Another Daytona from our "Friend" miamispyders (Arturo C)


Sonny-Burnett

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Well our "pal" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, formerly known as Ebay IDs xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, and others, is at it again, this time under a new EBAY ID (that makes at least 4 that he has used recently) EBAY ID: xxxxxxxx and he has relocated to York, PA from Tampa. He changes Ebay IDs frequently when his listings are pulled enough times through reporting or when he accumulates his inevitable negative feedback for fraud. This time his listing (see below) is more low key with amazingly few apparent misrepresentations that are obvious in the listing. (**EdIt.. he's now got another Ebay ID as of April 2014,  huntzijd  . See http://www.miamiviceonline.com/index.php/topic/8984-another-daytona-for-sale/ )

 

I WOULD HOWEVER STRONGLY CAUTION ANYONE ON THIS FORUM WHO IS BIDDING ON ONE OF HIS CARS OR IS CONSIDERING DOING SO TO NOTE THE FOLLOWING: He has a history of misrepresenting his Daytona replicars going back more than 4 years now. Some of us have done business with him and seen his cars. In my case I was interested in a Daytona of his and he claimed there were no mechanical defects yet WOULD NOT ALLOW AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTION. He said he knew someone just down the street. yeah... He claimed there were overseas buyers clamoring for his cars and I better get there tomorrow! Well I had someone in my office call him the next day and the story changed again. The car that I walked away from was sold to another buyer and resulted in negative feedback for misrepresentation!

 

I ordered parts from him subsequently and received the wrong parts (ordered new and got used and in poor condition). After returning them several times and always getting a promise of the correct ones shipping, he finally acknowledged he didn't have them but would offer me a substantial credit if I kept the poorer conditioned parts. Well the credit never arrived and he stopped answering emails and paypal requests. He used strong arm pressure sales tactics to try and instill urgency among any interested buyers. At least one member in here visited him in the last year and found his advertised cars WERE NOT as advertised in the Ebay listings. They were in his words "junk cars". Also noted by this same person on our forum were his molds which he claimed he used to build his cars and they made for improper and defective fits among the body panels. Yet he also claimed most of his cars for sale were McBurnies!

 

But probably his worst failings were this Seller's constant attempts to add provenance to his cars, claiming or suggesting that they may have been used on Miami Vice. The most grievous example was several months ago when another member of our forum noted one of this Seller's cars he claimed was manufactured by McBurnie had a McBurnie VIN plate on the door panel. This would obviously add provenance. On closer inspection however the date code on the plate (which apparently this seller did not know how to read) which indicated date of manufacture had a date code that preceded the date of the donor Vette that the Seller claimed was represented by the included title. So in other words he must have time traveled to obtain the donor car and build the kit! What a laugh. The plate was obviously a total fake. Also, the supposed Title that he included was not a 13 digit title as required for cars made after 1981 but instead was an obvious forgery. On closer inspection it was from Minnesota and not where he claimed it was from. This car was pulled down (delisted) from Ebay 4 times and ultimately led to the closing of his Ebay ID (miamispyders) after the Seller made repeated misrepresentations and he was reported and delisted.

Update on this...and on this same subject, I recently learned that this Seller obtained these hi res photos of both the McBurnie VIN plate and Title documents for this car from another actual current McBurnie owner who actually owned said items, so I now have no doubt as to the unethical and dishonest intent that this Seller continues to demonstrate over and over to inflate the value of his cars. He actually had the temerity to use false VIN plates and Titles!!

So my advice to anyone remotely considering dealing with this guy is BUYER BEWARE. Get an independent inspection at a place of your own choosing before giving this Seller one nickel of your hard-earned money. And make sure you validate any title he claims he has for the car, or you may not be able to title it later after you get it.You'll thank me later.

 

Here it is already up to $23K :http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170971183786Some photos: [ATTACH=CONFIG]7425[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]7426[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]7427[/ATTACH]

 

Here's the narrative on the listing:"UNDERCOVER CORVETTE I'm proud to offer this astounding recreation of the timeless Classic Daytona Spyder 365/gtb, assembled on a 1974 Corvette chassis (about 5,000 miles on built) and powered by a 1994 Fuel Injection LT1 Engine with a 6 speed manual transmission, Cold Air Intake and Dual Flow Master Exhaust that sounds amazing . This beautiful Daytona is finished in all Black Tuxedo exterior with Tan Stay Fast Convt.Top (replaced 7/12). In keeping with the traditional look this Daytona Spyders interior was upgraded to resemble the Original car (in like new condition), features Daytona Style tan/black seats, matching door panels, dash, VDO gauges and center console are also Daytona Style. The interior is also dressed with a Nardi style wooden steering wheel, Daytona toggle switches, 6spd shift knob, emblems and badges. Also comes with power windows, alarm, door poppers and cold ac. This Daytona is sitting on a set of Original Vintage 70 spoke cross laced True Knock off Zenith Wire Wheels (Borrani Style). Don't miss this rare opportunity of owning one of the most recognized, desirable and coolest cars ever built that turns heads where ever you go at a fraction of the price of an original. Good luck with your bid or don't wait & buy it now. PLEASE CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS "

 

Almost forgot...he had previously come onto this site several times and after insulting numerous members with outrageous personal insults (an indication of his 'upstanding' character) he also told everyone he was selling his business. yeah right....So in addition to relocating and selling this Daytona have a look at what's in and around his garage. [ATTACH=CONFIG]7428[/ATTACH]

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NEVER let up on this guy. NEVER.I think you need to remind us again, and often when he lists things.I'm sure he will check with this site again to see what you've written.You are doing everyone a great service.NEVER let up my friend. NEVER.-COOP

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NEVER let up on this guy. NEVER.I think you need to remind us again' date=' and often when he lists things.I'm sure he will check with this site again to see what you've written.You are doing everyone a great service.NEVER let up my friend. NEVER.-COOP[/quote']Thanks COOP. I don't want anyone to think otherwise because my intent is to make sure our members have all the facts before ever dealing with this Alpha-Hotel. I don't want them to get taken. This guy knows that Vice fanatics will do anything and pay anything for such prizes as a Daytona like the one Crockett drove. Many of us have had to learn the hard way that there are unscrupulous sellers out there who will take advantage of that. Yes I'm sure he'll be back on here, like a perpetual migraine. It's in his nature.
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Thanks COOP. I don't want anyone to think otherwise because my intent is to make sure our members have all the facts before ever dealing with this Alpha-Hotel. I don't want them to get taken. This guy knows that Vice fanatics will do anything and pay anything for such prizes as a Daytona like the one Crockett drove. Many of us have had to learn the hard way that there are unscrupulous sellers out there who will take advantage of that. Yes I'm sure he'll be back on here' date=' like a perpetual migraine. It's in his nature.[/quote']Your a good man Sonny-Burnett. I respect you for doing this.
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You do a great thing here Sonny-Burnett informing everybody here what sleazy jerks there are out there trying to con us out of our hard earned money on something that a lot of people dream of owning or want to own for real.I hope you put this sucker away for good.All my best .

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I thought he sold that black car already, and before he said it was packing 454 CI motor, not a 350 ZL1 motor. Also unless he left the drivers side door open there he's got a really bad panel gap going there between the front of the door and the left side quarter panel.

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I thought he sold that black car already' date=' and before he said it was packing 454 CI motor, not a 350 ZL1 motor. Also unless he left the drivers side door open there he's got a really bad panel gap going there between the front of the door and the left side quarter panel.[/quote']This car does look familiar. Would like to know who was the previous owner. If you kept copies of his previous listings for this car and now you see something changing then I encourage you to challenge him and/or report him to Ebay. Bad panel gap could very well be what our boating enthusiast member noted when he visited this Seller last year, namely that he was using molds that resulted in poor panel fit and quality. If true then he is likely using his own remanufactured panels on these cars. Another reason I refer to his cars as junk. You can see a partially finished body in his garage in the last photo posted.
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This car does look familiar. Would like to know who was the previous owner. If you kept copies of his previous listings for this car and now you see something changing then I encourage you to challenge him and/or report him to Ebay. Bad panel gap could very well be what our boating enthusiast member noted when he visited this Seller last year' date=' namely that he was using molds that resulted in poor panel fit and quality. If true then he is likely using his own remanufactured panels on these cars. Another reason I refer to his cars as junk. You can see a partially finished body in his garage in the last photo posted.[/quote']That partially finished car is probably the same one I looked at in Tampa last year? The gaps were horrible but more important the flares were all wonky as he explained to me that he had trouble getting it out of the mould. The flares needed major work while the door gaps could be modified a bit more easily. Either way the car was far too expensive for what it was and what it needed to finish. Remember... I have been doing bodywork for the better part of a quarter century and was a corvette specialist for decades, so I believe my "two cents" is worth at least a half a buck?????:o
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At least he hasn't made a bunch of bogus claims with this one. Whether or not it is what he says it is, well that's up to the potential buyer to find out. My point being, we can't really bust him on this one. However posting his past dealings, in this case, is a good thing.As for buyer beware, that goes without saying on any internet purchase.

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That partially finished car is probably the same one I looked at in Tampa last year? The gaps were horrible but more important the flares were all wonky as he explained to me that he had trouble getting it out of the mould. The flares needed major work while the door gaps could be modified a bit more easily. Either way the car was far too expensive for what it was and what it needed to finish. Remember... I have been doing bodywork for the better part of a quarter century and was a corvette specialist for decades' date=' so I believe my "two cents" is worth at least a half a buck?????:o[/quote']Hey Stinger, yes I was referring to you on the molds and of course your car knowledge is valuable to us all. :thumbsup:It's interesting that this Reseller almost always refers to his cars as McBurnie-built, yet he does have and use molds for at least some of the cars he has made available. So I am wondering how many he actually built and pawned on unsuspecting buyers? Did he indicate to you where he got his molds?Remember that McBurnie and some others have commented at length about how difficult it is to make and assemble his replicars from molds, and that it required much professional expertise to do so and make a quality product. One more reason for BUYERS TO BEWARE of this guy if he is doing it out of his garage. I would guess however that most of his cars today are those he purchased from others, and then he slaps some cosmetics on them and resells them at inflated prices.
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At least he hasn't made a bunch of bogus claims with this one. Whether or not it is what he says it is' date=' well that's up to the potential buyer to find out. My point being, we can't really bust him on this one. However posting his past dealings, in this case, is a good thing.As for buyer beware, that goes without saying on any internet purchase.[/quote']You would be surprised how many people buy cars on Ebay sight unseen. In this case given his very recent history, and that I was able to verify where he obtained his bogus VIN plate and Fake Title, buyers need to be especially wary with anything he sells. Hidden mechanical issues would be something I would look for carefully.
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Agreed. Let's just hope that anyone looking to buy a Daytona has also browsed our site.

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This car does look familiar. Would like to know who was the previous owner. If you kept copies of his previous listings for this car and now you see something changing then I encourage you to challenge him and/or report him to Ebay. Bad panel gap could very well be what our boating enthusiast member noted when he visited this Seller last year' date=' namely that he was using molds that resulted in poor panel fit and quality. If true then he is likely using his own remanufactured panels on these cars. Another reason I refer to his cars as junk. You can see a partially finished body in his garage in the last photo posted.[/quote']nah I didnt save it, just the photos and I remember seeing the car right after we finally got rid of him and noted that suddenly he mentioned it had a 454 which was one of the ideas I had for the daytona threadseeing that a 454 produces about 280 horsepower even in its cut down form post 1972, where as a tricked out 427 puts out about 288 when it was ordered with all the tricks out of the COPO program by Baldwin Motion and Yenko vs the actual daytona's 360 HP with its 4.4 liter V12 vs the 7 liter V8plus it has blacked out wheel caps unfortunately like the vice car nowadays although there black and blue dalton ones, not the black and gold the vice car is running with now.stinger he was making new cars with the molds then? couldn't we ask ferrari to go after him then?and jesus those must be very thin molds then if were seeing those kind of panel gaps in the photos, but still though something is playing in our favor here, he's using one of the molds made for a single headlamp one on either sidenot the 2 X 2 one of the vice car that was very noticeable in the first season, so even there I'm pretty sure some buyers should notice that very big difference right off the bat compared to the vice car.so he's not as bright nor as swift as he thinks, still cant get over that he couldn't even bother noting what the proper year of the chassis was that I noticed in one of the photos.I mean what a grade A dumbass.
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stinger he was making new cars with the molds then? couldn't we ask ferrari to go after him then?and jesus those must be very thin molds then if were seeing those kind of panel gaps in the photos' date=' but still though something is playing in our favor here, he's using one of the molds made for a single headlamp one on either sidenot the 2 X 2 one of the vice car that was very noticeable in the first season, so even there I'm pretty sure some buyers should notice that very big difference right off the bat compared to the vice car.so he's not as bright nor as swift as he thinks, still cant get over that he couldn't even bother noting what the proper year of the chassis was that I noticed in one of the photos.I mean what a grade A dumbass.[/quote']I'm curious also what Stinger says on this but I do know he has had these molds for some time and likely built some bodies with them. The falsification of the MCB VIN plate and Title was the last straw for me as that clearly proved intent to defraud potential buyers. And as I said I recently learned how he obtained the photos of same that he used in his listing. From what I saw he used the exact same photos from a different car on both the VIN plate and title so when a buyer would take possession either he would get a phony title or somehow it would have to have gone "missing". This could explain his use of his own body panels and perhaps a junked chassis that was rebuilt without a Vin number. Buyers would likely demand title and if he didn't have one this is the next best thing. Also presentation of phony Title documents is likely a felony, hmm, did you keep copies of that listing with the fake MCB plate and title docs?
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that one is just kind of mindless and not really that harmful, they have a don johnson edition of the scarab and a daytona replica.just a lack of forethought on there part but nothing maliciousalso I'm afraid not though Sonny, I didnt think of saving it for that means, I can give you a heads up if it pops up again after this next time.after all the same car is up right now.
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also I'm afraid not though Sonny' date=' I didnt think of saving it for that means, I can give you a heads up if it pops up again after this next time.after all the same car is up right now.[/quote']You think the one he is listing is the same one with the Fake MCB VIN plate and Fake Title Documents??
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I went through this site quickly but I didn't see where they claimed they had the car and boat from the show. They said "We have the Car" so that is a bit ambiguous to me. As to the car, we already know better as to the real item...only one remains and that is owned by CameraDaytona. They have stock photos of the camera car on the site as well so I am not sure what the actual car looks like that they rent out. I didn't find any shots of their car on the site?? As to the boat, I will leave that up to our more knowledgeable friends in here ....chu know mang, the ones where their reputations as a boating enthusiasts precedes them?Incidentally as some of this site is in German, where exactly is this rental place? The Netherlands??
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I went through this site quickly but I didn't see where they claimed they had the car and boat from the show. They said "We have the Car" so that is a bit ambiguous to me. As to the car' date=' we already know better as to the real item...only one remains and that is owned by CameraDaytona. They have stock photos of the camera car on the site as well so I am not sure what the actual car looks like that they rent out. I didn't find any shots of their car on the site?? As to the boat, I will leave that up to our more knowledgeable friends in here ....chu know mang, the ones where their reputations as a boating enthusiasts precedes them?Incidentally as some of this site is in German, where exactly is this rental place? The Netherlands??[/quote']I found that website a couple of years ago when it first poped up and contacted them about it, they did originally have a shot of their daytona which had a hopped up rear wheelchrome trim around the windshield and overal was very rough around the edges, think they might have actually sold it as I swear this is the car I remember seeinghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/jk1971/6886443344/in/photostream/just with a bigger rear tire.the boat however was in far better nick

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL1-97Gf3EU

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxbtbHb8III

and I think it was indeed the netherlands, abit of an odd place for such a thing, think it would have been far more successful in Miami Florida for obvious reasons actually looking at the photos I saved, I'm in the wrong here but just barely, the one I saw with the 454 had a 2x2 door for the headlights not the single ones, but other than that both cars are identical looking.

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Here is the picture of the plate.[ATTACH=CONFIG]7442[/ATTACH]
Hmmm.....looks like something is missing.....or scratched off.What the.....????
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Here is the picture of the plate.[ATTACH=CONFIG]7442[/ATTACH]
Is this one from your car CameraDaytona, or was it from miamispyder's car he was hawking?If you kept other shots did you also keep copies of his Title Documents? Law Enforcement might enjoy seeing those as selling a car with fake Title Docs is likely a Felony in PA.
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Is this one from your car CameraDaytona' date=' or was it from miamispyder's car he was hawking?If you kept other shots did you also keep copies of his Title Documents? Law Enforcement might enjoy seeing those as selling a car with fake Title Docs is likely a Felony in PA.[/quote']This is from the red Daytona he was selling a few weeks (or months?) ago. No, I do not have copies of the title documents.My car does not have a plate like this because it was not a "McBurnie" as such - it was sold as a Madikian, although of course, built by Tom McBurnie. I assume Tom started using the plates when he started building and selling turn key cars under his own name.
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This is from the red Daytona he was selling a few weeks (or months?) ago. No' date=' I do not have copies of the title documents.My car does not have a plate like this because it was not a "McBurnie" as such - it was sold as a Madikian' date=' although of course, built by Tom McBurnie. I assume Tom started using the plates when he started building and selling turn key cars under his own name.[/quote'']Ok I remember now about yours and the Markidian history.Yes this is the one from Arturo and I know he just used a Hi Res photo of it copied from Youngman's car, though Arturo wasn't smart enough to realize it had a manufactured date of 1980 and he was claiming he had a 1981 Donor Vette. Guess Time Travel is possible these days eh? :p:)Btw, the Red Daytona he was trying to sell with this fake MCB VIN plate and Fake Title Documents is still sitting in his driveway in York PA (see my photos above) so it is just a matter of time before he lists it again.Should have kept a copy of his Title docs (also stolen from Youngman's own car) that Arturo tried presenting as his own Title Docs. Not only would presentation of Phony title docs be a criminal matter for the local PD but either he would have to conveniently lose them at time of delivery (VIN numbers wouldn't match frame) or else his chassis had all the VIN numbers removed and he was selling a Junked Chassis. Either way we all can see to what great lengths of SCAM this Reseller will go to to mark up the value of his cars.
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Let's make certain that any information, any words, any photos, PMs, postings, and any new, or old user names on here or ebay is carefully compiled, and saved for future need, and reference.

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