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MGA Is this a bogus eBay listing?

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Sarastro

Sarastro

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Take a look at this, and let me know what you think. I see the following problems:

1. The price is about $10K too low. Or more.

2. The car is supposedly in Michigan, but the pictures have European-format dates, and they just don't look like Michigan. They look, to me, like the flatland south of Munich before you get to the mountains. I could swear I've been on that piece of road.

3. The description appears to have been translated from German by a computer-translation program. Besides the strange words used in the ad, the word "Lichtmachine" (generator) was not translated, probably because it was misspelled.

4. Zero-feedback seller.

The auction has 71 watchers and no one has bought it yet. Given the very low price, it seems to me that lots of other people are wondering about it, too. If it's real, I'd expect someone to have jumped on it by now.

I reported it to eBay, but these days you can't give a written explanation, so whoever examines the listing probably won't appreciate the problems, especially the price, which (to my mind) is the strongest concern.
 
Doesn't look right to me either Steve. Personally I wouldn't touch it without an independent inspection. And yes, where is this car? PJ
 
Certainly has all the signs of being bogus -- low price and oddly written description. Would require some in-person work before I'd be comfortable bidding.
 
I live in Michigan. This car is listed as being in Gladstone. Gladstone is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near Escanaba. Pretty far up there. I then googled the email address on the listing. It lists a phone number that matches the Upper Peninsula area code. Local to Escanaba.
So, that's what I know for sure. Still, with zero feedback it's hard to say for sure. Something does seem pretty fishy with the wording, and the price seems low with a strange buy it now. Plus, if you look at the date on the photos, it says 15/6/14. Day/month/year is a common European convention, but not so much here in Michigan.
They could have scammed this guys e-mail and phone number to make it look legit. Makes you wonder. Why do scammers go to such lengths. Nothing much else to do I guess.
I looked a the Upper Peninsula Craig's Lists and this car is not listed there. There is a red '62 MGA for $20k listed in Iron River.
 
99.99 % sure it's a scam (I like to leave a margin of error). Internet scammers work by taking listings or pictures from an online site and using a fake listing. They're generally not too devious in how they find the pictures they use. Here's what I usually do to try to figure out if an internet listing is a scam. First, I google the VIN # to see if it's shown up in another listing. If I don't find a listing there. I download one of the main listing pictures to my computer. If you go to Google Image search, you will see a camera in the search box. Click on the camera and it will allow you to upload a picture from your computer to search the web. I uploaded one of the MGA pictures here and entered the search. I found the same picture on this website: https://mga-roadster.beepworld.de/mga-1500-.htm If you enter the site into Google Chrome. it will give you the option to translate from the original German and surprisingly produce the same language used in the eBay ad. I believe that MGA is safely in Germany and not for sale in the UP at a ridiculously cheap price.
 
Good research! I didn't think to do an image search.

I found parts in the German page that were clearly put through the machine translation.

Ebay hasn't pulled the listing yet. In the past, when you reported a listing, you could tell them what the problem was. Now you can't, so I couldn't explain the problem. Probably they looked at it and it seemed OK to them. I hope no one gets taken.
 
Steve it can be reported. Go to customer support, go to self service tools, report an item. When the blue button appears, click on it. Choose the item from thumb nails and fill out a report. PJ
 
Yeah, I did that, but I didn't get the promised confirmation email, and the item is still up. I reported it a second time, and nothing's happened. In the past, when I reported a fraudulent listing, I could tell them why it was fraudulent and it disappeared fast. Not this time, though.
 
It appears to be ended on ebay. I wonder why! :rolleyes: and I was just getting interested! Just my luck. Oh well, maybe another restored MGA will come up for 10Gs. :crushed:. PJ
 
I think it's a good sign that the car had 100 watchers, and non were gullible enough to try to buy it. Reinforces my faith in the intelligence of LBC people.

I'm still a little annoyed that eBay didn't remove the listing.

I wonder if the miscreant will relist it?
 
Sarastro said:
I think it's a good sign that the car had 100 watchers, and non were gullible enough to try to buy it. Reinforces my faith in the intelligence of LBC people.

I'm still a little annoyed that eBay didn't remove the listing.

I wonder if the miscreant will relist it?
Click to expand...

Don't know Steve, but maybe the listing authority got the message and pulled it. PJ
 
You guys are too suspicious. I'd buy that car in a minute. Upper Michigan is full of bad-translating Germans. Murdick's Fudge too. And by the way, I've got a small bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. You can collect the tolls!
 
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