"Mike" was advertising a 1986 Porsche 944 on ebay. The auction did not reach his reserve price so I emailed in and asked how much his reserve price was, basically how much he wanted for this car. He advertised, both on ebay, emails, and verbally, that this car had 43,000 original miles, perfect condition, absolutely no mechanical defects, new clutch, new everything, perfect paint job, and "off the show room" quality. We agreed that $7800 was a fair price for a car in this perfect condition. I took out a used car loan with Navy Federal Credit Union and wire transferred the money via my bank to his. He also arranged to have the car delivered via "his" transport company he uses for a price of $400. I confirmed this price with the company via telephone. The car was to arrive in 3-4 days from pick up. The car was picked up in Miami on Saturday the 28th of February.By March 11 I was livid and spoke to Mike who stated that he would find out what was going on. I was in contact on and off with the driver of the truck via cell phone for that 2 weeks and was getting excuse after excuse on where he was and where my car was. Finally, on the early morning of Friday, March 12th, at 1:00AM, the driver showed with the car. It was covered in motor oil because the car above it in the carrier supposedly leaked all over it. The driver wouldn't release the car unless I paid $450, not the $400 I was told. His invoice said $450. I paid the man and took my car.
Right off the bat, there were issues with the car. The paint job was not a $3000 paint job as MIKE had informed. It was sloppy, with dripped, it wasn't even stripped and primed below. They painted over rot and rust, which was visible to see they did so, and also painted right over the trim and door hinges! The dash had been changed and I wasn't informed of that. The windshield pump didn't work, the heat didn't work, the blower regulator is not functioning, the hood struts need to be replaced, and the sun roof arms are not working. That alone made me very upset... But the worst of all is that the odometer is not working and the car is stuck at 43,587 miles and has been for at least 3 months. I know this because the two repair receipts he included (he also NEVER sent the entire maintenance history he promised to; he said he had all the history from 1987 to now) and the receipts show that in January and February when the car was brought in for repair that the mileage was 43,587.
He claimed those are original miles and it's obvious that the odometer has been unhooked. That was NEVER disclosed and that is ODOMETER FRAUD! In addition, the catalic converter needs to be replaced. It is not functioning properly and the car failed Connecticut Emissions due to that fact. The car is also burning oil - I have not been able to determine the exact reason yet - might be due to the converter malfunction. Finally, the CLUTCH needs to be replaced. Mike said that he just put in a NEW TURBO clutch. The clutch was slipping so I called JCM Performance (great guys there let me add), who was the place Mike said replaced the clutch, and JCM said the he NEVER replaced it and that he has been telling Mike for the past 2 months that it needed replacing but Mike didn't want to spend the money. I brought the car to a Porsche Mechanic here and called a few others. All these repairs to this PERFECT CONDITION car is going to cost me about $5000 in parts, repair and labor Porsche parts are ridiculously overpriced and you need an authorized Porsche mechanic to do the work and you pay for it! The actual book value for this vehicle in this condition with unknown miles is only $1800. I was ripped off and a victim of fraud.
I was in contact with Mike demanding $2000 back (which I was ignored) - that was BEFORE I found out about the converter and the clutch. Now that it has been confirmed that the clutch was not replaced, that I need a converter, and in addition to the odometer fraud and other malfunctions, I want at least $5000 back from the $7800 I paid. That gives his $1000 over the book value for this car - $2800. I have attempted contact via email for over a week and he will not respond to me. He also has never sent the mechanical history for 1987 to now as he promised also and was part of the sale price. He lied, committed fraud, and I want justice and for this man to be punished. I want the car, and will fix it, but I would have never paid $7800 for a car that needs $5000 worth of repairs to it. I am contacting everyone, including a lawyer if he does not settle this with me civilly which I doubt he is considering he is a cowardly FRAUD.
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