I was browsing craiglist yesterday afternoon, and I came across another E46 M3 (2006 6MT ZCP!) that had just been listed. It looked really nice, and it was local, so I called the guy. Everything sounded great on the phone, so we agreed to meet at a shopping center about midway between us.
The car looked awesome. Very meticulously kept with only a couple of minor flaws, but overall, it was very, very nice and agonizingly clean. For example, there wasn't so much as a spec of brake dust on the calipers, rotors, or wheels - it all looked like it just came out of the box. My dinner plates probably aren't this clean. He really knew this car well, and pointed out a couple of small flaws and deviations from original that he thought I should be aware of. Nothing major, but it showed great attention to detail. I was seriously jumping on this one instead of the DY to which I had already committed.
Then things started to get weird. I say "lets take it for a drive!" and the guy says "OK, but I can't let you drive it."
Huh? Why? "Well, I've had some problems with that in the past" but with no further explanation.
So we drive around and bit, and the car sounds and feels great. I finally convince him to let me drive it, but he'll only let me do so in a mall parking lot. Um, Ok. So I drive it for a few minutes, and then he says "Ok, that should be enough."
Hmmm.
He drives back to the original shopping center and I try to engage him more about the car. I ask him why he won't let people drive it, and what happened in the past. He says "Well, I only have liability on it, I'm trying to save money" He goes on to tell me he saves $40/month by not having comp and collision on the car. Really? This is after he's gone on and on about all the recent maintenance he's had done: new water pump, hoses, belts, coil packs, valve cover gasket, (all of which which did look like was done) and how much he'd spent on mods.
I ask him about the title. He says "It's clean. I can text you the VIN if you want to run a carfax" Then I ask if the title is in his name. No, he has a loan on it. Ok, not the end of the world. I push on and ask what the process would be for transferring ownership if I wanted to buy it. This is where it got weird. He said that (quoting best as I can) "You just write me a check, then when it clears, I'll pay off the loan and tell the bank too transfer it to you." He launched into a monologue about the title laws in California, how California was a "no title" state so you didn't actually need to have to title to sell it" or some other such nonsense; I actually stated to tune it out after a while. I tell him "Ok, that sounds simple enough"
Then he wants a $60 "smog deposit" Whaaa? "Yeah, in case you don't buy it, then I'm not out the cost of the smog check, unless you agree to do the smog yourself."
By this time I suspect either this guy is either really clueless, trying to scam me, or a combination of the two.
The first warning sign should have been the owner himself. A scrawny pale white kid dressed like a cross between a skater and a thug. When I saw "scrawny' I mean it. His knee and elbow joints stuck out like someone who just got out of a concentration camp.
Here's one of the pix from the ad. Notice in the lower-right corner it looks like a previous watermark was blocked out. However, as far as I can tell, this actually is indeed the same car I looked at.
So do you think this was an attempted scam setup, or did I run into a seller with Aspergers?
