Hi Guys,
I'm close to buying an NSX, but there are a few red flags for me. I'll try to be as detailed as possible and am looking for some serious opinions. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and respond.
1. Found a nice looking NSX on craigslist, went to see it, made an offer. Guy seemed transparent and honest at that point, and said he was selling to buy a house. Mentioned a few things need replacing. He asked if he could have cash, I said no, the loan company will make out a check and it will prob take a few days to process depending on his bank. Makes sense.
2. Make him do a PPI today at Cerritos Acura. About $2k worth of items need replacement, again no problem. I do a carfax just to be sure, car looks pretty clean: http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepo...OIYDXiwSo9U9LgiP92F7cU3xPPmzKZw==&language=en
3. Got my financing secured today for the asking price, excellent credit so no sweat, everything seems all good. He asks if I can get cash instead of a check. I said I can have the loan directly deposited into my account and cut a check, but I doubt a bank will have that much physical cash available for withdrawal. I ask why he keeps insisting cash and suggest maybe a cashier's check to make him feel more secure. He says it's no big deal. Weird.
4. Went on Facebook to look the kid up since I got suspicious and he's supposedly active in the car scene. Discover he sells a lot of vehicles, and only one picture of his NSX despite all the meets he attends and the fact he claims to have owned it for two years. He just updates his FB with cars and people buy it. Semi red flag for me, he didn't disclose this. I immediately asked him about it, he said he does it to make a buck on the side. Okay no problem, but still a little off for me.
5. I just called and talked to him. Again, he's asking if I can withdraw as much as possible in cash and make the rest out in a check. Also, he drops the bomb that the title is actually in his friend's name, as well as the loan. He is waiting for the title to come through. Supposedly, he didn't have good credit so his friend signed for him, but it's his friend's name on all the legal documentation. Major red flag, and I ask him about it. He says not to worry, the title will come clean from the bank and he will sign it over to me. I asked how he has the authority to sign over something that doesn't belong to him? He says he can register the car in his name and then sign it over to me, but it will cost him registration fees and taxes that he already paid through his friend 2 years back. I call total BS and said I'm getting cold feet, things seem off.
Okay so moment of truth. His friend who legally owns the car and paid off the bank note is still in town, so he can come and sign off on the title, etc. Assuming I go through with this, is there any way to protect myself? I mean looking the other way on this kid's story, if his friend who legally owns it is there and signs off on the car, things are fine right? At this point I'm not concerned over the mechanical condition of the vehicle as it has passed PPI just fine. It's just I don't want to be buying potentially stolen property, etc. It just seems so off to me and I'm 90% calling this off. Really sucks because it's a nice car and beautiful condition, it's just who in their right mind discloses this info the day before the transaction is supposed to take place?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read. If anyone has any thoughts at all, please offer them up.
I'm close to buying an NSX, but there are a few red flags for me. I'll try to be as detailed as possible and am looking for some serious opinions. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and respond.
1. Found a nice looking NSX on craigslist, went to see it, made an offer. Guy seemed transparent and honest at that point, and said he was selling to buy a house. Mentioned a few things need replacing. He asked if he could have cash, I said no, the loan company will make out a check and it will prob take a few days to process depending on his bank. Makes sense.
2. Make him do a PPI today at Cerritos Acura. About $2k worth of items need replacement, again no problem. I do a carfax just to be sure, car looks pretty clean: http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailRepo...OIYDXiwSo9U9LgiP92F7cU3xPPmzKZw==&language=en
3. Got my financing secured today for the asking price, excellent credit so no sweat, everything seems all good. He asks if I can get cash instead of a check. I said I can have the loan directly deposited into my account and cut a check, but I doubt a bank will have that much physical cash available for withdrawal. I ask why he keeps insisting cash and suggest maybe a cashier's check to make him feel more secure. He says it's no big deal. Weird.
4. Went on Facebook to look the kid up since I got suspicious and he's supposedly active in the car scene. Discover he sells a lot of vehicles, and only one picture of his NSX despite all the meets he attends and the fact he claims to have owned it for two years. He just updates his FB with cars and people buy it. Semi red flag for me, he didn't disclose this. I immediately asked him about it, he said he does it to make a buck on the side. Okay no problem, but still a little off for me.
5. I just called and talked to him. Again, he's asking if I can withdraw as much as possible in cash and make the rest out in a check. Also, he drops the bomb that the title is actually in his friend's name, as well as the loan. He is waiting for the title to come through. Supposedly, he didn't have good credit so his friend signed for him, but it's his friend's name on all the legal documentation. Major red flag, and I ask him about it. He says not to worry, the title will come clean from the bank and he will sign it over to me. I asked how he has the authority to sign over something that doesn't belong to him? He says he can register the car in his name and then sign it over to me, but it will cost him registration fees and taxes that he already paid through his friend 2 years back. I call total BS and said I'm getting cold feet, things seem off.
Okay so moment of truth. His friend who legally owns the car and paid off the bank note is still in town, so he can come and sign off on the title, etc. Assuming I go through with this, is there any way to protect myself? I mean looking the other way on this kid's story, if his friend who legally owns it is there and signs off on the car, things are fine right? At this point I'm not concerned over the mechanical condition of the vehicle as it has passed PPI just fine. It's just I don't want to be buying potentially stolen property, etc. It just seems so off to me and I'm 90% calling this off. Really sucks because it's a nice car and beautiful condition, it's just who in their right mind discloses this info the day before the transaction is supposed to take place?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read. If anyone has any thoughts at all, please offer them up.
