estafa case

good day atty. last december 2013, we purchased a surplus car sa friend ng husband ko, upon verbal agreement ngbayad kmi agad ng 230k in full payment. he assure that the unit will be available in the 20th of december, he also write an acknowledgement receipt that it was a payment on a surplus car. but as the date passed walang unit na dumating, we called him and he said nkhold pa dw sa port of arrival due to rice smuggling issue sa davao city. 6 months na since bnyran nmin sya pero wla pa rin nangyayari, we called and texted him several times pero he keeps on ignoring our calls. nung 24may pinadalhan nmin sya ng demand letter, we personally deliver sa shop and sa house nla, nireceive din ito ng kapatid nya. it seems na pti ung demand letter nmin ay inignore nya rin.

ano ang next step na pwde nmin gwin? ano ang chance nmin kung mgfile kmi ng case? gaano katagal ang process ng civil case?