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Like any scam out to con unsuspecting or unknowing individuals, questionable methods of buying or selling vehicles have become a worrying and familiar trend of the last few years.
Most recently, the words “vehicle” and “scam” are likely to be associated and remembered most from the infamous “Drive a new car for R699 a month” campaign that became increasingly popular in 2008, until it was discovered to be nothing more than a scam six years later.
Last year, radio station 702 reported of an online car dealing service called YapYap Car Deals which offered no residual payments on a specific repayment amount. It was subsequently discovered that the monthly instalments were in fact higher than those originally mentioned, the residuals were also higher and no documents needed to be signed.
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At the same time, the advertisement displayed by the service, while mentioning the price, didn’t stipulate the time frame of the payments which, according to consumer expert Wendy Knowler, who spoke to the station, contravened the national consumer act.
In addition, a number of dealers also fell victim to the scam with some not realising it to be YapYap deal Knowler revealed. At present, no new details about the saga have been uncovered.
With similar methods likely to increase or become more prevalent as consumers look to buy a car for the cheapest possible price, vehicle dealership chain AutoPedigree has provided a series of tips to consumers on how to identify a possible scam.
These include:
In addition, the chain also urges consumers to be wary of the likelihood of the provided images being stolen from a reputable dealership.
At the same time, Arrive Alive has called on consumers to pay attention to the following methods that could identify the deal as being a scam:
The association has the following tips in order to avoid being taken for a ride and therefore scammed:
Supplied by AutoTrader, buyers can check or verify the VIN number of a vehicle by logging on to www.vehiclecheck.co.za and following the steps. As indicated, the supplied details carries a price of R99.
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