Car seattle craigslist

They might say they're about to be deployed by the military, or claim they've lost their job and won't be able to pay rent without selling their car. Often, they'll claim the car is in high demand, so they won't be able to guarantee the way-below-average price unless you put down a payment. Read more: 8 of the best car accessories you can buy at Costco.

Next thing you know, you've put down a big chunk of change for a car that you'll never see. Escrow sites are designed to protect you as a consumer. You pay a third-party site instead of sending it straight to the seller, and if anything goes wrong, the escrow will give your money back to you — not the scammer. But fraudsters know that online shoppers are looking for protection like that, so they'll trick you into thinking you're entering a safe agreement by spoofing an existing escrow site or setting up their own.

Don't automatically trust an escrow site that a seller recommends. The BBB suggests researching the site yourself, and only trusting escrow services that are licensed by the state. Rolling back the odometer is one of the oldest tricks in the books. The number of miles that a car has driven is a good indicator of how much wear and tear it's gone through, so skimming a mile or two or 10, off the top tricks buyers into thinking they've bought a practically new vehicle.

The average driver takes their car for about 13, miles every year, according to the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration , so if a five-year-old car only has 15,, that could be a tipoff that the mileage isn't accurate.

Of course, some people really do drive less — teens and elderly people tend to drive less than 8, a year, for instance — so compare the odometer reading the car's other features, recommends the BBB. You shouldn't see worn-out tires and a well-loved interior on a supposedly barely driven vehicle. Even if the car looks like it's in good shape, there could be damage from an old accident or flooding that the seller is purposely trying to hide.

Be skeptical, even if the owner offers you a copy of the vehicle history report — the seller might have forged it to clean up its history. Instead, ask for the vehicle identification number, or VIN, and do your own sleuthing through trusted third parties like Carfax — but know that even those can be missing information because "public records are horribly incomplete," Petersen said. Until you've been in a more realistic driving scenario, you won't be able to tell how the vehicle actually drives and whether it's been through proper maintenance, he says.

Ask for a longer test drive; a seller who refuses might have something to hide. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.

Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Marissa Laliberte. Craigslist is a popular place to go to for used vehicles, but that doesn't mean everyone posting a for-sale car is acting neighborly.

While there are plenty of genuine people looking to sell, there are also scammers looking to get your money. We asked experts which scams to watch out for when buying a car on Craigslist, and this is what they said.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Clear Apply. Create Alert. I am the second owner and all mods were professionally done under my ownership most within the last three years.

Clean title, low miles. Loaded as well. Good service history noted on the vehicle history report including the 90k service which was just done at the Toyota dealership. Options include heated leather seats, automatic transmission, power windows, power locks, cruise control, AC, floor mats, keyless entry, smart key, bluetooth, steering wheel c Clean title, clean carfax.

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Clean title, 1owner. Options include automatic transmission, bedliner, towing pkg, premium alloy wheels, heated leather seats, power windows, power locks, cruise control,l AC, backup camera, bluetooth, towing pkg, and of course it is 4WD.