Is your "word" something to trust?

[Jeff H]

That stinks! On the 1st JL8 car I had, I gave my word to a potential buyer who was flying in from the west coast. I had another buyer ask me if I took a deposit and I told him no, but I wouldn't let anyone else look at until the first guy had his chance. This buyer was ready to wire a deposit and I told him no. The west coast buyer ended up buying the car. I've held several cars for people with a small deposit or no deposit at all because I'm a man of my word. I've lost out on a couple of cars because the seller wouldn't let me look at it until the next day, but they told me I had first shot at it. Then somebody else came along early in the day and bought it out from under me. If you gave a deposit, then there might be some legal argument that he owes you that car at the agreed price. If he sold it, then he should find another one for him at the same price. Does anyone with a legal background know if this situation has any kind of potential reward to it or is it a waste of time and money? Always curious to hear other thoughts.

[njsteve]

If you put a deposit on the car, it's a binding contract. If he sold it to another person while holding your deposit he is liable for damages. But you're gonna have to spend a bunch of $$$ for a lawyer to sue him. If that doesn't bother you, go for it. You probably wont get the car but you'll get some satisfaction that the guy who sold it for a higher price will now be spending most of what he got for the car on a lawyer to defend himself against your lawsuit.

[WILMASBOYL78]

I can honestly say that I have had some really great experiences with car transactions over the last 5-6 years. Some of the best have been with guys from this site...maybe I have been lucky or it was just meant to be, not sure. INTEGRITY is rarer than a matching numbers BB Nova, and worth a whole lot more!!

Thanks to all the folks who treated me nice, hope I can return the favor some day.

wilma

[Rick H]

Basic business law. Unfortunatly most do not follow it and I have lost a few cars to this type of dealings.

When you said sent, was the deposit in the mail or was the seller in actual hold of the deposit? There is a difference in legal matters. Saying he sent a deposit means nothing unless the seller actually accepted the deposit and notified the buyer he was in receipt. Unfortunately if the deposit is in the mail the seller can cancel the agreement by notifying the buyer before he receives the deposit. The buyer has the right to do the same before money is accepted.

If he was in receipt then he was wrong and can be held liable. Of course as mentioned it would cost the buyer more as well as the seller. Just not worth the aggrevation.

It's a shame because the car is only one of 100 made and would make a great addition to any garage.

Rick H.

[Pantera]

I might add that anyone doing this long distance be sure to get the terms of the deal down in writing and of course be sure that you get the original back in the mail. If you have proof that you acted in good faith then most Judges will find in your favor. The writen contract and receipt shows the intent of both parties.

I will never forget a judge telling me when a guy backed out of a sale on a car and I had kept his deposit. He told me that if I had wrote anything down on the sales contract, that if the buyer didn't pick up the car in a certain amount of time then he forfeted the deposit money. He said if it was in any form of writing that he could haave understand, he would find in my favor. So, the guy got his deposit money back and I had to pay the court costs.

I know this is hard to do long distance, but fax the seller something in writing with the terms you and he have agreed to and a copy of your check. Be sure to have him sign it and fax it right back. Also insist that he puts the original that he actually signed in the mail that same day. This is no gurantee you will prevail in court but you will have a better chance in court than he will.

Sellers remorse might be avoided if you have a litte fodder like these documents on your side.

For what it is worth. Mind you I am not an attorney but sure have paid them lots of money over the years and this was something that I learned the hard way. Just be careful. There are so many crooks out there that will take your money and disappear. Check them out as much as you can beforehand.

Good Luck
Pantera

[Glenn J Coleman]

I am thankful for all the input and advice posted. I am the guy who was "shafted".

For those curious, The seller agreed repeatedly to the selling price of $28,900. He supplied bank information and was wired a $5000 deposit, which he confirmed had arrived. The bid retraction that was noticed earlier was due to a woman who meant to bid $29000, mistakenly she entered $2,900,000 !! The seller (Kirk Trascher from Houston) told me that he did not know how to end the auction. I told him that I would raise the proxy amount to eliminate any other claims to the car due to EBay.

I confirmed the sale particulars with Kirk one last time before I left to visit my elderly folks in St Louis, where I was without computer access.

Someone (with past Ebay purchases of Yenko material)attempted to outbid my proxy during the closing of the Ebay auction. The closing price ended at $36K. This is when, in my opinion, Kirk lost his sense of what is right and wrong. The "other" bidder was contacted or made contact with Kirk and they struck a new deal. Kirk was so kind as to offer me first right of refusal on the new sale amount!!

I was polite at first. I reminded him of our previous agreement outside the Ebay auction and to ask for a dollar more was unethical. My comments fell on deaf ears.

I did contact an attorney. There is legal grounds to impose a sale restraining order. But, as others here have mentioned, the cost and the aggrevation outweigh the potential gains.

Anyway, Thanks for listening and for those that took the time to comment. I'll see some of you next summer at Carlisle.

Regards,
Glenn J Coleman

[RareSS]

To all those that have replied to the post, thanks for your inputs. I think this is some information we should all consider the next time we do any dealings, but remember, there are still some good honest people left out there.

One day this Camaro will show up and people will know who bought it.
I still believe in the old saying..."What goes around will come around."

[Rick H]

[ QUOTE ]
I am thankful for all the input and advice posted. I am the guy who was "shafted".

For those curious, The seller agreed repeatedly to the selling price of $28,900. He supplied bank information and was wired a $5000 deposit, which he confirmed had arrived. The bid retraction that was noticed earlier was due to a woman who meant to bid $29000, mistakenly she entered $2,900,000 !! The seller (Kirk Trascher from Houston) told me that he did not know how to end the auction. I told him that I would raise the proxy amount to eliminate any other claims to the car due to EBay.

I confirmed the sale particulars with Kirk one last time before I left to visit my elderly folks in St Louis, where I was without computer access.

Someone (with past Ebay purchases of Yenko material)attempted to outbid my proxy during the closing of the Ebay auction. The closing price ended at $36K. This is when, in my opinion, Kirk lost his sense of what is right and wrong. The "other" bidder was contacted or made contact with Kirk and they struck a new deal. Kirk was so kind as to offer me first right of refusal on the new sale amount!!

I was polite at first. I reminded him of our previous agreement outside the Ebay auction and to ask for a dollar more was unethical. My comments fell on deaf ears.

I did contact an attorney. There is legal grounds to impose a sale restraining order. But, as others here have mentioned, the cost and the aggrevation outweigh the potential gains.

Anyway, Thanks for listening and for those that took the time to comment. I'll see some of you next summer at Carlisle.

Regards,
Glenn J Coleman

[/ QUOTE ]

There is all sorts of issues with this transaction. You offered to purchase the vehicle off auction and sent a deposit and he accepted. He doesn't know how to stop the auction?? Could have figured it out in 5 minutes. You should have insisted he stop the auction.

A woman mistakenly entered $2.9mil instead of $29k? Big flag there. Someone was hunting for reserve price. Did the auction ever end with reserve met??

Playing games by raising the bids is in my opening playing roulette and not a good practice. Again if he didn't know how to stop the auction you should have called him and talked him through it.

Another bidder finally outbid you because the auction ran to completion and legally the seller is now obligated to sell the car to the high bidder. How do you know what the other deal was between the seller and now final bidder?

"shafted"? In my opinion you helped in shafting yourself by allowing the auction to continue.

Yes, he was shady but you should have presisted on stopping the auction but you let it ride and finally got beat out by another bidder.

I think everyone should learn a lesson from this, lick your wounds and move on.

Rick H.

[Rick H]

I guess that answers the question about reserve being met.

Link to the LT-4 auction

Now I see why he was looking for the high dollar. 602 miles. Wow.

$8000 more then your offer is quite a lot. Not saying what he did was right but the high bidder is obligated to buy the car.

Rick H.

[Glenn J Coleman]

Rick,

I already have "licked my wounds". I wasn't the one who started this post. I was just trying to fill in some of the blanks that several polite forum members had raised. Needless to say, I can replay the events that happened over the last 2 weeks and find my own errors. Several, you pointed out.

Have a pleasant day.

Glenn