The car looks wayyyy better in the photos that's why I fell for it. It pisses me off to no end that a fellow Porsche enthusiast would do such a thing to another. I guess that's what I get for a 6800 dollar car.

I purchased a 911 sight unseen ONE time. I had it shipped 3200 miles to California from Florida. The car was a disaster. The floor was gone.

I blamed myself. I took all the blame and vowed never to buy a car sight unseen. I did not blame the seller. To him, it was a rusty car which I knew to some extent, but didn't think the floor was gone. I sold the car and broke even.

That day I learned a very powerful lesson. It's on ME to be smart.

pmax, nice skillsz.
How did you find the ad for the car?

100% agree with this. I feel bad for OP getting a car that doesn't meet his expectations but I believe that it's really on the buyer to inspect the car before handing over the money.

I've bought two cars sight unseen and both times, I go into it expecting the worst. Luckily, I've never been burned myself. On the flip side, I hate selling a car to someone sight unseen. There's really no way to completely describe condition/mechanicals/driveability without inspecting it in person.

Trust me I hear you but at what point do you draw the line on needing to verify that what someone is telling you is accurate and/or true? Do you crack open a motor that was just built to look inside. I want to believe that there are plenty of other people out there just like me that are honest and capable of accurately describing a vehicle. I wish there was a buyer/seller feedback mechanism here to rate each other. That would be a blast!! :)

I bought my Scout II sight unseen from 3000 miles away and it was completely rust free and perfectly maintained.

I also bought my 911 basically sight unseen except I paid for a PPI and it was nearly perfect.

I'm about to buy my first classic car locally. Why do I have a feeling my luck might run out?

It may never run out. Which is good for you. For me, it was the first time I ever did it - and the last time. I broke even - but it was a lot of work to break even. It happens in life, but it may never happen to you. If I paid for a PPI they would have caught it, but it was an eBay auction and the price wasn't too bad. Won't do it again though.

Well, I think you're very extreme on your line drawing. For me, I just want to see the car. I'm a person that always ends up buying something that needs work, know why? Because every car that's almost older than me (my '75 S) - and ones that are not so old (2000 Audi TT) - usually need some kind of work. Cars don't last forever, and people don't either.

I'm not going to 'crack open a motor that was just rebuilt' as you said, which is extreme, but would like to see the car. I thought my original post was personal enough and not extreme. As I've gotten older, I've put more blame on myself because I should have learned many of these lessons. Kind of like showing up late for something. Just leave a half-hour early and don't sweat it.

I wasn't making fun of you for wanting to check out every car in person and my example was extreme however it shouldn't be the case that you have to check a car in person. It's bull crap how many shady sellers there are. I've had everything from the hired inspector being incahoots with the seller and completely lying to me as he was talking to me over the phone while he was looking at the car to someone telling me that a car only has two coin sized rust spots and in actuality it had two coin sized spots that were rust free lol. Just sucks. Sometimes I go look at it sometimes I don't. No real rhyme or reason

Yes, the way I figure it, then that it's me and only me to take responsibility if it's bad if I view it in person.

Here's a horrible story with a happy ending, about buying a car sight unseen, a one owner car at that!

https://www.pca.org/news/2016-07-19/barnfinding-one-owner-nightmare

---Adam

If the car came with receipts from John Walker's Workshop for an engine rebuild, I would believe that the motor had been rebuilt. If there are receipts for a glass-out repaint, and the pictures show awesome paint and new window rubber, I would believe it.

Claims made in an ad with no paper to back it up? Don't count on it.

Michigan to NY? That's barellly a drive!! Should've went first hand. No rewinding time, you're a man, time to roll up the sleeves and fix what needs fixing.

Holy moley. That's almost word for word my experience with a "gentleman" from KY who is active on Samba.

There are people who will kiss off their reputation for just a few bucks. Can't really leverage them with exposure -- they just don't care.

You're correct that's what I'm doing. Can't repair the body work though.

That's my photo in my garage.

Any updates ?

Yeah I it sucked it up spent 3 grand getting it running and sold it for a huge loss.

So who was the "optimistic" seller? Please don't let another Pelican step in his mouse droppings!

His name is Stephen Salata from Pinckney Michigan 48169