An Irish chap knocked at our door this morning and told me that having just finished an event in a nearby town he had a van full of diesel generators that his boss had told him to get rid of as the company had folded with £15M debt. The gennys were priced at 1500 Euros on the box (more in the Machine Mart catalogue) and all he wanted was a cheque for £390 after Christmas to help out his mother back in Dublin. There were about six of them in the back of a brand new Transit.

When I wasn't interested, he offered to throw in an 800-piece tool set for nothing. As a born cynic, I can't really see what he was up to but there must be a catch. What do you think:

Stolen goods?
Money laundering?
'Receiving stolen goods' blackmail?
Empty boxes?
No innards to the genny - just the shell and controls?
All of the above?
Other?

My money's on a box full of bricks!!!

I saw something similar about 30 years ago when a van pulled up and stopped us teenagers in the street and they had a load of massive speakers for sale really cheap and the van was full of boxes of them. I didn't have the cash on me at the time otherwise would have been interested but later found out the boxes were just empty apart from the ballast in them! 2016 RRS SVR Estoril Blue
2005 4.2L Supercharged Java Black - gone but was my first love.
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If we all point our RR's in the same direction and accelerate at the same time can we turn back time?

I would put money on there being a generator in the box but it was part of a load stolen from the back of a container truck parked up in a layby while the driver was “resting” or a warehouse break-in. Problem is if you buy one then the shippers have consignment paperwork with the serial numbers of every unit that was in the container........... not that hard to trace if plod felt so inclined to go looking for them but they aren’t these days as they are too busy trying to catch people using mobile phones while driving. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Irish accent by any chance? I`ve had those vermin try to sell me sofas from the back of a van before now. They need exterminating. Steve.

The clue is in the first sentence - An Irish chap knocked at our door this morning

Irish....Transit van....selling well under price value.

There is only one possible outcome...you will get shafted good and proper.

They can be very convincing to naive and greedy people and they have no conscience about what they do as it is a way of life.

Good swerve to avoid these scheming and lying gits but they will have found suitable customers today and will have moved on tomorrow.

I had 17 years of dealing with them and the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck whenever i see one. Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

show you a genny in a box,,will give you another box full of bricks.
It happened a few years back with me,guy selling speakers,made it into the local paper,lots of boxes with bricks in !

Definitely dodged an elephant trap there, then.

Do you keep your car in a garage or on the driveway?. Was it there at the time when you got cornered?. I’d mindful of that for a bit.

Steve 2006 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Cairns Blue.

Experienced similar in Switzerland years ago

Took a break from driving from Vienna to Geneva in a car park. Two guys travelling to Italy cameup to me trying to flog "top of the range 35mm cameras" from bankrupt stock.

Showed me camera and offered ridiculous price for one. Got another box out of their car and said here, I said not interested.

Then came hard sell and I said okay, but open the box. They tried the guilt trip on me and I said open it or leave. They left. Obviously, only ballast or a fake toy camera inside... 2006 RRS S/C CONSTANTLY under modification...
1994 RRC 4.2l not LSE sadly gone but not forgotten
LR Defender 300Tdi - affectionately know as "The Black Beast"

If it seems too good to be true,,,,,,, it probably is 2010 RRS, TDV8
bali Blue / colour coded
side steps / flappy paddles
black perforated leather
22" overfinch
heated everything, TV,fridge ...... now with gold calipers and mud flaps !( black mud flaps that is) !!
Many years ago,,,,, 1955 series 1 landie , sometimes wish I had kept it

Seems simple to say that you d want to open the box to check the contents but some of these guys can be quite smooth.

One of my dads clients is for want of a better word a confidence man, whilst he doesn’t quite con people he is very good at whipping up a crowd at auction type events where pay a lot of money for loads of cheap tat. It’s a fine line for sure.

There’s a DefInite art to it! 2019 Svr and 2019 R35 GTR