Alert !! 1968Roadrunner = ply30! do not buy!!

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Good advice, Frank. You should be in the position to go see the car....or whatever in person. If not, then you are not really in the market.
 
I've been on various car forums for 15 years, and this problem never seems to go away, and seems to be even more prevalent now, than ever.

Losing money to phonies always sucks, but when it is in the thousands or 10's of thousands of dollars, I truly have to question the buyer's judgement, too.

I have bought cars and parts via the internet, and even via chat room "for sale" forums. What I have never once done is send money for a car via pay pal or any other electronic method.

Before the days of the internet, there was Hemmings Motors, and while living in NJ I purchased a car from Alabama. The sop t the time was to "wire" a deposit. I did not.

WHat I did then, and what I did when purchasing cars via the net was to go see the car for my self.
If you are THAT SERIOUS about a car, a few hundred dollars for a coach R/T ticket and 2 days was all it took to be sure the car was "as advertised".
Usually by the time a committed to buying the plane ticket, I was pretty sure I was going to buy the car, too.

This isn't a "holier than tho" post, and I don't even expect a majority of people here to agree with me, it's merely a comment on how I, personally, do things.

If I'm buying a car over the 'net, and I can't afford to go inspect the car for myself, than I can't afford that car. PERIOD.

Even when it comes to shipping a car I want to make those arrangements, myself. I've personally done this about a half dozen times:
*Fly or drive to the seller's location,
*inspect ( test drive, if possible)the vehicle,
*make the deal,
* secure all the paperwork for the car,
*secure an itemized list of anything that is included in the deal besides the car (parts, literature, etc)
*arrange transportation.

On two occasions, the seller requested either a certified check from the bank, or a personal check and a certified letter of credit credit from the bank. Either is a reasonable request, and easily obtainable.

On a few of these occasions, I found that it was actually less expensive to pick up the car, myself, than it was to ship it. The cost of the drive there and back, with a trailer ( or even to rent a trailer) was less than the cost of having the car shipped to me.

On one occasion I traded my car for another car and some cash. I lived in NJ at the time,and the deal was made with a guy who lived in Winter Park, Fl. About 1000 miles one way.
I towed my car down, made the swap, and towed the other car back. It was a 4 day round trip ( no hurry) and including gas, meals, and hotels, I save nearly $1700.00 in common carrier and insurance costs.

I do not, advocate doing business with anyone that you have not met face to face. I realize that most of these rip off transactions are the exception to the rule, but why risk it.

There is also another benefit to do business fac to face. Most often you'll get a better deal negotiating price face to face either by getting a lower price, or by getting some more "stuff" thrown into the deal.

just my 2¢.


Frankie, the problem with this jackwagon is...he's generally not selling cars, but pieces of cars.
You're not gonna board a plane to go look at a bumper or a dash cluster.
This is how he 'cleans up'....he sells a bunch of parts, ships a few to get positive feedback, then makes excuses and back-peddles on the others. Meanwhile, he rakes in thousands (literally) before people get wise.
 
Frankie, the problem with this jackwagon is...he's generally not selling cars, but pieces of cars.
You're not gonna board a plane to go look at a bumper or a dash cluster.

That's correct, and my comments were not limited to this guy. What I WAS talking about is doing business on the net, in general.


This is how he 'cleans up'....he sells a bunch of parts, ships a few to get positive feedback, then makes excuses and back-peddles on the others. Meanwhile, he rakes in thousands (literally) before people get wise.

A basic rule of thumb: Buyer beware. Don't get so infatuated with a the parts and the "great price" that you forget due diligence.

When buying parts, insist knowing a couple of things. The Sellers, Name with a VERIFIABLE address and phone number. An email addy, and a land line phone are also preferable (you can usually trace the land line phone to verify the street address at little of no cost.).

I have one friend who insists are a street address, and checks it on google maps. Not only to verify the address, but uses that sat-images to be sure that there is actually a house or a business there. It's free and it literally takes seconds to do.

Another thing you can do it get a couple of names of past buyers the guy has sold to. Usually doing so will turn off the scammer, where as the honest dealer will not only have no issue supplying that information, but will usually have it fairly handy. You can check with these references, and you can usually also verify the sellers street address, at the same time.

Nothing is 100% sure. There are always loop holes for the dishonest to jump through, your job is to eliminate as many of those loop holes as possible.

I no longer do business on the internet with private individuals that I don't know. PERIOD.
If I'm in the marker for something th reality is, it isn't necessary to go beyond a 100 mile radius from my house to find just about anything I need. Not only for cars, but for anything. Maybe a little more expensive, maybe a little more time consuming, or maybe requiring me to be a little more pro-active. But, since I adopted that policy some 4, or so years ago, I have not had a single issue.

I'm no longer in the cars and parts purchasing mode, I have my Swinger, it's finished, and all that's necessary is normal maintenance and enjoyment of the car. However, I STILL buy guitars, and mostly bass guitars that I find on the net. I use the same due diligence in that endeavor. Realize that it's not unusual for these vintage instruments to range into 4 or 5 figures, and parts and accessories into the hundreds of dollars. If I can't see it and touch it, and look the seller in the eye, I don't buy it. PERIOD.

That's my philosophy and my method of doing personal business, and it works great for me.
 
boy does that bring back memories of when I was in the Air Force and basic....Some people just needs a littler help to do the right thing..


Yes, in this case it is the SHERIFF WITH CHROME BRACELETS!

Prosecute this a--hole to the fullest extent of the law. That is the only way to get your money back and also stop him from going further with this...

Get him thrown in jail, and let what comes naturally happen.... :glasses7:
 
Yes, in this case it is the SHERIFF WITH CHROME BRACELETS!

Prosecute this a--hole to the fullest extent of the law. That is the only way to get your money back and also stop him from going further with this...

Get him thrown in jail, and let what comes naturally happen.... :glasses7:

Boom!
 
How come this ***-monkey is still walking around free, scamming people? And how in the world did he manage to register (yet again) for the third time on FABO?
This little scammer acts like he's bullet-proof. I don't get it.
 
Back in Time

You nailed it! The members have to file complaints and press charges. Everyone talks the talk but no one does anything about it.
 
How come this ***-monkey is still walking around free, scamming people?


Because people just get on a forum and talk crap about blanket parties and" payin him a visit" but don't do what Joey has said ad-nausim.....File charges. :violent1::violent1:

Can't help you, people. I have no charges to file. Ball's in your court now.......
If you got ripped and you haven't filed charges you are doing the rest of the FABO members a disservice.
 
Same here. Never bought anything from him. The advice others, like Frankie, has given is just common sense to me and hopefully many others. I have bought about five things, haven't kept count, from FABO and I'm very satisfied. Not been ripped off. And fyi, a 'blanket party' is meant to be non-lethal. That comes from a time where there wasn't as much concern for crooks and assholes having their feelings hurt. But times have changed I'm afraid.
 
So,Mike, how were you able to come to this conclusion? IP address?

I was wondering the same thing. :dontknow:

The reason I asked this is, In his introduction thread, he actually post a pic of him self and wife to be, and has a flordia address.
The perp. is supposed to be in Va. and a kid out of school.
Is this guy so pitifull that he posts a random pic of someone else and or moved to Fla?
Crazy
 
He has no morals whatsoever. I hijacked the original ripped off thread and kept it going for 60 hours straight til it was pulled by the mods,at that time the mods did not know what a POS this kid was. I kept the thread going to warn others. 48 hours in my money was refunded thru pay pal due to the preasure from fabo members, I had written that money off months earlier after giving up dealing with this kid. I have bought and sold on this site and value the many friends I have made here . So to all of you that gave up on your losing transactions you need to get off your asses and file charges against justin! Nothing will change for any individual unknowingly dealing with him in any way here, moparts or anywhere unless he is charged! So guys get it done!!! My 2 cents. Rich
 
Part of the problem is people (some) got their money back or parts arrived. That negates their ability to file charges. Plus if he's refunding those people he can claim it's a civil matter buyer/seller dispute. This little pecker probably lies better then most politicians. Then there's the ability of the local sheriff to build a case. I wouldn't think he'd have much experience. Mail fraud would be the best bet for prosecution. The Feds love this stuff and have people who deal with that all the time. Everyone needs to file to show a pattern and intent....... JMO
 
I've been on various car forums for 15 years, and this problem never seems to go away, and seems to be even more prevalent now, than ever.

Losing money to phonies always sucks, but when it is in the thousands or 10's of thousands of dollars, I truly have to question the buyer's judgement, too.

I have bought cars and parts via the internet, and even via chat room "for sale" forums. What I have never once done is send money for a car via pay pal or any other electronic method.

Before the days of the internet, there was Hemmings Motors, and while living in NJ I purchased a car from Alabama. The sop t the time was to "wire" a deposit. I did not.

WHat I did then, and what I did when purchasing cars via the net was to go see the car for my self.
If you are THAT SERIOUS about a car, a few hundred dollars for a coach R/T ticket and 2 days was all it took to be sure the car was "as advertised".
Usually by the time a committed to buying the plane ticket, I was pretty sure I was going to buy the car, too.

This isn't a "holier than tho" post, and I don't even expect a majority of people here to agree with me, it's merely a comment on how I, personally, do things.

If I'm buying a car over the 'net, and I can't afford to go inspect the car for myself, than I can't afford that car. PERIOD.

Even when it comes to shipping a car I want to make those arrangements, myself. I've personally done this about a half dozen times:
*Fly or drive to the seller's location,
*inspect ( test drive, if possible)the vehicle,
*make the deal,
* secure all the paperwork for the car,
*secure an itemized list of anything that is included in the deal besides the car (parts, literature, etc)
*arrange transportation.

On two occasions, the seller requested either a certified check from the bank, or a personal check and a certified letter of credit credit from the bank. Either is a reasonable request, and easily obtainable.

On a few of these occasions, I found that it was actually less expensive to pick up the car, myself, than it was to ship it. The cost of the drive there and back, with a trailer ( or even to rent a trailer) was less than the cost of having the car shipped to me.

On one occasion I traded my car for another car and some cash. I lived in NJ at the time,and the deal was made with a guy who lived in Winter Park, Fl. About 1000 miles one way.
I towed my car down, made the swap, and towed the other car back. It was a 4 day round trip ( no hurry) and including gas, meals, and hotels, I save nearly $1700.00 in common carrier and insurance costs.

I do not, advocate doing business with anyone that you have not met face to face. I realize that most of these rip off transactions are the exception to the rule, but why risk it.

There is also another benefit to do business fac to face. Most often you'll get a better deal negotiating price face to face either by getting a lower price, or by getting some more "stuff" thrown into the deal.

just my 2¢.
Agreed. The best ways,are usually the older,common sense ways.
 
The reason I asked this is, In his introduction thread, he actually post a pic of him self and wife to be, and has a flordia address.
The perp. is supposed to be in Va. and a kid out of school.
Is this guy so pitifull that he posts a random pic of someone else and or moved to Fla?
Crazy

Interesting that it could have been someone else. The part you say about Florida alone would make me question it as he always was Virginia.
 
And how in the world did he manage to register (yet again) for the third time on FABO?

Back when I was a "Staff Member" I asked Joey about this. The software on this site doesn't allow an ip address to be flagged. Only thing stopping someone who is "escorted off the premises" from creating a new account is there honesty. Perhaps if creating a new account meant getting the ok from a "Staff Member" so they could research a perspective new members ip address. But with all the Proxy server sites, many of them are free, that would have limited success.
Frankie hit it on the head, your buying a car get off your lazy a&& and go look at it. Consider it part of the purchase price. In the case of something small, it is nothing more than a roll of the dice.
I feel the Internet has made us lazy to a point. I know it has for me.
Frankie was talking about "back in the day"....I remember buying all 3 of the 340 A-bodies I had from the Auto Trader.
May sound a bit harsh....but anyone that gets hosed when buying a big ticket item is a fool if they don't go, in person, to look at it.
 
Yeh, "but" in this case (this particular person from VA) we are generally not talking about something so expensive as a complete vehicle, but in many case we are talking substantial money, and for me, "substantial" is certainly over a hundred dollars. Something like that hardly warrants a personal travel ticket and..........

THIS DIPSTICK KNOWS THAT
 
Yeh, "but" in this case (this particular person from VA) we are generally not talking about something so expensive as a complete vehicle, but in many case we are talking substantial money, and for me, "substantial" is certainly over a hundred dollars. Something like that hardly warrants a personal travel ticket and..........

THIS DIPSTICK KNOWS THAT
But....apparently you missed the on small items it is a "roll of the dice" statement I made. Ain't like the world wasn't full of crooks pre-Internet days. The Internet just created a captive audience so to speak.
A member here, in the past, made mention of using an escrow service. Problem is they ain't free...and it seems a bit much to have to pay fees for a small item. COD is another option...but then again with how folks ***** about the price of shipping maybe not.
I have only purchased a few small things from members here...most of them from folks who post frequently and are well respected. That being said I look at it from the I may be tossing $ down the crapper.
Sorry I said anything here...you folks have a good day...
 
Limit the "For Sale" posting abilities of new members for say 45 days !
 
Limit the "For Sale" posting abilities of new members for say 45 days !

I agree with this or maybe 90 days. He had some side trim for a swinger, wasn't a bad deal but I passed as he was a new member selling. Go with the gut! Lol
 
Here's a thought...
FABO has 38,000 + members.

Why can't we require new members to have a referral from an existing member?

And to keep everyone legit, if/when this happens again, ban both members!

burg
 
Here's a thought...
FABO has 38,000 + members.

Why can't we require new members to have a referral from an existing member?

And to keep everyone legit, if/when this happens again, ban both members!

burg

If that was in place, I would not be a HAPPY member. So I think there has to be some other way then this. MT
 
Here's a thought...
FABO has 38,000 + members.

Why can't we require new members to have a referral from an existing member?

And to keep everyone legit, if/when this happens again, ban both members!

burg


Because many members find out about this site from google searches.

Joey likes to have high member count to help keep the advertisers and the google traffic....

The money helps keep the site up and running in addition to the gold members. You don't have to go gold, but you have the free choice to do so. However, still making it available for free to those who choose not to go gold or can't afford it at the time. Nobody's excluded...
 
I think I remember Joey telling me (when I asked about this once) that that forum software did not allow him to quantify a particular number of posts for buying/selling (correct me if I'm wrong, Joey!) The forums I admin on are all Simple Machines software (this forum is not) and it allows that option, but we have to go with the flow here. I don't think Simple Machines could handle the traffic that this forum and our server require, and hats off to Joey and the other admins for doing a fantastic job here!
 
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