Online motor traders branded 'cowboys'
Expat couple's online quote was reduced by a third
FRUSTRATED couple Mike and Tina Francis have been inundated with tempting online offers for their car but put the brakes on any sale when the value suddenly dropped by a third.
Adverts on British television offering to purchase ‘any car’ have become commonplace - and the online market has also blossomed along the Costa Blanca.
But Mike and Tina, who live in La Fustera, Benissa, now advise sellers to 'beware' – they said they wasted time and money taking their gleaming Opel Adam down to a Finestrat address only to find the online offer suddenly and dramatically dropped.
In fact, they have received four offers from online companies for the car – which contains many fitted extras – and is worth around €10,000 but there was 'quite a margin of difference' from would be buyers, of between €7,500 and €10,300.
Research showed that two companies apparently share the same ‘offices’ in Finestrat and could be traced to Madrid; both appeared to have a common owner in Germany.
Mike said: “I know it’s not illegal, it is not a scam, but I want to warn people not to fall into the same trap and not to be too trusting.”
He said when they decided to sell Tina’s car, they filled out a simple online form with basic data – but there were no questions regarding extras other than the model of the vehicle.
Once the form was sent off, there was a reply 'within minutes', and he said they were 'pleasantly surprised'.
As a result, and after daily reminders of an appointment, they separately drove down to Finestrat, expecting to sell the car. An operator took photos, looked over the paperwork, and sent them to ‘headquarters’ in Madrid.
After waiting an hour, Mike said the resulting offer was 'sobering' a third lower and the drop was blamed on ‘market influences’. He added: “We felt stuffed”.
Moving to the Costa Blanca last year, they have lived for many years in Barcelona and dealt with online companies before 'with no problems'.
Tina said: “It is a little car with a lot of super bits added, it is in super condition.”
And Mike said: “If the market is saying a small car like this is only worth within such and such a range of prices, why drag you down there?
“But they think you are that stupid. What annoyed me was not someone saying ‘your car is only worth this’ – which would annoy any owner; but dragging you down there under false pretences and giving you a sting at the end. It is people being misled.”
Tina added: “We went down there in two cars because we thought we would sell it. It was a complete waste of a Saturday morning – and we got nowhere except for spending money.”