2000 Viper GTS ACR Buying Nightmare (Be Warned)

v10enomous

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On November 30th I called on a 2000 GTS ACR on Ebay and reached an agreement pending an independant inspection. I Paypal'd $500 to Ralph Beck of Forest VA who apparently owns 21st Century Insurance Company to which the car is titled.

Dodge : Viper:eBay Motors (item 190351700157 end time Nov-30-09 17:34:28 PST)

I made an appointment for the car to be inspected at the local Dodge dealer for 9:00 am the following Monday. Monday comes and he calls me to tell me that they had black ice and he wanted to have his wife bring the car at 11:00 instead. I said "are you sure she can get this done?... maybe we should wait for another day" No problem he says... 2:00 pm comes and I hear nothing so I call him and he tells me that she ran off the road while he was on the phone with her and that tghe car got scraped under the bumper and that paint got chipped in all 4 wheel wells from the salt and gravel on the road.

He says it's only minor and has a great local guy that will touch it up by the end of the week. I said maybe this just wasn't meant to be and asked for my deposit back. He said that he would refund my deposit after he relists and sells the car... So I think about it and figure I should still have it looked at after the paint work.

His description is that this is a pefect 8,400 mile car that was salvaged for a minor bumper hood incident for which he sent me the pics. The owner at the time wouldn't accept a repaired car so the ins company was forced to toatal it.

So at this point one of the Forum members here goes to look at it for me before it goes for the paintwork but somehow the keys were not at house and neither was his wife who then magically appeared... car is tightly between his Diablo and Hummer and really couldn't be evaluated...

So now I wait until the paintwork is done and I find a local garage that agrees to do the inspection because now the Dodge dealer is too far away.

So anyway the local garage guy goes over the car for an hour and a half and finds a multitude of problems and says the front frame looks like it may be off... The AC sprayed and doesn't work, the rear axle has play, marker and fog lights out, front tires appear to be rubbing the frame and suspension components, bad radiator hose, hood misaligned, oil 2 quarts down, coolant strength right at 32...etc... I started to get tired of hearing it all.. Oh yeah..car was never raced and just had the VIR sticker in the rear window... No valid VA inspection sticker...

So I call him and tell him to refund my money and he insists that he is entitled to hold my deposit until he sells the car...because he was doing me a favor. He has not responded to 3 reminders on the paypal request for money so far since Friday...

Car is a Hennessy poser btw... for which he couldn't confirm any upgrades except the wheels..

Do not buy this car...

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ViperGTS

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U-G-L-Y. Hope the whole story will end with something positive for you.

>>>His description is that this is a pefect 8,400 mile car that was salvaged for a minor bumper hood incident for which he sent me the pics.<<< :crazy2: :rolleyes: :dunno:

As always. Minor damage. May be a bent frame also. See my signature!

Description = BS.
Your bidding on a 2000 Dodge Viper GTS ACR with 8400 original miles. Also rare is the steel blue color coupled with silver stripes. It is an outstanding color combination. This ACR has previose salvage history that is incromprehensable. There were no body panels, Glass, wheels, or tires that needed to be replaced. Minor repairs were made to the hood and bumper. Then repainted with craftmanship that exceeds the factory specs. This ACR is equiped with the 3 peice Hennessey wheels and Hoosier tires. This coupled with the ACR adjutable suspension make this car handle as it is on rails. This missle also has more power than any other Viper I have ever driven however I'm unable to verify any other previose upgrades to the car. I'm in love with this car as anyone is that comes around her. It sounds awsome and is perfect in every way a performance car should be, however it has become a monument in my climate controlled garage and I need the space. Hands down, your gain.
 

JonB

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Flea-Bay+hennysee = Item # IFU-OU812

Sorry for your grief. I wonder if seller is VA-MD VCA ?
 
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v10enomous

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Tried that but we ended the auction early and I didn't really make the deal on ebay...

I even offered this guy keeping $200 of the deposit but no luck...
follow up with paypal, you should get your money back..... that car is a mess..... a "perfect" salvaged car? really?
 

BlknBlu

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We need a place to post this data as a reference point and list VIN numbers for easy reference.

Bruce
 

rudedawg

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I know this is no consilation, but at least you only sent him a $500.00 deposit. I've heard of ebay nightmares that people have lost 5K to 10K on car deposits.
 

Janni

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The $500 was to hold car pending inspection - car failed inspection - he owes you your money back. There was no transaction here.... his logic is way flawed - he can hold it until he lists the car again? Really? If he decides not to list it - he just keeps the money? (Good deal for him, huh?)

His inability to put together a cohesive sales paragraph should have eliminated this car from your search - he sounds like he's trying to get you to help him move money from Nigeria because his father died and the government is going to seize it....

Out of curiosity - what did you agree to pay for a salvaged ACR with 8400 miles? Was this deal sounding too good to be true?
 

Tom F&L GoR

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Fight it through Paypal. At worst they will force a compromise with the seller and you won't be out the entire $500. I did this with a computer purchase. You might be surprised how well Paypal has grown up to be respectable.
 

Carleton

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Did you pay with funds in your paypal account or with a credit card on file with Paypal?
If by credit card , contact your CC people.
 
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v10enomous

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I'm getting copies of the ad and the inspection report together... I think it will be pretty clear to anyone what happened... I suppose this could affect his credit... I was wondering how I could give him negative feedback on ebay even though I actually never made an ebay transaction with him...
 

DLTARNU

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He deserves a broken leg. Or a cracked orbital socket. There is no difference between stealing $500 online versus pulling a gun and stealing $500 out of your wallet in a dark alley.

Screw this **** :evilmad::evilmad::evilmad:
 

MarkRx

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The $500 was to hold car pending inspection - car failed inspection - he owes you your money back. There was no transaction here.... his logic is way flawed - he can hold it until he lists the car again? Really? If he decides not to list it - he just keeps the money?

This.

If you decide you dont want to buy, he owes you your deposit back ASAP.

Id be livid.
 

TrackAire

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Sorry to hear the deal went this way.

What is to stop you from taking the same story and pics you've just posted here and put it on craigslist in all major cities with this warning?

Also, if you're going to get screwed, I'd spend just a few more bucks and place an ad on Autotrader listing the same problems with this car. I don't know how much autotrader polices their site, but with Xmas just a few days around the corner, chances are they are running a "skeleton" crew and not many are paying attention. List the Viper for $300,000 so it comes up first on all the "Viper" searches. Then outline why its not worth even $290,000 in the description. Worst that can happen is they take your ad down.

I'm not an attorney, so I don't know how legal it is to do this to the guy. I'm just evil and spiteful towards bad people.

This might be the most expensive $500.00 this d-head has screwed anybody out of.

Good Luck,
George
 

PittsS2B

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It looks to me like the whole car was painted a different color, as they never offered 'steel blue' from the factory. The color is way darker than my 2000 steel gray color.
Hope you get your money back.

47803624pic9.jpg
 

PatentLaw

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It looks to me like the whole car was painted a different color, as they never offered 'steel blue' from the factory. The color is way darker than my 2000 steel gray color.
Hope you get your money back.

47803624pic9.jpg

BINGO..........WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sir, I have seen many "enthusiasts" around here recently who do not have that sharp of an eye or look at the available options. My hats off to you in your grasp of Viperdom.

If you don't have a Viper, hope you get one soon......both of you. One has been trying (poster) and the other knows and sees the small details.
 

jpa99acr

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you need to file a dispute with paypal (go in the resolution section of paypal after you login). the payment requests are worthless because he can just ignore them. He CAN'T ignore the dispute because paypal will freeze his account for the full amount of your payment until it is resolved.

hopefully you used a CC to fund the payment because you can go that route and file a chargeback if need be.

I have been on eBay and Paypal since 1999 and have done 1000's of transactions. if you need any assistance PM me.
 
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v10enomous

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Paypal said they would contact him but they can't reopen the case apparently because I opened a case on the money transfer initially when he balked on refunding my money and then I closed it after I agreed to wait for the paint work to be completed to look at it... I told him that I would run a mirror ad on ebay with a full documented disclosure as a warning to other potential buyers but still no refund...

He basically laughed and texted me :

"U ********. First I can get u in a world of trouble. Second do u really want to see who has more influence? Third , It is the only way you get your money back"

So looks like I am dealing with a narcissistic sociopath as well.. Could be that he is overextended and doesn't even have the money the way things are today...


Go through paypal & your CC to get the deposit back.

Nick
 

plumcrazy

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and cant we just keep bidding this car up till its a million dollars ? wont they take it down everytime ?
 

Flying Viper

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Thats an easy one. He ownes an Insurance Co. Tell him to refund the money or you will be making a written ethics complaint with the Dept of Insurance and Banking, which is goverened by the State Attorney General. You will also included all of his false paper work ect. and demand a full investigation on him and the true story on the car.

Keep us posted
 
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