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Dec. 23, 2008 2:37 p.m. wearymicrobe New Reader

If this doubles up I am sorry it looks like it never posted on my machine.

Odd question, more what should I do though.

I sold my 55 dodge pickup about 6 months ago through ebay, guy pays for the truck only about 5K over 1 month with many paypal transactions. Its been like 3 months since I last heard from him, no answer at the phone, no response from emails. Nothing, I check the obits for his name, not there. Email does not bounce back.

I am in California, he is up in Canada somewhere. He still has not started the registration process in Canada and I need this thing out of my backyard so I can start another project. Its been in my craw for a long time now, and the wife is upset.

Any ideas on what to do, the wife says just resell the darn thing and return his money, but I have no desire to resell something I already sold ( and I don;t own?) and got paid for let alone get into a mess where he is dead or hurt and still wants the truck but was unable to contact me and gets pissed off.

At what point is it my car again to resell, if it gets that far, if I never get contacted again. I don't want the money just the darn thing gone, I was going to just drop it off at a local storage yard and give him the number and let it be but that might not be legal.
Dec. 23, 2008 2:41 p.m. wherethefmi2000 Reader

so he paid 5k so far, does he owe you more? The selfish person in me would re-sell it and pay him back if you ever hear from him again. Did you send the title already? That's a bit of a spot, contact ebay for further guidance.
Dec. 23, 2008 2:44 p.m. wearymicrobe New Reader

In reply to wherethefmi2000:

Owes me like 150$, I sent him the title and bill of sale the paperwork needed to start the importation but he never started it. Auction stated it had to be gone within the week of sale.

Truck has taken a huge hit in value in the last 6 months due to the economy so getting all the money back by reselling going to be a challenge. Plus all the hastle of actually selling it again.
Dec. 23, 2008 2:48 p.m. 2002maniac New Reader

Tell him to come get his truck out of your yard within 60 days or you'll send it to the junkyard.
Dec. 23, 2008 3:08 p.m. kcbhiw Reader

2002maniac wrote:

Tell him to come get his truck out of your yard within 60 days or you'll send it to the junkyard.

I would do this via certified mail.
Dec. 23, 2008 3:21 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

Call your local authorities (police, repo company, or auto garage) and ask what is acceptable for storage charges.

Send him a certified letter return receipt requested clarifying that the deal specifically included him getting the vehicle removed in a timely manner.

Tell him if it is not removed within (x amount of time) you will re-sell it and deduct storage and re-titling fees.

If you don't hear from him, subtract from the $5K the daily storage rate (as high as is legit in your area) and the cost of re-titling it. If there is any balance, consider whether you want to send him a check for the difference. You could legitimately claim he was in breach of contract, but it could be a pain if he took you to court. So you might want to send him a check for the difference. Send check certified, return receipt

Then re-sell. If you drop the price accordingly, you can probably sell quickly.
Dec. 23, 2008 3:22 p.m. wherethefmi2000 Reader

isn't an ebay sale a contract, you said in the listing one week to pick up. Still there after a week breach of contract no?

Edit: it's been alot lonnger that a week and you've tried to contact him numerous times. Follow up with Ebay customer support and do what Svrex says lol
Dec. 23, 2008 3:37 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

BTW, I'm understanding that you are now into this for something like 120 days. I'm pretty sure you will find $30 per day to be reasonable. That makes $3600 in storage fees, plus perhaps $250 in re-titling.

That makes $3850 in fees. Take that off a $5150 price tag, and it is WELL within Challenge price! (I'll buy it!, and have it gone before New Year's)
Dec. 23, 2008 4:01 p.m. 914Driver Dork

If you have his name, do you have his address?

Can eBay step in and provide this information?

Once armed with this information you can verify the phone numbers via reverse look-up.

Pay-Pal accounts have to go through a bank, talk to the bank.

Then talk to your lawyer. Yeah it sucks, but IIRC you have to hold it for 30 days. After that you may resell it, but talk to a lawyer. It may be prudent, perhaps required in your State to send this deadbeat a registered, receipt required letter from a lawyer.

Storage fees in my neighborhood are $65/day by a mechanic.

Now, having been an [shineyhapppyperson] but also someone who has shipped cars cross country, the shippers take forever! That doesn't discount unanswered phone calls, but it took like 3 months to get a car from Texas to New York.

Sorry I can't help more, but hey, Merry Christmas!!!
Dec. 23, 2008 5:48 p.m. Supercoupe New Reader

I had the same problem with an Audi I sold to a guy in Quebec. He pays in full and then disappears. Needless to say my wife is ready to just drive it to the crusher, but I say I can't without hearing from him first. Long story short, I spoke to an attorney friend and they told me International Law governs this type of transaction and you must take other steps before aborting the sale now or you could be financially responsible for replacement costs.

First was to document all emails you had with the buyer and ebays resolution department (if any). Then send a registered /certified letter stating your intentions to have the car removed within a time period (forgot how long, but know it wasn't more than a month). And if the car isn't removed you are charging them storage back to the original sale date(the fee has to be "reasonable rates").

After I did this he contacted me and said he was in France at his friends vineyard or some crap and said he would pick the car up by the date in the letter, which he did. Henceforth and forewith, (wanted to sound lawyerish) I no longer sell items I can't put in a box and ship to Canada.

Find out before you do anything else with the truck.
Dec. 23, 2008 6:04 p.m. internetautomart SuperDork

about a year ago I had an old impala left in my garage by a guy who didn't pay rent for 6+ months. he really ticked me off and the guy who referred him to me, after repeated calls I got no answer. my final call was that I am filing for a mechanics lien on the car and that he owed me back rent plus late fees ($25 per month), plus interest compounded daily (22% APR). total came out to close to $800 ($781 sticks in my mind). funny thing he came, bitched about the total (rent was $75 a month) paid it, and took the car out. made my life easier and a bit more profitable.

in the OPs case I would just file for a duplicate title and sell it on ebay again. this time make it clear that payment plans are not accepted and even if paid for leaving it for more than 1 week constitutes surrender of cash and vehicle.
Dec. 23, 2008 10:19 p.m. EastCoastMojo HalfDork

wearymicrobe wrote: Any ideas on what to do, the wife says just resell the darn thing and return his money, but I have no desire to resell something I already sold ( and I don;t own?) and got paid for let alone get into a mess where he is dead or hurt and still wants the truck but was unable to contact me and gets pissed off.

If he is dead and still wants the truck I say he is screwed.
Dec. 24, 2008 6:32 a.m. ddavidv SuperDork

When my Mom sold her customized Dodge Dart (yes, she has odd taste) she had a problem getting the buyer to come and get it too. It took the storage fees threat to get him to move on it. I'll never understand why people will pay for something and then not be in a hurry to get it, but apparently this happens fairly often. The Dart buyer wound up paying a few weeks storage fees after my Mom had to listen to his wife yell at her on the phone several times about ripping them off. The buyer was a pastor, BTW.
March 17, 2009 5:21 p.m. wearymicrobe New Reader

UPDATE

Transport truck is going to be at the house tomorrow morning, got a envelope full of cash from the seller in the mail with the 50$ a month he owed me and what little was left. Truck is going to be grafted to a SRT-10 Ram RC that had a bed fire so we both in a way got viper powered rams being built.
March 18, 2009 6:11 a.m. 914Driver Dork

Cool!

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