Lucky or naive? We shall see…

It all started with thoughts of my next plug-in car. As you may know, we have three Volts, two 2012s (leased) and one 2014 (purchased). The leases expire in August of this year and January of next year. The 2016 Volt will not arrive in Texas in time to replace our first Volt (which is mine), so our plan has been for me to drive my daughter’s Volt (she hasn’t gotten her driver’s license yet, until the new Volt arrived. Then Bonnie, my wife, said she should really get the new Volt, because her commute is longer and I never run out of electricity.

Okay. I see the logic in that. (grrrrrrr…..)

So, if I’m not getting the next Volt, my options have opened up a bit. I really enjoyed the Cadillac ELR, when we reviewed it and I’ve heard Cadillac dealers are aggressively marking down 2014 ELRs. It would have to be aggressive indeed, for me to afford one. The features I want usually come with an MSRP of $77K-$81K. Yes, I am an employee of a General Motors dealership, but the employee discount still can’t help me get an ELR without other significant discounts. So I started hunting online…

Unfortunately, I just could not find a new ELR in my price range. I don’t even know why I did it, but I then searched for a used Tesla Model S. I found one at a dealer that has the 40 kWh battery, no Supercharger capability, and priced at $30K.

No way.

I entered the VIN in our system at work and found the VIN is, in fact, a 2013 Tesla Model S.

I clicked on the contact link provided on the dealer site, entered my information and waited. The next morning I received the following email:

“website hacked don’t have this vehicle
— THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME“

In my gut, it seemed too good to be true, so I accepted the news and forgot about it.

Then I received another email from a different party:

“Hello,

Thank you for your interest in my car. This is a 2013 Tesla Model S.
Clear title, no lien, never been involved in an accident. Runs and drives excellent. It has been extremely well maintained with a full service history, only 28,000 miles!

It has no leaks or drips and does not smoke at all, slightly used in 100% working and looking conditions with a clear title free of encumbrances and liens.
I have dropped my price to $29,000 (purchase price) since this is an Urgent Sale! and I need to sell it before June 20 when I will be deployed in Afghanistan with my platoon replacing the troops scheduled to come home. If you are really interested,please e-mail me back.

Hope to hear from you soon!“

WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!

Of course, I emailed asking for more details, VIN, car’s location, etc. The car was located in Virginia. The owner, was at a military base, preparing to leave. The car had already been transferred to eBay Motors, who would handle the transaction. I went to eBay Motors’ website to see the car’s listing, but it was not there. I’m not sure, but I think the seller just contracted them to handle paperwork and shipping.

I was raised on the maxim: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” I was very suspicious, but the possibility of getting a Model S was a very strong force pulling me back to the car. What if this were for real???

The owner also sent pics: Now what??? Well, of course I had to talk to Bonnie. I sent her the info and called her at work to discuss it. Let me just say this: I have a fabulous wife. She has always had faith in me and allowed me to try new, risky adventures. For instance, we once invested $20K in a Halloween haunted house at The Movie Studios of Las Colinas that included the 1937 Frankenstein laboratory set from the movie!!! The return on investment wasn’t that great financially, but the whole family chipped in and worked the haunted house through the month of October 1997 and it was a great memory for us all. When I was considering becoming a car salesperson, ignored to spread the word about the Volt, she was behind the idea 100%. Like I said, a great woman.

She was as cautious about this as I, so she searched on the VIN and found a different auction in which it had been listed. (She also searched for Nissan Leaf information, when we were looking for our first plug-in and stopped me from making a mistake) In the case of the Model S, she was concerned about how fast the owner was selling the car after getting it and how low the price seemed, thinking something was really wrong with the car.

The next step (while I was figuring out what to do) was to see if I could get a loan. I went to my bank’s website and applied. Within a couple hours, I got the approval. With Bonnie in agreement, I emailed the owner to let them know I had secured funding and was interested in buying the car.

The owner responded in a way that made me think this is a real EV owner:

“I’m glad we can do business. I received your shipping information and I already sent them to eBay. They will contact you through email and let you know all the details about how to end this transaction. I’m sure you will love this car and I hope you will take care of it because I loved it very much. (my emphasis)

Please keep me updated with any news from eBay.”

Now, I’ve never, ever bought something this expensive without seeing it in person. Never bought a car without driving it. This is scary, intimidating stuff. I knew I’d be blogging about this as part of my “Journey,” and didn’t want to come off as a fool to you.

I knew exactly how a mouse must feel, looking at that tasty, tasty cheese, sitting upon that strange contraption made of wood and metal…

To assure the owner that I would take good care of her baby, I sent her a link to my blog and explained about my three Volts.

Sleep was almost impossible that night.

The following morning (today) I received eBay Motors’ transaction instructions. In reading the document, it seemed there were plenty of safeguards to keep me from making an ass of myself (and a mess of my finances). Here, you’ll find the details, if you’re interested.

I’ve decided to go for it. While typing this blog post, a follow-up email from eBay Motors has arrived with the payment information.

I’m off to the bank.

**UPDATE**: Bank values the car at $68K.

**UPDATE** As part of my due diligence, I went to the eBay Motors site and found a contact phone number. I had already received numerous emails regarding the transaction from them. I gave the person on the phone my “Case ID” and was told their case IDs have a different format. They also said that it is not possible for someone to sell the vehicle outside eBay Motors and just pay to have the transfer done. They also do not accept wire transfers, as their preferred method is PayPal.

The verdict: Naive.

In other words, it appears to be a scam.