“Never leave your car with potential buyers,” warns Stefan: With this trick, scammers try to get a big discount when selling a used car | car

“Het Nieuwsblad” gives the floor to Stefan, a resident of Roeselare. He was recently contacted by potential buyers after putting his Mercedes-Benz Vito up for sale. It has traveled 240,000 kilometers. Interested buyers quickly transferred an initial deposit, and then scheduled a viewing and move-in.

During the move, the seller Stefan went to get papers and spare keys, while the buyers stayed in the car. Among other things, they opened the hood and wanted to take the car for a short walk around the block. “Since the car was in good technical condition and was always serviced on time in the Mercedes garage, I didn’t think it was a problem,” says Stefan. “But then it suddenly turned out to be an engine problem.”

It turned out that oil was leaking into the radiator expansion tank and this problem threatened to cost the new owner thousands of euros. “Then there was a discussion and threats were also made, because I supposedly wanted to sell a car that was not in good condition technically and I tried to hide the problem,” Stefan says. “In the end, after a long discussion, I gave in and deducted about 10,000 euros from the price.”

The West Flemish man did not notice the deception until the next day when he saw in camera images that the buyers had poured the liquid into the radiator themselves. Perhaps the scammers removed the oil very quickly, and then the “problem” was solved. The seller called the police, but his chances of winning a potential lawsuit seem slim.

Stefan says he mainly wants to warn others about his story, so the scammers don’t make more victims. According to the police, this fraud case is not unique. In the past, used car sellers have been victimized in the same way in different places in Limburg.