For Sale Anyone know...

Does anyone know cruiser_importer who lists LCs on ebay? I am thinking about pulling the trigger on one of his vehicles. I am doing my due diligence on importing and titling but I am more curious if anyone has had any direct experience, either good or bad, with cruiser_importer. I have a reference for whom I am waiting a call back but was hoping someone here has had contact with him. Feel free to pm if you'd rather not post directly.

Thanks,

Rick

 

[ricks20]

Sorry, I meant to change the header topic from "for sale" and forgot. I don't seem to be able to edit. Sorry for any confusion or breach of etiquette.

Rick

 

[overton]

Curious, what makes you want to import a Land Cruiser?

 

[FletchFFletch]

Rick, I started a thread asking the same question. May want to check it out. I'm on phone so can't provide link easily.

 

[ricks20]

Curious, what makes you want to import a Land Cruiser?

I have been looking for a bj (diesel) and as you know they are hard to find here in the US. Imports are risky but with due diligence I think you can improve the US diesel gene pool by importing. Of course you could introduce cancer or neuropathy to the gene pool also. It is all a crap shoot but I am beginning to think I will take my chances.

 

[ricks20]

Rick, I started a thread asking the same question. May want to check it out. I'm on phone so can't provide link easily.

I found your post before I posted this. Unless there is another that I missed I did not see anything there that shed any light on things. I will go back and look again but I do not recall seeing anything positive or negative?

 

[a77fj40]

Ebay seller cruiser_importer -- anyone with feedback?

 

[FletchFFletch]

I found your post before I posted this. Unless there is another that I missed I did not see anything there that shed any light on things. I will go back and look again but I do not recall seeing anything positive or negative?

Agreed - no neg or pos feedback as of yet. I am like u considering diesels. Haven't yet made leap of faith. Hoping to find one already here in U.S.

 

[FletchFFletch]

Ebay seller cruiser_importer -- anyone with feedback?

Thx!

 

[greenbeast]

Having just purchased a bj42 from Canada and loving it, I was fortunate enough to catch it here on mud. Is there something your looking for in particular.

My purchase wasn't that much different then what I've done in the states. Lots of clubs that way and everyone was willing to help us get the deal done. we paid a service something like $300-$400 to get documents in order which in hind sight I would do myself.

Not sure that helps but maybe send some PM's to various clubs up that way telling em what you want?

Good Luck!

 

[ricks20]

Agreed - no neg or pos feedback as of yet. I am like u considering diesels. Haven't yet made leap of faith. Hoping to find one already here in U.S.

I get to CR a couple times a year. That is where I fell in love with the BJ. I don't know the language well enough to navigate a purchase down there. The language barrier just complicates the culture barrier and for me makes it virtually impossible. CR has caught on to the popularity of these vehicles in the US and it is becoming more difficult to find the deals that were around in years past. Someone CR local you can trust who knows the language and can reliably negotiate the sale for you makes the purchase and import easier.

The one response you did receive in that previous thread makes many valid points. The lack of heat and AC, neither of which are needed down there, is aggravating, but those problems are not too difficult to solve once you have imported and titled the vehicle.

I am still looking at the import issues with the EPA and NTS but they do not seem to difficult if the foreign paperwork is in order. I believe here in MA I am going to have to get a bilingual notary to do a translation of the paper trail. There definitely are complications.

 

[ricks20]

Lots of clubs that way and everyone was willing to help us get the deal done. we paid a service something like $300-$400 to get documents in order which in hind sight I would do myself.

Not sure that helps but maybe send some PM's to various clubs up that way telling em what you want?

Good Luck!

Thanks, that is great information. Never thought of contacting a foreign club. I will look into that

 

[overton]

I imported a BJ40 from Costa Rica. It took 97 days to get to my door. Cost over $3K in shipping, arrived with no ignition key, battery was swapped for an old dead one, stereo and speakers were gone. The whole process was a monumental pain in the wazoo! - I got lucky, the truck was pretty nice but many people purchased what appeared to be rust free nice trucks and turned out to be hideous. Buy one that is already here if you can. Buyers of non-USA Cruisers may want to take a look at this info as well. -> FJ Series WorldWide 

 

[greenbeast]

I actually had a discussion with a mudder this morning and played the devils advocate regarding his purchase. Unless its a rare or specific vehicle stick with the states. A $10,000 cruiser is still a $10,000 cruiser at the end of day and spending $2000 to get it to your door doesn't help the value at all and can bite you in the ass if your living situation goes south. Enlist the help of local clubs also, there seems to always be a patriarch of the club that everyone trusts and is willing to help anyone that has question or is looking for someone.

I ran across decent deal, not great and was probably lucky with my BJ42. I did find great Toyota guy who does prebuys around Vancouver way for very reasonable cost if anyone want to PM for his info.

 

[ricks20]

So I am learning something about cruiser_importer and I am learning first hand. I figured I would share it here.

He is selling the vehicle on eBay, not an auction. I made him an offer right as his sale was ending which he accepted and for 3 days now he has given me the run around. He relisted the vehicle for more than we agreed and informed me that his "partner" will not allow him to sell it for the agreed upon price. His prerogative, and nothing underhanded here, but he did back out of an agreed upon deal. I was in the process of getting a wire transfer arranged with my bank.

He provided me with a reference, name and number, of a "business associate". I have called, gotten blind voicemail, and no return calls. Seems I am unable to get a reference as promised. That says something to me.

There is a review on his eBay review page where a buyer had his offer accepted, cruiser_importer took the buyer's money - not a deposit evidently, but full payment for the car - and did not deliver the car. The money was eventually returned, the buyer was not ripped off, but the car was never delivered to the person who had paid in full. Sounds a lot like what almost happened to me. He'll accept a deal for lack of a better deal but he'll screw you if a better deal comes along. This is an assumption on my part but it looks to me like he accepted an offer, took the cash, then got a better offer and backed out on the original offer who had already paid for the car in full. Not a very reputable way to do business. Of course there are other possible explanations but he has not made any attempt to refute the review.

I am going to stay away. I personally would not trust cruiser_importer, aka Ryan, to be honest about other things if he would transact business like this. To me it is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. My advice is to stay away from cruiser_importer unless you want to get the run around, and who knows, possibly worse. I also suspect that someone who does business like this on a regular basis is someone whose honesty and integrity are questionable in general.

 

[greenbeast]

Hate to hear things like that but thanks for warning others. Maybe consider post in Buyers Beware section.

 

[FletchFFletch]

I imported a BJ40 from Costa Rica. It took 97 days to get to my door. Cost over $3K in shipping, arrived with no ignition key, battery was swapped for an old dead one, stereo and speakers were gone. The whole process was a monumental pain in the wazoo! - I got lucky, the truck was pretty nice but many people purchased what appeared to be rust free nice trucks and turned out to be hideous. Buy one that is already here if you can. Buyers of non-USA Cruisers may want to take a look at this info as well. -> FJ Series WorldWide 

That's a great link - VERY helpful information. Thank you!

 

[FletchFFletch]

Hate to hear things like that but thanks for warning others. Maybe consider post in Buyers Beware section.

X2!!!

 

[Landpimp]

this importer most likely did even own the 40 he was listing on ebay. He probably had to go make a deal on it after you made a deal with him, if he could not buy it at the right price to make a profit.....he relists or comes up with stories.

So I am learning something about cruiser_importer and I am learning first hand. I figured I would share it here.

He is selling the vehicle on eBay, not an auction. I made him an offer right as his sale was ending which he accepted and for 3 days now he has given me the run around. He relisted the vehicle for more than we agreed and informed me that his "partner" will not allow him to sell it for the agreed upon price. His prerogative, and nothing underhanded here, but he did back out of an agreed upon deal. I was in the process of getting a wire transfer arranged with my bank.

He provided me with a reference, name and number, of a "business associate". I have called, gotten blind voicemail, and no return calls. Seems I am unable to get a reference as promised. That says something to me.

There is a review on his eBay review page where a buyer had his offer accepted, cruiser_importer took the buyer's money - not a deposit evidently, but full payment for the car - and did not deliver the car. The money was eventually returned, the buyer was not ripped off, but the car was never delivered to the person who had paid in full. Sounds a lot like what almost happened to me. He'll accept a deal for lack of a better deal but he'll screw you if a better deal comes along. This is an assumption on my part but it looks to me like he accepted an offer, took the cash, then got a better offer and backed out on the original offer who had already paid for the car in full. Not a very reputable way to do business. Of course there are other possible explanations but he has not made any attempt to refute the review.

I am going to stay away. I personally would not trust cruiser_importer, aka Ryan, to be honest about other things if he would transact business like this. To me it is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. My advice is to stay away from cruiser_importer unless you want to get the run around, and who knows, possibly worse. I also suspect that someone who does business like this on a regular basis is someone whose honesty and integrity are questionable in general.

 

[DieselBJ40]

I posted the below follow up under another thread by "Ricks20"

I created an account on this site in order to correct this harassment from Rick. He sent me a message offering me a price in which I originally rejected. We then went back and forth and I made a final offer, and I told him to let me know if that worked for him, but to please do so ASAP, if not, I would realist the vehicle. In the meantime, my business partner told me that we could not sell the vehicle for that price. Since, I had never heard back from him in over a day, I figured that he was no longer interested, so, I relisted the land cruiser. He claims that he sent me a message at 10am, but I received it at 2:59 pm, and I have the time stamp to prove so. I relisted the vehicle long before his message. If any moderators would like to see this ebay message with the time stamp on the message, please let me know. In that message, he still did not agree on the price! He wanted more pictures and information on the vehicle before he did and it was at that point in which I informed him that I could no longer sell the vehicle for that price. I apologized and explained to him that my business partner wouldn't let me get rid of it at that price. Instead of just walking away, he became very combative and threatening. We never talked of a wire transfer at all, and we never even exchanged bank information. Also, I never once gave him a phone number of a "business associate." I gave him the email of my shipper but never any phone numbers. I would like Rick to provide proof to the moderators here that I gave him a phone number. I would also like Rick to provide proof that we talked of any wire transfers. He told me he would buy the vehicle at the price (before my business partner told me no), if I took several pictures of the VIN and several other requests. We were nowhere near the wire transfer stage.

I say, let's send our message chain to the moderators here at Ih8mud and let's determine who is at fault. I will send all my messages to the mods here, and I think Rick should too. He has made some false claims here that he cannot back up with proof. Please show where I sent you a business associates number. Please show where we talked of a wire transfer. I really think that Rick is representing a competitor in the business, especially with his claims about the land cruiser I had refunded to another customer. I have 100% feedback on ebay since 2006, and what he was referring to was a neutral feedback left by a customer. He assumes that it was because I sold the vehicle to another buyer. That WAS NOT the case. I refunded the customer in full and I offered to source her a land cruiser at cost (I wouldn't take any profit), and I also sent her extra $ besides the full amount paid because of the inconvenience. It was because of a technical issue with the LC, not because I found a higher profit somewhere else.
I sold six land cruisers to US buyers in the past two months, and I have a list of references I can send to potential customers. I find this highly unprofessional, and I hate having to waste my time on this. Rick, please show the moderators our messages, if not I ask that the mods delete this post.

I take pride in my business and my interactions with customers. To label me a scammer and a cheat angers and insults me. I have 100% feedback because I go above and beyond to make clients happy. Mods, please review this thread. Like I said, let's review the eBay messages between Rick and I.