I'm being scammed by Autobahn Motors in Delray Beach Fl
05-05-2006, 01:04 AM
#1
Racer
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I'm being scammed by Autobahn Motors in Delray Beach Fl
I bought a car from them last month as all of you know (the black/terra coupe).
sent money in full and filled out all the paperwork....
In my haste to sign the stack of forms quickly, I scribbled my signature on a few papers. That signature didnt match the way I signed on my DL.
Well the finance manager brought this to the sales managers attention and they thought for sure that this was a big scam on my part. That I was using someone elses credit to buy a car. They held my money for 5 weeks making empty promissses that the car was a phonecall away or a signature away etc, trying to buy time until I would walk away from the money if I was indeed crooked.
Let me tell you what I did for them to make them feel at ease that I am who I say....
I provided them with my biz website (dirtcheapmattress.com) with a video of me in a commercial that matches the pic in my license
I called and involved the DelRay beach police
I called and involved the Oakland police
I sent them new handwriting samples (as signed on my DL)
I had the manager of my Credit Union call/FAX/write them a dozen times with signature guarantess, proof of identities etc to reassure them that this deal is legit. I have been banking with Patelco for 8 years and have had three car loans.
After three weeks, it became apparant that they sold the car to someone else that was willing to pay more for it. I then threatened to fly out there to retrieve my money personally and only then did they "promise" to send me my car (which suupposedly was now in California)...
After two more weeks of ring around the posey and unanswered calls, I then went to my local police station and had a fraud detective call them to find out their intent. they told the detective that "they chose not to do business with me becasue they were suspicious and were in the progress of refunding my money..."
So yesterday, after five weeks they sent my money (second day mail and in company check format another 10 day wait for out of town check to clear (sent wire to them.))
NOW GET THIS EVERYBODY.....
THEY WITHHELD $1000 out of the refund to PAY FOR SHIPPING OF CAR!!!!
The guys at AUTOBAHN MOTORS are plain CROOKS.
They backed out of the deal, lied to me a dozen times, sold the car to someone else for more, and then have the sheer audacity charge me for the shipping on a car i patiently waited for for five weeks.
They held my money so long I missed out on the silver/terracotta cab that I bought on ebay as well. That was sold out from under me as well as the salesman said he could wait no longer.
It was all a big blessing in that I bought a new 06 triple black S cab today from Chris on this forum for an unbelievable $87.5K (thanks CHRIS!)
I need advice....
Is there a Bureau that deals with car sales fraud in the state of Florida that I can file a complaint with?
Anybody here a lawyer that may be able to help a fellow Rennlister out with a letter or something of the sort....
I am way out in Cali and as Im sure they know, an airline ticket would cost me near what they withheld from me.
Any advice or leads would be greatly appreciated.
-Pete
sent money in full and filled out all the paperwork....
In my haste to sign the stack of forms quickly, I scribbled my signature on a few papers. That signature didnt match the way I signed on my DL.
Well the finance manager brought this to the sales managers attention and they thought for sure that this was a big scam on my part. That I was using someone elses credit to buy a car. They held my money for 5 weeks making empty promissses that the car was a phonecall away or a signature away etc, trying to buy time until I would walk away from the money if I was indeed crooked.
Let me tell you what I did for them to make them feel at ease that I am who I say....
I provided them with my biz website (dirtcheapmattress.com) with a video of me in a commercial that matches the pic in my license
I called and involved the DelRay beach police
I called and involved the Oakland police
I sent them new handwriting samples (as signed on my DL)
I had the manager of my Credit Union call/FAX/write them a dozen times with signature guarantess, proof of identities etc to reassure them that this deal is legit. I have been banking with Patelco for 8 years and have had three car loans.
After three weeks, it became apparant that they sold the car to someone else that was willing to pay more for it. I then threatened to fly out there to retrieve my money personally and only then did they "promise" to send me my car (which suupposedly was now in California)...
After two more weeks of ring around the posey and unanswered calls, I then went to my local police station and had a fraud detective call them to find out their intent. they told the detective that "they chose not to do business with me becasue they were suspicious and were in the progress of refunding my money..."
So yesterday, after five weeks they sent my money (second day mail and in company check format another 10 day wait for out of town check to clear (sent wire to them.))
NOW GET THIS EVERYBODY.....
THEY WITHHELD $1000 out of the refund to PAY FOR SHIPPING OF CAR!!!!
The guys at AUTOBAHN MOTORS are plain CROOKS.
They backed out of the deal, lied to me a dozen times, sold the car to someone else for more, and then have the sheer audacity charge me for the shipping on a car i patiently waited for for five weeks.
They held my money so long I missed out on the silver/terracotta cab that I bought on ebay as well. That was sold out from under me as well as the salesman said he could wait no longer.
It was all a big blessing in that I bought a new 06 triple black S cab today from Chris on this forum for an unbelievable $87.5K (thanks CHRIS!)
I need advice....
Is there a Bureau that deals with car sales fraud in the state of Florida that I can file a complaint with?
Anybody here a lawyer that may be able to help a fellow Rennlister out with a letter or something of the sort....
I am way out in Cali and as Im sure they know, an airline ticket would cost me near what they withheld from me.
Any advice or leads would be greatly appreciated.
-Pete
05-05-2006, 01:23 AM
#3
GT3 player par excellence
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if there were within driving distance of me, i would bring them 100 dozen eggs and destroy their lot.
i am well know in CA as the "egg fairy".
this is major fraud on their part. not doing business with you but they withheld money for transportation ... transporting what?
i am well know in CA as the "egg fairy".
this is major fraud on their part. not doing business with you but they withheld money for transportation ... transporting what?
05-05-2006, 01:24 AM
#5
Nordschleife Master
Wow - hard to believe that this is a "professional" dealership. Use the power of Rennlist to alert others and apply pressure to refund you funds. Good luck!
05-05-2006, 02:18 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
All CA dealers have to be bonded. If a dispute arrises you can place a claim against the bond that will need to be resolved. If the ruling is in your favor then you get your money from the bond. The dealer then has to pay back to reinstate the bond or they lose their license. Find out if FL has the same thing.
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05-05-2006, 10:41 AM
#9
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I'm getting confused....
First the deal with AUTOBAHN MOTORS
before thats over:
Then this:
Stop fooling around...go to a local dealer, develop a relationship
Buy a car off the floor, or order one.
Your saga is becoming OLD
First the deal with AUTOBAHN MOTORS
before thats over:
"HAVE TO CHANGE AVATAR
Just pulled the trigger on this car.....!"
Just pulled the trigger on this car.....!"
Likemystoppie? gave me an awesome deal on my triple black cab today. As everyone knows it hasnt been easy for me to buy a car from these Florida dealerships....Then in stepped Chris with a deal to beat anything I found anywhere else...will have my car in a week or so but up til now, he's been a perfect guy to deal with....
Buy a car off the floor, or order one.
Your saga is becoming OLD
05-06-2006, 12:21 AM
#11
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I have just resolved my GT3 purchase from hell. Arranged for a local high end car dealer to take my 97 C4S in for consignment towards the end of last year than I would make up the difference in cash for the purschase of a GT3. Everything I thought went fine until it came time to get the license. Was out of town for a month so I didn't worry too much when the license didn't come on time for my GT3, however when I came home the dealer Auto Gallery of Seattle, Tyson Spring started to avoid my phone calls and my radar went on high alert.
Long story, short version, my title was not clean and I was in second position per the lawyer we hired. I had checked the title and it was clean coming from the east coast to washington state. Also he came referred by someone that did business with him for a couple of years, checked the BBB and his personal credit.
He was floating my money and got into slow times and couldn't make up the difference to get my title released and technically the Auto Finance Corp(AFC) could have asked for the car or the difference.
Immediately went to the dept. of licensing and these guys were awesome. I will be much more selective in the future hammering government/state employees in the future. They were all over this guy threatening to shut him and not allow temp plates etc. But their key goal was to get this guy to sell off inventory at reduced wholesale prices to fullfill his obligations. We didn't want to put him out of business since he would than be unable to pay.
At the end it cost we about $1000 in lawyer fees and 60 days of trauma. I thought I was being careful getting all my receipts transfer of title forms etc, but he committed fraud. I understand this can be a very commom practice in the used car business.
Moral of the story? Guess you can't be too careful and leave with the title regardless.
Best of luck to you. bob
Long story, short version, my title was not clean and I was in second position per the lawyer we hired. I had checked the title and it was clean coming from the east coast to washington state. Also he came referred by someone that did business with him for a couple of years, checked the BBB and his personal credit.
He was floating my money and got into slow times and couldn't make up the difference to get my title released and technically the Auto Finance Corp(AFC) could have asked for the car or the difference.
Immediately went to the dept. of licensing and these guys were awesome. I will be much more selective in the future hammering government/state employees in the future. They were all over this guy threatening to shut him and not allow temp plates etc. But their key goal was to get this guy to sell off inventory at reduced wholesale prices to fullfill his obligations. We didn't want to put him out of business since he would than be unable to pay.
At the end it cost we about $1000 in lawyer fees and 60 days of trauma. I thought I was being careful getting all my receipts transfer of title forms etc, but he committed fraud. I understand this can be a very commom practice in the used car business.
Moral of the story? Guess you can't be too careful and leave with the title regardless.
Best of luck to you. bob
05-06-2006, 12:37 AM
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Originally Posted by mooty
if there were within driving distance of me, i would bring them 100 dozen eggs and destroy their lot. i am well know in CA as the "egg fairy".
05-06-2006, 08:50 AM
#13
Nordschleife Master
You know, this is because you tried to save too many $$$. So you shopped for the "cheapest" deal and this is what you got.
Don't misunderstand, I don't think you "deserve" it, but this is what happens when you squeeze every nickel out of a deal.
Do yourself a favor next time and negotiate the best deal with a local guy and pay a few extra bucks for GOOD SERVICE.
Just my $.02
cheapmatresses.com huh?
Don't misunderstand, I don't think you "deserve" it, but this is what happens when you squeeze every nickel out of a deal.
Do yourself a favor next time and negotiate the best deal with a local guy and pay a few extra bucks for GOOD SERVICE.
Just my $.02
cheapmatresses.com huh?
05-06-2006, 12:06 PM
#14
Racer
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what makes you think a local dealer would give me better service?
the issue wasnt about the cars condition and me not being able to verify it.
Everytime you deal with someone new, local or otherwise its a crapshoot.
I would agree that dealing with a proven winner is huge but since Porsches are such a unique car, what are the chances that a single person you'd like to deal with would have what you want? the nature of Porsche often dictates you finding what you want elsewhere....
I wanted a terra cotta interior...I was limited to who had one....
So now I went black to open myself up to a fellow Rennlister...
What I do wrong?
It wasnt that I was trying to squeeze every penny, it was that I wanted a used car with Terracotta....Not going to happen locally or with a proven dealer.
Everytime you deal with someone new, local or otherwise its a crapshoot.
I would agree that dealing with a proven winner is huge but since Porsches are such a unique car, what are the chances that a single person you'd like to deal with would have what you want? the nature of Porsche often dictates you finding what you want elsewhere....
I wanted a terra cotta interior...I was limited to who had one....
So now I went black to open myself up to a fellow Rennlister...
What I do wrong?
It wasnt that I was trying to squeeze every penny, it was that I wanted a used car with Terracotta....Not going to happen locally or with a proven dealer.
05-06-2006, 12:09 PM
#15
Three Wheelin'
leave the guy alone - he was shopping for the best deal he could get on a car he wanted - i did the same..it was bad luck..im surprised too - those guys are a very popular dealer down here on all types of high end cars...thanks for the post - i defintely wont recommend them