GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — She trusted the man whom she met on Facebook Marketplace to take her Toyota for a short test drive. Thirty minutes later, both her car and her faith in him were gone for good.
"Lesson learned," said the Grand Rapids woman, whom we'll refer to as Mendez. "Please be really careful what you're selling and who you're selling to; don't trust anybody."
On Thursday morning, Mendez says her silver, 2012 Toyota RAV4 was stolen out of her driveway by a man posing as an interested buyer on Facebook Marketplace. She was asking for $9,700. He countered with $9,500 and said he had cash.
"He said it was really a need for him and his family," Mendez said.
When the man asked if he could take the vehicle for a test drive, Mendez said her son would go with him as a precaution. He refused. He'd only be gone for 15 minutes, he said, sitting in the car.
"I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt," said Mendez, who took a picture of the man's ID before he turned right out the driveway. "I had trust in him, not knowing he was going to sit there and take the car and never bring it back."
The family later realized the man's ID wasn't a driver's license, but a state-issued identification card.
When fifteen minutes turned into thirty, reality began to set in. They'd likely been stolen from.
"I was like, 'Okay, then he really did take my car,'" said Mendez, who then called the man multiple times from different phones. He didn't pick up. She then called Grand Rapids police and filed a report for motor vehicle theft.
The loss of potential income hurts the extended family, as Mendez sends money to her parents for "gas, food, somewhere to sleep" while they're out of town.
If she does see her Toyota RAV4 again, she believes it will return with parts missing or be destroyed.
As for whether she'll sell another car on Facebook Marketplace again: "Nope, I'm done," she said.
"Doesn't matter what you're selling, be really careful who you sell to," Mendez said. "The money was really important to me."
If you have information related to the alleged car theft, Mendez says to message this TextNow number: (616)-369-7844.
