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We are often asked the same questions, so we thought it might be easier to provide some common answers on the web to help guide you through your import.: - The internet now has provided the ideal means to try and find a vehicle, there are some regular places such as www.eBay.com or www.autotrader.com, and although these are the most popular places to look, there are many many other equally useful places to try out as well. The same rules apply, people comment "how can I be sure I am not buying a lemon from 6000 miles away", the simple answer is that you can't, you can try to be careful, but the determined criminal can be very convincing, we make no guarantees, but follow our guidelines and you have done all that you can apart from physically viewing and paying for the vehicle personally. Due to other countries mannerism some sellers may appear harsh, pushy or even rude, ignore this, mostly it is unintentional and is normally just down to the local dialect and possibly the surprise of talking internationally to another person and the natural wariness of scams to them, just be courteous firm and polite. The point about being firm is really important, if the seller does not want to do deal or insists on conditions that you feel uncomfortable with, then walk away, although hard, walk away, there are other cars for sale all over the world to satisfy your needs, they maybe hard to find, but deals that go wrong tend to leave a sour taste in one's mouth and it ruins the enjoyment of the purchase. Bidding and Buying for a Vehicle Online auctions are designed to create a spending frenzy and if you are not careful, the price will increase above your budget, but because you are hooked you will continue to spend, and what seemed like a good and exciting deal, ends up just being a mediocre or even disappointing. Set your limit and do not exceed it, it's hard but unless you have unlimited funds your budget will be exceeded considerably. We always suggest to never bid for an item until the last 20 seconds, do your research, but never bid and give the game away, prepare your bid, but don't hit the confirm button until the last 20 seconds. If you are buying from a non auction site try and identify how long the vehicle has been advertised, that will give you some idea as to how desperate the seller is, sometimes the best deals are made in these situations. In our opinion do your research, ask for additional photo's examine and do your checking, but inspections can frustrate a seller because of the time delays and in the end they refuse the sale. As a general guideline when more them $20,000 USD is involved then we would recommend an inspection. We can organise an inspection for you, however there are a few online services that you can find for yourselves, some of the good agents will even help negotiate and get remedial work carried out prior to shipping. Remember though that most inspections can take up to five days to organise and then an additional 2-3 days is required for the report. Before you jump to the next part, get a vehicle check done, it costs less than $20.00 USD but can only be done if your car is newer that 1982, records are kept at all major dealers of insurance claims, warranty and service history, most DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) will have logged the car if it has been written off. Most will provide an online report that they will store for a few weeks. When completing the online form, many will ask for a US Zip Code use 90110, but if corresponding with the agents, explain why in the comments section. We have used www.autocheck.com by Experian Automotive for eBay users they charge only $7.99 per report. Q .How can I be sure that my money is going to the right person A. We always recommend that you always email the seller before any money changes hands and ask for their telephone number and address. Then pickup up the phone to the seller and talk to them, se if they own the car, identify what history the car has, see if it appears to be their car or if it is just a scam. If you need more assurances, then ask the the seller to fax or scan and email a copy of the Title for the Vehicle together with a Utility bill from the same address, it is unlikely if it is a scam that he will be able to supply a utility bill as well. When you are certain, then there are four main ways to pay for your vehicle. 1. PayPal, if you have not already done so, got to www.paypal.com and sign up for an account, it is simple and easy and most buyers will accept a deposit by PaPal, usually $500-1000, do not pay more than that as a deposit as experience has shown that when they ask for more, then they are usually a scam, some sellers are quite happy to accept the full payment for the vehicle by PayPal to save time, but do your homework beforehand. 2. Credit Card, in the States they do not recognise our Switch or Delta Cards, therefore they will treat all credit card payments as liable to a 3-4% surcharge. In addition many have been bitten by fraud, that they will no longer accept the card for payment. 3. International Money Order (IMO) some banks will for a fee of between £8-10 raise an international money order from cleared funds in your personal bank account, you will then need to liaise with a carrier such as Federal Express to deliver this check by overnight delivery which usually costs in the region of £40.00 - £50.00. Beware though that some banks in the US will not clear such payment for a minimum of 4-6 weeks. This method of payment can be useful in that the cheque can be stopped if need be and it is traceable. 4. International Wire Transfer/International Payment System, most High Street Banks offer a same day wire to the sellers bank account or at worst a three day wire into their bank account, some Building Societies can take a lot longer, the charge for such service is between £20.00 & £38.00, you will need the information listed below. This is by far the quickest way to prove to the seller how genuine you are, most building societies struggle to offer this type of service. Personally the best way to pay a seller is by this method, if your seller agrees to that then you will need the following information for your bank: - Details for Wire Transfer 1 Sellers Bank Account Name 2 Sellers Address 3 Reference Number (Usually we put the Vin No) 4 Sellers Bank Name 5 Sellers Bank Account Number 6 Sellers Bank Routing Code (Equivalent to our Sort Code) 7 Sellers Bank Address 8 Amount to Transfer There are many ways to get caught out, by these thieving tow-rags the most obvious one is where a users account on eBay has been hacked, the thief will then modify an advert from a previous eBay sale to appear as though the hacked user is selling that product. Usually they will only write that there is a buy it now price of either $8000 USD or $9000, they will claim that the bidding is only available to pre selected applicants and the first to offer by CASH!!! will win the auction. These thieves will usually choose an exotic vehicle worth many thousands more that this to entice and trap the innocent. We deliberately wind them up and pretend that we will get on the next plane to come and collect it, it is surprising how quick the item is then sold to someone else. Another form of scammer is the one that claims that the vehicle belonged to their late brother, uncle or father and is currently in another country, however if you send them by western union cheque payment usually in the region of $4000-6000 USD then they will arrange for their shipping company to fly the vehicle over to you, we have great fun with these thieves as we lead them fully up the "garden path" hook line and sinker and get them to spend time and resources chasing us for nothing. These thieves should be reported to eBay, however eBay makes it very difficult to email them as they make it hard to find an email address, we use this one ukcswebhelp@ebay.com and it generally works. They have now provided a number in the UK to call as a help line, it is probably a premium rate number, but it is +44 (0)208-080-2100. If your in the USA then you can click the Live Help option on the top right hand side of the home page. There are probably many more types of scammers, but by adhering to our suggestions, then you are reducing the chances of you losing your money. Throughout our web site we have provided information on the type of shipping and where it is available, it is by no means exhaustive, but should be used as a guideline, at all times we encourage you to research the seller and the vehicle, where you ship from for delivery to is determined by the port not us. RORO (RollonRolloff) has become very popular, and the chances of damage are considerably less. It is in addition the fastest method to import your car, however if you plan to bring things over in your vehicle such as parts then you can't as the ports will not allow it.. Containerised shipping has a myth that the vehicle is less likely to get damaged,, in our option this is a fallacy as in our experience there is still a chance of damage occurring as the person loading the vehicle has to climb out of the window as there is no room to open a door, this is especially the case with larger vehicles. We choose our Shipping Agents carefully to reduce down the chance of any damage happening to your vehicle.. The main advantage using containerised shipping is when the vehicle is a none runner, or has loads of parts inside, as you cannot ship a none runner via RoRo of if it contains parts, have a look at our import page to determine which ports offer the different services. |