Regrettably, the collector car hobby is filled with scams and shady dealing. Every deal has to be done with caution and skepticism. Do the words “selling for a friend” cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand up? Would that stop you from pursuing a desirable automobile if you really wanted it? If you wanted a challenging luxury car project, you would be hard pressed to find a more suitable specimen than this 1956 Continental Mark II for sale on craigslist in picturesque Fenton, Michigan. While the $10,000 asking price is an obstacle, are the terms “listing for a friend” an even bigger hill to climb for you? Thanks to Pat L. for this interesting tip!
There are legitimate reasons for someone else making an internet ad for a seller. First off, this hobby is largely made up with folks north of the age of fifty. They are what techies called “digital immigrants.” That is a slightly offensive term meant to convey the idea that they didn’t grow up in a world where computers were such an integral part of everyday life. “Digital natives” never knew a world where everyone didn’t have a cell phone, computer, or iPad. Some of these folks were raised by computerized devices, which could be good or bad depending on the parents they had. So, one could see a grandfather coming to a grandchild for help selling an old car or parts to an old car because the days of mailing an ad and a check to Hemmings Motor News and waiting a month or two for the phone to ring has gone the way of the dodo bird and the carrier pigeon. There is little alternative to going online.
On the other side of the equation, there is a reason why scammers always seem to go after older folks. Combine a scammer’s complete lack of any morality with the financial resources and trusting nature of the older generation and problems quickly arise. We have all heard stories about folks being scammed, widows being cleaned out in a liquidation of a former collector’s treasures, and countless other unfair and unjust practices that largely go unpunished even if the culprit is caught. The reminder that they used to hang horse thieves sometimes leaves one yearning for a return to the brutal but effective old ways. Recidivism wasn’t a word in use back then.
So how do you protect yourself in a world where even USPS money orders are being counterfeited without much resistance from the once universally feared postal inspectors? You use the resources of the internet to see if the ad is legit. Look up phone numbers. Search for the ad in different corners of the internet. Check the social media of the seller. Ask a friend or two to look things over and go with you if you decide to meet the seller and see the product. Discuss with your bank what type of transaction would protect you the most. These are just a few of the safeguards, and I hope that our readers add more in the comments. We need to look out for each other in an environment that becomes more lawless by the day.
So, what about this Continental? The story is that his friend got it from his stepdad. The car has reportedly been in a garage for over 30 years, and it is very solid. The seller does not think it will take much to get this rare, hand-built car running. At least that is what it says in the ad. There are pictures posted of the radiator and air conditioning condenser in the back floorboards and the pictures posted also show the car sitting outside and in a concrete walled building with what looks to be a concrete floor. There are some interesting differences in the pictures. The driver’s side taillight and reverse light appear to be broken in the garaged picture but look to be intact in the picture taken outside. The inside pictures also show the car looking like it is a very, very dark blue but outside it is clearly black. All of this could be explained away with lighting and replacement parts. It just makes you a bit more curious about the ad.
The picture above shows what may be this car during its glory days. Continental Mark IIs are special cars, and a restored one would be a desirable ride to say the least. The problem with restoring a car like this back to its original, opulent condition is the cost of restoration. These cars were basically hand built with the best materials available. Restoration of this car would not be cheap, fast, or easy. At a $10,000 asking price, this one may sit for a while before it finds a buyer.
Have you ever been scammed, or has someone tried to scam you in this hobby? Is “selling for a friend” a warning sign to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I saw a 63 split window coupe on FB Tampa a few days ago, for $22,000. The lister provided an email, and I emailed the seller, his sister-in-law.
I asked to see the car in person, imagining it was near Tampa somewhere, but the next email said the car had been transported to Connecticut. And the verbiage in the emails was suspect, kinda like the verbiage you’d find an African prince using. Dis-missed!
One thing most people fail to check when the person text’s you: the actual phone number of the caller. I recently had one contact me about something I had for sale, and the phone number was 234-902-104-2898.
First off, as far as I know, no north American 7-digit phone number starts with 1. This is a 13 digit phone number. Those extra 3 digits in the front – 234 – are for Nigeria, and the second 3 digit set – 902 – are for the capitol city Lagos. Nigeria is the busiest internet scamming center of the world. Many authorities refer to Nigerian scamming as “234 scams”.
Always check the phone number of any text, and if it looks suspicious, but only has the 10 digit number, use a different phone number & call it. If they answer, tell them you are interested “in the car they are selling”, but don’t mention the year, make, or model. If they suggest they are selling more than one car, pick a valuable sounding, but fake, car out of thin air, like a 1957 Bentley Mark VI drophead coupe, and if they are a scam artist, chances are they will say “Yes, we still have that one”!
The person who contacted me at the number above was clearly from Nigeria, so I decided to play a game with them until they finally gave up. The call came in at about 8pm, and I kept them texting me for almost 4 hours! I also welcome anyone who wants to play games with this person to go ahead and text them! [That’s why I provided the phone number here!]
The best rule of staying safe is: If something doesn’t seem right, then stop. And remember, scammers are adept at coming up with logical answers to ALL of your questions.
I had the same scammer post a ’69 Camaro for $22,300 on Local Marketplace, then it flipped me to the Connecticut “Logistics” company where the car is “sealed in a trailer” no access. Offered to come there to inspect the car, but no deal. Found another Camaro listing with almost verbatim description at the amazing price of $22,000. If it sounds too good to be true…………
Even if legit you know how difficult these cars are to restore. Although they are a sleek expression of minimalism, there’s a serious amount of chrome and leather.
Not to mention motors, vacuum lines and servos. At least there’s no A/C to fight with.
Beautiful cars, but another case of you really have to have passion, patience and pocketbook.
I just ran into a scam trying t sell my 67 Vista Cruiser. The guy texted me trying to get me to pay for a report from a VIN site (not carfax). I looked into the site and it had a low rating and wanted me to pay for it. He was real aggressive about me getting this report and then he would come look at and buy the car. I’ve sold plenty of old restored cars and have never been asked to provide a report. After some back and forth with the scammer, I told him, the only way he would get the report is if he paid for it by sending me a chech or giving me his credit card info. Never heard from him again.
I fell for that one once, but got my money back from the CC company. Thought the buyer was serious until I noticed the time stamp on the email was 3hours different than my time zone when the buyer was supposedly just south of me.
I’ve been restoring old cars and now old motorcycles for more than 30 years. My favorite scammer story was when I had an antique BMW up for sale. The scammer texted me he wanted the bike. And he was sending me a cashiers check by overnight. The next day I received his check via Fed-Ex. Too good to be true so I brought it to my bank and asked them to verify it. They told me if I had the buyers name and address it would be quicker. So, I told the scammer the bank wants to hold his check for 14 days, but it could be reduced to just a few days if he would give me his name and address. He did. I brought that to the bank, where they did say it was a scam but they would turn over the name and address and the check to the FBI because it came from out of state (California). Meanwhile the scammer kept hounding me for the bike. When I told him what I did, I never heard from him again. That gave me a chuckle
The seller wants to meet at his grandfathers hog farm, located miles from anywhere, with limited cell phone access, after 9 pm. Seems legit to me!
CL posting from the link gives an asking price of $5500
They’re getting closer. I was thinking more like $2500 if they have all the parts.
Well if it’s a scam, it’s a scam, nobody in their right mind would buy a car like this without seeing it in person anyway. If it’s for real, $10,000 for one of these is peanuts, these cars are rare, I think they only built about 1700 of’em between 56 and 57. The obstacle would be parts, not so much for the powertrain, but for trim, light lenses, interior pieces, etc, could be a problem, I don’t know of any reproduction items for these cars. This one doesn’t look that bad, but who knows I guess. A number of years ago, I saw one sitting in a field, I thought I found a found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I could have had it for $1500 bucks. But sadly, every chrome piece, along with many other parts were gone, the owner had used it for a parts car for the one he restored. But they were definitely the masterpiece of the 50s.
Well… if it isn’t a scam ad, it’s an excellent imitation of one.
Scammers like to advertise desirable classics in turnkey condition for maybe half of what they are worth in the marketplace. If you’re going to the trouble of scamming somebody, why try for a measly $5500? I would think it would make more sense to “sell” something like a ’69 GTO Judge and then take the weekend off.
Craigslist always raises the hair on my neck, combine that with “selling for a friend” and well….
I’ve listed and sold many cars for friends and bought at least one in my lifetime that’s was listed as selling for a friend “. Scams are obvious people. This is not a scam. Not sure how people actually can go and physically look at a car and give someone money and get scammed. The problem is people are paying for things sight unseen and wondered how they get scammed.
Classic car scams are not the only scams to be aware of. I got a message one day from a scammer using my brothers face book/messenger page. there’s something called cloning someone’s identification for the purpose of scamming. My brother lives in an area with poor to no cell service so calling him to verify was not possible. So I just wrote the scammer that I had talked to my brother and he knew nothing about it, I never heard from them again. It’s a shame we live in a world of crooks who have no mercy on older people and will steal all their income if they can. I reported to the FBI and the FTC but don’t expect they will catch these thieves. Be careful what you say about these things too, I was blocked from FB recently for saying these people should be hanged.
God Bless America
I encounter scam ads fairly frequently online. The dead give-away is almost always the super low price.
I sometimes respond on the off-chance the sale is legit, but more often for sport in toying with the scammer.
I have found a number of locally advertised cars where the scammer (often “selling for a friend”) claims the car is “in storage” in some far-away city. The scammers then push for a sale, claiming the money will be kept in escrow, until the car is delivered.
No matter what city they claim the car is stored in, I always reply “What a co-incidence, my cousin is the Police Chief there. He loves cars. He can check it out, and do the deal.” So-far, that has been the end of every “deal”.
Craigslist link gas price at $4995.
Never buy any vehicle sight unseen. Could be real- looks like it’s in rural setting .
It’s so easy to get scammed even when you are smelling a scam brewing. A good rule of thumb, ‘If it looks to good to be true it usually is’.
Having said that I’ve bought and sold lots of things on craigslist with good luck. For the most part I find people selling and buying there are just like you and I, normal people. But there are scammers in the mix. As always buyer beware!
The worst I see these days are ads on facebook!
Good luck!
I have been known to sell the odd car for a ‘freind/ customer. Sort out scammer buyers or sellers by contacting a legit shop in the area and offer cash to inspect it for you. Also Buick,Olds, Cadillac, Ford, Chevy all have clubs with national rosters. Find a member in the area and he will know someone that is happy to check it out for you.
But FB has no qualms about allowing crooks to try and steal money from poor old folks.
I smell a scam. $5,500 on Craig’s List.
Avoid this like you would the ‘Beverly Hills Car Club’ (which is located nowhere near Beverly Hills.)
The car is real and not a scam. Geez
1959buicman:
please elaborate on how you have made this determination……
I am very familiar with this car, as are many locals, it is 15 minutes from my house. Not sure why people think this is a scam.
With the age of the average barn find owner is usually 70+, I’ve helped many of these guys list their cars for sale because they are not computer savvy, don’t want to deal with the tire kickers, and don’t want to get scammed and lowballed. Also the dozens of people who want to “come out and take a look” that never show, or show up and act like their casing the place more than being interested in the car is off putting.
The skepticism works both ways.
In the Central Valley of California, anything that is listed for a friend, you have to contact them thru G-mail, which is the first indication of a scam. IF YOU CAN’T SELL IT, YOU DON’T LIST IT.
I never understood why someone would put a car of this caliber in a field to rot.
Radiator in the back seat is never a good sign; any honorable guy would at least put it in the trunk! Stored outside in Michigan? No thanks.
Angel, there certainly must be a gene that allows people to think that they will some day acquire the money and skills to restore cars that they haven’t the remotest chance of restoring. Somehow, along with THAT gene, is also a gene that has them amassing multiple projects (sometimes dozens!) and then storing them outside so they can rust into oblivion, only to burden their surviving family when they die. .
People…when you figure them out, let me know!
Will do, Rex, and please, do me the same. (If I live that long)
Putting a vehicle such as this hand made Continental in a field is a travesty. Especially when they show pictures that they have a building to store it in out of the elements.
Rex, I think we’re both going to die with unanswered questions.
Angel and Rex,
I’ve got a story about a car and it’s negligent owner that will amaze you.
In the early 1980s I answered a call from a local man who had seen my yellow page ad for my antique car shop. He had a car that he needed to sell right away, and it had to be gone the same day.
On arrival at his home about 5 miles away. I found a large modern home with an attached 2 car garage. A big moving van was parked outside, and an army of men were quickly loading the van with the contents of the house. Parked in the driveway, directly in front of the garage [the garage containing nothing but household excess that many families have] sat the vehicle in question.
In 1966 the man who had contacted me was In London, England on business, and on a whim he bought the car and shipped it to Baltimore, then had it trucked to his home in Silver Spring. He drove the car around the neighborhood a couple of times before losing interest, so he left the car outside, letting the children play in and around it.
What was the car you ask? An all original 25,000 mile 1935 Rolls-Royce 7-passenger limousine with a body by one of the best coachmakers: James Young. By the time I had arrived on the scene, it had literally fallen on hard times, all 4 doors lying on the ground, and the wood & fabric center part of the roof had disintegrated years before. It was a mess, but basically complete. The Flying lady hood ornament had been taken inside by the man’s wife, so it was saved.
The owner was moving to Arizona that very day, and had expected the Rolls-Royce to be packed into the moving van, only to discover the moving company refused to do so. And to make it worse, the new owners of the house were to start moving in the next day, and the car had to be gone by midnight.
I bought the car for $500 cash, this was 5 times what he had said I could have it for, but as I had the $500 cash in my pocket, he accepted my offer, and gave me the title along with all the importation papers. I loaded the car onto my ramp truck, and came back with my pickup truck to load the various “loose” parts like the doors, and as we finished cleaning up the area around the car, I watched the moving van and the owner depart for Arizona.
The car was sooooo bad, there was simply no way it could be restored. That said, it did help save and restore several other pre-war Rolls-Royce cars, including a similar car in Minnesota. It had been running a Chevy straight Six and Turbo-Hydramatic, It’s new replacement R-R engine and gearbox coming out of the old limo.
Indeed this is a beauty and a very sought after car, but I quit dealing with Craigslist several years ago when an older couple in my area was murdered going to check out a 65 Mustang. Ebay hasn’t been much better, as far as scams, but not as bad as that. If anyone wants to find out how Shady this is do like a member says and check the number they text you back with and see.
I used to be in car business and bought many cars un seen from dealerships. Thought was dealing with a straight shipping company when saw a 1930 replica for $5K. Did internet search about company and all looked good, so bought on line with wire transfer. You know the rest of the story. FBI still trying to find them. Shopped for other cars since, suprising how many are scams when you say will come look.
@ Bill McC
That is even a bigger travesty!
I guess the old saying is true: people have more money than brains
Many years ago when I was trying to buy a car from someone who was letting it rot, he said it wasn’t for sale. I responded that it was a shame it was being allowed to deteriorate, and he said: “Old cars are like old pillows, worthless when they no longer provide support.” I always wondered how many old pillows were lying about inside his house!
Excellent write up Jeff. I am in my late 60s and unfortunately never got “into” computers. I am able to get by and did so because I had to for my work. I used to be an editor at Hemmings Motor News, so I have heard all the scam stories. We dealt with this crap daily. I have an eBay story that is not about cars, but old, valuable snowmobiles. In about 2006, there was a listing for a very valuable Arctic Cat racing sled. At that time, I owned a very valuable and 1 of only 375 ever made 1972 Arctic Cat EXT with a screaming 440 cc Kawasaki triple engine. So, because I was into these things, I scanned eBay almost daily looking at them. One day, I see a really valuable machine for sale and the listing is from Newark, NJ, not really the place you find this stuff. I called the guy., He spoke broken English and sounded Middle Eastern. I am not being racist, as I am Lebanese myself. Anyway, he couldn’t answer questions. Being in the hobby, I had friends in upstate NY who also had valuable racing sleds. After seeing this potental phony ad, I called a friend in upstate NY, who I knew had a similar sled for sale. I told him about it and he contacted eBay. The scumbag in Newark had just copied the entire ad and posted it as he was selling it. At least eBay pulled the auction. It is very sad what this hobby has become. In 1986, I bought a perfect, mostly original 1970 GTO in California OVER THE PHONE, and not a cell phone. I asked the seller for a tracing of the VIN. Easy enough, it’s at the base of the windshield. $5,500 later the car arrived at my southeastern PA home. The seller was Jim McGowan, who used to work for me when I was an editor at Hemmings. He still writes a column for them and I am retired living in my hometown in the Pocono Mountains. Oh, by the way, in 2015, I bought a 73 Corvette from Craigslist in New Jersey. The car was real, the seller’s son was a police officer and all went well. They were smart and had a special pen to check the stack of $100 bills I took to pay for it. Just be careful.
Truly a rare find and was quite a looker in it’s day. But sadly a parts car at best.
When selling a car privately, I would always meet w/ the potential buyer in a
public (busy) location. Why ? well I’ve stories of buyers showing up at your home “To have a Look” then coming back during the night.
. Next thing … car gone. Happened to someone I knew.
Back in the day, “Tar and feather” was the norm. LOL.
Sure looks to be two different cars , the taillights cant be too easy to find, and the rust on the “blue” cars rear bumper does not match the “black” car
Not sure where you see a black car. The car is a faded flat dark blue. The photo outside was taken years prior to being put in the barn. It sat outside for several months before he moved it into the barn. I am familiar with this car as it is located 15 minutes from me. For all the doubters, this is not a scam, and if you don’t believe me contact the owner, he is a nice person .
thanks for clearing this up for us!
When buying a car off various media sources, I always ask the seller to provide a photo of the state title showing the VIN, along with a photo of a tracing of the VIN plate showing the matching VIN. Sometimes the seller wants to hide the name & address on the title, and I have always accepted that.
The few times where the seller said they couldn’t provide those photos [can’t find the title right now, or can’t open the door far enough to get to the VIN plate, or some other excuse], I pretended to be fairly local, or have a friend who is local, and we want to come to see the car. The typical response to wanting to come see the car is we get ghosted! No more contact back.
They have had a tremendous response to the craigslist ad, with several experienced car people scheduled to look it over, so it should end up to a good home. My post was not intended to sound negative, I just don’t understand the allegations of a scam by folks without even making a simple phone to the seller to provide a VIN and other information they desire, before assuming an ad written by a family friend that is not a car person is a scam. I find that most scammer ads are selling 1963 Corvettes for 5k, not a number 5 condition Lincoln for the going market price.
1959buickman, it’s great that you know something about this Mark11 personally, but for people online who don’t know the car or the person, it has the earmarks of an online scam. Especially this car and at this price. Always go in person to check any car out is best to do IMO
I guess I dont see where the scam part comes in, this is a car based on the condition that is worth 5 to 6k, being sold for 5.5 k. People sell cars for friends and their elders all the time, I’ve done it many times for those that are not good with computers.
1959buickman,
For every genuine ad for a rare car on craigslist, especially when it’s “being sold by a friend” of the owner, with little information, there are hundreds of scam artists with similar situations to this ad. Combining photos of the same car taken at different times [or dates], often results in the appearance that the ad shows different cars.
I’m glad this one is real, as the car needs a good home. Perhaps you could let the person placing the ad know they might want to re-word it and let possible buyers know they will work with them to ensure it’s not a rip-off attempt.
Like you, I have also helped elderly owners sell cars, especially vehicles now owned by a spouse who knows nothing about cars. One of the things I’ve done is offer to send photos of the title showing the VIN, and a tracing of the VIN plate with both VINs matching. I do suggest the name and address on the title be covered until the buyer & seller meet in person.
Personally, I would rather see members here point out it’s a possible scam, than stay silent, and someone new to the hobby gets scammed out of their money.
Thank you for keeping us aware of the situation.