Landseer

Well, he had a little problem making good on the deal with Kai, too, whereby the motorcycle was traded for the car / parts.

Firemed enforced it though.

IcemanG17

I do not share Fabio's optimism.....nor do I share his opinion of how many of "us" had "warrants" and other issues with the law.....while I surely was a misguided teenager raised by my single mother...I never-ever was arrested or had a warrant...... Yes I had plenty of "issues" with my drivers license when I was a young man....& I had the high point drivers record to prove it....however there is a fundamental difference between driving fast and committing "criminal" acts in my mind..... I WISH I had a resource like rennlist when I was a young man passionate about cars (granted a poor choice back then...my Chrysler Conquest Tsi Turbo).....

Ross intentionally took advantage of people, with criminal intent in my opinion.......he reaps what he sews..... Ross was blessed to be around honest enthusiasts who were willing to help him, he took advantage of that.... NOT embrace it..... That was a decision HE made....and with that type of entitled thinking, he will end up with significant legal issues in the future...

Full disclosure....I have never met Ross, only online. I am a member of law enforcement and that does influence my perspective.

Range Rover

You're kidding!!! So that's three of the same cars that we've owned... Porsche 928, Ferrari 612, and Designo Graphite SL55. I guess great minds think alike.

Mark Anderson

I'm guessing you don't have a Datsun pick up

Dave928S

Nor do I share that optimism ... Many of us have engaged in youthful rebellion, but repeatedly and intentionally flouting the law and taking advantage of good people does not fall into that category. The sheer number of arrests is sadly an indicator of where he's likely headed.

I've employed many young guys like him, who took advantage of the many, many chances they were given, and just continued on their destructive path ... others made different decisions and reaped the reward of the opportunities they were given.

Examples:
* Twenty one year old I employed for three years who had huge potential, with innate skills in lots of trade areas, who could have succeeded in any field he chose. I put up with his no shows for work on numerous occasions after drug and alcohol binges, when he got into trouble with the law I helped him with a court set payment arrangement to avoid jail, and I paid him very well. He blew it all by not making those payments, and I caught him stealing from a neighbouring property ... when confronted and given the chance to return the item to save his job, his reply was, "there's no point me putting it back, because I'll only steal it again" ... so I fired him on the spot and called the cops.

* New employee asked for an advance on his pay after working for me for 30 minutes. When I looked at his eyes I could tell he was stoned, so I fired him ... and incredibly, he asked for his pay for that time.

Some people just continually **** in their own nest, and things don't change despite all the help in the world, until they make the decision to change their life.

bigs

Hmm... Well, maybe.

But consider this: Those many voluntary donations were offered without the benefit of full and honest disclosure from Ross.

Would you have donated money to him if he had said, "Oh, BTW, I happen to be a druggie on Oxycontin, and during my trip there's a pretty good chance that some of the money you give me will be used to buy drugs!"

I wouldn't have.

And I can pretty well guarantee he was using Oxycontin during his trip. He showed up a full day later than the appointed time to meet me. In fact, even on the day he did finally show up, he arrived about 4 hours later than he promised. His reason? "Well, I overslept almost all day yesterday, and a few hours today."

I've been around druggies enough to know what "overslept" means.

Bottom line: soliciting money without full and honest disclosure of what it will be used for is a form of "scam," is it not?

In addition, it has now been 4.5 years since the event, and during that time, Ross has made absolutely no effort whatsoever to contact me and reimburse me for the loss he caused me. That doesn't sound like your basically good and decent - but perhaps misguided - young man to me.

G8RB8

Risking the wrath of Fabio and the smack-down of Kalspeed notwithstanding. As I see it you guys made an investment in what you thought was a promising young man. That young man made no effort to make good on your investment. Since he actively solicited the investments he scammed you.

medipedicman

It is interesting to read the new comments on this thread and read the interpretations of those comments by others. A couple of folks have described Fabio as having an optimistic perspective. I don't see it at all. Merely describing the circumstances in a factual way from his perspective. My perspective, while different from Fabios', ends up in much the same place. Many of us followed the adventure of Ross online. A cross country adventure. I personally wanted to be involved. I hoped that I could help out Ross, I hoped that I could be part of his adventure.

In the end, the hour that I spent with Ross during his trip was disappointing. I had hoped to hear great stories of his trip and all of the fun he was having. In fact I heard stories of sleeping on the bike and charging his phone in public restrooms. As is often the case, my ideas of adventure and the reality were quite different.

I offered to buy him lunch, and he took me up on it. After eating, I offered to fill up the bike, and he took me up on it. While at the gas station I offered to get a pack of smokes and some snacks for the road, and once again he took me up on it. Ross never asked me for anything, I offered everything. I had never met Ross before our interaction and have not seen or sought him out since. Anyone who would describe that as a scam is just goofy.

My situation was/is different than Bigs. Bigs suffered a tangible financial loss. I am sorry for that (as I expressed at that time). For others to describe this situation, almost five years later, as some type of nationwide scam or crime spree is just not accurate.

Mike Frye

Brian,

I like your outlook, your take on it and the fact that he didn't scam you.

Your experience was different from Bigs', but not necessarily because he didn't actively scam you, but perhaps because you were a willing donor. If you hadn't been then who knows if he would have asked for something from you? You'll never know and it's better that way for both of you.

To say that Ross didn't intentionally seek out a known doctor and play on his good nature and then take advantage of him is to try to rewrite history.

You write of 'wanting' and 'hoping' in your post, but then say that Fabio's post wasn't being inaccurately portrayed as being overly optimistic.

Regardless of your perception of the situation, the facts say that this guy sought out Bigs, benefitted from his largess and tried to get drugs from him illegally and for free. That happened. That was the cause of this thread originally and what he's referring to by bringing it up again, regardless of how many people either helped him or were taken in by him (depending on whether you want to take the optimistic or pessimistic view of each case).

medipedicman

Mike, thanks for your perspective. I have edited my original post to try to clarify that I am not trying to offer a counter point to Bigs or his experience. I am just trying to give my perspective on the trip as a whole. If I was offering a counter point to anything it would be to those coments offered by folks who were not involved in the trip or not affected by it in any way.

I am glad to see Bigs back and I hope that he will take advantage of one of the many deals that are currenty available on a 928. He was and will continue to be an asset to the community. (much more so than Whitefox)

I probably should have let my post at the time (#42) stand as my opinion has not changed as the years have passed.

Have a great weekend.

G8RB8

Point taken, but an affront to my brother is an affront to me.
I'll stay out of it henceforth.

Fabio421

Iceman, I'm not sure what you read in my post that gave you the impression that I think all of us have had lots of run ins with the law. That wasn't my intended point and I do not feel that way.

Some of you feel that I am overly optimistic. I don't agree. I may be optimistic but not overly so. I choose to see the good in someone and overlook the bad until it is no longer an option. Almost all people are more good than bad. Most are substantially more good than bad if you give them the chance. I choose to focus on that aspect of their being. This perspective and outlook have served me well in my time on this earth. A month or two ago I came across Ross' email address and started to wonder how his life was turning out since I last heard from him. I sent him an email and he responded within a day or two to say hello and say that he was glad to hear from me. This thread has prompted me to want to go visit with Ross and listen to his story. I plan on doing this late next week. There was something we saw in Ross that made us want to see him succeed. To me, that hasn't automatically disappeared because he has been arrested. I'll have a better idea once I meet with him. If anyone has any kind or encouraging words for Ross I will be happy to pass them along.

Regarding Ross' trade with Kiesan. Ross didn't short Kiesan in that deal. In fact, at the time, I believed Ross was getting the short end of that deal. Kiesan never did a PPI of the car that he was getting in the trade. He is a business man who flips cars and motorcycles for a living. Do you really think he would have made that trade, sight unseen, if he thought he wasn't going to come out OK in the transaction no matter the condition of the S4? The dissatisfaction with that trade only came after he heard from Firemed ( who, in the interest of full disclosure, I am good friends with ) that the cars condition was less than stellar. Kiesan never saw the car. He took Firemeds word for it. Well, guess what happened to that car. Firemed bought it, for a song. He drove it for awhile then flipped it. I'm not saying that Mike ( Firemed ) lied to Kiesan. In fact, I want that to be abundantly clear. What I'm saying is this. Don't buy a car, sight unseen, without a PPI. Then ask someone who has an interest in buying the car to give you a fair assessment of that car. Firemed assessed that car in the frame of mind of a buyer. He wasn't an impartial participant, in my opinion, whether he realized it or not.

Kalspeed

Quite honestly, I am sick and tired of hearing excuses about being raised in a screwed up household. Myself, and plenty of people I know didn't grow up in the happiest Beaver Cleaver upbringing.

All that did was motivate me to create a better life. And by "donating" funds to Ross, he assumed perhaps he can build a story in a forum and good honest folks will give him money for his bad habits. Bench warrants for failure to appear, you think that is what a normal person is like??? Constant scuffles with the law is not what good guys do.

As far as I may know, you might as well be sniffing some powder up your nose now.

Fabio421

Do you really believe that this 18 year old kid traded his S4 for a motorcycle to a guy in Seattle just so he could ride to Utah to ask Bigs to write him a prescription for Oxycontin? Seriously!?!?! Do you realize that FL is the pill mill capitol of the united states and that Ross didn't need to leave his town to get this stuff? Bigs offered to put him up, just as many others did along the way. I'm sure when he found out that Bigs was a Dr. he thought he might as well ask. What could it hurt to ask? Apparently, by the looks of this thread, quite a lot.

Get a grip dude.

Fabio421