legal question about a ferrari purchase

Hi all,

Hoping someone out there might know where I stand legally with the following scenario.....

I drove five and a half hours to look at a 308....had 19,000 original miles, car was not mint but very very nice.....I got there, met the owner, drove it, it was great....While spending time with the owner, he told me he had gotten a call from another party from st. louis who was very interested and ready to buy the car without looking at it.....

But since I had contacted him first and made the long drive, he was going to give me first right of refusal...

I understood the situation, either give a deposit and agree to buy or take the risk the other party buys it immediately and potentially lose a 19,000 mile really nice car.....

I agreed to buy the car for his asking price, which admittedly was about 2-3,000 lower than he could of got...I really wanted to do a pre purchase inspection but i knew it was a solid car and I was getting a great price...

I gave him a $500 deposit and agreed to return in 2 weeks to pick up the car and give him the balance.....

On my drive home that day, he calls me and says the other party is willing to give me $500 to walk away from the car, I declined. Another call, the offer is up to $800 to walk away from the purchase...

I declined and said I want the car. I went to my credit union and a check cut in his name for the balance of the car...I told him I would be arriving by train and driving the car home.....

A few days before I was scheduled to pick up the car, he calls me, says he and his wife have discussed the car again and they want to keep it.....He sends me back my $500 deposit....and that's that....

Come to find out, thanks to carfax, that the car was sold the following week and registered and titled in st. louis....he basically backed out on me and sold it to the other people, probably for at least 2-4,000 more...

Having thought about it, I think I am entitled to the $800 offered to me, paid to me by the owner of the car who backed out on our deal.....Do I have any legal rights or can someone back out of anything, anytime for any reason......

Any thoughts out there????

 

It sound's like you had an oral contract and your $500 deposit solidified that and the pending transaction, talk to your lawyer asap and best of luck.

 

Call the guy and ask him for the money. If he does not pay out chalk it up to a life lesson. If he is willing to jerk you around for the $800 he offered you, that is a good indication of his character and he may be qualified to open a low budget used car dealership. Not the kind of guy you would want to buy a used car, Ferrari or otherwise, from anyway.

 

If he cashed your $500 check, you likely have a contract (and a dated one, at that). If you have his advertisement with the asking price, you have an offer to sell.

It would have been (much) better to have a written purchase agreement with the VIN, your names, signatures, etc., but I think there's something here if you want to go to court.

Now... do you want to go to court, or just look for another 308?

 

I agree with Bullfighter concerning the 'purchase agreement' and if you did not sign anything just get your money back and move on, ALOT less headache's.

 

You didn't mention that going to court means that you start paying. In court the guy with the best lawyer and the most money wins. This is a loosing proposition. Move on. Next time a deal like this comes up, write the guy a check and drive the car away.

 

True, probably not worth it. And now that the car is sold, recovery would inconvenience a third party.

But, there is a case here, in an academic sense.

 

Find another 308. Probably a blessing in disguise, as you didn't have a chance to do a PPI. In any event, you are starting off on the wrong foot with this car, bad karma etc. Don't get involved in a legal dispute. Just my feeling. Good Luck on your search. Let this Doggie...run.

Ciao...Paolo

 

Fugetaboutit, for 800 bucks it's not worth your time; at least, not mine!

 

I'm feeling the 'bad karma' comment, it was not meant to be sorry to say.

 

Maybe you were meant to have a 328

 

I just went through my records and actually found a bill of sale that the owner signed, the vin number, purchase price and deposit are all noted....

I don't want his car anymore, but my thoughts are, I was offered $800 to walk away from the car, a strange situation, but I did invest a lot of driving time and effort getting the check cut and the man lied over the phone, so I figure, if I call him up and ask for $800 and get something, its worth my five minutes, although I can see how this is petty...

bottom line, this guy made me a deal, fair and square, and then screwed me when he saw he could make a few extra dollars, i think he should pay just so he knows that I know he's a liar.....

 

Since you have a 'bill of sale' I would definitely atleast ask my lawyer about this situation and you may even be able to get the guy to pay for the shipping cost of the car back to you. IMO now that you have documentation it is a matter of principle, you saw the car first, got the owner's assurance you had first dib's as he signed a legal document stating that. I think he should be held accountable for his 'sly way's of doing business'.

 

Its the "principle of the matter" that makes lawyers rich. Not that there is anything wrong with that

 

Spoken like a true lawyer, not that there is anything wrong with THAT! lol

As much as I love Ferrari that is why I feel 'mondialrush' should persue the car in question. He was screwed bad from an owner who was offered more money AFTER the fact of signing a sale's agreement, that I would not stand for.

 

you have ZERO right to the 800 offered to you. You do have a case by legal definitions for the car itself and the transaction but I couldn't even imagine pursuing something like this. Be plain ridiculous to bother at all. Lots of nice cars, go find one again.... that's half the fun anyway.

 

yea........... read his original post. He drove 5 1/2 hours to get to the car. Think about how many hours and time and pure crap he would have to waste in order to appear in court etc..over a car that was probably not honestly presented given the scruples of the seller. Chalk it up to experience and find a better car. Some things in life are not worth getting blown up about.

 

You guys are right, its not worth pursuing for $800, not at all, and the more I think about it, there was a few things about the car that I was wondering about, so all in all, it wasn't meant to be...

The part that really bothers me, I drove all that way, I spent a few hours in the home of a very nice gentleman, he told me there was another party ready to buy. I asked him, why not go for the other offer, and he said to my face that I called first, made my appointment first, drove 5 1/2 hours and it was how he was going to handle it....

It was only after I left and was driving home the same day, that he called and said this other party really wants this car bad and they will pay you $800 for my troubles to walk away....

I told him no and we had a deal....then just days before I was scheduled to go back and pick up the car and pay in full, he tells me that he just got a promotion and is going to keep the car and still get a 2nd (he was originally going to be upgrading)...

so I guess you can kinda see why I think I deserve the $800 for getting screwed, but I see the legal efforts would make this not worth the trouble.

 

You have a right to be mad and you should call him to tell him that prostitution fits far better with women.

 

don't blame the man. everything was cool until he told his 'wife". she got out the whip and laid it to our hapless lad who had no choice but to screw you and do as "she" told him to. cherche' la femme.

 

sorry, but i have bought / sold 4 ferraris, and several lambos.

i do not call people on cars for sale unless i have the cash in hand in full.

if you looked at the car first and then had to get it financed and insured that is NOT the sellers problem. i agree its bit sticky that they took a deposit, but as a private seller i dont see how they did anything wrong.

those of us that collect and buy / sell these cars as a hobby do not have to , nor like to wait around for the people that dont have the cash in hand.


i got calls on my Push Button early Pantera for 3 weeks after it sold. i was offered in excess of $50,000 for the car. the guy that agreed to buy it, did so instantly with a wire transfer for $35,000 and locked the car in as his. paid for in full is a "contract" in my book. i told the new owner of the new offers, to see if he wanted to resell the car. the car was EXACLTY what he had been looking for for years, and he was not concerned about any more money, and neither was i.


to be more to the point, i usually turn away buyers if they do not have the cash to have the car PPI'd and then pay in full. nice cars ALWAYS have more than one potential buyer out there. i had one finance company want faxes, on top of faxes on top of all MY personal financial data. i told them and the buyer to go buy from a dealer and refused to sell to them. this is a hobby and not my regular job.

my. 02

 

Thats funny.

 

It is a 308.........not like you are a roller or anything........

Walk....don't run.......

 

The guy clearly screwed you for a few bucks more.

I understand how you feel, but don’t put any energy on screwing him back, it’s just not worth it and makes you an prick as big as he is.
Just go find another car, there are plenty 308 out there and eventually you’ll find the one with your name on it.
Good luck and a happy new searching year.

And just my ,02 for “thecarraper”.
I do agree with your principles about having the money first and then go get the object, but everybody doesn’t run around with ****tloads of money, and have to take a look at the car first before they get the financial part cleared.
I’d rather lose a car before starting running forth and back to the bank because the cars I’m looking at aren’t right.

I don’t know how it is in your country, but here an oral agreement / handshake is a binding contract.

Have a nice new year.

 

Call the seller and tell him he is a loser. Let him know you found out the car sold and that he can shove the money where the sun doesn't shine. That should make you feel better, then forget it.