Scam: Farmington Heavy Equipment, Farmington MO, 2014 Cottrell C5309 wired $15,800 and never delivered

Verdict

Farmington Heavy Equipment in Farmington MO advertised a 2014 Cottrell C5309 open car carrier trailer with detailed maintenance claims and an asking price of $15,800; a buyer reported wiring $15,800 by bank wire and not receiving the trailer. The available evidence supports a scam assessment for this listing.

Company details

The following contact and location details appear on the listing and are the operator's own claims.

Listing details and the advertised machine

The listing advertises a 2014 Cottrell C5309 open car carrier trailer, asking $15,800. The seller's description lists these specifics: 53 foot length, 102 inch width, tandem axles, air ride suspension, aluminum floor, aluminum wheels, chain loading and strap operation. The description claims recent maintenance including four new air bags, four new shocks, new slack adjusters, drums and shoes, a complete brake service, new bearings on all four ends, and tires with more than 80 percent tread remaining. An automatic tire inflation system is also claimed.

Those unit specifics are precise and checkable. The buyer's account names the same model and the same dollar amount and says a bank wire was sent but no trailer was delivered. The listing text therefore functions as the central touchpoint tying the payment to a particular machine and set of maintenance claims.

Buyer payment and missing delivery

According to the buyer's account, the payment method was a bank wire and the amount was USD 15,800. The buyer reported that no trailer arrived after the wire. That payment rail removes most chargeback protections and increases the urgency of verifying the seller before any transfer.

This record keeps the payment allegation as the buyer described it. The single payment method named in the account is bank wire, so any recovery steps would need to start with the buyer's own bank and move quickly because the funds moved off typical consumer rails.

Domain and site infrastructure

The domain farmingtonheavyequipment.com was registered on 2026-09-28, two days before this report. Registrar information lists HOSTINGER operations, UAB. Nameservers resolve to Cloudflare: joselyn.ns.cloudflare.com and ryan.ns.cloudflare.com. The site presents HTTPS and returns HTTP 200 for the homepage.

A very recent registration date is a strong, checkable signal. The listing page provides no published dealer license or DOT number for verification. The phone number appears on the site but email contact is not published.

Red flags you can check now

• The listing ties a bank wire payment to a single, detailed unit description but offers no escrow or third party inspection reference.
• The domain was registered on 2026-09-28, only days before the buyer's reported payment.
• The listing claims extensive recent maintenance without attaching invoices or service records on the listing page.
• No dealer license number or DOT number is displayed on the site for cross checking with state or federal registries.
• The site publishes a phone number but provides no email contact address for records or invoicing.
• Images and VIN are not included in the supplied evidence; run a reverse image search if images are present on the listing.

What to verify before paying for this listing

• Confirm the trailer VIN on the listing and have the seller supply photos that clearly show that VIN; run a reverse image search on every listing photo you receive.
• Request scanned copies of the maintenance invoices cited in the description and verify dates and vendor names with those vendors.
• Ask for a written bill of sale and delivery terms that specify where and how title transfers; do not accept only a phone agreement.
• Verify any dealer license or DOT number in the relevant public databases and confirm the published phone number reaches a business location tied to that registration.
• Avoid bank wire for initial payment unless an independent escrow or a trusted third party is confirmed by both banks and both parties.
• If an in person inspection is not possible, obtain a third party inspection report from a named inspector before sending funds.

This entry uses the listing text, the buyer's account and the domain registration data to form its assessment. The buyer's payment allegation is presented as their account and not as an established legal fact.