‘Mr.Shark’ coming to view my vehicle for sale. Advice?

[0500hours]

My husband died in April leaving some business debts. I have to sell his work truck.

’Mr Shark’ is driving from an hour away to view at half 3 today - does anyone have advice that’s done this before?

It’s parked outside my house. Like 99% of others who enquired he wants it for Ukraine he said.

Its taxed/MOT’d/insured/alarmed etc but how does he test drive it? Does he bring his driving licence and paperwork from his own insurer to prove he’s insured? He’s just come over from Ukraine he said and wants to drive it back there for the war. What if he damages it on driving?

Should I drive it instead with him as passenger?

I’m still waiting for the DVLA new owner papers to come back so it can’t be sold today anyway, he’s just viewing it.

He wants to leave a small deposit to secure it, but then how can I be sure he’d pay the balance?

Any advice welcome. There’s nobody I can call today to help me when he views.

Thankyou so much
posted on chat for traffic

He wont be alone either, I really hate these scammers who use such an awful situation such as Ukraine to scam people

Tell him it’s sold. Don’t do this.

drive it round to “We buy any car”
and get them to take it off your hands

Move the vehicle out of sight or away from the house. Lock up and go out.

Yes we’re all strong independent women, but sometimes the following suggestion is necessary… do you have a male friend who could join you for the appointment?

@0500hours don’t answer the door, this is a scam.

We’ve just sold late FIL’s car for MIL DH used the auction facility on Autotrader. It’s where you upload all the photos, traders make bids on it and you get offered the highest one but you don’t have to take it. Our highest bid was decent, so we did. The advert went up on the Sunday, the auction ended on the Tuesday lunchtime and they collected the car Friday, We probably could have got more from selling it privately but we didn’t want scammers at the door, tbh.

We got scammed, he came with mates and squirted oil into the head gasket and said it was only for for parts. Later realised it was a scam and they drove off with it having paid a tiny price. They know exactly what they are doing, either cancel or be very very wary and do not sell for "parts" tell them to sod off and drive back empty handed.

My aunt let someone have a test drive and they never returned. Definitely a scam.

I sold through Motorway and would recommend using them. I got £500 more than I had hoped to get privately!

Please don't meet this guy. Say its sold and not to come.

Well, I’m glad I’ve seen this thread, OP. I dont have a vehicle to sell, but I’m astonished by everyone being so sure it’s a scam. I’ve sold vehicles in the past, and had people take them for test drives. As they always left their own vehicle I always let them. Never had anyone not come back. They all tried the old “hard negotiating “ but they never got very far with me. I shall certainly think twice before doing it again, now though!

just dont let him drive the car alone. take photos of his vehicle and reg and him. I have a ring doorbell so was able to do it subtly when i was selling a vehicle.
So stresfful isnt it

For right now, given that he's decided he's coming whether you say to or not (another red flag), I would get any or many friends to come around and be here when he arrives - safety in numbers and they can help you to get rid. Don't let him drive the car and say it's now sold if necessary. Text him back now again saying it's sold, don't come, as at least if something happens you have the proof that you told him not to arrive.

It does sound very scammy sadly - and I would second a pp who mentioned Motorway, we used them to sell DH’s car and they were excellent, we got a good price and it was nice and quick.

If he’s driving then surely as per pp he will leave his own vehicle? So how will he drive off with it?

he knows he can’t drive it away today so scamming “for parts” seems odd too.

i’d also like to know exactly how this scam works and why people are so adamant.

have you told him you’re a widow/older woman o/p? For all he knows you’ll have a bloke there anyway.

but then I also know a bloke who did buy a van and regularly runs supplies to Ukraine now.

Thankyou for replies

I’ve had a look at we buy any car and similar

I can’t stop him visiting he’s already on his way

I have decided no test drive today but he can check engine and underneath etc I won’t give him the keys at any point

When it does come to selling I would r accept anything other than direct bank transfer

i never gave him my address he found it because he looked at my Facebook profile and just tracked down the address of my husband’s business then saw the truck parked outside our house on Google earth!

ah well it’s a small cul de sac everyone’s retired here except me so I know if there’s any trouble someone will probably come outside and investigate .

I’ll update after he’s been. But looks like it will be going to we buy any car type platform after today based on advice here.

Thankyou for replying I am grateful

He won’t come alone.

Move the vehicle and get out of the house. Drive to supermarket or somewhere and have a brew, tell him it’s sold

i've known experienced people being scammed due to dodgy cash or the vehicle getting damaged just before cash changes hands so they drastically knock the price down

This

Your update is even more worrying - he Google stalked you and worked out where you live? That's not the behaviour of an above board person. I really do think you should follow the advice on this thread and move the vehicle. Or at least go hide with one of your neighbors. Stay safe OP!

As for the “buying it for parts” surely the obvious response is “Do I look like I care what you want it for?”

It’s terrifyingly easy. I was on a FB group about a hotel in a popular destination, and they ran a list of dates when people were going.

for fun I would see how many people I could track down. I could usually manage home address, a floor plan, and their holiday dates in 10mins. For almost everyone.

There is a huge amount of theft of trucks being sent out to Ukraine at present. Strange of him to advertise that fact he's from there but who knows. I would definitely move it elsewhere after he's been.

When was the last time you did this?

Do you have another vehicle you can use to block it on the drive?

My partner recently sold his car through a car magazine advertising service and he was inundated with scammers. The clue is them all repeating the same lines.

About 18 months ago. Though I didn’t advertise it through Facebook, it was just on a local site.