[Tom '74 911]

I've bought 2 engines long distance. The first was a complete scam. I emailed and had phone conversations w/the seller for 2 weeks before sending money. He was nice, knowledgable, accommodating etc... After sending the money, he proceeded to disappear. After a few days, I discovered that he had sold the engine to another fellow and was scamming him too. I ended up getting my money back, but lost a couple of years off my life due to stress.

The second experience has been much better. I bought a low hour, rebuilt motor from a shop (Knightrace). As I am a few thousand miles away from the shop and had never met William etc... it still took a leap of faith to send that much $$. I spent a lot of time on the phone w/him, over maybe a month, before getting comfortable. I also talked to a few people that had done business with him. It's gone about as smoothly as it could've.

The only way I would buy an engine from a 'regular guy' (like me!) would be to have it verified by a third party that I trusted. Even then, as has been said earlier, don't be surprised if it's not as represented.