What's your opinion on this 400i?

Have you got your Nike's on???
Too dodgy a deal for a normal thinking person,IMO.

 

Something smells really bad - do not buy without an independant PPI and your own inspection. There was just a thread on Ferrarichat regarding someone losing $30k in a similar yet more straightforward deal. You also may want to search the mechanics name both here and on google to see what comes up.

The right car will come along, have faith!

Art S.

 

No comments on the California issues but the buy/sell logistics are a HUGE red flag and I would not ever consider a transaction where the money, clean title, keys and the car all did not change hands simultaneously.

Buy a car sight unseen? Pictures can hide or obscure a ton of issues that you would see in person. Maybe for some of the risk takers here but not me. I work too hard for my money to risk that.

As for the seller selling the car to the dealer and then the dealer selling it to you, that is not such a problem. The dealer presumably is getting a commission on the deal and part of the deal is that he insulates the seller from any problems that you may have with the sale afterward. Any problems with the car or its representation, you would have recourse only to the dealer.

I did that a year or so ago in selling a vintage race car to a buyer in Switzerland. The transaction for me was between me and the dealer. I did not have to worry about funds from Switzerland and the dealer took care of getting the car to the shipping port at the buyer's expense. I felt better because I knew that I would be insulated from problems if the car arrived damaged or the buyer fired it up and blew up the engine right away.

Don't let the Ferrari "Gotta have it now Red Mist" get in your eyes and prevent you from seeing the red flags about the transaction that have been proposed.

 

Life is too good to be doing dumb deals. Which this one appears to be. Just too many bad feelings.


I'd like to share some advice. One thing I've learned in my short (10 yrs w Ferraris) time around here.
There will be another one.

The way I would deal with this particular one if I wanted to proceed. I would insist upon talking to the seller directly. Layers of BS will be parted and passed at that point. Then you stand a chance.

Secondly, I would never advise anyone to do anything other than obey the law. The historic plates are great for those individuals. It is not intended for a DD.

The anonymity stuff is pure BS. It's not like it is owned by Madona. It's intended to defraud you in most instances IMO.

Best of luck and we'll be here for you.

 

Well gosh that's an awfully nice looking car and at $34K for a 5 speed- these kinds of deals that we turn our noses up at now will prove to be the LASt classic Ferrari bargains....

But yeah- any deal that sounds dodgy usually turns out to be a painful lesson.

There are autos around but here in the states a really good 5 speed is still a rare find... In my 3-year research only TWO have popped up- 5 in total but three were restoration candidates.

If the deal is real there's got to be a way to get it done with security.

 

If that is the case then you can work with him to structure the deal in a way that makes sense for you as a buyer.

The car looks very nice (gorgeous, actually) in the pix but, as with any car more than 25 years old, inspecting it in person (or having an expert do that) plus understanding about the maintenance history of the car is crucial.

Don't forget that those pictures are almost six years old now! What has the car been doing since then?

Good luck.

 

Good day Bill,

Personally, I feel that regardless of the "brokers" credentials the business logic that he is proposing is simply non standard and places tremendous risk upon yourself. for example, what happens if the fellow becomes incapacitated (i.e. accident, illness, etc) before making delivery of the car? ... let alone any nefarious activity on their part. In either case you would then have to seek legal means to recover your $$$$. Normally I would expect the "broker" to ask for a reasonable deposit upfront and have you sign some sort of agreement that details the remainder of the payment (i.e. upon delivery). If the Broker is concerned about the final payment (i.e. they may not have sufficient funds to cover the full transaction), then they may ask for the payment to be placed in trust (i.e. lawyer) and structure an agreement that dictates the trust conditions.

As others have mentioned, what happens in the event that the car is not as described? What happens if the car is damaged during transport... who is carrying the insurance on the car and how do you get "paid" out? There is no mention of "when" the car is to be delivered ... is it within a few days, week, month? What if there is a lien on the car? These are particulars that are important to know before any $$$ are released. There are far too many variables here and indeed some of these have low probabilities of occurring, but the dollars are too great to ignore in my opinion.

If you do wish to move forward on this car, then I would enlist the services of a lawyer to have him (or her) draft a legal document that details the conditions of the sale before any monies or portions thereof are released. A few dollars in advance for some legal assistance can save you a tremendous amount of effort and $$$ should something go awry.

Cheers,

Sam

 

I can smell this deal all the way in Chicago.
Personally, I have never discriminated against any buyer that had cash in hand. I suspect if you do some homework you'll find the same by contacting the owner. That is if it does exist and is for sale.
Pictures off the internet too I'll bet. They are very familiar.
Everybody here will tell you these cars are a tough sell, why would someone want to deliberately install such a middleman?
Hand $34k, or anything, to that mechanic and you are likely to regret it.

 

Ask your lawyer to buy it for you

 

I got nicked for 18G working thru a reliable broker. Seller had used him multiple times. He turned crook all at once. FBI got him but i lost. By the plate can you run down the owner?

 

Exactly! Try to track down the owner and do a deal with him. Even if this mediator turns out to be not a crook, he will try to make a few grand on this deal. In both cases you will lose money. The (classic) Ferrari community is very small, especially in Cali, so it can not be hard to track down the owner and ask him if the car is really for sale...

If this car is for sale it will be worth the trouble to do some homework. It could be the bargain of the year!