i'd rather pay the 3.4% extra than pay through paypal as a gift. There is no comeback for a gift payment. Even if you don't pay as a gift you only get your money back if they have money in there paypal account. The only guarantee you have with paypal is buying through ebay. The safest way over all is to register a credit card to paypal and pay with that as the card company will fight on your behalf. Call me synicle but i wouldn't buy anything on a car forum without a contact number preferably a landline number that i knew worked by talking to them first as there is a few con artists join forums purely to rip members off hence protecting payments as much as you can is a must!