Seller etiquette, this guy is a total numbnut to the nth degree

[shiutong]

So I been little itchy in finding a replacement 993TT. I have searched the same usual site like Ebay, autotraders, cars.com and so forth and was considering the purchase of a 96 zenith blue 993tt from one of the banned sellers here in this site. I do not know why he is banned but I do know that he was impossible to deal with. I called him since his phone number is listed in his ads and asked about the car. I told him that I have bought many cars sight unseen and been on the opposite coast I asked him if the car has any sort of paintwork repainted. His reply is "none that I am awared of". I have had my experiences with this kind of sell tactics so I asked him to please let me know paint meter measurements of the car and he claimed he doesn't have one. He then goes on in saying that he has bought over 1000 yes 1000 Porsches and people like myself are the hardest type to deal with. He also says that he has bought more Porsches in a month that I have ever owned. He then says he can go out and buy a meter and measure the car up but he says he won't do it claiming that would be a waste of time because statistically 2% of people that calls him ends up buying the car and I do not fall under that category based on my question. He claims he will only do it for the loyal customers of his. (loyal customers please come out to his defense) Is asking a car to be paint metered such a hard proposition when I am 2000 miles away specially if I had to buy the car sight unseen (which a few people in this forum know that I have just done that, email me if you need references) or even before deciding to buy a ticket to fly there to see the car? Does he truly wants me to believe that he has no paint meter when he has bought "over 1000 Porsches and buy more Porsche in a week than I have ever owned" He says people like myself wants to know everything about the car and then wastes his time, he goes on sarcasticly asking if he needs to buy me a paint meter just for this sale or even buy me a ticket and fly me there to check his car out? He was so out of line. Now I figure why his car is still for sale after been in the market for a year or so. He might be an obnoxious weathly trustfund baby or just an idiotic car salesman, I have no clue but I do know he is a complete numbnut arrogant prikc. Not sure why he was banned but I am glad was. Feel free to email me to find out who this weener is or you can find him quite easily, not too many zenith blue 993 turbos for sale. Shame on you.

Just had to vent. Sorry for the rant. Feel better now, heading to the other Pcar forums to vent again.

[GregB7S4]

Don't feel bad, there have been several posts here and on Rennlist about this individual (I think his name is Alex)and they all focus on how obnoxious and arrogant he is. And his cars never seem to sell...gee I wonder why!?

another discussion about "Alex":
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=545664&referrerid=51959

[geshaghi]

The Zenith Blue TT has been advertised for more than a year, and I have wondered why it hasn't yet sold. I have no experience with the seller, so I can't comment on his approach. With respect to your question about what is reasonable though, if I were a buyer and had enough interest in the car to overcome the seller's personality challenges, I would hire an independent shop to do a PPI. You can then ask them to do whatever type of inspection that you desire.

[andyt11]

Just move on to the next car. Even if this one is exactly what you want.

When buying sight unseen there are three things you can rely on.

1 - Good quality photos, (amazing how many cannot come up with those)
2 - a good feeling about the owner (since you are having to accept what he tells you as the truth)
3 - a PPI at a trustworthy recommended shop.

If you don't have all three of those I say move on. Good luck with the search.

[DanielDudley]

If I treat you badly, and you keep on dealing with me, I will assume you deserve what you are about to get.

There will always be a certain percentage of buyers who will respond to that type of treatment.

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

If I treat you badly, and you keep on dealing with me, I will assume you deserve what you are about to get.

There will always be a certain percentage of buyers who will respond to that type of treatment.

Kind of like battered women who never file charges or leave the guy...

[shiutong]

I totally agree with George and Andy with the PPI but my initial thought was that if he had a paint meter to get multiple spots per panel of the car I would then based my PPI or travel for it. I am looking only for a paintless car hence my initial and main criteria. I also like the sport seats and the relatively low mileage however at this point I doubt the seller is really going to consider me real buyer even though I have bought just a month ago a 965 sight unseen from a nice rennlist fellow. The funniest thing is that after speaking with the 965 seller, I felt comfortable enough to wire him the entire amount. I would never do that with this 993TT seller even if we agreed to something. Like I said either he is just bathing around with money and has no care at all or just a real dumb arrogant seller.
Apparently the seller not only deals or consigns Porsches, I suppose his 1000 cars extends to Lotus too where there is a thread about his shadiness.

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f164...ale-35k-57331/

I am glad I am not the only one who found the seller offensive.
The search goes on =)

[budge96]

Yeah Alex leaves a little something to be desired if I must say so..contacted him about a
windshield last year and when I asked if he would negotiate on price his retort was sure
when you come up to my asking ! What a bugger!
check out my TT for sale ..need space thanks Bert
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-cars-sale/534269-fs-1996-993-twin-turbo.html

[tmarx]

HA! I'm glad to hear he's been banned. Here was my experience with the same guy:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-marketplace-discussion/494463-am-i-rude-buyer.html

[aigel]

I am sure the guy just waits for the right moron to come up that will buy without questions asked. That said, there is a blue 993 TT in the LA craigslist since I remember. Must be the same car?

George

[lilacRS]

Is that Zenith Blue TT the same car as the Amaranth Violet TT Alex also had for sale a few years ago? When I was seriously considering the Amaranth Violet TT, it also had low miles, the sport seats and all grey interior.

I think the Violet color was a turn-off for many buyers (except me), and Alex mentioned he would repaint the car to a more desirable color if I didn't buy it. I never got the VIN, but I have been curious if the Zenith Blue TT is the same car since seeing it for sale a while back on RL.

[GregB7S4]

While its been well established this guy is a jerk, if it turns out he actually repainted a 993TT a different color to make it easier to sell then he is a moron too!

[aigel]

1996 911 PORSCHE TWIN TURBO ZENITH BLUE 27,000 MILES

[GregB7S4]

He's back! Looks like our friend alex is back with a new usernmae; "aircooled98";

1995 993 c2 twin turbo black/black - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

[Christien]

From a seller's perspective, it's true that less than 5% of calls or inquiries lead to a sale, especially on high-end cars like Porsches, and it can get very frustrating with all the tire-kickers. However, to make that 5%, you have to treat 95% of the customers like gold. (there are a few you can tell right off the bat, like the slacker college kid who rolls up in a beat up 81 mustang asking to trade it in on the GT3).

On a car as old as a 95, finding one with absolutely no paintwork and no stone chips will be virtually impossible. They're out there, sure, but there very few and far between. The trick is to weed out the cars that have had paintwork due to damage, sun, etc. from the ones that have had a bumper or hood respray due to stone chips, which is just a fact of life. When I look at cars at auction, even 2009 and 2010 MY cars with 5-10k on the odometer have sometimes had a bumper or hood resprayed, or will have unrepaired stone chips.

In my experience, most dealers don't have paint gauges. I've called dealers all over Canada and the US to source hard-to-find cars and when I ask them to go paint gauge the car while I wait, they rarely are able to. Conversely, I've put people on hold several times to take our paint gauge out to a car and check it out for them. It sure makes selling cars easier.