Anyone in Ft. Lauderdale, FL area ever dealt with THE NEW AUTO TOY STORE?

Their website and information is sketchy to say the least...

The New Auto Toy Store - Used Cars - Fort Lauderdale FL Dealer

The New Auto Toy Store in Florida | Exotic Cars for Sale | Supercars for Sale


'Auto Toy Store' Founder Charged In $40 Million...

Is this why it's the "New" Store ? lol

 

I think it's actually in Pompano right off I95. I live in FTL. If you want me to take a quick look at something PM me. I would always apply a little extra dose of caution when buying cars out of SoFla.

 

May I ask you to please tell me why South Florida cars/dealers require extra caution? A friend who spends a lot of time in FL is currently looking at a 360. Thank you.

Neil

 

Historically, FL has had some very lax titling laws so cars that couldn't be titled elsewhere found their way to Florida as a means of making them "legit". In some cases that was a good thing because it allowed for the importation of cars that couldn't otherwise have been titled, but unscrupulous dealers (yes, they exist) used it for more nefarious purposes. Not sure what the laws there are like now though.

 

Can't speak for a specific dealer, but any car that spends appreciable time in FL is a potential flood-damage risk and extra caution should be exercised.

 

Florida and used car dealer is usually a bad combo unless it's a long standing business. New Exotic Car dealer in Florida ? I'll pass.

A sunny place for shady people. My apologies to any honest person who works or lives in Florida, but the reputation isn't for no reason.

 

One day several years ago I passed a place called Ft. Lauderdale Collection on US1 in Ft. Lauderdale. Two lanes of traffic were blocked with open car transporters and guys walking around in black shirts with FEDERAL AGENT on their backs....I lived in FLL for decades. There have always been many exotic car scammers there. Some of you old timers will remember Autoputer....a pioneer in the "industry".

 

Here in the NY / NJ area where we've suffered through some big storms it's common knowledge that flood-damaged cars from this area are shipped to Florida to permit the salvage title to be washed away or so I have been told.

 

The web site is a quicky job put up by carsforsale.com - owned by Sean Coffman along with 100s of other sites.
It basically appears to be a $99 per month lead-generation and dealer services operation.
https://dealers.carsforsale.com/

 

I am a dealer in South Florida. When I buy a car long distance from someone I don't know or don't trust, I pay when I take possession of the car and title. I either fly there, or send someone I trust, or have even given a cashiers check to a transporter to trade for the car and title.

On the other side of the equation, over the years I have had 2 occasions where a customer gave me a counterfeit or forged cashiers check, so I'm careful when I sell as well.

Bottom line, if you don't trust these guys, I would advise you to spend the $500 to fly there and take delivery in person. It's always better to see the car with your own eyes anyway.

I hope that helps.

 

Several very negative reviews on Google and I could never trust a place that doesn't have their location featured prominently on their web site. I had to search Google to find that information.

 

I'll swing by and try to take a quick look at the car tomorrow. I will tell you that there are already too many questionable things in my mind:

1. You have to search to get an address.
2. They aren't in Ft Lauderdale, they are in Pompano. A nuance but they are not one of the established companies in FTL which is what the name implies IMO.
3. not that it's the case here but for reasons above you have to apply extra caution in Fl.
4. It doesn't sound like you've bought a lot of cars long distance. Buying an older Ferrari, cross country from a dealer in SoFla without a lot of experience is like learning to ski on an expert run.
5. I'm surprised nobody knows these guys.

I'll pass on what I see.

 

Interesting article on the proprietor of the place - Jonathan Frank:
'Empire' mansion up for sale because the owner can't dock his boat | Daily Mail Online

His Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/autotoys123

 

Not someone I'd buy from but that's personal preference.
I apologize but I'm not going to make the time to look at the car. There are just too many negative indicators on this one for me to provide an objective view.
This is one of those deals where you need to get your own eyeballs on it. Good luck with your search.

 

I don't know what the laws there are like these days but years ago it was very easy to get a title for just about anything in Florida. So yeah, lots of cars with undesirable backgrounds were "title washed" in Florida. Combine that with seemingly questionable background of the selling dealer and you have good reason to be very, very careful.

Unless the car in question is a model that is otherwise unavailable I think I'd just keep looking. If you simply must have the car it seems highly advisable to have a recognized expert in the model go over it carefully for you before handing over any money, even if you have to fly the expert in from another part of the country. Unless of course, the car in question is cheap enough that you can (and don't mind) taking the risk that it's actually worth far less than you'd be paying for it.

Good luck and let us know how it all shakes out.

 

These guys have been around forever and have always had the same horrible reputation. They've been shut down before and simply reopened with a new name, hence the "new" auto toy store. Do a search in the FL section and you should find plenty of info on them. Frankly I wouldn't do business with them if they had the exact car I wanted at an amazing price.

 

You don't say what car you're interested in, but unless it's unique, surely there must be one closer to you and with less brain damage involved.

 

The apparent proprietor appears to be a little too young to have been involved back when they had their big blowup but what do I know? I'd never heard of him or this place prior to yesterday.

It seems very odd to me that an apparently successful and prosperous business man would have a website thrown up by a dealer services company that doesn't even put his address or pictures of his showroom up but I'm pretty old school.

 

I remember going to the Auto Toy store 20 years ago, but had no idea they (or whoever bought the name) re-opened it under a similar name...

 

That has to be the most ugly interior I have ever seen