2003 Corvette Craigslist Ad is Real, and a Real Headache

This C5 Corvette seemed too good to be true, but it ended up being the real deal.

Craigslist is chock full of fraudulent ads for all sorts of things, but we hear about a great many listings for automobiles being a hoax. When Doug Tabbutt got the lead on a shockingly inexpensive 2003 Chevrolet Corvette 50^th Anniversary Edition, he was immediately interested. But, he was also concerned that the deal was too good to be true, but it ended up being the real deal.

However, the real deal on this 2003 Corvette ended up being a real headache as well, and the whole story is documented in this video from the VINWiki YouTube channel.

The Craigslist ad

Doug Tabbutt owns an exotic car dealership in Ohio called Switchcars and he frequently gets leads from customers on cars available for sale. Many of them come from the internet, and many of those prove to be fake. However, when one of his customers emailed over a Craigslist ad for a 2003 Corvette 50^th Anniversary Edition with a great price, he wanted to at least check into it. Most importantly, in addition to being a good deal, the car was local.

He called the number and spoke to the woman who had the Corvette, and she had a story to go with the car. It belonged to her late brother, and it took her time to be comfortable with selling the car, but it was time. She asked if it was ok if the title was in her sister’s name and if the guy brought cash due to some tax issues she was experiencing. He agreed and went on with his day, only to have her call back and tell him that another dealer offered her $1,000 less, but Tabbutt assured her that he would pay full price later that day and she agreed to wait.

It’s time to check out this special C5

Having heard about various Craigslist ads where people had been lured to their doom, Tabbutt asked a friend to drive behind him and his towing rig when he went to see this Corvette, just in case. Fortunately, when he got there, the woman was there with the sister and the special edition sports car. Tabbutt was relieved that the car was real and the ad wasn’t a hoax, but the problems hadn’t started yet.

Once Tabbutt spoke with the woman who possessed the 2003 Corvette, she accompanied him to the local bank where he would withdraw the $31,000 to buy the car. Although he had wired money to that bank in the morning, the first bank had not completed things on their end. This forced Tabbutt to transfer money from his personal account to the PNC account so that he could get it from that bank.

However, with the bank being situated in an area with heavy drug trafficking and laundering issues, the bank refused to give him his money. As a result, he had to drive an hour away to his normal bank, where they gladly handed him $31,000 in cash.

Once he finally got his money out of the bank, Tabbutt drove back to the woman’s house with his Lincoln and enclosed trailer. He paid for the car, they signed the title and he brought the car home. It was a headache, but at least someone wasn’t waiting with a deer rifle to pick him off as he looked for the right Corvette.