Do you recognise this 240Z?

[wheee!]

Addition: I got an answer from eAutoSmart Traders: "As soon as you (meaning me) decide to keep the vehicle we will our legal representative to you and he will handle the title transfer on your name." Probably at this point at the latest I would need to pay to eAutoSmart Traders.. And naturally this procedure saves the owner of the vehicle.

If those grammatical Errors are part of the original response.... scam.
I don’t like the sounds of this One Little Bit! Proceed with caution.

[Jan K]

3 hours ago, jfa.series1 said:

Consider using an escrow account for any long-distance purchase.

Yep, naturally (since I am in Finland..). As per eAutoSmart Traders' info on their web pages they always use their own escrow account system. Then again, they get paid by the sellers (no a dime from buyers), so in the end, they will be bowing to the seller..

In addition, I have a Finnish owned business (kinda a friend) is SC which would take care of the delivery from US to Finland.

[Jan K]

3 hours ago, wheee! said:

Found an ad for it here using all the same pictures... I think this is a scam. If you think otherwise, ask for a photo of it with them holding a banana or something ridiculous to prove they have it.

https://carbuzz.com/news/someone-stuffed-a-corvette-v8-in-this-old-datsun-240z

Yes.. Those pics are the same which I posted here, because I picked them up from that BaT sales ad from Nov 2018. In the ad from couple of weeks ago there were 1 or 2 of the same and 2 different pictures (these I didnt't copy here because I wanted and hoped that the current owner of it (or a person who knows the current owner) would see them and could tell me if this car really is for sale..).

I asked some additional pictures already at the start of the conversation with the rep of a seller (eAutoSmart) but they said the car is their storage / warehouse elsewhere... (possible red flag). Thus didn't get any.

[Jan K]

2 hours ago, Zed Head said:

I searched eSmart AutoTraders and got three pages of links from forums asking if they are legit.  They seem to be an escrow based company.  Somebody recently bought a car this way and had it shipped to England.  I think his name was "Woody" or something like that.  He had a thread about it.  The shipping company damaged the car and he found some other problems.  Seemed like he had a big budget though and was happy in the end.  

Personally, I wouldn't go through the hassle without having someone you trust examine it first, wherever it is here in the States.  It's not some classic that's value is in its provenance.  It's a highly modified 240Z.   Shipping to Helsinki is going to be expensive, if that's what your plan is.

https://www.google.com/search?q=eAutoSmart+Traders&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS862US862&ei=jC4vXtCiDM_Z-gTjyrGoDg&start=0&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwjQmIuAt6TnAhXPrJ4KHWNlDOU4ChDy0wN6BAgMEC0&biw=1600&bih=757

I did that google search on eAutoSmart Traders also right after I was contacted by them as per my first info request about the car. I have a sort of a friend (a friend of a friend of mine), a Finn couple whose company is SC. To my understanding their only business is inspecting and buying vehicles and shipping them to Finland (or elsewhere in Northern Europe). My idea is (if this eAutoSmart Traders is trustworthy) to get that 240Z shipped for free to them and they inspect & test drive it and report the findings to me. If the car is as per expected they ship it to me to Finland. So that has been kind of taken care of already..

How does it go?: If that SC company is in person making a deal on behalf of me (thus I wouldn't be there in person) can they get the title of the car transferred to my name on behalf of me? Can it be handled using a power of attorney or a mandate? Or do I need to be there in person?

[Jan K]

35 minutes ago, wheee! said:

If those grammatical Errors are part of the original response.... scam.
I don’t like the sounds of this One Little Bit! Proceed with caution.

Sorry! That grammatical error was my bad... I missed the word send...

[Jan K]

Back in Nov 2018 in BaT auction the winning bidder seems to be a nickname "TheBartels". Would anyone happen to know him/her?

As I wrote earlier, unfortunately I couldn't get any user info on him/her nor could I send any private mail within BaT..

[Mike]

11 hours ago, Jan K said:

Their web pages look trustworthy though..

Yeah, this really isn't something that should be considered, based on a website design.  The right hacker with skills can make anything look legit...

[Zed Head]

We've had some pretty involved discussions on the site about titles.  I think that almost all US titles have a "Release of Interest" line on the title itself.  Back when i was a kid buying cars, all you needed was a title with that line signed by the person whose name was on the title.  After that, how you got a new title depended on which state you were in.  In the link I posted from Woody I think he went in to some detail about the paperwork needed to get through customs. 

I think that's where companies like AutoTrader make their money.  They know how to get the car to the buyer.  I think getting through customs then having the proper paperwork to get a title in Finland is your biggest concern.  Once the seller gets his money, he won't care anymore.

The people you know of in SC should know all about this stuff.  Seems like you should be talking to them about how to get a new title in Finland.

Good luck.  I would imagine that once the seller consigns the car to AutoTrader he's pretty much locked in with them.  They already have storage costs and they have possession of the car.  The owner would probably have to pay a fee to get out of the AutoTrader contract.  In essence, they own the car now.

 

[siteunseen]

19 hours ago, Jan K said:

Thanks. Tried that, didn't work on Chromium, Firefox nor MS Edge.. Damn..

My bad, I told you wrong.  It's S key then right click at the same time.  Sorry about that but here's what I see.  $21,000 car.

Lot #14360
Seller: gnovmarketing
Location: Fountain Valley, California 92708

https://thebidwatcher.com/auctions/view/92368

https://bangshift.com/general-news/bangshift-question-of-the-day/would-you-rather-datsun-s30-z-car-do-you-like-yours-original-or-extra-spicy/

After googling gnov marketing I found this.  Too much bull**it if your having to ask all these questions, like @wheee! said earlier RUN AWAY imho.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/fountain-valley/profile/online-retailer/gizmo-supply-co-1126-172017668

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by siteunseen

[Zed Head]

The links I posted were from right-clicking the images.  You get a sub-menu with "search for this image" in it.

If AutoTrader has the car they are in control.  I'm sure that they will pass on questions to the seller.  They have a vested interest, literally, in getting buyer and seller together.  I wouldn't be surprised if the buyer refused to talk to you even if you find him.  There's a reason he chose AutoTrader to help sell his car.

Fun to discuss but kind of weak without the original ad you're looking at.

[Zed Head]

I only find one Datsun on AutoTrader.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Datsun/Seattle+WA-98101?makeCodeList=DATSUN&searchRadius=200&zip=98101&marketExtension=include&isNewSearch=true&sortBy=relevance&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0

[Jan K]

On 1/28/2020 at 6:43 PM, siteunseen said:

My bad, I told you wrong.  It's S key then right click at the same time.  Sorry about that but here's what I see.  $21,000 car.

Lot #14360
Seller: gnovmarketing
Location: Fountain Valley, California 92708

https://thebidwatcher.com/auctions/view/92368

https://bangshift.com/general-news/bangshift-question-of-the-day/would-you-rather-datsun-s30-z-car-do-you-like-yours-original-or-extra-spicy/

After googling gnov marketing I found this.  Too much bull**it if your having to ask all these questions, like @wheee! said earlier RUN AWAY imho.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/fountain-valley/profile/online-retailer/gizmo-supply-co-1126-172017668

 

 

Thanks. Those neither worked on my Firefox. Haven't tried it (yet) on other browers.

That gnovmarketing is NOT the current seller, most likely: That party sold the car in Nov 2018 via BaT auction to the winning bidder = "TheBartels". So, if the deal happened eventually back then, the current seller probably is that TheBartels..