Some of the deals advertised on Auto Trader are scams.

The late model cars are advertised at very low prices to get your attention. If you part with your money, getting a headache is likely all you will get.

Yesterday while browsing Auto Trader for a used car, a 2006 Jetta TDI diesel caught my eye. Low mileage and only $4,000. The private sale had a great picture.

I emailed the seller and the car disappeared, only to return with a slightly different picture at $7,900.

The car was supposed to be in St. Louis PEI with a picture from a modern suburb like west Mississauga. The car is worth about $15,000 so the scam is too good to be true.

Today the scam artists are back on AutoTrader with a 2006 Lexus for $7,000 from dave at live.ca, a 2008 Subaru Outback for the unbelievable price of $5,900 and a 2008 Mazda Miata for $6,000 – all steals at less than one third their real value.

The best deal today is a 2005 BMW 530 for only $6,000. I want that car but I’ll need to come up with $30,000 more to get a real car in the deal.

Scam artists are prey on our greed. The deal is too good to be true but we bite anyway. Maybe the car was stolen and we are getting a really good deal. We close our eyes and hope we’re getting lucky.

The only deal these cars are is a bad deal. Autotrader should have someone to check out these private sale scams.

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