Beware of ghost cars warns Carcraft
If you normally buy rather than contract hire then be wary of an internet scam, warns Carcraft, one of the UK’s leading car retailers. Criminal gangs are using bona-fide well known online car retail websites to advertise great used cars, with great prices, but they don’t even exist.
Once the buyer bites they are re-directed to another site that offers to securely hold their cash whilst the car is “being shipped”. The problem is the car never arrives and the gang pockets the money.
Julia Phipps, Group Marketing Director at Carcraft says, “If it’s a deal that seems too good to be true then unfortunately it probably is. Alarm bells should also start ringing if the ad is littered with spelling mistakes or the phone number shown only offers a recorded answer machine”.
Good advice from Carcraft and dealing with reputable companies is obviously the best way to ensure you get your car delivered to you at the right place and at the right price. That’s why all the finance partners on Comparecontracthire.com are full BVRLA approved leasing companies and you will not be dealing with any third parties, if you decide to proceed.
Alfa Romeo MiTo
Before you decide to buy a used car, Comparecontracthire.com recommends you consider contract hire as another route to get your vehicle, for the following reasons:
1) Why choose a used car when you can get a new one at an affordable price?
2) You only have to normally put down a three month initial rental on contract hire. Thereafter you pay equal monthly rental payments allowing you to budget more effectively.
3) You never own the car, so all the problems about selling it in the future or being disappointed about trade-in values go away, as the disposal of the vehicle is the responsibility of the leasing company.
4) Contract hire can allow you to drive a better car than you think, as the contract hire rental you are quoted, takes into account what the new car costs and what it will sell for in the future. Try the £ Budget shopper to see the difference in rentals and you will be surprised at what you can afford.
5) If you don’t like unexpected bills you can also build all the costs of maintenance and routine servicing into your rental. All you have to do is choose your car, pay your monthly rentals and insure the vehicle and that’s it. Just had the car back in two or three years and order a new one.
Tags: car internet scams, contract hire