Any Car-Buying Horror Stories?

I`m looking into buying a car thats a 4-5 hr drive from me possibly this weekend,I trust the seller`s word and pictures.....but it just got me thinking about a previous experience I had.

About 5-6 years ago,I found a nice looking `57 F100 for sale online at a reasonable price.I talked to the guy about it for about a month prior to deciding to make the 8-hour drive to Missouri to get it.It was described as being rust-free,and having a 351-Cleveland that someone swapped into it.I kew that it was sitting and needed work,but what we found when I got there was ridiculous.

First off,the guy wasn`t even there...I had to wait for his friend to get home.Then the first thing I notice is bondo cracking all over the lower parts of the body,like alot of thick bondo slathered over rust holes.I open the door and find steel plate welded over holes in the floor.I look in the bed and find steel diamond plate welded over the rotted bed floor.Look underneath,and the cab mounts were GONE!
I then looked under the hood to find a 400-M motor.

Needless to say,we were not happy at all,the trip ended up "only" costing us a lost day and $160 in gas.

It`s kinda funny though...because a good friend made almost the exact same trip this past fall to look at a `38 Ford 2dr Sedan,and it was described waaaaayyyy better than how it actually was as well.The lower 4" of the entire body was GONE! All the guy kept saying was "I`ve seen people repair worse,look how solid the roof is".

Needless to say,neither of us plan to make any trips to Missouri again!!!

 

Oh..and BTW...buddy ended up find a NICE `38 2dr sedan with about $6k in extra parts at a swapmeet an hour from our house a month later! The body was MINT...and the ch***is was done!

 

If you find a vehicle that is far away try to find someone in a local club or even a rod shop to go look at it for you. Might save a trip or make a trip worth while. I have several for sale and alway suggest they contact someone local to look at it. Let them pick.

 

Bought a non running 68 Nova 2 door for $80.00 Put it up on the hoist and drove a hammer right through the rear frame rails.Sold the trans for $125.00!!! Beware of a car that sits in tall gr***.....

 

brings a whole new meaning to "the show me" state. i had a similar experience in alabama. i went to look at a 70 monte carlo. i pulled into the drive and there she sat. i asked, without even getting out of my car, " is that it?" he said yep. i put my car in reverse and drove away.

 

Bought a BMW off e**** in San Antonio. Did a Carfax prior to bidding/winning. Clear. Didn't go into great detail on the vin, however (should have). Get there and the car is as described but the hood won't open. I pay and tow her home.

Get it home and finally get the hood open and the ***** has been wrecked on the front end. Still got some crumpled braces and new parts under the hood. And, the paint starts to peel off (idiot didn't use flex additive on bumpers etc).

Long and short, e**** wouldn't do anything (I paid cash in person...my bad). I still may take him to small claims for lying about condition.

Now, when I buy long distance, I get a local to check out the car prior to paying, normally through a local club or AACA. Work nice that way.

 

learned my lesson not to give extra money for work to be done later. bought truck (love it by the way, so no real regrets), paid an extra amount for promise of help to do some work later and it never happens...should have known better but guy was vouched for (although i have to admit that they did say i should pin him down abut when the work would get done). all is forgiven and i now just wish he would call me back so i can get a couple of questions answered so i can finish up the work...live and learn....

 

My buddie just bought a car...58 vette to be exact. Flew to Utah for it. Guy said there was a ***le over the phone, but when he got there he said the ***le was lost, and he would find it and mail it to him. Now this is were I would have walked away...but my friend buys the car and has it a couple months. still no ***le. Then last weekend the local fuzz shows up to his place. Guess the Vette was stolen in 1998. Now he's out the money and the car, and the seller is no were to be found. ****er

 

About 10 years ago my buddy's dad drove out and bought a rough Camaro from some ******* with an extra ****** in the trunk. He went to transfer it and the plates didn't match the paperwork, and the paperwork didn't match the car.

Soooo, we spent most of the evening practicing brake stands and valve floating excercises, towed the car back to the guy the next day with a police ******. He got his money back and a-hole got a cell and shower time with the homey's.

Obviously they lucked out, judging by most experiences.

 

See this is the beauty of the HAMB...if you need to look at something long distance post a request. I've looked at cars for guys before and will do it again if it is close by. I've drove a couple hours before for parts that were junk, but if I were to go a great distance I'd find someone to look at it for me first.

Bill

 

I would absolutely never trust a picture or what the person had to say, no matter how nice they are, without seeing it first. Your idea of a nice rust free body may not mean scabbed in patch panels and bad bondo over huge dents and holes, but that might be a nice rust free body to him. Just my experience in driving cross country to pick up a coupe. People can be very creative with lighting and angles when taking pictures.

Just my .02

 

Oh ****... dont get me started on my bad car buying experience! Its kinda long so sit back and grab a cold one.

So this started out about this time last year. Me and my friend find this '39 chevy flatbed at a farm for $300. At the time, we both have both our cars that we're working on and no room for the truck. So we tell a kid we went to school with about the truck and he ends up buying it. Kinda screws the old guy over and to boot, runs over his mailbox backing up his truck. He asks us to help chopping the top so we agree since he was letting us use his beadblaster. So we do the work and joke around saying "If you ever sell the truck, we'll charge you $2k for chopping the top." As work continues, the kid is never around so we're at his house by ourselves so now we're thinking, he's gonna sell the truck so we better do nice work since it might be ours one day.

Now one day out of the blue, my friend Josh (the kid i bought the truck with, eventually) calls me and says Cory is selling the truck and he wants $800 for the WHOLE THING!!! This is after he gets a rebuilt rear and a hopped up 6 banger. So im thinking hell, we better buy this truck. So we call Cory and tell him we'll take it. So we go to pick up the truck one saturday and he's not around. So we wait around and he shows up. He parks across the driveway and the first thing out of his mouth is "Wheres the money?" I tell him whoa,whoa,whoa.... we cant take the whole truck today. Well pay $400 now and the other half when we come and get the rest so you dont try and screw us.

Then being the **** he is, lets me and Josh put the cab in the box truck while he stands around mooning us and ****. So now we go back to pick up the rest about a week later and as usual, hes not home. His mom lets us in and tells us the rest of your stuff is in the ba*****t. Im backed up in the driveway and he blocks me in again. He comes running up asking what the hell we were doing. I told him "Getting the rest of our stuff." He says, "If you want that, itll cost you $1000. I tell him Bull ****!! You told us $800 for the whole truck. Then he says.. no $800 for the cab, pay an extra $200 if you want the rest. So his mom hears us fighting outside and she comes out to see what the rucus is. Well tell her the whole story and she says she'll spot Cory the extra $200 so she can get this **** out of her house as she puts it. He says no... he wants our money, not hers. She was ready to call the cops, so he agreed and got the truck for $800 and he was going to deliver the frame... after we signed a whole contract dealie.

Then after he delivers the frame on a friday, he calls me up and says.. oh, by the way, you have to get the trailer back to so&so by 5 or im calling the cops. I go.. what the hell are you talking about? Im at work and Josh is still at school. Plus i dont have a hitch on my truck and Josh has the s-10. He says.. well tough ****. It has to come back today. Then i say, well the cops wont believe you b/c of your whole deal with them. After that, he picked up the trailer when i said i would call the cops....

And that was the about the same time he went down the tubes. Sold some stuff on ebay and got banned, sold a jeep that he took all the emmissions **** off of so it couldnt be driven in Jersey and got WAY too much money for it. And with the money he got from the truck, he bought a stolen vette, which his mom later took an axe to. Then shot her in the *** with his pellet gun and spent a few months in juvie.

 

That's a great story with a good ending. I need to find some new friends. Mine are boring. No drama.

 

When I go to ebay, I'll go to the parts car section of the cl***ic cars knowing I'm buying parts or major project cars, thinking the worst case scenario, but so far been very happy with what i brought. All been in better shape than I expected.
But one day I was just searching the cl***ic cars regular section and found a 56 olds holiday 88, yellow and white, mild custom. Came very close to buying it but didn't. I was mad at myself for a couple of weeks then I saw it at a local swap meet for sale. Boy was I glad I didn't buy it. I learned to stay in the parts car section and that pictures sure can be deceiving.

 

When I was in the market for a car I drove to Ancaster Ontario in a snow storm to look at a 55 Chevy.I saw a picture in the Old Car Trader and it looked pretty good. I called to verify the condition before I drove down cash in hand. The guy praised the car up and down so I was stoked. Stopped in Guelph to pick up a buddy and set off for Ancaster. Got to the guys house, up goes the garage door and there sat a rusted out piece of **** from a wrecking yard in Florida. It had been pushed around with a dozer and rusted through on every panel. The seller had painted it flat black to make the picture look good.Needless to say I left it there...on the way back to Guelph I saw a red and white 57 150 in a backyard so I stopped and knocked on the door. Crusty old guy snarled "Not for sale!" before I got the chance to ask.Took another year to find a car worth buying....

 

if you buy a car without seeing it first you are just rollling the dice. if it does not turn out to be what you expected you have no one to blame but yourself.

I used to spend time on the ebay motors discussion board. twice a week some whiner would come in complaining about how he got screwed buying some car he didn't look at before he bought it.

 

Drove 9 hours one way with the car trailer to Jacksonville Fla,to buy a GREAT rust free 55 chevy..........YELL RIGHT ...........ANYWAY the guy is asking 22k for it and its not worth 15k ,which I could have gave for a nicer 55 an hour from my house..........anyway I tell the guy i'll give 20k,AND REMENBER its not worth (15)for him to think it over and call me at the hotel the next morning before my girl and i take off back to NC......Sooooooooooooooo
He calls the next day and tells me he'll cut me some slack and give it to me for 21,700...........
So after a weekend lost and a thousand bucks and no car on the trailer .............im pissed..................
Get back home ,check the auction sites find a 55 AN buy it for a decent price ...........

 

Yep, used to go 'knocking' around southern Ontario the same way in the past and know exactly what you mean -driving around like a pinball, bumped and paddled from one end to another, and most turn up TILT!

 

I bought one taking a sellers word. Seemed like a super nice guy over the phone. Told me it was a rust free truck and all it needed was the windshield gasket. Said he worked in a body shop also. I didn't check it out ( will never do that again) and I bought it. When I got it need less to say I was real dissappointed. The back half of the truck was wired in romex ( I guess they figure good enough for the house must be good enoughfor a truck). There were no rear brakes hooked up. The front end was shot and it is now after a year finally rust free. I had to replace the fire wall, inner cab corners, floor, lower door pillars , and all the cowl parts on both sides. I will never buy anything again without looking at it or asking some one else to.

 

Friend of mine drove from VA to the upper part of MI to trade car for car. He hauled his old F1 truck back when gas was $3.00 a gallon and was driving a dually chevy flatbed truck and trailer.
He found the guys place and the car was nowhere near anything he said. It was yanked out of a stack of junk with a chain and had the roof punctured and warped by a forklift. It was a parts car if that. My friends truck was running and driving needing some paint and minor body work.
He was so sick about the trip and all the money he had blown.
Still to this day he doesnt want to talk about it.

 

Besides being a hot rodder himself, by dad was always a horse trader and taught me to always be skeptical.

I've never been burned, but a few years back, a kid I worked with got a hard on for a 55 Chevy he found in Texas (we're in Georgia). I told him to drive out and check it out, but no, he's afraid he's going to miss the Deal of the Century. So I told him, at least don't send the guy any money. Take the cash with you and check out the car first.

So he rents a truck and heads west and drives 12 damn hours to the place. Gets there, and the car is a pile of rust. So he drives the rental truck back -- weekend wasted, plus all the money for truck rental and fuel. I told him, write it off as tution for a valuable Life lesson.

One thing I've learned is to trust your instincts, don't get in a hurry, and don't forget your common sense. If ANYTHING seems a little odd, walk away. I've done it before. Couldn't put my finger on it, but I've talked to guys on the phone, and something just didn't seem right, so I left it alone.

There are too many good deals from decent folks to gamble on *** holes.

 

sort of o/t but i watch people buy new VW's all day, that's a horror story in itself.

 

I have offerd to check out "Deals" for folks, if it's something located close to me, no sweat. If I have to travel any distance, say 50-60 miles, might cost you a 'burger. I've also done this for potential airplane buyers.

 

Do you REALLY want to know?? Hoboy56 and myself drove to Akron OH from the greater Detroit area to pick up an '89 mark VII. (body and interior parts for him drive train for my '54 Lincoln). To start the "near mint "interior was closer to near junk!! We couldn't open the trunk to check for bodies, all 4 air bags were flat, and that ment we had to spend a couple of hours trying to get the car on to the tow-dolly. And it gets worse. The next time I bid on a car it'll be close enough to go look at first!!

 

I guess I got kinda lucky with the Cougar that's going to be the donor for my 'bucket. I had originally bought it for a project with my 15 year old son (he wants something newer now, so his mom can buy it).

Anyway, I drove up to BFE in Missouri, and this guy takes me waaaay back out in the boonies where his place is located. Seems he bought out some wrecker impound yard and was selling a bunch of cars cheap. The car had been repainted, bad bondo work, front end was in lousy shape, and the trunk floor had been punched vertical by a forklift, and was just in overall poor condition. I'd bought it offa eBay, so for the $160 I had paid for it, I figured I could load it with steel and drop it at the crusher and wind up breaking even.

Well, the guy was watching look the car over, and asked me "Isn't as good as you'd hoped, is it?" Well, told him no and he told me, "Well, just give me $80 and we'll call it even.

Anyway, I figure it'll give me 'bucket some character considering it'll be partially created from a dead cat.

 

Find the ****er, shoot him in the head, put him in a dumpster. Did I sugar coated that a little to much?

 

The guy with the Lincoln Capri in Houston could add his story here!

 

I watch collector car trader website, looking for certain cars. I've seen a couple that I was interested in that have been on there for several months. Makes me wonder if they are real piles of **** or what if they haven't sold yet.

 

I'll never understand why people will flat out lie to you when they desribe their "prize" Called on an ad for a 57 ford panel in the local paper that sounded good, ad said "complete, runs, $1000 obo". I asked if it was rust free and he said it just had a tiny spot in the lower front fenders,made a point of telling how solid the floor was. Drove 25 miles to check it out, there might of been a tiniy spot not rusted. The whole roof had rotted off at the drip rail. The footwells and floor was noesistant. Ad said it ran, hmmm no carb. radiator, gastank or master cylinder. Complete if you don't count no seats, gl***, trim, bumpers. Did he really think he could fool anybody?

 

3½ years ago i bought an buick, we agreed on an 1 year payoff for the car and after i payed i could pick it up...
2½ years ago i got the car after having paied the whole sum

yesterday he finally found the grille for it.
i've been calling him like 60 times the past 2½ years asking
for headlights, taillights, rear fender, grille, bumpers...

first he claimed he had given me the rear fender which he hadn't
went over next week and he was sure where he put it... next time i called he had already given me it... took like 2 years to finally get the rear fender... 2 days ago i just had it.. i called him and said either you give me all remainingparts on sunday or your gonna get the car back and you need to pay me back all of the money on sunday
and day after he found the grill

REALLY REALLY anoying procedure, i have way to much temper sometimes. had enough of **** going on with other stuff
guy lives 5 mins from me and is pretty known here in sweden
he runs/ran an vintage junkyard.. and has tons of stuff all over the place. i knew i was going to get everything but extremly anoying time span over this... trying to unload the car now have way to much **** gonna focus on my hotrods and getting more olds rocket stuff...

anyhow nice to finally put this deal behind me and call it finished..