Im from Pennsylvania. I found a set of rare, discontinued, highly sought after wheels for my car for a reasonable price on Craigslist. Posted for $450. They were a good distance into New Jersey, but I really wanted them so I contacted him and worked out a meetup.
He refused to go very far because he was "busy" and I had a totally free day the next week, so we worked out a meetup in his neighborhood at a grocery store. I drove almost three hours to this place in NJ, it was so sketchy looking.
All kind of sketchy business ensued as he tried to change the price, tried to make me change meeting location, and demanded cash. I left with my life and my wheels at the agreed upon price, so I was happy at the time.
They were a little grimey cause he didnt take care of them, so I started cleaning them when I went home. I spent money on cleaners, sandpaper, brushes, and so much time cleaning these things up. I totally stripped and repainted two, spent money on paint and prep materials.
Tires finally came in, so I took them to have them mounted. Guy at the chain garage absolutely refused to touch them because they werent factory wheels for the car, so I bargained with him that if I took him the wheels, and he didnt "know" what car they were going on, he wouldnt have a problem mounting them then. The garage is about 15 minutes away from my house, so I did three trips in my backup vehicle, 15 mins there, 15 mins back, about 15-20 sitting in the waiting room getting each mounted... so I used all that gas and time, and paid for four mounted and balanced tires.
I say three trips because on the last one, the guy comes out into the waiting room and tells me to come back. He has my wheel on the balancing machine and flicks it on. The tires starts to rotate and immediately you can see how badly it was bent. Even he said he couldnt tell it was bent until he put it on the machine. All the others were bent as well, but he didnt tell me because he was able to balance it "good enough" that you "probably" couldnt tell it was bent. This one was bent so bad, though, that he couldnt balance out the rumble it was gunna cause while driving. I drove on them for a few weeks trying to figure out what to do and the ride felt like the road was made of small speed bumps.
So I finally caved and found some replicas that were for sale new online. That was about $600. Then another four tire mount and balance. All said I definitley spent around $1200-$1300 on this nonsense.