Frodo 0 #1 June 19, 2003 This is a long story about a guy losing more than $10,000 because of a fraud + his mistake + bad luck. It can be a good lesson to you if you're going to buy a used car, or otherwise just willing to learn from others' mistakes. I hope I will do my humble share of "community service" by posting this. Maybe after reading the story, one of you will be saved from a similar mistake this guy made... So here's the deal. A guy flew 3,000 miles to Florida to buy a used 1989 BMW M3, which he saw in an internet ad. He talked to the seller over the phone, and being himself a mechanic, or something like that, the guy (buyer) asked the seller a lot of details that me and you would probably never even think about. Over the phone the car "looked" nice, though $10 grand for an M3 looked suspiciously cheap. To make long story short, he flew to FL and ultimately bought the car... but very soon found out what a huge trail of dirty records this car had after it. The above summary doesn't even come close to describing what the poor guy went through, so here are the links: Main story; Follow-up. (very long!) The story is fresh, it was posted about a week ago, and it's still being passionately discussed. The guy's biggest mistake, by his own admission, was not checking the CARFAX history of the vehicle. It had everything - been stolen, wrecked twice, its record "washed"... maan. The moral of the story... well, I guess: never ever ever buy a used car without CARFAX'ing its history. Plus, I'd say... maybe if you're buying a car from a private seller, then get a hold on his/her name, address, work, maybe even take some pictures of the seller. This way it'll be easier to defend your interests afterwards, in case of a fraud. Just my 0.02 to the story. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
