Car Scams: How Can You Avoid Them?

Being scammed is never good, but you can lose an especially substantial sum of money if you end up being scammed when buying a car since vehicles are such an expensive purchase. Unfortunately, protecting yourself against financial loss when purchasing a vehicle can be a major challenge. Even when you buy a new car from a reputable dealer, there is always a chance the car will turn out to have serious defects which may necessitate turning to a California lemon law lawyer for help pursuing legal remedies.

While you can't protect yourself from all potential sources of loss, you can be aware of some of the most common red flags of car scams so you can try to avoid dodgy dealers. The Sun recently provided some top tips to avoid scams which could help you to keep your money safe.

Top Tips to Avoid Car Scams

According to The Sun, some of the key signs that an online car sale could be a scam include the following:

• A price that sounds too good to be true: Experts in fraud-prevention indicate that this is the single biggest thing that you need to watch out for in order to be certain that you do not fall victim to a vehicle scam. When the price of a car that you are considering is far lower than other vehicles of a similar make and model, there is usually a reason for it – the seller is just trying to get your money and the car either doesn't exist or has serious undeclared problems you likely won't find out about until after you buy.
• A seller you can't talk to: If you cannot actually get on the phone and talk to the person who is selling the car, there's a good chance that you may be dealing with a scammer – even perhaps someone from outside of the United States who is trying to just get you to send them money or provide your financial information. If you have to communicate with the seller exclusively via email and if the phone number you call for the seller always goes to voicemail, these are big red flags that suggest you should probably move on from the transaction.
• An advertisement that says the car needs to be shipped: When the seller says the car will be sent to you, this should send off alarm bells. First, you do not want to buy a car you haven't seen in person to assess the condition. Second, chances are good that the car doesn't even exist and the seller will disappear after getting your money.

Hopefully, these tips will help to ensure you don't give your money to dishonest fraudsters who are out to scam you. Unfortunately, nothing can protect you from the possibility of buying a vehicle that turns out to have defects even when it came from a reliable dealer and a trusted car manufacturer. If your vehicle has repeated problems after purchase, contact a California lemon law lawyer for help pursuing an appropriate legal remedy in order to avoid financial loss.