michaeldarnell75

My story begins while I was six months in to my year long deployment to Kuwait/Iraq (August 04'). Just a few weeks before I was scheduled to go on leave I began to really narrow down my hunt for a corvette. I had intended on buying a corvette with some of the money I would be earning the entire year and looked at it as a way to reward myself for a long year of hard work.
In order to buy a corvette I began keeping in very close contact with my Dad who would ultimately be the one that made all of the transactions with the power of attorney that I bestowed upon him before leaving. After looking at several cars on the internet and even unsuccessfully pursuing other corvettes closer to home I finally decided on a 1971 350 with bryar blue paint (brand new paint job it said on ebay), only two guages didn't work, came with power brakes, and original owners manual / T-top bags among several other things listed in the advertisement on ebay. I had seen this listing on ebay before and apparently it had not sold because I was seeing it again a couple of weeks after originally seeing it. So, I decided to have my Dad call him and ask about buying it for less since he was having trouble selling it. Because of these conversations I ended up just buying it outside of ebay and that i believe is where my troubles began.
when I finally got the car I was not pleased at all with the car. There were a total of five guages that didn't work, the paint job was simply a maaco job sprayed over a very poor original paint job. They didn't even strip the old cracked paint before painting over top of it. So, the paint had the appearance of being new and cracked all at once. My car doesn't even come with power brakes, it didn't come with the T-top bags, or the owners manual.
Because of this I immediately contacted him and after several minutes of frustrating conversation with him in which he questioned my maturity because I am only 23 years old (mind you I had just spent 6 months in a war zone and he is only 25) the best I could get out of him is that he would help pay for part of the cost of fixing the three guages that were supposed to work. He also said that he would send me the T-top bags and the owners manual but he was hesitant because he said typically he just cut and pasted pictures of corvettes onto the descriptions of the cars for his ebay adds (that's why it didn't even come with the bags, owners manual, power brakes, and guages) so he could save time.
Well, in the end I never saw dollar one of help for the guages because when I finally tried to send him a letter both uncertified and then certified with a breakdown of the cost of the fixing the guages he had them returned to sender. He never even looked at them because he knew what it was about. He did however send me an owners manual which is in decent shape and two t-top bags which are so rusted and disgusting inside I absolutely refuse to put my tops in the bags out of fear of scratching my paint.
While I was finishing my deployment I began talking to a Jag at a local camp and through several meetings with him I was able to send two more certified letters requesting a $2300 settlement which would cover all of the things listed above plus a few other small things. I have since then had all of those things fixed except the power brakes and by doing that I was able to get an actual cost from the company that did it plus two other quotes for the work prior to the work being done. both the certified and uncertified letter were sent back never having been open.
It was at this point that my deployment was coming to an end and before I could contact the sheriff to serve Mike Montrief the papers to go to court I was shipped back home with my company. I came home completely expecting to recieve all of the paperwork I had worked on with the jag and pursuing a lawsuit. That is until the day after I got home and I had learned that a local classic car autobody shop had "overhauled" my car. Not to the extreme of the television show but they redid the paint and fixed all of the other problems there were with the car for a highly discounted price. I am very lucky in the facet but I have still not lost the feeling of wanting to put an end to this shady business of Mike Montrief. I would love nothing more than to be reimbursed for my losses in a lawsuit but the Jag never seemed very confident in the matter for all of the same reasons you said you had trouble recieving much money from Montrief. What makes the matter worse is that I live in Ohio so I would have to travel all the way out to California which would probably cost just as much as I might get in the suit. Plus, the jag said I would confront a problem in trying to collect the money.
Please do not buy anything through this person. I guarantee you will walk away completely dissatisfied and disgusted with the product you were guaranteed. If you do buy from him make sure you keep it on ebay. Finally, contact me or Rob Larson if you have a similar case, we are both interested in hearing of others with our same problem and the story you have to tell. Rob has a posting on this same page so you can contact him that way.

stingry

Mike,

Thanks for speaking up. Glad you got back from the big I in one piece.

Pete

WhichVette?

I'd say the best thing we can do is spread the word. Hurt the loser in his pocketbook...

LemansBlueStingray

Here is another thread with almost the exact same problem. I agree lets spread the word about this guy. Unlimited Vettes thread

ps1

I just want to echo what Mike said in his posting and direct everyone to the other thread that is linked here also. I am fervently trying to halt this guys activities. I do not want to post what I am pursuing because this is a public forum and I want him to be caught off guard when the proper authorities go a knockin. I will be happy to discuss details with whoever wants to contact me privately, but I strongly believe that we need to use this public forum to get the word out. This is one of the best ways to halt his activities. Also, as I discussed in the other thread, I am receiving many emails from people who have been ripped off by the "Jipper", but who are not leaving comments in the forum. I am sharing all information I have with these individuals as some have ongoing transactions, but if you have a story to tell, please leave comments in the public square. We have to try to alert other potential victims. I feel so fortunate that I received most of my money back, so I am going to try to do whatever I can to prevent any more people being scammed by the Jipper. Also anyone who would like to contact me please use my email address not the private message section of this forum as I do not check that mail box all of the time.
Respectfully,
Rob Larson
p51@sbcglobal.net
847-366-3998

Edzred72

Looks like a tough Chi-Town Boy......Go get em Rob!!!
Eddie

more_cc's

I know of this guy. We went to see a white 1980 C3 that had been brought back from Hawaii. The minute I laid eyes of Michael Montrieff I knew he was dodgy. Suited and booted and driving a viper - paid for, by the sounds of it, with scammed money.

The car wasn't as advertised and I offered him $6.5k for it, he laughed and told me I was insulting him. I laughed and told him the car wasn't worth the 12k he had it up for and wished him luck selling it. He said he'd sell it as he's sold 200+ vettes to date.

Anyway, if anyone want to get hold of him;

Michael Montrief
Cell; 714-709-6190
E-Mail; unlimitedvettes@netzero.com

If anyone does see him.....

kend414

Just an idea, but what if one of our members made an ebay account with the name "Don'tbuyfromunlimitedvettes" put up a penny auction for info buying a vette with the pic showing tip #1, don't buy a vette from unlimited vettes from a guy with the initials M.M. see corvette forum and do search for unlimited to find out why. When a prospective buyer does a search for corvette, title and description our warning ad will be displayed. What do you think? Might have to be tweaked, but it's a rough idea.

GTR1999

I think one of the problems you may find is he changes his name/business name,location, and continues with his selling practices.

Sounds like he's buying cars in total need of restoration and just reselling them. My friend bought one so I have seen at least one of them. Unfortunately, he has gotten away with this for a while.

Never buy a vette sight unseen, unless you have a trusted 3rd party look it over. Corvettes aren't all that rare as witnessed by this persons ability to buy a lot of cars in need of work and resell them for much more then they're worth.

stavanger

He has a new car for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...548262317&rd=1

GTR1999

Question, why doesn't he have any negative feedback?

MrSharky

His rating is 98.7.

Aero

Most people who get their car probably give the feedback right away and/or they know nothing about Corvettes They don't have time to have their paint start peeling from a Maaco special and have their car start falling apart. Every now and then it seems he gets a car that he does not do his typical overpaint and polish on but i would avoid him.

Vette Dent

I don't see so good in my old age, but are the VIN #'s on the pad penciled in?

LLang

OK here is my story. The reason he does not have any neg feed back is because he talkes you into buying it direct (off E-Bay). I know this and hers is what happen to me. I bought E-Bay item #4536054705. This is still viewable. I called to ask a question and we got to talkin ( He is a good talker/ go rent the movie USED CARS)I bought the car for 18,700 plus frt. I did not have the money in one account so ti took me a few days to move the money arround. speed up. I got the car at 11:30 at night. transporter droped it off a local shoping center( too big to come down my street). It did not have any Brakes none. I got it home by using the trans to slowdown. Next day. NO Wipers Oil,temp,clock guages do not work. Has 2 driver side seats ( yep 2 pass seat is a driver side) Wrong hood. I should have spotted this in the pics. Third gear and fourth are hooked up backwards. NO tail lights. Motor is not matching. It's a 72 motor. E-brock intake No temp sending unit. the interior was put together with house wiring nuts and wood screws. I'am not shure if a mechanic or carpenter built this car. There is more, but I think you get the pic. The title was also screw up. It would take another page to tell that nighmare. In closing ,My car was a salvage unit with a cheap paint job. LOOKS GOOD IN PIC but sucks in real life. I'am going to call some old friends at 29 palms and see if they can help.
Thanks Larry

corvgreg

Buying a classic Corvette involves so many variables in the value of the car that you need to know about them or hire an inspector to give you a report on it. I sold a car to someone that had an inspector come out---check all the numbers, originality, fit/finish, and road test it. He said the company charges about $350 for this. If you are going to pay close to $20K or more for a car it is good insurance.
There is also no excuse for the seller not disclosing significant known issues with the car. I am not siding with him in any way. I guess what happens alot in this hobby is new people wanting to get in and buy one of these without researching and get caught up in "vette lust".
His cars are priced on the mid to lower end of drivers and you know he's probably making at least $2K to $3K on each of these cars. Subtract that from what he's asking and wonder what kind of quality you can you expect from something he has. If it seems too good to be true it is.
It's like the little used car lot you drive by that has some great price on a late model car. This lot most likely bought it in an insurance auction with major repairs needed, slapped it together and made it look half way decent. Okay at first glance and then things get ugly as you look it over closer.
If you don't know these cars have someone who does look it over for you! Pictures don't show you how it looks in person and especially how it runs, drives, and stops.
Greg

PRNDL

seats might be ok. I would give you a hard time about that, except I had the same thought about my 68- both seats have the release lever on the same side - both seats are the same. Buying a car on ebay is caveat emptor and you didn't have enough caveat!

ps1

He has no recent negative feedback because of all the wrecks he sells he convinces people to purchase outside of ebay. He hides all of his bidder lists from public view for his auctions so you do not know for sure if he sells any cars on ebay at all. Or if any of the bidders are real bidders or not. This guy is one shifty character, unfortunatly some of us new to the hobby do get caught up in the moment and overlook what later on is very obvious, and thats when fatal mistakes can happen.

GTR1999

Ok that makes sense. maybe we should setup a local forum base for inspecting cars for other guys around the country. Pay the guy for his time and travel cost and you might get better results that trusting the seller's word.
Gary

HummelS

Amen, Greg - Amen! Money well spent if you think you've found the "right" car.