Looking to buy 1995 D90 (possible scam) help!??

This is my first post here on Rovers North. I joined up to help do some research looking to buy a D90. Maybe someone here can give me advice on this one. I appreciate the help in advance and knowing this is my first post - Thanks!

I searched cars.com and came up with this listing:
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...eadExists=true

here is the description:
Selling Points: This is a beautiful 1 owner Arles Blue Defender. AC works like a frigerator, engine and transmission is perfect and super clean, the vehicle has no rust, kept in a garage outside of Portland and used as a 2nd car for running around the mountainous area dirt roads. It is #340 of 500. Has a Clarion OEM 6 disc CD player, seat covers from Land Rover were put on at purchase so seats are virtually virgin. Sun roof pops out for great easy sun cruising. Recently had the cam chain replaced as normal preventative at 71,000. It is the cleanest most beautiful I've seen yet. I bought it from a dentist in Portland and had it shipped here to San Diego. It is my 3rd Defender of which I am a fanatic. It is an excellent running vehicle and no vehicle gives you more looks from everyone around you. Tires are excellent. Has a warn 8,000 winch which works excellent. Has i small ding in right front fender from a deer encounter.

It's a 1995 D90 going for $15,000. Sounds too good to be true. Well I emailed the owner to see if it was still available, asking for more pics and such. The D90 is located in San Diego. (I live in Long Island). He wrote back that it is still available. I got picts, and it looks pretty good for a D90 with 74K miles on it. Well, I ran a CARFAX and it appears there is a new owner registering in Fairfield CT in November 2007. :confused: :confused: :confused:

Well I emailed the guy asking whats the deal with the CT registration, but he hasn't emailed back yet (its only been an hour).

Do you think this is a scam?? Maybe someone here might know who bought a 1995 D90 back in November from out west (Oregon - from the carfax) who lives in CT. Someone might be using his/her VIN# and picts to scam out some unsuspecting person. I hope this is not the case.

Anyway, I hope this is legit offer, but now I am not sure.
The "owners" name is Gary Pitchford, maybe someone knows him since he claims to own 3 D90s. If so, please let me know so I can go forward and possibly purchase this steal of a deal :)

AmityLR3
Gery Garcia

PS - My wife and I have owned a DII and now own a LR3 (her daily driver), and I am also a member of the Toyota Land Cruisers Association (I wheel a FJ Cruiser and go by AmityFJ on fjcruiserforums) I know there are a couple of you from that forum who participate here, so maybe I'm not much of a stranger here!)

You could always ask to have it inspected by an independant (BBB for that area will provide names) but I'm guessing if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a ..................duck

Here is script from email correspondence

The beginning is my last sent email responding to his clarification of the CT registration. Note he claimed that he bought D90 bought it in CT now.

Me:
So, you recently purchased this D90? I thought you bought it from a person in Oregon and had it shipped to San Diego. You say in this email that you bought it in CT.

Please understand, I am asking these questions to verify if this is a legitimate car for sale. The Carfax is making me hesitant to go forward since I cannot see the defender in person at this time.


Him responding to my inquiry (before my last response above)

>
> Hello Gery,
>
> It's my title. I've registered it in CT, where my parents live and
> where I've purchased the car. But I have clear title on my name and
> it could be transferred easily.
>
> Gary Pitchford


That's not how he presented it in the beginning (See post saying he bought it in Oregon and had it shipped to San Diego.0
I'll followup if responds to my return email.

Yeah it's probably a "duck".

If he doesnt respond I will report to cars.com.
It's so hard to trust anything on the web these days. :nono:
I still hope this is a huge misunderstanding.

AmityLR3
Gery

One can still hope.

I would think that, for $15,000., in San Diego, you could sell that car in one day. If it was legit.

Just a followup

I emailed cars.com reporting possible fraud. I hope they will investigate.
Probably alot of internet scams out there. Buyers beware.

AmityLR3
Gery Garcia

I would ask him straight out why he's selling it so cheap. Also, have you guys spoken? I haven't seen it around in fairfield but that may not mean too much. You may want to post this over at d-90.com as well for further input. In my non-expert opinion, this truck should go for 25k.

Listing pulled off cars.com

Here is response from cars.com rep

Good morning Gery,

Using the information you provided we were able to locate the ad. It was previously determined not to be a legitimate listing and removed as fraudulent. While we are very sorry that you encountered this unfortunate situation, we are grateful that you have taken the time to bring it to our attention.

If you see any other suspicious advertisements or have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for using cars.com.

Sincerely,

Omer Navaid
cars.com Consumer Support


Sad :(
At least it has been dealt with and no one else will get sucked into this one.

There still is the possibility this person will use the same vin# and try to scam again though. I don't want to post vin number here, but the person who owns a 1995 Aries Blue D90 title issued in Fairfield CT on 11/2007 should be made aware of this. I hope cars.com will contact DMV, but I doubt it.