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Hey y'all. Sorry if the story is spotty, its a long one, if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I've been in the market for a good 944 for a couple of months now and have been scouring the internet to find one at the right price since I haven't had much luck locally (which is surprising since I'm in Southern California) so I decided to widen my search to the national level. After several days of searching I came across a 1989 Porsche 944 S2 advertised for $6200. Now, I'm no slouch when it comes to the internet and technology, but man I feel like an idiot right now. After finding that ad of a great car for a ridiculously low price I had to know more, so I emailed the seller and promptly got a reply from a sales agent from a company called "eAutodream Warehouse" telling me that the car was in their possession and that they would be the escrow service facilitating the transaction. A man named James sent me the stock number for the vehicle, which I promptly entered into their website to take a look at the car. It looked amazing, I couldn't believe it was so cheap! It was so hard to believe that I did extensive research on the company and found many forum posts with good reviews of the service, as well as a certificate showing that they were registered with the Texas DMV. After extensive research, I decided to proceed with the transaction. I wired them $6200 and was given a transaction confirmation and told that the car would be shipped the next Monday. On Monday (8/10) I was notified that the vehicle had shipped from their Chicago warehouse. Based on their calculations on the website the car should've arrived around 8/17, but I had not heard anything, so I sent them an email. They informed me that the delivery would be delayed until tomorrow 8/25...weird I think, maybe shipping delays because of Covid? I try not to overthink it since those close to me have been telling me not to worry and that the car will come. Well, today (8/24), my fears were realized (I think). I sent the company an email today since they informed me that the driver will call the day before delivery to arrange a time and place to meet for delivery. To this, they replied that they were actually having shipping issues and that the car would be delivered on 8/30 now. From what I've read, this is usually the beginning of the end of these scams...they delay delivery, cut contact, and the hopeful buyer is left high and dry, which is where I'm at with them I believe. They have a refund form on the website that I filled out and then they informed me that I would be issued a refund on 9/3, but I have a feeling it will never come, especially since wiring money back would only take 2 days at most. The confusing part about it is usually these type of scammers cut and run once they have your money, but even up to this point they continue to reply, which throws me off a little bit, but I'm pretty sure it's just a scam run by very diligent scammers at this point. I scoured the internet for days and all that came back showed them to be legitimate, and yet here I am, no car, and money gone. It's a bummer, but I will not let this stop my quest to find a 944! If anyone has any suggestions or leads on where to get a good one around southern California, please let me know. I hope nothing like this ever happens to any of you, which is why I am sharing this story. I hope the next hopeful and eager person like myself will see this and save themselves the heartache. So to reiterate: Whatever you do, do NOT buy anything from eAutodream Warehouse, LLC. The website is eautodream.com. Stay away!!
Hey everyone, it's time for an update! (Sorry it took so long)
A few days after posting this the scammers pulled everything down and basically ran with the money. The realization that the money is gone for good is becoming more and more apparent it seems. Surprisingly though, I got a call from my bank about 2 weeks later and it looks like there might be some money that can be recovered! I don't know how much or even if it is a for sure thing, but there is a faint light at the end of that tunnel. When I lost that money I figured that would be the end of my 944 search for a while to give myself some time to lick my wounds.
When I made the original post I never thought it would lead me down the path that it has! As all of you were chiming in with condolences and advice, @AnthonyGS mentioned that he had an S2 (which is what I was looking for) that was in rough shape that he would be willing to let go for a reasonable price. Out of curiosity, I sent him a message to get more information, and to my surprise, he was in Dallas, TX which is my hometown and my parents are there. I currently live in San Diego, CA so having family Dallas was a huge push for me to check out this car. After seeing photos and talking to Anthony for a few days I decided I should get a bit more serious because this was my second chance at my dream car. I have a mechanic friend in Dallas that I had check out the car and he gave it two thumbs up. I was pretty much sold, but there was one catch...how do I get the car back to San Diego? I wasn't sure if it was good enough to drive back or not since it had a slight oil leak and needed new engine mounts. After expressing my desire to drive the car back to San Diego, Anthony agreed to help me fix the car up before driving it back to its new home. With the final details solidified, I booked my flight and headed to Dallas.
The first day Anthony picked me up from my house and we went to see the car and to say I was excited is an understatement. It felt like this is the car I'm meant to have. She's definitely in rough shape (mainly bad paint and seals) but I wanted a car that I could breathe new life into, and this car offers me just that. Anthony and I spent 3 days fixing the car up, and by the grace of god it wasn't as hot as hell in Dallas while we were working on the car. It was a great experience to work on the car with Anthony, it felt like he was handing over the reins to me and that was really awesome.
In fact, the more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was taking "Redneck Delivery" of my Porsche. It's like European delivery, except the factory was Anthony's driveway. I flew in on Tuesday and by Saturday morning we had the car buttoned up and ready for the 1400 mile trip to the Porsche Motherland (aka California). I had a buddy fly out to help me with the trip and we were both prepared for the worst. I had faith in the car, but at the same time, it's an old car that hasn't been driven much in the last couple of years. The worst part of the trip was the fact that the AC didn't work and we were driving through Arizona when it was 111 out...but we made it and so did the car! It feels surreal to drive it around San Diego, and while she still needs some work (timing belt replacement, and needs to pass smog), she wants to go and I couldn't be happier! It feels awesome to begin my journey with these cars with this one, and I can't wait to get the car up to snuff again!
If any of y'all are around San Diego I'm looking for 944 friends! I'll keep y'all posted on the car and I'll try to post some pics a bit later.
I shortened the story for brevity, but feel free to reach out if you're interested!
Once again @AnthonyGS was amazing throughout all of this and really gave me faith in this community, and I am very grateful for him. Thank you, Anthony!
Sorry to hear this. In any transaction of this nature, I always ensure that I have either an on-site third party that can verify the car is real, and money doesn't change hands unless there is a title in hand or done in person.
If they have a Texas address, time to contact the state AG and press charges. If they are out of Chicago, you will have to secure an attorney who is licensed in Illinois to represent you and to make sure that the Illinois AG presses charges. He would also have to represent you in any court proceedings.. BTW, was this S2 advertised on Bring a Trailer? I think I have a friend who is looking at an S2 online as well. Thanks For the input..I'll notify him. Thanks
Ouch. I have an inexpensive S2, and it’s rough. The nicest decent priced one I found was $12k. No way $6k buys you a good S2 from a dealer, IMO. If you want a good driving project S2 with a decent interior that needs paint, let me know. I also have 17” Techart wheels for it.
I hope this turns out good, but I think you got taken. No phone number, no way to verify listings without a stock number, a number of questionable things on that site, and no email or phone. Whois for the site shows it's registered in Russia and was created in July.
If it was an escrow transaction like you state then your money doesn’t get transferred to the seller until you receive the car and release the funds from escrow.
...that is unless you sent money to some fake escrow company which would be an unfortunate oversight. I hope it works out for you.
I think the site serves as the escrow company and facilitates the transaction.
mmm, I don’t see anywhere on the site anything about escrow. All I see on the payment page is a place to upload pictures of receipts you got from your bank, gift cards or money grams. Usually when someone asks for payment by a wire, gift card or money gram it’s a scam as those forms of payment are irreversible and non disputable. With an escrow you send money to an independent reputable agent or company.
“You can attach a scan copy or a clear digital picture of the payment confirmation (receipt). You can attach payment receipts from: Bank Account, Gift Cards, Money Gram or any other method of payment.“
@MAGK944 Yeah unfortunately that is what I believe happened. They set up a bunch of fake forums with great reviews of the site to give them credibility dating back to as early as 2003 supposedly. They will keep postponing delivery until the person finally accepts the fact that no car was ever coming and their money is most likely overseas by now. It sucks.
More too little, too late advice, but when I bought my turbo out of CA, I had a PPI done and the first question I asked the shop was: "There is a car, right?" In other words, don't buy it unless an independent third party sees it. I'm sure many people on this board would be happy to verify a car or shop if asked.
I have come close to being scammed on a couple of antique firearms deals. When I ask for another picture with a dime or the days newspaper and get a song and dance then goodbye. Too easy to copy and paste pictures from a legitimate ad and use them to scam. Good luck.
08-24-2020, 09:11 PM
Pretty sure I just got scammed out of $6200...
