Hey ute351, I'm in the same boat as you - being in Australia and having some guy in the US jerk me around on a motor deal. It's not the same guy as you, but it's been a year and still getting the run around and rubbish excuses.
Have you looked into the legal side yet? I think the only way I'll get my money back is by initiating a fraud suit, but how to commence proceedings?
Any of you USA guys got any suggestions? Went through Better Business Bureau and they did fvck all, and "could not resolve the dispute". That was the only agency that I got a reply on, after complaining to the list of different US Gov agencies that is mentioned in this forum.