Craig,
I say that's very fair.  I would demand that I receive a bill of sale, the
VIN, and some written agreement stating both parties names and description
of transaction before I handed money over to someone across town, much less
across the country.  I think it's always wise to be cautious and if the
seller balks at these reasonable requests then I'd have even more reason to
worry.

my .02
-Ry

On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 8:40 AM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm working on closing a deal today on a sunroof syncro that's in Oregon (I
> am in PA). Anyway....
> The buyer has asked that I just transfer money via a wire transfer in full
> to his bank account which i normally wouldn't be overly hesitant about but
> realize this would not afford me any type of fraud prevention should
> anything happen. I asked him a few days ago what assurance he can give me
> that this is going to be a fullproof transaction and his response was that
> should it go sour for any reason, just bash him on thesamba.com. Since he
> runs a VW restoration business almost entirely through thesamba, it seemed
> like a just response. Well..... I went and checked him out on the samba,
> and
> he's already been bashed enough. He's been banned close to 10 times (under
> different names), there are pending fraudulant claims and arguments
> occuring
> between he and buyers. Luckily, there are also great reviews of his service
> being above and beyond the call of duty. So this has me at least slightly
> concerned, any suggestions?
> Paypal may be an option, does that award a great deal more security?
>
> Furthermore, I don't recieve a bill of sale via the mail for at least a
> week
> after I give the guy all my money..... indicating that I don't actually own
> the car, but have given aside all my money. I asked that he send me an
> email
> with his full name, address, the VIN of the car, and which contains
> agreement terms....should I need to press charges later. Does this sound
> like a reasonable thing to want? Am I fair in wanting something like this
> BEFORE I pay? He seems to indicate (and I can see this point as well) that
> no actual change of ownership agreements ever occur untill after purchase.
> Sadly he's been pretty tricky with emails, so I have my concerns (Though
> he's easiliy reached via the phone and a wonderful person to talk too. He
> seems to be really interested in helping me out).
>
> Thoughts?
> I'm very excited about this purchase, but very concerned now.
>
> -Craig
> '85GL turned WESTY
> BOSTIG in the back
>