A car flipper says he drove seven hours to sell his Corvette Z06 to a buyer in Chicago who showed up to the meeting with a small bag of cash, asked to take the car for a test drive, and then simply drove off with it. Now the seller is out roughly $70,000 with no car, no insurance payout, and no leads. The buyer, meanwhile, appears to have pulled the same scam before.
Ghosted (@j_ahimedia), an auto enthusiast who documents his car-flipping operation on TikTok, posted the eight-minute, 55-second video on March 3. It has since drawn more than 7,480 views. In it, he explains how what should have been a $10,000 profit turned into a total loss overnight.
Man Drives To Chicago To Sell Corvette Z06
Ghosted says he bought the Corvette Z06 for $50,000 and listed it for $60,000. A buyer offered the asking price plus extra to cover the cost of delivering the car to Chicago, about seven hours away.
They agreed to meet at a bank. Ghosted says the buyer told him he was Ubering to the bank with cash. When he arrived, the buyer showed him about $1,000 in bills. “He’s like, yeah, if you want to make sure it’s like legit,” Ghosted says. “And it’s a pretty small bag, and I’m like, there’s no way you fit $63,000 in that bag.”
The buyer looked over the car and asked to take it for a drive. Ghosted agreed. “Obviously, I’m gonna let the dude take it for a drive with me in the car, of course, because, like, I wouldn’t want to buy a car without driving it,” he says.
Facebook Marketplace Corvette Z06 Sale Turns Into Theft
After the drive, the buyer said he wanted to look at the engine. They stopped on a side street. “He opens the door, puts his foot out the car, and so I’m like, all right, so I get out,” Ghosted says. “The second I step out, he takes off on me.”
Ghosted says he had his phone and wallet on him—a habit he’s grateful for—and tried to flag down a police officer who happened to be nearby. He couldn’t get the officer’s attention, and by the time roughly 10 squad cars responded, the car was gone.
The police drove him to the station. He had to fly home.
Red Flags He Missed
Ghosted says he later learned from a friend that the same buyer had tried the same scam before.
“One of my buddies said that he went to go meet him, and the same thing pretty much happened, but there was a cop that stopped him beforehand,” he says.
He also discovered a review on the buyer’s Facebook Marketplace profile from another seller who had driven 12 hours and spent $2,000 in travel costs to meet the buyer, who wanted to meet at a police station but never showed up.
“Those are all like red flags, which I obviously did not know about until after the fact,” Ghosted says.
Why Insurance Won’t Pay
Ghosted says his insurance won’t cover the loss. In the comments section, he explained the reason in one word: “Liability.”
Only comprehensive coverage pays out for a stolen vehicle. Liability-only insurance, which is the minimum required in most states, covers damage you cause to others but does not cover theft, fire, or vandalism of your own car. For someone flipping cars as a business, carrying only liability on a $50,000 vehicle is a costly gap.
“I’m pretty much starting from scratch,” Ghosted says. “I’m down like 70 grand. Insurance won’t cover it. … I have to start brand new with nothing to my name.”
How To Protect Yourself From Theft
Test drive theft is a documented problem in private car sales. Kelley Blue Book recommends copying the buyer’s driver’s license before any test drive, always accompanying the buyer, meeting in a public place during daylight hours, and never leaving the car during the drive.
CarGurus advises sellers to keep the keys in their possession during any walkaround and to ask for proof of insurance from the prospective buyer before handing over the keys.
Several commenters offered additional advice. ShawnTech wrote, “I tried to sell a Hellcat on Facebook 10 years ago and I won’t do that again.” Reset suggested, “Just meet at a police station, or go with friends.”
Nismo.cjj pointed to a fundamental rule Ghosted broke: “You never bring the car to someone for extra. They can ship it after the wire clears.”
‘Praying for Ya’
Commenters were sympathetic but blunt. Jo daddy called it a “70k lesson you just learned my guy.” Several Chicago-area viewers offered to keep an eye out, including mkv.m4rrii, who wrote, “I’m in the Chicago land area, I’ll keep a lookout.”
Reset provided a potential lead, writing, “Was he light skin or Hispanic? I swear we saw a white Z06 get wrapped red … was it also around the Cicero neighborhood or closer to the airport Midway?” Ghosted replied, “It would be in that area.”
Ghosted’s video caption asks anyone in the Chicago area with information to reach out. As of posting, there’s no word on whether the car has been recovered.
Motor1 reached out to Ghosted via TikTok direct message for additional comment. We’ll be sure to update this if he responds.
@j_ahimedia If your In the chicago area lmk please #zo6 #blowthisup #fyp #corvette ♬ original sound - Ghosted
