Woman ‘swindled’ for car on Facebook

    Murphy – You can purchase practically anything online. In fact, ease and convenience are two of the main reasons consumers choose to shop on the internet.
    However, a poor purchase can cause headaches that outweigh the convenience of online shopping. Forty-year-old Lateia Benson learned this lesson after recently buying a vehicle through Facebook Marketplace.
    “This car broke down within a week and a half of me having it, and now I have a $1,500 bill to get it fixed,” the single mother of two children said. “I am going to take this to small claims court.”
    Benson, who moved back to Cherokee County about six months ago, wrecked her previous car earlier this month and bought a used vehicle on Facebook Marketplace the following day. She found a 2003 Honda Civic being sold by a couple across the state line in Fannin County, Ga.
    “They made it seem like the car was top notch,” Benson said, while providing the Cherokee Scout with an invoice showing the sellers spent $450 to repair the vehicle last month. 
    Benson said she test drove the car and checked its fluids before paying the sellers $1,900. Less than two weeks later, the vehicle’s engine exploded.
    “I didn’t even put 60 miles on it,” she said. “Now I have to bum rides from neighbors across the street that I don’t even know and hitchhike to get home after work. I’m in a pickle.”
    Benson, who works at a local retail establishment, had planned to soon move into a different home, but must use that money to fix the vehicle. She said a local mechanic was nice enough to charge her about $700 less than what he originally quoted her to fix the car’s engine.
    “He’s really nice. He’s working with me [on payments], and today he sent me a picture of him fixing the motor with new parts,” Benson said, while explaining her financial struggles. “I’m going to the food banks now because I can’t afford food. This has taken me back to days in New Jersey when I was struggling.”
    Benson believes the couple who sold the car were not truthful about its condition.
    “I asked them to go half with me on repairs or give me my money back. All he could say was, ‘I’m sorry,’ ” Benson said. “You shouldn’t be able to put stuff on Facebook Marketplace and make it seem like it’s something that it’s not.”
    According to Consumer Reports, buyers can protect themselves from shady used car sellers by doing the following:
    u Test drive the vehicle.
    u Check the car’s title for signs that it has been damaged, wrecked or repurchased under a state lemon-law program.
    u Obtain a free vehicle history report.
    u Check for vehicle safety recalls.
    u Inspect the vehicle.
    Benson advises used car buyers to go even one step further.
    “Bring a mechanic with you,” she said. “People getting scammed is a serious issue. The older people are [pulling scams], too. I didn’t know the struggle was that bad.
    “Being swindled like this is just awful. It’s really hard out here today.”