car-selling liars (aka why I won't buy a car on eBay)

I'd like to share a sappy story about being mislead on an auction and having it turn out for the better.

I bought my wagon off of eBay two years ago. The ad stated absolutely no rust, absolutely no dents and body was PERFECTLY straight. When I showed up with a trailer a few days later to get the car for 2 minutes I was pissed as could be with what I saw. Yea, at 50' the car looked pristine, but it had big rust holes in it, dents galore up close. I was mad that I was lied to in the ad, even after I had emailed the seller numerous times and had his ***urances that the car was as solid as he said.

Turned out that the old man had his dip**** son-in-law list the car, since he was morbidly afraid of computers. I handed the old guy a print out of the ad and the emails I had sent back and forth. He was pretty upset with the whole situation, especially since I had dragged a trailer 400 miles to pick the car up expecting a perfect bodied car and that his son-in-law had lied so badly in the ad.

After talking for a while he decided he would knock quite a bit of money off the auction price and later showed us his pristine 100 point restored Buick Wildcat. We spent a good 3 hours at the guys place just listening to the stories he had to tell about the old days of customizing and drag racing. He also gave me a huge rundown of the history of the car I bought and what a special place it had in his family. Before we loaded it on the trailer, the old man walked slowly over to the drivers window and said "this is a good car, I'll always be good to you". He popped the key over and it fired on the first spin of the crank after sitting for years.

I've come to love the car to death now. It has such a rich history its not even funny. This car has been from coast to coast several times in its life. It was owned by an elderly couple who toured the United States and Canada with it and even camped in the back the entire time! It was a single mother's only transportation during the 80's when she had a family of 4 to feed alone. Now it is being slowly reborn into a 60's bellflower custom. Everytime I drive it I like it better, even with the rust, the dents and the faded paint so worn on the front fenders that the factory primer shines through. I get more compliments and thumbs up than with any other car I've owned, ever. And I've never been left stranded in it.

I guess the point to this whole long-winded speal is that I could have gotten pissy and thrown a fit and left the old man standing there with the ***le and his car while I drove off. I didn't though because that didn't feel right, neither did me saying "Oh, I got SCREWED on EBAY!". Yea, I was disappointed for the first 2 minutes I got there, but I got a great deal on a great car that I love and will have years of enjoyment out of it. True, this was a rare case and there are people out there who will mislead a bidder on the auction, but here it couldnt have turned out better.

 

My favourite are the ignorant ***holes who write you to tell you that your car is not "correct" when it is obviously a hotrod, race car, or custom...

Are these people just stupid?

 

eBay car buyers should be taking notes here. 51leadsled is 100% right on by bringing a printout of the eBay auction with him when he went to pick up the car. This way, if anything is misrepresented, he can point it out where it's printed in black and white.

I sold a '61 Bonneville convertible to a guy on eBay, came from WAY out of state (probably 800 miles away), says he's coming on Saturday to pick it up.

Comes on a Wednesday without any notice, while my friend (the owner of the car) is at work. Wife calls him up, my friend comes home to help. Guy has only his pickup truck, bought a $99 tow bar at Wal-Mart and is planning to pull the thing home with it. Car has 4 junk tires on it. We put some different tires on the rims, put them on the car, guy pulls out of the driveway with his towbar, towbar falls off and the car takes off down the driveway.

My friend sends him to U-Haul to rent a tow dolly. Guy comes back an hour or so later, telling him that U-Haul wouldn't rent him a dolly because the car's to big. Dumb***! Car's owner takes him to another U-Haul place, rents the dolly (doesn't tell them what he's putting on it) and gets the car loaded up.

The new buyer at this point is frustrated and wants his money back, saying the car is missing a lot of parts. I print out a copy of the auction for my friend to read, clearly stating that many parts of the car, including the engine and transmission, are missing, and that it will require a parts car to complete it.

After a full day of ****ing around, the guy leaves with the car safely on the tow dolly, and my buddy has (most of) his money in hand.

It's a shame that sellers have to have a copy of the auction in hand, and make sure that the new owner is bringing a trailer or some way of getting the car home, but that's the sad truth.

Sure there are some crooked car sellers out there, some of them on eBay, but I bet for every crooked misleading guy there is, there are 50 honest sellers, and a countless number of buyers who don't have a clue.

 

Reminds me of the time i went to buy a 67 mustang fast back that had a factory big block it turned out to be a 66 mustang coupe with what was left of a 6 cyl and the car looked like it was drove through a brick wall ..........

 

All sounds to me like buying a Rodders Journal #1 and getting OlSkool Rods instead!!!!!!!


Oh yeah and one more

 

One man's **** is another man's SHINOLA...

 

This one guy I knew told me about a riviera he went to see. It was a 65 Riv, no rust, great interior, and had been garage kept most of it's life. It was resonable for what was advertised, I believe it was $5k or so. He drives a few hours through back roads with a borrowed truck and trailer to this guy's house. They go around back, and sitting in the back yard is a 66 Riv, weeds up to the tops of the fenders, and sunk to the rockers in dirt. It was completely and totally rusted out, and was missing most of the motor. He said that he got so pissed that he cussed that guy out for 15 minutes solid.

I think lying becomes part of some people's lives to a point where they can't tell the truth at all, ever. It kinda makes you wonder what they've gotten away with before hand, to think they can hustle something like that.

 

I am old, and painfully wise. I have learned through bitter experience.

----Never buy a car in the rain.
----Never buy a car in the dark.
----Never buy a car while drunk!!!!
----Never buy a car off one of your wifes relatives, or any other son of a ***** that you can't willfully beat to a pulp without incurring "family problems" if the car seizes up before you get home with it.

 

As a kid (long time ago ), dad brother me and a friend drove deep into Ohio from Det to pick up a 34 Chevy 2dr. 4 of us in the cab of a 71 Ford PU. Guy said it was super solid, towable, 100% complete. Sounded real good. We got there and he was in the house having dinner, wife said we had to wait . After about 1/2 hr and looking at a similar car in his yard that was nearly rotted to the ground the guy strolls out. We figured the car was in his garage and the garage had no windows. He takes us to the rotted bowl of **** that was once a Chevy 2dr. "Here it is" he said with glee. Dad looked at him and snickered, "yeah right...blah blah, so where's the car?" "Right here!" Dad walks up to him within 2" of his nose and said "If I thought it would do any good I'd cave yer ****in head in."

On the way home we found a 34 Ford 2dr body that we bought for a song. Not a total loss.

 

dude its apparent that it has 2 doors on each side doesnt it?

yes some sellers are dumb***es.. yet whats worse is a buyer who doesnt ask questions.. I agree with cliffy.. it all comes down to the buyer asking all the right questions..

 

i bought a 34 ford coupe on ebay picts loked ok guy said just needed motor /trans after sending decent $$$ payment first. when i got there ca to texas i was in price shock the "decent coupe' was a old stock car that was dragged in from a field had axe holes in 1 door all the interior bracing removed and a different top welded on but hey it had new wheels tires and dropped axle. so bit my tongue and brought it home still hammerin bangin on panels
yeh if you can't see it don't buy it john

 

I Purchased my 55 buick on ebay. The car was described as beautiful chrome, newer paint, perfect interior, running perfectly, broken radio and clock, but otherwise everything was very nice, and it was a survivor car that was stored for over 20 years before the current owner who had the car for 12 years. Talked to the guy on the phone, hes sold several of his cars, this was his friends car, but he was physicaly there (or so he claimed) whne I was asking questions about the car, and he seemed like a good guy. I won the bid, and paid the guya deposit. I drove 3 hours (6 hours round trip) to pick up the car, and had a roll back from his area meet me there, as I didnt want to trust 12 year old bias ply tires on a car that I didnt know was 100% legitmately mechanicaly sound. I get there and while the car does look nice, the chrome is far from beautiful. the pot metal tail lights and trunk handle/ornament are heavily pitted. The front bumper has light sirface pitting all over, looks ok from 10 feet back, but not "beautiful chrome". The windshield has a small spider shaped crack in it about an inch in diameter. The paint, while presents well, looks like a step over a Maaco job, with some drips in areas that most people wouldnt see, and the trim was masked while painting, not removed! The interior was nice, as described. The car started up fine, and I drove it out of the guys garage and up to the roll back. There was obviously an exhaust leak that I was never told about, as it was VERY loud. I get the car home, and it would not start, it needed a new rotor, points, plugs wires, a basic tunup, who sells a car on ebay as a perfectly running car, and not replace the plugs/wires, points etc in over 10 years!? I was luky I didnt attempt to drive it home, the start at the guys house was amazingly the last start before a tuneup. So I fix the enhaust leak, and the exhaust leak was hiding an ugly engine knock. Pulled the oil pan, and one of the pistons is crumbling apart, most if it is in the oil pan.


So I purchased the car for a reasonable rate for a 4 door (yes I know, flame on, I liked it), after rebuilding the engine, and fixing all of the stuff I was never informed of, I could have probably gotten a 2 door car. The transmission still doesnt shift back down to first when you come to a stop, I have to manualy put it into low gear everytime I take off from a stop. Dynaflows cost a lot to rebuild. I have had very bad luck finding the windshield for a 4 door post Special, so the small scrack is still there, its going to be a hard one to replace, and that crack sint going to get any smaller!

I figured that the seller really didnt do enough looking over his friends car before he listed it, which is stupid. I will never sell a car for a friend, why should I be responsible for issues that come up with someone elses car that I dont know much about? I emailed the guy about all of the issues, and he just ignored me. Its the last car I will buy on ebay.

 

Okay, I've read all the replies so far, and this is my take on things:
1. BOBCRMAN is the definite winner, hands down, for best/worst car buying story. It has all the key elements: runaround, lying to the face, complete and total misrepresentation of the car, and multiple days to complete the deal. Hats off to you, my friend!
2. vintakes is a very close runner-up.
3. Cliffy - sorry to ruffle your feathers. I wasn't *****ing at all about eBay, and I sell stuff there all the time, it was just my example of thousands of people buying cars all day long without ever actually seeing the thing. BOBCRMAN's story is a perfect example of why photos don't mean squat, and a true liar can answer every question without hesitation.

Is there some kind of prize the HAMB can award to BOBCRMAN? I really feel for the guy.

 

Hey, You Guys,,,,, I got a nice southern 69 Chevy SS two dr hdtp. No rust! absolutely clean. Trunk load of spare trim. Been in storage, for a few years. No engine or trans.Front seat is out. I hear it was the fastest car in Tennessee!!! Complete roller.................Pictures available...............







Conclusion of story. Car was a spray bomb special, over about six other poorly applied paint/mud jobs. VIN no. plate was not original. Trunk lock had been punched and sculptured back in with about a pint of Bondo. Under the trunk full of Dodge parts, lower quarters were hard spray foam, with a well sculptured layer of "Quarter panel in a can".
I dragged it out behind the barn with my other waiting "Project" cars and kinda try to forget about it.

I have wheeling and dealing in cars since the mid sixties. I had heard about such deals happening to others. Never thought it could happen to an old trader...... That wasn't a good year...

 

On the other hand......
Guy comes in to a mates garage with a rough as a bears **** Jaguar XKE, he wants it MOTing (UK government certificate) as he's selling it and the price was cheap for an XKE......sumat like £15,000
Up on the ramp and there's no rust..... any where.....at all.. never..... loads of poking around, still no rust .......well there wouldn't be it's a pre-production prototype, all alloy racer thats been put on the road AND the guy who owns it doesn't know what the **** he has.
Like a bunch of ****s, when he comes back to fetch it we tell him...........
Sold at auction £250,000

 

There are a million ways to get ****ed by s***bags who think it's ok to lie, cheat, and steal their way through life. You've got to watch out for yourself beacause no one else is going to do it for you.
That being said, I've been fortunate enough thus far in my dealings with others that my faith in humanity is still pretty strong.
I helped my cousin buy a 51 Merc from Alabama off ebay and the car was in AMAZING shape for what we paid. Strangely enough the old gentleman we bought it from seemed glad to get rid of it, like he hated the car and couldn't wait to see it go. It had been advertised as "non-running". We charged up the battery and it fired right up and drove it onto the trailer. It was also said to have "mild to moderate rust". We had it media blasted when we got it home and found about 4 square inches of rust on the tip of the hood and that was it! So we got an all steel, all original, running, very dirty 51 merc for $2700.00! Not a bad deal. I've seen rusted hulks with no motors for $5000.00 and more on ebay!!!
I bought my project car from a hamber with only a description and a few pictures, and couldn't have been happier with what I got for what I paid. Although the seller was a real a-hole and didn't even offer us a beer when we picked up the car! (just kiddin', Hack).
So there's my .02 on the positive side of car buying, there are lots of honest people out there, you just have to look for them...

Also, a question for whoever feels like answering it...what is the ebay cashier's check scam, and how does it work?

 

I gotta' unique one...I tried to sell a 51 Henry J a few years ago in our local paper and elderly lady calls and asks me what condition it was in. I tell her that it is in decent condition but needs to be restored. I think I was asking $3K-ish. She tells me thanks, she just wanted to know what she should sell the one she has in her back yard with weeds up to the roof. Since it was not anywhere near the condition mine was, she says she'll just have it towed to the wrecking yard. I then borrowed a flat bed and went too see it. It wasn't in great shape but good nuff'. I paid $250.00 and hauled it off. I also spent $250 to register it and $250.00 to kill the BLACK WIDOWS that called it home. I sold them all (had 3 of em') for what I was asking for one...DAMMIT... I WANT THEM BACK...that's another thread!

 

Listed a '57 Vette in the local paper back around 1978. Said it had both tops and a four speed, asked a reasonable driver price and (knowing Corvette perfectionists), said NUMBERS DON'T MATCH. One of the guys who called said that was a humorous statement, and asked what numbers didn't match. I told him the small block was rebuilt with a correct Duntov cam, but the block itself came out of an early 60s p***enger car, told him it had a new Super T-10 instead of the original T-10, and it had aftermarket anti-sway bars on it. He came over with his "expert" who asked the same questions, got the same answers, and then crawled all over and under the car.
He called back to say he'd decided against it because his expert had found it had a later engine and transmission -- and he wanted a perfect restoration -- presumably at the driver price.
I couldn't believe the guy thought maybe I had a 100-point original and didn't know it. Or maybe he lived in Bizarro world where sellers try to trick you into buying something twice as good as what they say it is.

 

Buying a car anywhere, is no different than on eBay. If dealing with someone far away make it clear that you will be unhappy if the seller is lying about the condition. Take along company, in case the guy is bigger than you. Evaluate his physical form and get reinforcements if necessary. Then, if the car isn't as represented, beat the **** out of the liar for inconviencing you and go home happy.

 

Just another thought -- from NorthWEST Ohio --

"In Northeast Ohio, maybe lying to people is more accepted there"

People, people, an't we all just get along?"

 

Bought a p/u cab on e-gay (sort of). no written description, just some photos and the guys' phone number.
didn't meet the reserve, called the guy 2 seconds after auction ends. Talked with him for 20 minutes or so about the cab.
I agreed to buy it - turns out the cab was better than pictured or described!!!!!!!
For once I scored a good deal.

I sold a '69 chevy step side on e-bay as well. described it as best that i could, put up as many pictures as I could. Agreed to meet the potential buyer halfway (only 150miles thank God). I drove the truck there and had a buddy follow me. the guy took it around the block and handed me the cash - no *****ing and moaning about this and that. he drove it home.

I tend to get scared if a seller says the thing is "mint" or "perfect"

Also *** to the list....don't buy a body in the snow. Buddy of mine bought a vicky in the snow...awesome body until spring when the foot of snow melted and the bottom 12" of the car was gone - that's his own fault though

 

Watch out for guys selling 57 T-Birds park over a large pond of water in their driveway. Didn't happen to me but it took the guy who obtain it, 4 years and much money to get it like it was describe in the other person's ad.

 

Dang. This thread is from 2005.

 

Yes it is, but I was entertained for 30 minutes reading through it!

 

I love zombie thread season...

 

On the flip side, I listed my '34 Ford coupe on ebay 10 or 12 years ago starting at 25,000. Sold, sight unseen for 30. Got a certified check in the mail, cleared the bank. A week later a guy comes to pick the car up. Done deal.

 

I once went to look at a '55 Chevrolet, turns out it was a '71 Malibu. An elderly widow woman had it and I was polite and declined to get the car.

 

A friend went to look at a car that was described as “running and driving”. When he arrived it was missing the carburetor and interior.
He asked how it was running without a carburetor and how you drove it without a seat? The seller acted offended that my friend didn’t buy the car and wasted his time.

 

Hey I right there with you...I have been married for 34 years and my wife has not forgotten one damn thing that she claims was my fault or I did wrong! LOL

 

IT WAS RUNNING WHEN I PARKED IT OH BY THE WAY THAT WAS IN 1999
HA HA