russo and steel chop job camaro copo

[Drew Alcazar]

Mr. Buizilla,

If I failed earlier to be more clear I apologize. Here is the current disposition on this particular Camaro.

The buyer took delivery of the vehicle from our auction site in Florida. We collateralized him as a bidder, as we do everyone and he wrote us a check for his purchase, checked out with the car and we awaited an electronic wire transfer on Monday, the next business day following the auction.

The buyer contacted us alleging that he felt the car was a “re-body – chop job” and indicated he had placed a “Stop Payment” on his check and would not be funding the purchase.

At this point the car was in Miami and we sent Reliable Carriers to pick the car up. Typically, in these situations, we act as essentially an “escrow” agent to secure the title, car and funds pending a thorough investigation as to the validity of any allegations.

In this case, with no money (a worthless piece of paper = a NSF check) and a car that had been partially dismantled sitting in Miami we took the best course of action we knew how. We secured the car and re-delivered the car to the seller.

Let me be abundantly clear on the facts:

1) The buyer never funded the transaction – so there is no money to “refund”.
2) The seller bought the car through the Barrett-Jackson in January 2007. He was the first buyer to “pay up” for this car and this is further evidence that he absolutely did NOT know the vehicle’s history
3) The seller is a well know enthusiast who has a large company and also many, many cars, most well over the 6 figure range. To think that he would compromise his good standing in the hobby for this single Camaro is well beyond my imagination. It is my very strong opinion that this seller was not maliciously involved in any wrong doing in any way WHAT SO EVER.
4) An investigation is underway to determine the status of allegations that this vehicle is a “re-body”. Experts infinitely more knowledgeable than I will have to accurately determine if indeed it is a re-body entirely or possibly just a badly damaged vehicle that was repaired.

The seller received a car back that was partially dismantled, and has now been at the mercy of many unsubstantiated allegations, reckless comments, and loose conjecture. Can you imagine how he feels?

Whether or not you “buy” this explanation and factual outline is immaterial and irrelevant.

How would you like it if some one started this kind of messages about YOUR car? No pictures, no facts, no expert testimony from well respected authorities in the hobby, just took your car off an auction site, dismantled it, and then posted this crap…

I said it before and now again: PLEASE, do the owner of this vehicle the courtesy of investigating the history of this particular car prior to being crucified in this (or any other) anonymous public forum.

One thing I DO know is that ANY fellow enthusiasts deserves at LEAST that!

Drew Alcazar

[BUIZILLA]

Drew, I understand your points, and they are clear. Are you saying he gave you an NSF check? or it was a stop payment check? big difference... how was he to know it wasn't a re-body if he didn't remove any panels to confirm a rumor?? I would have done the same thing looking for rumor proof. can't do that in the auction hall either... while I agree it IS buyer beware in most instances, it should also be seller beware in this instance. RichP has just stated, as others have, that the car wasn't legit, yet it appears again as legit. Pete thought it was legit. What would happen if I asked Pete as a broker to buy this car for me and this happened?? Clearly, people along the way knew this, your client very well may not have, but a bunch sure did...

did I understand you to just write that BJ sold this car as legit as well?? should be real easy to track it from RichP's honest client clean on to BJ if that's the case..

and, I do compliment your upstanding willingness to clear the air.

JH

[Drew Alcazar]

I may have used the NSF check designation too loosely. We typically refer to checks that are no good, for what ever reason as "NSF". You are correct, there is a significant difference.

The check was written, pending wire transfer on the next business day - Monday as per our bidders contract. A "Stop Payment" was issued by the buyer on this check.

Thank you for allowing me to clarify.

Drew

[Unreal]

As Xplantdad says: “For good or bad… Drew just tells it like he sees it” – to me that equals one thing: Integrity.

So it's OK to do whatever you want, as long as you are up front about it? So honesty and integrity are unrelated!! Now I get it.

[427king]

Im confused. Its illegal to rebody a car,but OK to sell it ONLY as long as you arent asking market value??

[AutoInsane]

Drew I think we all appreciate your candor and the fact you are willing to come on here and discuss the issue.

I would think you would be a bit perturbed that someone tried to pass of a re-bodied car at your auction. Apparently a Camaro that is well known in the hobby to be a re-body. When someone does that and they create negativity regarding the auction process that can potentially harm your bottom line.

I would think you would want to do what ever it takes to rectify the situation and make things right and not make statements that sound like "oh well, the buyer should have done his due diligence, not our fault".

Considering you are the purveyor of the merchandise I would think you would want to take responsibility for offering a quality no questions asked product. Isn't the first rule of retail: "The customer is always right" ?? I guess the seller is also your customer and I know you guys in the auction biz have some pretty tight relationships with guys who are big players in the hobby. It must not be the easiest job to be the middle man! But that, my friend, is why you get the big bucks!

I do think the buyer should have contacted you before doing any dismantling of the vehicle to speak with you regarding the situation and have gone forward from there.

[704EVER]

It's a terrible situation for all involved. I'm just surprised a collector with such a high end collection and so many cars would be turning this car over already after only owning it for 14 months. I always thought the big guys kept all there special cars.

[RamAirDave]

Many blame the "buyer" for not doing adequate research before buying the car. I can understand that.

However, if the seller (who knew nothing about its re-body status as Drew's opinion states) is an enthusiast/collector with "many, many cars, most well over the 6 figure range", then he should have researched the car as well when he purchased it at auction last year, right?

[427.060]

That's what I was thinking too Dave. Then again, maybe that's why he wanted to sell it.
james