'73 Bimmer Bros tii...am I missing something here???

[tsteph12]

The Bimmer Bros '73 tii has a salvage title and is not even a real tii based upon VIN posted. Sold for over $11K. What gives?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=200209699313&rd=1

T.R.

'72 polaris 2000tii touring

'72 inka 2002

[Delia]

You're not missing a thing.

Evan has a number of very nice cars for sale. Last year he sold a "Golf" yellow stock 2002 with a known history for over $9K. Looked at the car before Evan purchased it from the mechanic-owner, and it ran and drove quite nicely. Needed a few little things.

If you're in the classic car business, you need to make a profit. You need to know the market and provide services like pre-inspections and shipping to the East Coast, Europe or Asia. Evan is that kind of guy.

Is the car on ebay worth it to you? I presume not. But, it's a sun roof roundie with fuel injection. If you want a 2002 roundie, you want one, it's just that simple. *Somebody* must've thought it was worth it.

Cheers!

Delia

[finkbuilt]

What gives?

The world seems to have a crush on the 2002 right now.

[inkatouring]

What gives?

Evan is the PT Barnum of the 02 world.

[SteveJ]

Evan is the PT Barnum of the 02 world.

GREAT quote!

No disrespect to him. It's like Calvin selling the lemonade for $100 a glass.

[tsteph12]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted. Not everyone would have caught the VIN posted above in the listing. Then if you look down further in the ad under "Details.. Details.. Details", it states the car has a "clear" title. Again, nowhere in the ad does it state the car was a regular 02 converted to a tii. Either the seller has made honest mistakes with his listing vs. other.

T.R.

[02Les]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted. Not everyone would have caught the VIN posted above in the listing. Then if you look down further in the ad under "Details.. Details.. Details", it states the car has a "clear" title. Again, nowhere in the ad does it state the car was a regular 02 converted to a tii. Either the seller has made honest mistakes with his listing vs. other.

T.R.

Very typical of bimmerbros. This car was for sale for $5000; I assume Evan snatched it up, washed it, and doubled his money. Can't blame him as the Buyer should do his/her homework.

[Lee]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted.

Therefore the car is not what it is claimed. And an "expert" should disclose it. If I were the buyer and wanted a real Tii, then I would ask for a refund.

[1936spyder]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted. Not everyone would have caught the VIN posted above in the listing. Then if you look down further in the ad under "Details.. Details.. Details", it states the car has a "clear" title. Again, nowhere in the ad does it state the car was a regular 02 converted to a tii. Either the seller has made honest mistakes with his listing vs. other.

T.R.

Very typical of bimmerbros. This car was for sale for $5000; I assume Evan snatched it up, washed it, and doubled his money. Can't blame him as the Buyer should do his/her homework.

Yes, 02Les-

I was interested in it too when it was in SoCal for 5k. He also purchased the Fjord '73 for $4900 (missed that too) and then had it advertised for 2X the price! Yes, he does need to make money, but...???

Wendell

[jerry]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted.

Therefore the car is not what it is claimed. And an "expert" should disclose it. If I were the buyer and wanted a real Tii, then I would ask for a refund.

i saw that car on ebay and my immediate response upon closer inspection of the listing and realizing what was REALLY offered, was that this was a seller I'd choose never to do business with or alternatively, question everything.

unfortunately, we all live in the real world and we owe it to ourselves to be careful.

I sold a 73tii with Salvage title on ebay a couple years ago that otherwise would have passed for a really clean original survivor. i parted with the car after discovering that the whole passenger side inner fender was replaced after a crash (thus the Salvage title), resulting in the non-matching VIN. I validated the car with receipts and CHP/DMV inspection. The seller did not disclose the extent of the repair at the time and i did not think to look (i look now, everytime). I disclosed the repair in my ebay listing and was happy to get out of it what i put into it.

It went on sale on ebay a year or so later with no disclosure of the Salvage title or repair history. I'd have been pissed if i bought it and discovered that.

Point is, i probably left several thousand dollars on the table by disclosing those things but i can sleep well at night.

btw, i just took delivery on what i thought would be a real rust-bucket early-VIN 72tii on a 'hope and a prayer', and upon initial inspection when it arrived off the car transporter, i was very pleasantly surprised. so i guess everything sorta averages out.

[Delia]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted. Not everyone would have caught the VIN posted above in the listing. Then if you look down further in the ad under "Details.. Details.. Details", it states the car has a "clear" title. Again, nowhere in the ad does it state the car was a regular 02 converted to a tii. Either the seller has made honest mistakes with his listing vs. other.

T.R.

It was quite obvious -- to me at least -- exactly what the car (a non-tii with a tii motor and a salvage title) was and yes, I'm surprised the bidding went as high as it did. I'm assuming the winning bidder knew what I knew and that Evan's weaving of the facts are his "used car salesman's banter."

He's snatched up a number of nice cars (one of them from under my nose) here in the Bay Area and I don't begrudge him in any way. If he can make a living at what he does, more power to him. I'm not buying his cars.

...But somebody is...

Ebay is not, in my opinion, a true measure of the classic car market.

However, when RM or Barrett-Jackson's gavel falls at $18K to $22K for a non-tii, even skeptics like you and I should be taking notice.

Based on those numbers, the winning bidder may feel he or she may have gotten a bargain.

Bottom line -- Is the winning bidder happy? Did the seller make money?

That's what matters.

Delia

[KFunk]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted. Not everyone would have caught the VIN posted above in the listing. Then if you look down further in the ad under "Details.. Details.. Details", it states the car has a "clear" title. Again, nowhere in the ad does it state the car was a regular 02 converted to a tii. Either the seller has made honest mistakes with his listing vs. other.

T.R.

It actually does say it in the 'added information' part at the bottom:

I would like to state here that this is a fabulous driving 2002 with injected tii engine, brakes and badging and is not actually a factory-produced tii.

Still misleading since the original auction didn't state this, and he added that info later on March 23rd, and its apparently in a location that most people glance past it.

[ibjettin]

With the increasing values of the tii being 2-3 times that of a carb'd 02 guys like evan can easily "accidentally misprint" saying it's a tii. I don't think many are as educated on the tii as we think and unfortunately they are making mistakes by buying cars like this.

It show that he hasn't a clue about these cars, just how to make money from them. If he does than it's pretty messed up to misrepresent a car like that... I'm sure we'll see it relisted.

btw, i just took delivery on what i thought would be a real rust-bucket early-VIN 72tii

WHAT! "I just took delivery" another one jerry???

[BarryA]

The car was advertised as a tii, not one that had been converted.

Therefore the car is not what it is claimed. And an "expert" should disclose it. If I were the buyer and wanted a real Tii, then I would ask for a refund.

{/quote] ... parted with the car after discovering that the whole passenger side inner fender was replaced after a crash (thus the Salvage title), resulting in the non-matching VIN.

like the Bimmer Bros sale being discussed could quite easily be passed off as a legit tii, as well.

If one were to start with a solid, non tii shell and a wrecked or rusted clear title tii, removing the passenger side inner fender from the tii and swapping it into the non-tii shell would make it very difficult to tell that the finished car wasn't a tii in the first place if the work was done properly (even more so if the perp went to the trouble of removing the snorkle and splicing a patch panel into the nose).

As long as all of the tii specific bits were moved over, the factory welds were faked well enough, and all of the vin plates and the lincese number match the title, many folks aren't going to question the car's legitimacy. With tii prices ratcheting skyward, it won't be too surprising to see well done fakes like this starting to show up.............

[02Les]

I wonder how he keeps a 100% feedback rating, with his "economy of truth" descriptions.