Storytime.
So I've been looking at atvs/side by sides/utvs/golf carts for a little while now.
Main reason is new house has a boat slip about a quarter mile away or so and bringing people/coolers/boat stuff to the boat would be sweet in something like this. SO i was okay with whatever... golf cart, side by side, whatever. i want a deal.
Last week at some point, I stumbled on this ad on c-list.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/snw/d/2013-can-am-commander-lsv-4x4/6426214857.html
I'm like woah... electric side by side? i'm not going to be trail riding this thing anywhere, and chances are it won't ever go further than a mile from my house... this could totally work.
I start researching these, and they're pretty rare. Not many of them out there. 8 batteries, 48v, they do 25mph or 35mph, range of 50/60 miles when it's not negative eight degrees.
So then i start looking for windshields for them cuz i'd want one... and stumble on an ad in west virginia from a google image search for a 2wd electric LSV commander- LSV meaning Low Speed Vehicle.
Illinois allows LSV's to legally drive on streets with speed limits lower than 30mph... they get plated like a normal automobile, carry collision/comp/liability insurance, and are 100% legit.
Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes
https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/vsd796.pdf
HOLY SHIT. I'm freaking out because this will not only be awesome, but it will be 100% STREET LEGAL .
Pic from their listing.
I submit an offer online, later in the day I get a phone call, I miss it, call the girl back the next day and we reach a deal. This was Wednesday. I tell them to overnight the title to me and all the documents because buying things sight unseen scares me enough even though I do it frequently.
I put an ad on uuuship to get it to me, becasue it's 650 miles one way away from me.
Now it gets sketchier.
Find a guy who agrees to do it for $700 off the site. Sweet. I give him $200 deposit and he says he'll pick it up Friday or first thing Saturday morning and drive straight through.
Friday he hasn't picked it up and is fixing his brakes... k fine. Saturday morning he calls me and goes, " I can't access the 200 deposit until next week and i need that money towards fuel to get to you, go deposit $250 into my bank account cash at huntington bank in your area and ill be able to get fuel and get going"
super. im fucked i think. this dude's going to have $450 of mine and no contract/receipt/trace and be gone.
at the same time though, I've already paid him $200 and I need it to get to me... so i'm kinda screwed either way at this point.
i deposit the money despite my gut feeling I shouldn't and go about my day... shipper guy says he's going to head out and grab it and get driving. cool. around almost 1pm here time, 2pm there time, when they close, he FINALLY shows up to get it.
this is the pic i get from him.
enclosed horse trailer ftw?
he tells me he has to stop at home and work on his front brakes now. super. i am certain this dude's just going to go home, delete his number and part this thing out since i have really no recourse now.
around 6pm he tells me he is hitting the road and going to drive on through all night. into christmas eve morning yay.
1030pm he texts me and tells me he has to nap and he's around dayton OH cuz he's seeing double. great. I tell him to text/call me when he gets rolling again so i can be ready.
6am i wake up, no texts, no calls, nothing... i text him nervously thinking he's just finishing up parting out my side by side, ask him where he is. he says naperville... i say holy shit where at... he names some roads, i'm googling... none of these places he is saying exist in naperville, let alone IL.
he's in fucking hobart. but it gets better.
1. his trailer has a flat along with his spare.
2. his grandma died.
I'm certain he's fucking with me at this point. and is just the best scam artist ever.
oh, and he's out of money AND HAS NO MORE MONEY OR A WAY OF GETTING ANY
i tell him ill buy a tire over the phone so he can keep going and take it out of his cut.
i find a firestone in merrillville which opens at 8am sunday christmas eve... he makes it there, convinces the manager to take my card over the phone as payment for his $107 oops. and gets it done....
ive mobilized at this point, ubered to my truck (at my other house, bmw was at in laws) am driving to my work to get a trailer, and about to head south to go confiscate my side by side which has taken way too long to get to me from quoted, and more money than im happy in fronting for something im not sure about.
i tell him to let me know when he gets rolling... i find middle point for us will be about Ikea with how the timeline is falling in place. I get to ikea in the snowstorm, set up near the entrance in the back lot, pointing out so i can make an easy escape when the sketchy dude who has all of my money and side by side decides to rob me instead... and wait.
dude shows up about 5 minutes after me, and who'd have known it, he's not a scam artist, but a genuine good dude, albeit possibly a bit naive, and slow.
commander's in his trailer still, he takes the straps off, tells me to hop in and back it out... i hop in, put the key in, dash flashes "KEY FAULT" and horn will not stop BLARING in his small enclosed trailer. It 100% looked like we were exchanging a hot sxs... enclosed horse trailer from ohio dropping off a sxs to a wisconsin license plated truck & trailer in the middle of an ikea parking lot christmas eve sunday. cool.
for like 20 minutes i can't figure out the horn or key fault. now im freaking out, possibly i bought this thing and it's totally screwed. because they are so rare, you google can am commander electric or anything like it and you won't find out SHIT about the thing either
finally im about to hook a tow strap to it and yank it out of his trailer and figure out how to get it on mine later, so he can get rolling. last ditch effort, horn blaring, i violently shake the key, mash the gas in reverse (horn blaring) and blast out the rear of the trailer without ramps. holy shit it's moving. i whip a shitty, rally it up my ramps and onto my trailer (horn still blaring)
I head to the bar from here because im annoyed that i possibly bought something broken, and am just overwhelmed with how ridiculous getting this thing has been.
Get home later christmas eve after really thinking about it, after doing every "key fault" fix i could think of from the web, and think much simpler... where and how does the horn work from... welp whod have thunk it. somehow the horn switch got mashed in, and then froze at some point because of how cold it is/was. k. the side by side thaws out in my poverty garage for a bit, and then i take it for a rip in the hood.
All fixed. No faults.
cliffs. buys electric side by side for a ridiculous deal, doesn't get robbed, shipping gets absolutely 100% scam feeling, and winds up working out.
So I've been looking at atvs/side by sides/utvs/golf carts for a little while now.
Main reason is new house has a boat slip about a quarter mile away or so and bringing people/coolers/boat stuff to the boat would be sweet in something like this. SO i was okay with whatever... golf cart, side by side, whatever. i want a deal.
Last week at some point, I stumbled on this ad on c-list.
https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/snw/d/2013-can-am-commander-lsv-4x4/6426214857.html
I'm like woah... electric side by side? i'm not going to be trail riding this thing anywhere, and chances are it won't ever go further than a mile from my house... this could totally work.
I start researching these, and they're pretty rare. Not many of them out there. 8 batteries, 48v, they do 25mph or 35mph, range of 50/60 miles when it's not negative eight degrees.
So then i start looking for windshields for them cuz i'd want one... and stumble on an ad in west virginia from a google image search for a 2wd electric LSV commander- LSV meaning Low Speed Vehicle.
Illinois allows LSV's to legally drive on streets with speed limits lower than 30mph... they get plated like a normal automobile, carry collision/comp/liability insurance, and are 100% legit.
Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes
https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/vsd796.pdf
I/we hereby affirm that the vehicle described for registration meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 500 (49 CFR
571.500 and is a four-wheeled vehicle with a maximum speed greater than 20 mph, but not greater than 25 mph.
Furthermore, I/we hereby acknowledge it is only lawful to operate said vehicle upon any street in Illinois where the posted
speed limit is 30 mph or less, except where prohibited by Illinois Department of Transportation, township, county, or other
unit of government as specified by 625 ILCS 5/11-1426.2.
The information provided is true and correct and will abide by the Mandatory Insurance Law requiring liability insurance
throughout the registration period.
__________________________________________________________
HOLY SHIT. I'm freaking out because this will not only be awesome, but it will be 100% STREET LEGAL .
Pic from their listing.
I submit an offer online, later in the day I get a phone call, I miss it, call the girl back the next day and we reach a deal. This was Wednesday. I tell them to overnight the title to me and all the documents because buying things sight unseen scares me enough even though I do it frequently.
I put an ad on uuuship to get it to me, becasue it's 650 miles one way away from me.
Now it gets sketchier.
Find a guy who agrees to do it for $700 off the site. Sweet. I give him $200 deposit and he says he'll pick it up Friday or first thing Saturday morning and drive straight through.
Friday he hasn't picked it up and is fixing his brakes... k fine. Saturday morning he calls me and goes, " I can't access the 200 deposit until next week and i need that money towards fuel to get to you, go deposit $250 into my bank account cash at huntington bank in your area and ill be able to get fuel and get going"
super. im fucked i think. this dude's going to have $450 of mine and no contract/receipt/trace and be gone.
at the same time though, I've already paid him $200 and I need it to get to me... so i'm kinda screwed either way at this point.
i deposit the money despite my gut feeling I shouldn't and go about my day... shipper guy says he's going to head out and grab it and get driving. cool. around almost 1pm here time, 2pm there time, when they close, he FINALLY shows up to get it.
this is the pic i get from him.
enclosed horse trailer ftw?
he tells me he has to stop at home and work on his front brakes now. super. i am certain this dude's just going to go home, delete his number and part this thing out since i have really no recourse now.
around 6pm he tells me he is hitting the road and going to drive on through all night. into christmas eve morning yay.
1030pm he texts me and tells me he has to nap and he's around dayton OH cuz he's seeing double. great. I tell him to text/call me when he gets rolling again so i can be ready.
6am i wake up, no texts, no calls, nothing... i text him nervously thinking he's just finishing up parting out my side by side, ask him where he is. he says naperville... i say holy shit where at... he names some roads, i'm googling... none of these places he is saying exist in naperville, let alone IL.
he's in fucking hobart. but it gets better.
1. his trailer has a flat along with his spare.
2. his grandma died.
I'm certain he's fucking with me at this point. and is just the best scam artist ever.
oh, and he's out of money AND HAS NO MORE MONEY OR A WAY OF GETTING ANY
i tell him ill buy a tire over the phone so he can keep going and take it out of his cut.
i find a firestone in merrillville which opens at 8am sunday christmas eve... he makes it there, convinces the manager to take my card over the phone as payment for his $107 oops. and gets it done....
ive mobilized at this point, ubered to my truck (at my other house, bmw was at in laws) am driving to my work to get a trailer, and about to head south to go confiscate my side by side which has taken way too long to get to me from quoted, and more money than im happy in fronting for something im not sure about.
i tell him to let me know when he gets rolling... i find middle point for us will be about Ikea with how the timeline is falling in place. I get to ikea in the snowstorm, set up near the entrance in the back lot, pointing out so i can make an easy escape when the sketchy dude who has all of my money and side by side decides to rob me instead... and wait.
dude shows up about 5 minutes after me, and who'd have known it, he's not a scam artist, but a genuine good dude, albeit possibly a bit naive, and slow.
commander's in his trailer still, he takes the straps off, tells me to hop in and back it out... i hop in, put the key in, dash flashes "KEY FAULT" and horn will not stop BLARING in his small enclosed trailer. It 100% looked like we were exchanging a hot sxs... enclosed horse trailer from ohio dropping off a sxs to a wisconsin license plated truck & trailer in the middle of an ikea parking lot christmas eve sunday. cool.
for like 20 minutes i can't figure out the horn or key fault. now im freaking out, possibly i bought this thing and it's totally screwed. because they are so rare, you google can am commander electric or anything like it and you won't find out SHIT about the thing either
finally im about to hook a tow strap to it and yank it out of his trailer and figure out how to get it on mine later, so he can get rolling. last ditch effort, horn blaring, i violently shake the key, mash the gas in reverse (horn blaring) and blast out the rear of the trailer without ramps. holy shit it's moving. i whip a shitty, rally it up my ramps and onto my trailer (horn still blaring)
I head to the bar from here because im annoyed that i possibly bought something broken, and am just overwhelmed with how ridiculous getting this thing has been.
Get home later christmas eve after really thinking about it, after doing every "key fault" fix i could think of from the web, and think much simpler... where and how does the horn work from... welp whod have thunk it. somehow the horn switch got mashed in, and then froze at some point because of how cold it is/was. k. the side by side thaws out in my poverty garage for a bit, and then i take it for a rip in the hood.
All fixed. No faults.
cliffs. buys electric side by side for a ridiculous deal, doesn't get robbed, shipping gets absolutely 100% scam feeling, and winds up working out.