by Mike Gulett –
I was reading an article this week about a Lamborghini Espada with a Chevy engine for sale on eBay. When I looked at the eBay listing the car reminded me of an Espada that sold recently on Bring a Trailer, so I looked at the BaT listing and sure enough it was the same car. This eBay listing was real but many others that I found on other web sites that day were not.
I was curious as to what other Espadas are for sale so I did an internet search for Lamborghini Espada for sale using Google and came up with some surprising results; several questionable advertisements including one for my former Espada, which I sold on BaT earlier this year. The asking price was about half of the actual selling price and the photos were my photos that I used in the BaT listing.
My former Lamborghini Espada Fake Ad with a price of $86,000 – In reality it recently sold for $172,000 on BaT
Several other ads caught my attention because the car photos and descriptions were out of line with the very low listed price. I also recognized a brick wall in the back ground of one listing from a dealer in The Netherlands (Gallery Aaldering) and I noted that the dealer’s license plate was Photoshopped blank. Apparently these photos were taken from this dealer’s on-line advertisement.
Fake Lamborghini Espada Ad with a price of $54,138
The real Lamborghini Espada ad from Gallery Aaldering – The real price is 164,500 Euro ($172,642)
This link shows a list of Espadas “for sale”. Notice the prices listed are far lower than current values.
The search site Trovit led me to fake ads on these sites UsClassifieds4All and autoimpo.com.
This is what I found in just a few minutes and there are likely more out there. Many of the prices listed are so low it is hard to believe anyone would fall for the scam but some prices were not so low that someone might be caught in the trap.
Let the buyer beware.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
Buyer beware!
Mike, the gold Espada in one of the ads you show in Aurora, CO has a photo with background from cars I’ve seen for sale at the Beverly Hills Car Club (BHCC) I went on their web site and this car is not shown. Looks like a fake ad. BHCC tends to specialize in cars that have “needs” if you will. That background is used in most of their ads.
I needed some Chrysler parts for a 1971 Station wagon. I looked on the web and some wrecking yards contacted me with “real looking” websites. It was all a scam that I ordered some used parts and paid on a credit card.
I got a refund from the credit card company but it was such a hassle. My secretary spent about 4 hours for the explanation, emails, forms for a refund, etc. and it took 30 days for a credit.
I am not complaining by it takes ALL THE FUN out of internet.
Good Luck,
Chip
I know that scams happen. I am so lucky that I haven’t been scammed with the cars I have been tinkering with. There are lots of honest folks out there, too! There are benefits to being retired and spending lots of time in order to be sure about the desirable cars and the parts we need to support them. I was one of at least 100 folks watching a special edition car up for bid that could’ve been a “clone car” and I was trying to shake the owner down as to the provenance of the listing when somebody got nervous and bought the car. I’ll never know but for once I showed the patience to not get nervous and do something I might regret!