Yikes! I agree, I see some sketchy ads on CL at times. I haven't purchased off there in many years...actually we purchased our last mini van off of CL five years ago.
I'm curious to how the car was set to be purchased? These cars can go into the thousands and that just seems like a lot of cash to exchange hands and travel with. My first thought was perhaps this was a planned purchase with a cashier's check from the bank. I think you can get those made out in cash amount and fill in the receiver's details at a later date (I know you can get them typed up with details as well). If this is the case...that check needs to be cashed, so it would come back through the victims' checking account. Obviously, this car had to be in sort of good condition to be driven back and no trailer taken to haul it back, correct?
Then again...Mr. Runion could be a man of just cash. That's the way my Dad preferred to do business and even as a kid it scared me. He would met people at midnight to purchase a houseboat in cash (since he was a trucker and only in certain hours/days of the month).