Out of the office from Dec 22 - Jan 26. Please text or email.
I had a call from a potential client in California last week. He’d found a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 Tribute listed on ClassicAutoTrader.com (as of this writing, please do not visit this site as they are victims of a cybercrime and have been hacked) for $43,000.
For context, the market for these cars has a pretty wide range depending on condition. Anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000. A “Tribute” car, for those who don’t know, is one that’s been modified and isn’t an original.
There are other terms you’ll see: a “restomod” has an updated engine and drivetrain but keeps the original look; a “replica” is built to look like something else and often has a different VIN. So $43,000 for an advertised Tribute in good condition was extremely low. The kind of deal that should have set off alarm bells immediately.
He thought he’d found something special. He wanted to hire me to do a pre-purchase inspection before he committed to anything. He signed my inspection agreement, and we moved forward.
As I started interacting more with the dealership, things started to get weird.
The car was listed on a website called vernonautoplex.com (please do not visit), supposedly representing “Autoplex of Mt. Vernon” in Illinois. But when I looked closer, the website name didn’t match the actual dealership name.
They’d dropped the “Mt.” from “Mt. Vernon.” Small detail? Maybe. But combined with what I saw next, it was suspicious. Unfortunately, Autoplex of Mt. Vernon had also been a victim of a cybercrime.
The photos of the vehicle on their website looked nothing like the actual dealership lot shown on their Google Business Profile (which only had one photo, the 3D one forced by Google). The quality and presentation didn’t match. The dealership supposedly had high-end classic cars, but when I looked at what else they were advertising, something felt off.
After my client paid me and signed the agreement, I contacted the seller to schedule the inspection. I didn’t get a response for a couple of days, which was unusual. When the scammer finally called me back, they scheduled the inspection for about a week later.
Scheduling a week later is odd, on top of that, the accent of the person was not the normal accent heard in that area. Their website didn’t list team members from out of state or out of the country either. Odd timing and unrecognizable personnel, but not a total red flag.
They may be going through internal consolidation and sometimes these cars are on consignment or need to be brought in from somewhere else. (that’s what you’d hope)
The day before the inspection, I tried calling to confirm our appointment. No answer.
But here’s the critical part: my client got impatient. Instead of waiting for my inspection, he decided to take action on his own. Maybe he didn’t want to miss on such an amazing deal? Who knows.
I showed up at the address on the inspection agreement. The location matched what was listed online, but the reality was completely different from the website photos.
The “dealership” was actually more of a cheap car repair shop. The inventory on the lot was mostly vehicles under $5,000. There was no way a $43,000 classic car was here.
When I walked inside and introduced myself, the sales manager had a list. Not of customers. A list of victims. Multiple people had been scammed by the same fraudulent seller. Many of them had wired money. Some had sent payments. All of them thought they were buying a vehicle that didn’t exist.
That’s when I called my client. He admitted the truth: he’d paid the full amount the day before the inspection….
Here’s what we learned: the scammers had hacked the real Autoplex of Mt. Vernon’s Google Business Profile and redirected their website in the background. To someone searching online, it looked completely legitimate. The photos, the inventory and the contact information all appeared to be from a real dealership.
The buyer in California never visited in person. His reasoning was practical, he was busy, travel costs from California to Illinois would be significant, and paying for a professional inspection was a smart alternative. That made sense to him. It made sense economically. But it also meant he never saw the red flags I saw when I walked through that door.
Website inconsistencies. When the dealer name and website name don’t match exactly, that’s worth investigating. Call the dealership directly using a number you find independently. Don’t use the number on the website. Find their BBB profile listing or from a third-party directory.
When a lot of money is involved, ideally a lot of different sources are better. Their social media might not count since it could’ve been hacked too.
Unresponsive sellers. A dealership that’s hard to reach or vague about scheduling is a problem. Real dealers want to make sales. They respond. Maybe not a scam but if a dealership is unresponsive that might be a red flag on its own.
Pricing that seems too good. I’m in this business because people hire me to inspect cars before they buy. Sometimes the price is low because there’s damage or mechanical issues. But when a car is significantly underpriced compared to the market, that’s a warning. Especially if it looks in perfect condition in the photos.
Pressure for payment without inspection. This is huge. Any dealer asking for full payment before a professional can see the vehicle in person is a massive red flag.
Especially if they don’t want to get a bank or any other financial institutions involved. The bank can get their money back easier. An individual trying to get their money back might be tougher.
Lack of independent verification. You should be able to verify that a dealership is legitimate by checking with your state’s secretary of state office, looking up their dealer license, and confirming their information independently.
Before you send a penny to a dealer, follow these steps:
Verify the dealership exists. Ask them for their state-issued dealer license. Call your state’s Secretary of State office and confirm that license is active and legitimate. Don’t rely on the phone number from their website. Look up the state office yourself.
Check for other online listings. A real dealership will have presence across multiple platforms and their listings should be consistent. Look for discrepancies in their name, location, or vehicle descriptions. The live photos from the Google Business Profile will make it tough to fake. Not having any photos on their Google profile is also a red flag.
Insist on an in-person visit or professional inspection. This is non-negotiable. If you can’t visit in person, hire someone local to inspect the vehicle before any payment changes hands. Yes, it costs money. Losing $43,000 costs more.
Be aware of phishing attempts. Scammers sometimes hack email accounts of legitimate businesses. If you get an unexpected email from a company you’ve dealt with asking you to click a link or download a file, verify it directly with them by calling using a number you find independently.
Worst case scenario open it on an incognito window on a browser that you don’t have any private information in. Don’t click links in suspicious emails, and definitely enable two-factor authentication on your personal accounts.
Here’s the thing: most people don’t reach out to me until they’ve already made a deal with the seller. Sometimes they call when they’re excited about a listing but haven’t even talked to the dealer yet and I have to calm them down and explain there’s a process here. Others wait until after they’ve already put down a deposit.
In my experience, the best time is after you’ve negotiated a price but before you send any money. Not before you’ve even talked to the seller. Not after you’ve already wired a deposit. After you’ve done your homework, talked to them, reached an agreement on price, and then you contact a certified appraiser.
Here’s my hard rule: don’t wire any funds, including deposits, until after the inspection is complete. The only exception is if you get a signed agreement from the seller stating that your money will be refunded if the vehicle isn’t represented properly after inspection.
Even then, think twice. Even with a refund agreement, in this situation that wouldn’t have mattered. Scammers know their victims will find out almost immediately or even within a few hours that they got scammed so they have techniques to make they don’t get their money taken back once they receive it.
In this case, my client got seduced by the deal. He couldn’t wait. He wired the full amount before I even got there. That’s how you lose $43,000.
My client lost $43,000 because he didn’t have an extra set of eyes looking out for him from the beginning. He made what seemed like a rational decision to save travel costs, hire a professional to inspect the car but he skipped the step that would have caught the scam before he paid.
I inspect vehicles for a living. But I’m also a consultant. If my client had called me before he found the car, or before he made an offer, I could have helped him verify the dealership, looked at the website, caught the inconsistencies, and saved him the money and the heartbreak.
A pre-purchase inspection is valuable. But a consultation before you’re already emotionally invested in a deal? That’s invaluable.
If you’re shopping for a classic car online, especially across state lines, don’t just hire someone to do a classic vehicle inspection. Bring them in earlier. Let them help you navigate the dealership, verify it’s real, and make sure the car actually exists before you send any money.
This was an expensive lesson to learn. Don’t be the next person on that list of victims.
Steven Paul is a Principal Vehicle Expert Witness & Litigation Consultant with TDT Vehicle Inspection Appraisal Services and SSP Vehicle Litigation Services. When you’re buying a classic car remotely, having an expert consultant involved from the beginning can save you thousands or in this case, tens of thousands. Reach out before you make an offer.
Steven is the CEO of Test Drive Technologies based in St. Louis. When he's not busy inspecting and appraising vehicles, he spends time with his family.
Out of the office from Dec 22 - Jan 26. Responses will be delayed.
Don't risk costly repairs or hidden damage know the truth before you buy with certified inspections and appraisals.
