getting BURNED on the HAMB on an outa state deal !

Something else to think about is that a guy that lives in the rust belt may think his car is pretty nice, but to a guy in the dry desert the car might be a rot box. Just another good reason to check out a car yourself before the purchase.

 

Oh so true!!!!

 

I bought a truck once off the net site unseen. I had some well known street rod builder look at it for me. I gave him details off areas of concern. He must of known the guy because he said it was ok. Anyway I spent a few weeks fixing it up and got lucky and sold it. Actually made a few bucks. From then on I go look! Take the wife on a mini vac.

 

I almost bought a 57 Chev Handyman Wagon sight unseen. The way it was described I thought I couldn't go wrong. Wised up and drove four hours to go see it. What a POS. If the car was outside, I would have never even stopped to look at it. Learned my lesson. Never again will I drive a long distance to look at a POS.

 

Just throwing this out there: if anyone is considering a car in the Indianapolis area, I would be willing to go look at it for you. I AM NO APPRAISER, but I can give you my honest opinion. I AM NO APPRAISER. I would also be willing to take a shitload of pictures to send, and I could see where a magnet sticks and doesn't stick. Did I mention that I am not an appraiser?

 

Any used car is just that, a USED car. At best, it's a crap shoot. Your situation sounds like more of an "honesty" deal more than anything; your seller took advantage of you, and the distance involved to take the upper hand. And he "got" you. I've bought a 30K car for half that amount off that auction site we all know and love, and it's everything it was described as. The car I bought off the HAMB, I knew was'nt going to be as described, but all I wanted was the body anyway, and it's as solid as they come, so I can't complain. Even at that, I only paid half of what the seller started out asking. My concerns usually apply more to parts, where people usually don't really know much about what they're selling or it's history. Like others have said, get someone to at least look at things for you, even if you have to pay them; it sure beats getting taken for the big dollars. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Honestly, I don't know why anyone does this.

Bummer on the burn anyways man.

 

Something about a fool and his money comes to mind.

I have a hard time spending a couple hundred dollars on "that auction site" - let alone TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's a *LOT* of money.

Anyway, OP- how bad is the car? Care to post pics? I'm really sorry it went south for ya... I guess you can notch your experience belt once more.

 

When in doubt, find someone who is knowledgeable and for a fee will set the record straight. Otherwise spend-spend-spend.

 

X2 to that.

Had a friend who picked up a Cadillac ex US for a "fair" price, only to find that when it arrived, it was little more than an expensive pile of rust !! If it had been me, I would have spent the $2k on a ticket to the States. I would have saved a whole bunch of money, had a holiday, and, maybe found another car that was better.

 

I bought my '37 sight unseen from a guy in NY.I was just going by detailed photos. I got extremely lucky, but like to say, I wouldn't do it again. It was basically what he had described, minus the paint and windows. It was very stressful to say the least.

 

Ive been in your shoes before. I sent a buddy to get the car, 1000 miles away. He told me he felt it wasn't worth the sale price. He was right. It was imbellished some but I still wanted the car. It is a rare car that I had been looking to buy for a couple of years. I am glad I bought the car but still feel kind of taken.

But I did have the chance to back out minus my 1000 dollar deposit and even with my buddies description I pulled the trigger. I paid more than I had liked to or even felt what it was worth but I am glad my pal was there to confirm it wasn't a total pos.

 

Been burned twice myself for buying things advertised on the internet. Photos make things look real good. I swore that I would never buy another car that I could not physically touch and examine myself.

 

I guess we all take a gamble on what we're buying,weather we see it in person or not. I have seen some "perfect cars" that look spot on, and when you get them home and disassembled, what looked perfect was not the case. I have bought well over a dozen cars on the internet with out looking, and only a couple have turned out to be worse than the pictures showed. Those cars I re-listed with an honest description, took my loss, and moved on. I always ask for a lot of pictures,especially of the known problem areas (all cars have them),and both times I bought junk,they were not able to send any more pics than what they had posted. My fault for not ending the deal(s) than. The good thing about digital cameras today is the pictures are instant and the images are almost as good as being there.
Couple years ago a fellow club member bought a car from CA and looked in the NSRA fellowship pages for someone who lived in the same area to check out the car for him. Called him and set up the meeting, the guy called him back and said it was just as described. "Beautiful car, and you won't find a better one for the money". Turned out the car was awful, and later, found out the guy was in the same car club as the owner of the car was. So, either he lied about the condition of the car (as to not blow the sale for the owner) or did not know the difference between a real nice car and a $hitbox. Either way, this friend of mine paid over
$30K for a car (+ shipping) that was worth 1/2 the amount on a good day. So, chaulk it up to experience and next time, take the time to fly out and look it over yourself, and take it for a good test drive. I have also seen (and repaired)many cars that looked great, had all the right parts and were terrible drivers. Good luck and hope your able make lemonade out of your newly accuired lemon.

 

I have had a differant experience. Have my vette for sale so a smuck from canada e-mails & wants a pic of every inch of the car so I had the wife take them & send them to him. This is a good car nothing to hide but not a B-J thing. After agreeing on the price he wants to send a guy to check it out. Guy arrives couple hours late that's ok I can wait I'm working on the roadster anyway. He sez he don't know shit about vettes tho. Why did he bother coming? He walks around I raise the hoist so he can look underneath & ask if he wants to see the engine compartment he sez I suppose so I raised the hood. Really not sure if he knew what the hell he was looking at. I said do you wish to start it he said you can I said I ain't buying I'm selling & you can start it & go for a ride if you wish. He declines the ride but does get in & start it. Boy he says this sounds sweet. I gave him a bunch of receipts to look at & even had him come in the house.
The Buyer never gets in touch with me so 3-4 weeks go by & I get in touch with him would you believe he wanted to lo-ball me on the price. I had dropped the price to more that what the value of the car was as it was.
I told him the price we agreed upon was it .Have never heard from him again.

 

bigvicsd, whoever you are, what results were you looking for by posting this thread?
the bad deal, as you claim, is between you and the seller. unless your version of the story is 100% correct likely not best to state sellers name. did you ask for help with getting info here on this car? why did you not go to see it? did you notify Ryan of this situation? he can not try to help resolve it unless you follow his rules. but, at least he could keep track of any other sales by seller in case another one goes bad too. many of us of made mistakes in buying stuff. you are now one of many.

 

A friend called a couple weeks ago and wants me ride down with him to pick up a car he had made a deposit on. After 4 hours we arrive at the prearranged location to pick up the car. I was setting in the hauler and notice looking down the side of this high dollar "collectible " unit, waves that start at the front an go all the way back. I'm thinking this car was way misrepresented and he is going to lose his butt on this deal if buys it at the selling price. To make a long story short, they squared off and I was not liking that picture, but they finally agreed they would go their own way with the fuel costs being the only expense for either party. He did get his deposit back but only after threats of litigation. You win some and unfortunately sometimes it goes the other way. Hope you get over this soon and can move on.

 

so far on here im batting 100% selling and buying...
except a couple deals that i went to look at that were not represented accordingly.
i usually buy or sell to guys that have been on here for several years.

 

In the last six years I have bought 2 cars sight unseen on ebay.In both cases they were less than 5 grand.I talked to both owners on the phone,got good vibes. I went for it and came out better than expected on both cars.That being said I would not risk more than5K without looking.

 

suck for you man and it's a shame the asshat was dishonest and a coward.. but

you could always find him and beat him to the ground with a bag of oranges.. wont
kill him or seriously injur him but it ought teach him a lesson in honesty, honor and
responsibility.

 

Yuo, got a mate that ships cars from the US to NZ, he get asked a lot to pick up cars bought sight-unseen that have been transported to his storage area in California.

And from time to time, on at the storage area in the US and seeing the condition of car he's expected to ship to NZ he's had to contact the owner of a car to be shipped and ask "Do you REALLY want me to ship the car over to you? because in my opinion it is not worth the effort, the car you bought is a piece of trash, if you had seen it you would never have bought it"

Tragic eh - when 12,000 miles away it makes things a whole lot trickier.


And a 2k ticket to the States (and back I guess??) would have to be for getting there on a Tiger Moth!!!

 

I'm having trouble understanding what the HAMB has to do with this. With respect to the many outstanding members here, becoming a member on a public forum does not immediately certify the individual a car expert and certainly does not guarantee it. Given the info available, I surmise that both parties lacked the knowledge to properly value the vehicle. Evidence of bondo should be a clear indication that the car has issues, but what do I know? I'm just a grenade inspector.

Where's the pin?

 

An emotional buy can be just as bad. A few years ago I saw a car on the HAMB with a link to an eBay ad. I drove 2 days to see it. Car looked complete, less engine, trans, interior. It was in a dark garage, snowing outside and was late in the day. I wanted to get on the road before I was snowed in. Lets just say I saw what I wanted to see. I paid too much and car was a money pit. I was able to cut my losses and part it out for about 70% of the investment. I wouldnt say it was misrepresented, but he sure didnt volunteer anything. Was just stupid on my part.

 

when your buying a vehicle without seeing it in person first get the seller to send as many pic's as possible and if they won't or the ones they send are poor quality pass on the sale or you will be sorry! the person you retain to check out the vehicle better be on the same page as you. i always have a couple of buddies call about vehicle and see how much the story changes when they ask a series of questions i have written down to ask the seller.

 

I have bought and sold several cars on EBay sight unseen. If Iam buying a $1000 rust bucket and i can see in the pictures or read in the description thats what it is, i expect a rust bucket when I get there!
When I am selling, I always encourage people to come look and make every effort to give pictures and an honest description. I am naive, in that I tend to think everyone does this.

I will not buy any car unless I talk to the seller and get a feel for them. Most times, you can get a read if someone's scamming you. Sadly I have been burned once and am now more sceptical.

Burn me once, stupid you. Burn me twice, stupid me!

 

And you're Canadian!

 

don't let it ruin your thoughts on the hamb community as a whole. it happens, and not all that often considering the number of members now, but nonetheless, there are asswhipes afoot.....cast your net a little closer to home next time. you know what they say, seeing is believing. i'm not a man of faith when it comes to buying a car...pictures or not, i wanna see it with my own eyes. a learning experience, painful albeit. karma will do the rest...

 

When you consider how many HAMB members there are...odds are there are going to be the odd bad apple...the time of trusting a handshake and a mans word are lamentably gone my friends...... do your homework, or be prepared to be the patsy. Do yourself a favour and be a little cynical........it could save you a lot of grief. I speak from experience....not HAMB related, but costly nonetheless.

 

45 years ago my dad told me' ''Never give over $10,000 for anything unless your are sure it has a damn good foundation under it.'' Still holds true today.

 

I think ed V got it right.. I wouldn't pay that kind of money for a HAMB friendly car either. I look at it as I'm buying a project to build and how much do I want to spend on this "PROJECT". I'm just not in to the finished cars. I would rather build from the ground up. My 2 cents.... Sorry you got F#$%ed.....