Quote:
Originally Posted by stealthn
Ken, you went for it eh?~! Please post pics when you get her.
|
Aw, deal fell through at the 11th hour. The car is a 2000 mile garage queen sitting on the east coast. I was trying to orchestrate the deal with email and telephone, figured it was doable in this electronic age because the car is in such primo condition. Crappy weather on the east coast and mid-west keeps ruling out the "pick it up and drive it home" option.
I had the inspection done and had an excellent chat with the service manager at a small town Porsche dealership about the seller and the car - it's amazing what people will say to strangers on the phone. The seller is so anal that he's known to have the dealer flat-bed the car into town if there's still "grit on the roads". I also did a bit of internet sleuthing to get good info about the seller. It's pretty easy to get comfortable about someone these days using a bit of diligence.
I made an initial contingency deposit via paypal (charged to a credit card, which gives me an "out" if things went sour) and had a chat with the seller's banker so I could wire money directly to his bank when the transporter was ready to pick up the car.
But then the seller missed a couple of deadlines to send title copies and some other details and started to be a dick about scheduling transporter pick up dates. Guy is a "captain of industry", travels a lot and expects the world to revolve around his schedule. He wouldn't allow the car to be picked-up unless he was there personally. Wouldn't trust the job to his wife or anyone else. It became a nightmare trying to lock down a date. I guess the guy's anal personality is part of what made the car appealing - the kind of guy that cleans his tire treads with a tooth brush.
Up to 2 week lead times for shipper dates and a seller with a complex travel schedule finally became insurmountable obstacles. I was not prepared to fly back and forth to grab the car plus pay shipping and importation costs. It's either distance buy/ship or fly down and pick it up. I'd much rather do the latter.
I'll keep looking for something in the west or spring to finally arrive on the east coast.