Facebook Marketplace can be a solid place to find a great deal on your ideal car, truck, or SUV. However, it can also be a breeding ground for dealership scams and crime. Some things really are too good to be true.
An Oregon City couple are heartbroken after buying a stolen pickup truck from a fake dealership
Jaime and April Correa found that perfect pickup truck on Facebook Marketplace. Like so many hopeful car shoppers, they found what they believed to be the right ride at the right price. Unfortunately, scammers had other plans for the couple.
After negotiating with the dealership, Jaime got the sales price down to $45,000 for a 2023 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali. Understandably, they were excited to get the pickup truck for such a price. “It was still a little bit out of our budget, but it was a deal we didn’t want to pass up,” April told interviewers.
The couple drove the late-model pickup truck off the lot. However, after Jaime attempted to get the vehicle title from the dealership later, things got weird. No one answered the phone. Every call Jaime attempted went straight to voicemail. After many attempts, he went back to the dealership. It was a ghost town. An empty structure and lot.
Understandably, the couple called the police. The cops told April Correas that the pickup truck was stolen. Worse yet, the couple was left without any recourse for the $45,000 payment. The police took the vehicle.
KATU asked the couple a sad, troubling question. “You said you thought it was a good deal. Did you ever think for a second, ‘Man, this is almost too good?’” A hard-hitting question. But a good one. April Correas responded, “When you first see the post on Marketplace, you think, ‘Oh, that’s a great deal.’” As such, the couple felt that they couldn’t pass it up.
Tragically, this was a case of it’s simply too good to be true. The Kelley Blue Book (KBB) Value of a used 2023 GMC Sierra 3500HD Denali with average mileage is right around $70,000. Consequently, a $45,000 example is just that: too good to be true.
