Spider Fraud

[Howard and Pat Warren <warrenwood@domain.elided>]

I too was taken in by buying a Spider sight-unseen, and depending upon the 
descriptions from the seller involved.  The seller was a fellow Digesti, so 
I foolishly assumed the seller would disclose everything that was wrong. 
 To me the critical question was: would the car make it from ****** to 
Little Rock, Arkansas.  The seller emphatically said "Yes."

At the last minute I came to my senses and rented a U-Haul trailer to bring 
the car back to my home.  When I arrived at the seller's location, I was 
devastated at the condition of the car.  It was a piece of s**t.  Still, it 
started for him and while it ran roughly, I was able to drive it to U-Haul 
and hook everything up.

What the seller didn't disclose: massive floorpan rust that was covered up. 
 A fried alternator (the seller lied to me: this car would NEVER have made 
it to my house under its own power.)  A screwed-up SPICA with a Shankle 
Sure-Start.

I was lucky: I realized what was wrong before I got too far into the car, 
and managed to sell it to a SCCA race driver.  I didn't lose much money on 
the deal, and what I did lose gave me a valuable lesson: don't buy cars 
unseen.  From now on, any Alfa I buy will be detected, selected, inspected, 
and injected by my own mechanic.

Howard K. warren, Little Rock, AR
1988 Milano Platinum, "SnowHawk", 161k miles
1991 164L, "Peregrine", 57k miles
1984 GTV-6, "Falconi", 131k miles
Several Spiders at various times

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