EXPOSING THE BUGATTI PARTS SCAMMER

The speaker, who owns a Bugatti Veyron, has been scammed out of thousands of pounds while trying to find a replacement gearbox for his broken car. He had purchased the Veyron for £900,000 nearly four months prior and was desperate to drive it. Bugatti could not guarantee a fix for his existing gearbox and would not sell him a new one, leaving him in a precarious situation. A backup plan emerged through Instagram DMs and emails, offering two potential gearboxes: a brand new one from Dubai for £300,000 (off-the-record) and a secondhand one in Australia. The Australian option seemed more promising, coming from a private client who was dismantling two Veyrons to create one good one. This meant spare parts, including a gearbox, would be available. The deal included the possibility of testing the gearbox upon installation to ensure it was functional before a final payment. The speaker consulted friends with expertise in Bugatti parts about the value of a working secondhand Veyron gearbox. Given a new one costs £300,000, they estimated a fair price for a fully working used gearbox would be around £100,000. They also highlighted the increasing rarity and value of Veyron parts, including the TCU (Transmission Control Unit), which is irreplaceable. Owning a spare gearbox would provide a safety net and a potential investment, as demand for these parts would only grow. Andrew, the Australian contact, initially quoted £100,000 for the gearbox. The speaker considered this too high, given the risk of it being damaged, and counter-offered £50,000. He reasoned that even if parts were damaged, the casing and actuators would still hold value. He also calculated that £50,000 represented only 3% of the Veyron's working value of £1.5 million, a risk he felt was worth taking, especially with the car's increasing value. Andrew countered with £60,000. The speaker's main concern was paying such a large sum without knowing if the gearbox worked. He proposed a deal: a £3,500 deposit to cover shipping from Australia to Malaga, where Andrew lived. He and his team would then fly to Malaga, inspect the gearbox, and pay an additional £11,500, bringing the total deposit to £15,000. They would then transport the gearbox to their workshop in England, Furongers, and have 28 days to install and test it. If it worked perfectly, the remaining £45,000 would be paid, totaling £60,000. If not, they would return it to Malaga and get their £15,000 deposit back. The deal also included valuable additional parts like the TCU, oil tank, pipes, and actuators, making it seem even better. The trip to Malaga became a family affair due to the Easter holidays. Before sending the deposit, the speaker sought reassurance by asking Andrew for a screenshot of his passport. With this, the deal was struck, offering the prospect of a working Veyron or, at worst, an expensive coffee table that would appreciate in value. Coincidentally, his friend Matt Armstrong also bought a Veyron with a broken gearbox, increasing the potential demand for the spare. The speaker sent the £3,500 deposit to Andrew and prepared for the trip to Malaga. Despite some initial doubts from his team about the gearbox being there, the speaker remained confident, citing Andrew's passport details and the detailed explanations he had provided. He emphasized the long journey to fix the Veyron and the excitement of finally getting it on the road. Upon arrival in Malaga, Andrew was nowhere to be found at the agreed meeting point. Calls went unanswered. After hours of waiting, Andrew finally sent messages claiming the gearbox was already in transit to England, and he was stuck in Belgium due to passport issues. He provided the number for the driver, Anthony, but calls to Anthony also went straight to voicemail. The speaker was confused, noting that Andrew's continued responsiveness, despite not asking for more money, made him question if it was a scam. After dropping his family at the hotel, the speaker called friends for help. He explained Andrew's new story: the engine and gearbox were supposedly heading to a Holiday Inn in Birmingham, where he would need to separate them. His friends were also perplexed by Andrew's elaborate story but agreed to help with the separation if the gearbox arrived. The speaker and his team then drove to the address Andrew had provided for his residence in Malaga. A Swedish lady answered, stating she had owned the house for years and had no idea who Andrew was. This confirmed their fears: they had been scammed. The speaker's friends in Birmingham, waiting for the lorry, also reported no arrival. The speaker confronted Andrew over the phone, who maintained his story about being stuck in Belgium and the gearbox being in transit. Andrew then claimed the gearbox was stuck in customs in Dover and provided paperwork for a customs company. The speaker contacted the company, who confirmed Andrew had sent an email but never provided the necessary documents for the import. This was the final nail in the coffin: the gearbox was not real. Andrew then tried to entice the speaker with a larger deal, offering hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Bugatti parts (the back end of a Veyron) for £60,000, but requiring immediate payment. The speaker realized this was Andrew's true motive for keeping the scam going: to warm him up for a larger, final payout. The speaker and his family returned to England. Through previous contacts, they discovered Andrew had a history of similar scams, preying on desperate individuals. The speaker called Andrew again to confront him about the customs issue, but Andrew maintained his elaborate lies, even claiming he had paid £2,400 in customs fees and the gearbox was now in Birmingham. He gave details about a storage unit and a car with the key on the rear wheel. The speaker and his team, still confused by Andrew's convincing details, decided to check this new lead. The next morning, Andrew called, furious, claiming the Australian owner had seen the video about buying a secondhand gearbox and was threatening to blacklist the Veyron from being serviced. He said his client was refusing any money and he was disposing of the vehicle. This was followed by more absurd claims, including Bugatti saying a Veyron could not be scrapped. The speaker then directly confronted Andrew about the Malaga address, stating a Swedish lady owned it and didn't know him. Andrew initially denied this, then claimed the woman was a squatter and he had police and a locksmith on the way. He offered to refund the deposit if the speaker thought it was a scam. Despite Andrew's continued elaborate lies and excuses, the speaker had had enough. Five days after requesting a refund, no money had been returned. The speaker reiterated that he had been scammed and that Andrew's actions had wasted his and his family's time and money. He urged viewers not to engage in a "witch hunt" but to be aware of such scams.