Invest in a plane ticket and go pick that baby up...if you want it.  That
way you can see it, hear it and touch it.  I'd figure a way to taste it
too!  Then drive it home.  It will either be the Best Trip of your life,
or a great story for Samba.

Cheers,

Kurt

> Craig,
> Is the bus a runner that you are planning to drive back to the East coast?
> If so, why not just fly out asap, give him the cash and drive it home?
> Plane
> tickets are reasonably inexpensive right now. Or, as David suggested, find
> an agent of some sort to handle the transaction for you and take
> possession
> of the bus until you can get to it. I certainly wouldn't send payment in
> full unless it went into some 3rd party escrow account pending your
> possession, especially since you point out that he's been cagy in e-mails.
> It sounds to me that he's trying to avoid a paper trail that could be used
> against him later.
> just my 2 cents,
> Don
> P.S. where in Oregon is he? I may be able to provide some resources.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "craig cowan" <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:40 AM
> Subject: Buying advice
>
>
>> 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
>>
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>> signature database 5255 (20100706) __________
>>
>> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>