West Coast Auto Mall Holiday Florida BE CAREFUL OF WEST COAST AUTO MALL Holiday, Florida

After reading several complaints on West Coast Auto, I am so fortunate that my deal with them fell threw.  I started my initial car search at local dealerships; test drove a couple of cars, and then went on Ebay to compare prices.  This is when I saw the listing for a Lexus IS 250 that Chris Gamble had listed on Ebay for $7,245 below NADA. This should have been my first sign.  Normally, a deal that is too good to be true, is too good to be true. 

I called Chris Gamble on Sunday, January 24th to ask him detailed questions about the car he was selling.  After hearing all the right answers, I gave him a $500 deposit through paypal and booked my one way ticket to Tampa on Monday, January 25th.  I intended to fly down and drive the car back to NC.  On Saturday, January 30^th, just two days before my flight, I received the email below:  

Kristin,

Sorry I just got this message I was out of town. I have some bad news. I told my lot guy to put this vehicle into the sold lot before I left. When I went up to work this evening the car was gone. One of my guys sold the car because it was not put in the sold lot. I spoke to my salesman and he said the customer was already driving it back to Texas. I am very sorry this happen and I can do one of two things. There is a big weekend sale right now for Lexus. There are a couple black IS250 and a couple white ones. They are all 2007's. The white has 48K miles and navigation and 42K miles with no navigation and both with black interior. The two blacks have 21K and 27K miles. I think I can get either of the white cars for the same price and probably within $500 for the two black ones with the low miles. The auction ends at 2:00PM on Monday and we can pick up the car anytime after that. If this is something that you would like to do or if there is another color you may want let me know. The second option is if you want to just cancel the deal let me know and I will return the deposit ASAP. Once again I am sorry and I hope you let me make this up by maybe getting you a car with even less miles than the one you were looking at.

Have a great night,

Chris

(727) 432-1566

At the time, I was very disappointed.  If a deposit was made, shouldn't the paperwork and keys be pulled?!  I asked a car salesman at a reputable dealership about this "mistake" and he said that would have never happened at any of the places he worked because the proper documents are completed to let others know a deposit was made on a particular car on the lot.  

Chris Gamble also knew I was flying down to pick up the vehicle.  I called to ask him about how this would be handled and he dodged the question by telling me to keep my flight because he would buy a car if not a better one at the auction.  This is when I asked for my paypal deposit back and luckily that was returned.  The plane ticket was my loss. It must have been a blessing in disguise.  It was a small price to pay for a lesson well learned. I could have been out thousands of dollars on a car that could have broken down on the way home.  

My advice is to do your research not only on the car but on the company you’re buying it from.  I got so caught up in the moment of getting a good deal that I failed to do proper research on the Internet for ripoff reports or complaints from previous customers.

If you haven't read the article on Ripoff Report, report #364699, take Edwards advice! Invest in Autocheck, Carfax reports as well as an inspector.  It might save you hundreds if not thousands of your hard working dollars.