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Rusty Cullens / BuyMBParts.biz
Several hot summers ago, I needed a new radiator for my 450SL roadster. Rusty wanted $900. One of his competitors in the midwest had it in stock for only $600.
I called Rusty to see if he would beat his competitor’s price. He wouldn’t.
In fact, he told me, “Blake, there’s no way [my competitor] can sell you that radiator that cheap. I bet you $200 that you can’t actually get it from them for that price.
I bought the radiator from Rusty’s competitor for $600. It arrived about a week later.
I called Rusty on his bluff. I sent him a letter reminding him of our conversation and photos of my new $600 radiator. A few days later, I found a check in my mailbox for $200. Rusty was a man of his word.
And Rusty turned out to be right. My mechanic and I discovered that the radiator sold by Rusty’s competitor was a cheap knockoff made in Africa. It didn’t fit. The radiator was made for a different car but had been stamped with the part numbers for the 450SL. The hose connections weren’t even on the correct side. After talking with Rusty’s competitor, it turned out that all the radiators they in stock were these cheap knockoffs. They couldn’t send me the correct part — at least not for $600.
I gave Rusty his $200 back and he gave me the right radiator.