M Grawe Autos (Alexander) Scam auto-dealer; phishing for information and "too good to be true" promises Hanover Maryland

I found a 1972 DeTomosa Pantera for sale online for $19,500 and emailed the dealer.  About one month later the dealer responded and said the car was available. (First red flag, why did it take so long to respond?)

I was of course interested in the car but it was "too good to be true".  I contacted the dealer, Alexander, and spoke to him about the car and said that I could put a deposit down on the car and provide him the remainder in one months time.  He agreed and then said that I could send the cash, and he would ship the car to me.  I live in California and it would be approximately $900 for shipping.  Cross country, this is an average cost of shipping.

I inquired into condition of the car and asked for the VIN, which he provided.  Of course this being a 1972 I could not run a carfax and didn't want to spend $40+ and wait for a formal classic car report.  The dealer volunteered a Bill of Sale with someone else's name on it.  I googled and researched the individual and called him.  He told me that a similar scenario happened to him and he backed out of the deal.

I have a friend nearby the location of the car and said I wanted to set up an appointment for him to verify the car.  Upon verication I was happy to send the money, execute a bill of sale, and do the shipment details. The deal fell through when the dealer said the car was "sold for full price" prior to the inspection happening.

Bottom line:

1) The deal was too good to be true and the Pantera was $15,000 underpriced at minimum.  The other guy I spoke to said the same thing about the Porsche he was interested in.

2) Shipping is almost always a scam unless you do it yourself.

3) Any dealer willing to take a deposit and send you the car before full payment is either shady, or ridiculously stupid.

4) Their "office" was in a building that is largely vacant and although I do not have proof, I can almost guarantee that they do not have one of the cars on their website in stock in a "climate controlled warehouse."

Shady, shady, shady. And they're bad scammers.  No money, no nothing from me with even a slight bit of investigation. If someone is able to actually buy a car from them and have it be real and sitting in their driveway, I would love to hear about it. 

Thanks, good luck, be wary.