Sound too good to be true? probably is.

[Nikki]

this has probably been said here before, but I think it bears repeating ... If you see a used car deal that sounds too good to be true, it's probably a scam. This is especially true if the "good deal" is for a hybrid or other fuel efficient car.

While searching for a used car for a friend I found a listing for a 2008 Prius for $8200. This was not on an auction site. Listed mileage was 21,000 and the car in the photos looked like it was in good condition, not wrecked. VIN was not included. The zipcode location was in my town, but the phone # was for an area code about 800 miles away. The ad suggested writing to their email address directly [rather than using the response form on the website.] I wrote to the website regarding my suspicion this was a scam and the ad has since been pulled.

Be careful out there!

[PaleMelanesian]

Sometimes it's an undisclosed salvage title. There are still Katrina cars "floating" around out there. Now you can add Gustav and Ike cars to that list.

[Boston Man]

Some people use this thing called NUMBR

http://numbr.com/
http://www.inumbr.com/

It gives them a temp number to use while the post things on craigslist. It fowards calls to their phone. Maybe that person used it and it was a diff area code. I never used that service so i'm not sure.

[Maxx]

There have been a LOT of scammers lately on craigslist. The formula is always the same: post a recent model car for between $6K-$10K. Always a scam.

[93Hatch]

Originally Posted by Maxx

There have been a LOT of scammers lately on craigslist. The formula is always the same: post a recent model car for between $6K-$10K. Always a scam.

Yes, but how do these scammers expect to collect any money?

[Nikki]

I can think of several reasons why someone might have an out of area number. I remember the ad said the car was in very good condition & I thought it mentioned the remainder of the waranty. Tropical Storm Fay flooded large areas of Florida, so it's likely there are cars with salvage titles "floating" around here too. there were just too many things in that ad that didn't feel right to me.