tejaspg

I'm thinking about buying a car from a guy out of state. I saw the car in autotrader.com. The deal is I can't leave town now and won't be able for at least a month. I asked the guy if he would take a partial payment to hold the car for me and he said he would but he reffered to it as a non refundable retainer. He was also trying to get me to buy a parts car with it but the pics he sent shows the same damage on that car that the other car has. He also has jacked the the price up $300 more on the original car since he has bought the parts car. He is wanting $1800 for the original car and $1200 for the parts car and claims both cars are running cars. I only want the car in the ad. What safegauds should I take to buy this car? What method of payment? Proof of payment? Should I get some papers drawn up? I bought a car this way from a guy in Chicago last year and everything was fine. He held the car for 2 months and even picked me up from the airport!