minutes ago, cnc said:

I have no experience of the website you mention but in your position I would have done exactly the same as yourself, it could well be a scam so avoid no matter what they ask or offer.

Some people suggest something such as https://motorway.co.uk/ or similar is a good place to sell your car, might be worth looking at this option.

good call - I'll put it on there and see what happens!

10 hours ago, barnsleyboy said:

good call - I'll put it on there and see what happens!

I recommend Motorway, initial offer was £1700 more than WEBAC. Sold the next day. A courier picked it up 3 days later, inspected it, contacted the dealer, who paid before my car left the drive. The key is to be very honest about any scratches, faults, etc.

I too would be wary of scams, a potential buyer asking a few questions for clarity before travelling is reasonable.

But his actions don't seem right to me, so ignoring him as a buyer sounds like you did right thing.

I recently sold a car through motorway, worked well, they sent someone to collect few days later, got offer £250 below their initial estimate, but was still £800 more than best px offer (and £1800 more than another offer). However when they came weren't happy that it had the original tyres on, 7 years old, as said would need to put new ones on to resell it, wanted to take about £270 off, but as they were in the photographs we agreed to meet in between as wasn't worth sending them away as still about £650 better than best alternative offer.

For the record I checked the buyers website afterwards, went on their forecourt couple of days later, they sold it about 2 weeks later making about £2300 if they got full asking price.

Edited 20 July, 202520 Jul by SurreyJohn

53 minutes ago, SurreyJohn said:

I recently sold a car through motorway, worked well, they sent someone to collect few days later, got offer £250 below their initial estimate, but was still £800k more than best px offer (and £1800 more than another offer).

£800k more! - you did rather well there...................(that's £800,000)

1 hour ago, SurreyJohn said:

I too would be wary of scams, a potential buyer asking a few questions for clarity before travelling is reasonable.

But his actions don't seem right to me, so ignoring him as a buyer sounds like you did right thing.

I recently sold a car through motorway, worked well, they sent someone to collect few days later, got offer £250 below their initial estimate, but was still £800k more than best px offer (and £1800 more than another offer). However when they came weren't happy that it had the original tyres on, 7 years old, as said would need to put new ones on to resell it, wanted to take about £270 off, but as they were in the photographs we agreed to meet in between as wasn't worth sending them away as still about £650 better than best alternative offer.

For the record I checked the buyers website afterwards, went on their forecourt couple of days later, they sold it about 2 weeks later making about £2300 if they got full asking price.

Were you able to see if they had in fact replaced all the tyres?

2 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

.... However when they came weren't happy that it had the original tyres on, 7 years old, as said would need to put new ones on to resell it....

Sounds like 🐃💩 to just knock you down again.

I've heard good and bad about Motorway and every time I read something like this it makes me wary of using them.

If you were a prospective buyer of one of their cars and said "Those tyres are 7 years old and need replacing" I'm sure you'd get a different story from them. 🤔

To the OP, yup sounds scammy. Especially the fake urgency.

To add to the Motorway comments.

I sold my Dad's car through that and got about £2000 more than the local dealers were offering.
No hassle at all. Probably helped that the car was reasonably good condition and was going to a honda main dealer.

I've heard some bad tales about Motorway but you can refuse the sale and as long as you have not misrepresented the car Motorway apparently Motoway will sanction the dealers for mucking around if you complain.

The driver who collected my Dads car did say that he had seen the reverse as well with sellers using pictures of other cars to list theirs, bit like catfishing.

https://help.motorway.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/4515953597980-Will-the-dealer-try-to-change-the-sale-price-on-the-day

Edited 29 July, 202529 Jul by Aspman

3 hours ago, Aspman said:

...The driver who collected my Dads car did say that he had seen the reverse as well with sellers using pictures of other cars to list theirs, bit like catfishing....

Who would be thick enough to think this would work?

Were they planning on distracting the driver's labrador while they kicked his white stick away? 😄

8 hours ago, Sofo said:

Who would be thick enough to think this would work?

Were they planning on distracting the driver's labrador while they kicked his white stick away? 😄

The courier who collected my car stated that about 30-40% of deals don't progress as they aren't as described. One seller had 2 identical cars and had taken pictures of the good one with the scratched & dented one's number plate on. Then on colllection day, had switched the plates back so the would-be buyer was to receive the poor condition one. The courier pointed it out. Seller vehemently denied it. Courier then sent the standard on-site video to the buyer, who refused to proceed.

21 hours ago, Sofo said:

Who would be thick enough to think this would work?

Were they planning on distracting the driver's labrador while they kicked his white stick away? 😄

Common in Glasgow he said. I assume they hope that because the buyer might have come some distance they will take the car anyway rather than have wasted the journey.

Never underestimate how stupid and greedy people can be. Most live in their own little worlds these days and probably genuinely think they did nothing wrong by taking photos of another car.

The chap that took my Dad's car didn't even take it for a test drive. He was friendly towards me anyway because I'd offered to pick him up from the local station which he appreciated. Said he knocked £300 off a car the week before just because the guy left him hanging 10 miles away with no taxis and laughed at him for being stuck.

6 minutes ago, Aspman said:

The chap that took my Dad's car didn't even take it for a test drive. He was friendly towards me anyway because I'd offered to pick him up from the local station which he appreciated. Said he knocked £300 off a car the week before just because the guy left him hanging 10 miles away with no taxis and laughed at him for being stuck.

Once upon a time known as 'common courtesy'. Very sadly missed ...

3 minutes ago, MikeTheThinker said:

Once upon a time known as 'common courtesy'. Very sadly missed ...

Indeed, was no skin off my nose it only being 10min away and he immediately considered me a straight bat and didn't challenge anything. win win.

P.S. the car was completely and truthfully listed and has no issues other than it reeked of dog.