Review #1

RHU - Sat, 6 Mar 1999

I checked them out when purchasing, a little over a year ago. They said they had the car I was looking for. When I stated I would be on a plane the next day, they said someone had put a deposit on the car and they could find me another. My gut told me they did not have the car that I had expressed serious interest in stock. This left a bad taste in my mouth, so
I shoped elsewhere.

Review #2

BP - Sat, 6 Mar 1999

Does everyone remember the story I posted about a list member losing money to a dealer in FL? I never gave a name.

I'm not accusing anyone, I'm just saying BE CAREFUL.  The same story came from a list member in New Orleans, LA. They said they had the car, then said it was sold, so "send a deposit and we'll find another one" type of story.

Review #3

CEW - Sat, 6 Mar 1999

Thanks for all of the input on ECW. I have decided not to use their service since I have heard about 10 horror stories from this list and a recent Ferrari club meeting.

My situation was as follows:

I knew exactly what car I wanted (year, model, colors, style, options, etc.).

I had called around the country a few days looking (but not finding). The last Autoweek listed the exact car I wanted. It was for sale at Exotic Car Wholesale.

I called and was told it was "ready to go". It is pristine; no nicks, scrapes, etc. In the sales guy's opinion, it had never been mistreated in its 1300 mile life.

I immediately made an offer, and it was accepted. He then told me to go make a $5000 deposit at my local First Union into their "holding account". I instead offered a credit card deposit of $5000 to hold the car, and when I went down to get it they would get a cashier's check for the entire amount. I indicated that the credit card charge could be refunded so they were not out the fee.

No dice. The wanted $5000 cash/cashier's check deposited to their account right away to hold the car.

At this point I told him that I'd call back. In the meantime (10 minutes), I reserved a flight from Dulles to Miami that evening (Thursday).

I called the salesman back, and told him that I would be there the next morning with a cashier's check for the car, I would inspect it myself, and if it looked good, I'd take delivery immediately.

All hell broke loose then. They are in an office with no showroom; they stock no cars; the car in question is "out west". He then tells me some guy just traded a Lamborghini Diablo VT on it, and I was out of luck. The only chance I had to get the car I wanted was to immediately deposit $5000 in their account. And pray the Lambo guy backed out, if he didn't they would get another one if possible.

As it finally turned out, the guy admitted they don't stock cars, and all they do is look for them once you give them a deposit. That deposit is used to look for the car, and the full amount is applied if you make the buy. My assumption based on others input is that when they don't find one (or the deal isn't sweet enough to them), you are out a "finding fee" (a portion or all of you $5000 deposit).

This is my experience only. Autoweek indicates they have been advertising for over 5 years.