Buying a used car on line

[Charles scozzari]

I would like to put this out there because there are many car guys here. First off what happened to me was absolutely, totally my own fault. I'm not a corvette guy nor a convertible guy but I cam across a one owner, 28.000 mile Torch red C5 2001 convert on E-Bay and in beautiful shape. The car was in Lakeland Fl. at a used car dealer. So I got in touch with him (no names will be given) and the guy says many people are looking so you've got to pull the trigger if you really want it. He stipulated a bank check in his name up front to make the car mine. I agreed and he had the check in 2 days. I arrange to have the car picked up for the trip to New York. The transporter calls me after speaking with the dealer to tell me the guys secretary misplaced the title and would he would have it soon. Soon turned into 3 months. Many calls turned to many not available's to not even answering the call. The bank check left me holding the bag and no way to get my money back. I did eventually get the car but here's what he did. It seems the car was given to him on consignment which meant he did not have the title to begin with. The game is that they use your money to pay bills and buy more cars. When he was able to pay the owner he then was given the title which took 3 months. What I learned is never send a bank check and ask for a copy of the title before paying. During this I was put in touch with a used car guy in New Jersey who knew him and used to swap and deal with him and he explained what took place. It's a widespread problem so don't be as foolish as I was. Theres also something called title surfing used by used car people I learned. Look that up on Google for that trick. Thanks, Charlie. I called it title surfing but its known as title jumping which is illegal.

 

[Gaffer]

Bummer. I hope the car lived up to your expectations. Also, did they ship the car to you regardless of the delayed title?

 

[RJSakowski]

You are fortunate. You got the car. The more common scam is there never was a car to begin with.

I don't know what the solution is. On one hand, you don't want to hand over money until the purchased item is in your possession, or at least close enough that you can secure it. On the other hand, the seller needs to know you are a legitimate buyer before handing over the item. PayPal has somewhat answered this dilemma by underwriting the transaction. A possibility would be put funds in escrow to be released when the transaction is completed but I don't know how that would work when the two parties are a half a continent apart.

 

[JimDawson]

This is why they make airline tickets.

 

[Charles scozzari]

You are fortunate. You got the car. The more common scam is there never was a car to begin with.

I don't know what the solution is. On one hand, you don't want to hand over money until the purchased item is in your possession, or at least close enough that you can secure it. On the other hand, the seller needs to know you are a legitimate buyer before handing over the item. PayPal has somewhat answered this dilemma by underwriting the transaction. A possibility would be put funds in escrow to be released when the transaction is completed but I don't know how that would work when the two parties are a half a continent apart.

Hi thanks for your reply. Thats why he required a bank check. He wouldn't accept Pay-Pal.

 

[Charles scozzari]

Bummer. I hope the car lived up to your expectations. Also, did they ship the car to you regardless of the delayed title?

Hi, no, I'll tell you a little bit more. Not knowing what was going to transpire when at I first started this I hired a transported within 2 days of my payment who knew what was going on and he took the car and brought it to me without a title in hand risking heavy fines and his car carrier. Once the car was here I still had to wait for the title to get here. A great, honest guy. He ran the east coast snowbirds cars back and forth.

 

[matthewsx]

Pictures please

 

[markba633csi]

Could have been worse. How is the car? Do you like it? I always wanted a Corvette
Do beautiful women throw themselves under the tires? I mean at your feet?
-Mark

 

[Charles scozzari]

Pictures please

 

[matthewsx]

Must have been hard not driving it for 3 months, see you had a bike to get around on though