Def a scam! Been there, done that! Once you have wired the money it will be his. you WILL NOT be wiring money to ebay protection but rather a site setup to look identical. Tell him you need the address to send the money to. he will almost definitely send you a link that includes a bunch of random numbers or a bunch of random letters in the URL. That is a HUGE red flag! I do this for a living!!! (not scam people but catch the listings and delete them on several websites) you will see here is hte link to buyers protection
eBay Motors - Purchase Protection - Overview Nothing fishy about it, all real words, no weird numbers or anything. the scam link might look somehting like this
http://734578346.ebay.njdsaguiraj etc etc etc. you get the idea. they will make sure there are words that make you feel safe in the URL but the numbers or random letters are what you watch for.
DO NOT WIRE HIM ANY MONEY! It will cost you just as much to drive there and pick it up as it will to ship it. That's why he's willing to pay half. keeps you from being tempted to drive there.