How stupid and blind do they think people are?

@‌Mustangman

Either way . . . you run the plate or the VIN

If you run the plate, it shows the history and the vehicle associated with it

I’m in California, and the plate stays with the car

I’m not sure what would happen with a vanity plate

It’s too bad I can’t buy it. The ad says “Serious people only” and I am a funny guy.

… and modest! :wink:

The contact info provides a phone number in New Jersey.

That should be a hxxx of a storyline… :-0

Why all the dumping on Craigslist? They are exactly the same as any other classified ads. Some honest, some not. Locally (Bay Area) they’re pretty much the only place anyone advertises stuff. Sure, there are scammers, just as there were in newspaper classified ads. It’s not as if anyone was working to keep them honest, either.

I don’t dump on Craigslist but I do think the percentage of scammers and weasels may be slightly higher than other venues.
EBay doesn’t get a free pass; there’s a ton of ads that are fluffed or downright scams.

@MarkM‌

I’ve got no particular problem with craigslist

I just happened to be looking at the car ads, and I came across one that was amusing

If I had seen that exact ad on ebay, I would’ve posted it, except I would have said I came across it on ebay

It’s the ad that’s humorous, not craigslist

We recently bought a small pickup off of CL to do yard supply hauling and other little jobs that we don’t want to bang up our good cars with. The ad said something like “looks and drives like brand new!” Which is true, except for the ignition system that we had to replace from the coil forward, and the seatbelt that we had to replace because it wouldn’t buckle, and the (I still don’t know how they did this) oil evenly soaked into the headliner that we had to clean. And the rust under the doors that had left big holes we had to fix with Bondo. . . We still bought it because it was very cheap, and we don’t want a nice truck because we want something we can beat up without feeling bad, but the ad was pretty ridiculous.

Then when we went with the seller to transfer the title she wanted us to claim we only paid $50 for the truck so that the title fee would be less, and then give her half of the savings (no). Then she asked if we’d pay an extra $50 for it (no). Then she brought up the title fee crap again, in front of the DMV worker! Some people are so used to being dishonest that they don’t even know when to stop for self preservation.

He either sold the truck, or the ad expired after 30 days. The ad is gone.
Lots of folks like craigslist. It’s free, for one thing. It works for another.

I didn’t dump on Craigslist. I dumped on those poor unfortunates that believed what they read on CL… and discovered the hard way that their assumption that people selling things are honest was an erroneous assumption.

There’s a sucker born every minute (P.T. Barnum). CL just happens to be an ideal tool for crooks to prey on suckers. For those who aren’t suckers or crooks, CL can be a great place to buy and sell things. I’ve used it myself.

Wonder what the poster of that ad would have said when asked about a Los Angeles listing and why are we having a conversation through a New Jersey phone number.

Actually, in this day of cell phones that one wouldn’t have raised a flag with me. My son lives in CA and has a MASS area code. My daughter has a NH area code and has lived in CA, OR, WA, and NY… all with the same phone number.

ok4450 NJ? can they spell SANDY?

It is possible that this is a Sandy-damaged vehicle, although I tend to doubt it–given the timespan involved.

However, by simply using the searchable database of flood-damaged vehicles established by the NJ Department of Consumer Affairs, it is possible to determine very quickly if this truck falls into that category.

http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/floodedcars/

My suggestion about the truck location and the phone number is because a quite common scam is to heist pictures of a vehicle and post them for sale even though the seller has never seen or had anything to do with the vehicle in question. Happens a lot on eBay.

I found it unusual that the seller of that truck would park it on what appears to be a public street with no license plates on it.
All of those oddities combined with the odometer discrepancy would have me running.

Maybe that truck is all legit but 30 days and no sale didn’t snag anyone.

Yeah most Sandy cars have probably returned to their natural element (iron oxide). Some only got the floorboards inundated and could still be out there. NJ Department of Consumer Affairs? I would trust them. Not!

Hmmm, in NY the plate stays with the owner, and I have moved it over once already, and plan to do so again when I get another car…