Has anyone heard of "Auto Marketing Group"? - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

pdudek · 13th March 2010, 04:48

Hello all,
I put my VW GTI on the market about 2 weeks ago so that I can upgrade to a low km 2002/03 M5.
Today I got a phone call from a place called Auto Marketing Group. It is a 7 year old company and their customers are usually people with bad credit. The company evaluates them and gives them a max credit which of course comes with a high interest rate (they said it is from 8-12%). Once that has happened they start looking for a car the customer wants.
So apparently the lady who called me from there said, she has a guy that wants a GTI and mine is his credit price the range. I have to register with them though which is a $500 fee that I will get back once the car sells. Once the registration is completed they can arrange a meeting between their customer and myself. If the car won't sell to this person, they will advertise my car all over the place and keep trying to sell it.
This is what I got told from the lady but I don't know what to believe. I tried finding information online but it was very limited. They seem legit but maybe one of you guys and gals have had some experience with them?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated ..

By the way they offer their services both in the States and in Canada.

timmay77 · 13th March 2010, 04:56

If you can't find info on line, that should tell you something. These companies are a scam. They surf Auto trader looking for people who are selling their car to rip them off. DO NOT DO IT.

Jacob_Seattle · 13th March 2010, 04:58

Sounds like a scam or some low rate marketing company. There is a great way to test. If it were me, I would ask them to have the payment defered (the $500) until after they sell the car or have a buyer that completes the deal. Make them work for the money. This is a lot of money and you only plan on selling 1 car, not a lot of cars this year. It would be different if your business was selling cars. If they are legit, they will go for it and once the transaction is made between you and buyer then you give them their payment (you can write it up contractually if they are worried about not getting their payment). Just my 2 cents.

pdudek · 13th March 2010, 05:09

After I figured out it was some company that wanted to be the middle man I told the lady to send me an e-mail with all the information in it and I wanted to see some kind of contract before I give them $500. They are supposed to call me back on Monday so I will see if they are willing to work with deferring the payment.

There is a fair amount of information on the net about them but none of the websites reviewing them are big names.

The only reason I was listening to what they had to say is because I didn't have a phone call on my car yet and I listed it at a very fair price. I do understand times are a little slower and I will probably end up paying autotrader or kijiji a little to make the adds more noticable. That'll definitely won't cost me $500.

ard · 13th March 2010, 09:02

Are you kidding me??!?!?

As an adult having purchased cars for several decades, and daily involvement in this and other forums for many years, I have never heard of this. It must be a scam....(my definition of a scam is something that needlessly costs you money..)

Scams usually use an element of 'victims greed'...this caller tells you that you will get asking price- you want to believe her since you want to get asking.

Oh, the fact that they CALL, and deal with you verbally- as opposed to providing legally binding written documents is also a big red light...

CSBM5 · 13th March 2010, 14:54

WHOIS search shows the url was created in Aug 2009.

Perhaps giving that $500 up front to a charity you want to support would be a better plan. Then create a simple web page ad for your car and post links to it in many on-line forums and also your cars.com ad.

If they want the money up front, you already have your answer. Run.

pdudek · 14th March 2010, 01:22

Oh yes, that is why I asked for a letter or an e-mail outlining all their policies and sending me a contract.
I received that e-mail today, went right into my junk mail box and all they were three paragraphs telling me how great they are.
So yea .. better not deal with them

I don't think I will be giving those $500 to charity anytime soon, I'm still a student and I watch every dollar of mine and besides i do charity work by volunteering for kids.
I'm not too worried about selling my vehicle as I got it for a very good price last year and I am selling it for a good price this year.