Buyer Remorse Thread.. What did you get burned with ??

you did ok...maybe not the best deal...but at least it is a car and not a TIMESHARE!!!!

 

I forget were I first saw the body advertized, may have been eBay, but it was close to a kitchen cabinet pick up 3 hours from home,years ago.Had a 24 foot Ryder truck and lots of extra room. This was a home made Depot Hack body. NEVER EVER justify buying something based on the "well I'm here and invested the time in the ride why go home empty?" outlook. Took close to a year to get rid of the thing. Bob

 

Been there, done that.

Actually, I'm kinda there with my 60 Lincoln coupe. It's been a real money pit, but... I paid $6k for an otherwise presentable car, which was real cheap IMO. It's also a 1960 Premiere Coupe in a color that I like (silver) with factory air and a the extremely rare option of factory cruise control. Yeah. Find another Premiere Coupe with factory cruise.

The seller was honest about the cars condition, its just been a real money pit and still needs complete HVAC redone, engine work, electrical work, etc... Not simple tasks on this car (if I rebuild the AC and Heat its going to cost thousands in parts plus take me probably 50+ hours).

I did what lots of people like myself do, I tried telling myself that the car was better than it was and that I was getting a screaming deal... No, I'm a dumbass and ill have over $30k in this car once its where I want it. Fuck it, its what I want and when its done it'll be a really nice car.

As far as the Falcon goes, if it makes you feel any better I've always assumed that any old car needs everything that brake fluid touches either rebuilt or replaced. And it could be worse, you could be rewiring a Lincoln! If that car has a solid body and the interior is as nice as it looks I'd say $5k is not a bad price at all.

I'd get one of those Rebel wiring kits and use that, a quick google search shows Falcon wiring diagrams are online...

 

It looks like a decent car, if it isnt rusty or full of Bondo you will be ok. The price you paid is a little high but you cant do anything about that now. The problems you listed (other than the engine/trans) are relatively easy and cheap to fix. Get it going and drive it while you save money to build a better powertrain. If you dont get too crazy with the engine/trans you could still have a really nice car for well under ten grand, that sounds like a good deal to me.

 

I bought a '56 Chevy two door wagon, in the rain....bad move. When I got it home, the rain over the primer had covered all the tiny rust pits that would need repairing!! Lesson learned! Sold it for a little more than I paid and bought another ride for myself......

 

Anything I ever got from THE HOFFMAN GROUP !

 

I've got the opposite problem.....I bought a very nice 40 merc 4 door off ebay.....very truthfull ,honest seller. I was going to hot rod the 40 but it's way to nice and runs great so I just can't cut it up. I really enjoy drivng the 40 it rides and drives great. I may end up being and old man in an old car.....this stock stuff ain't bad !!!!

 

If you went to look at, are there enough things wrong with it that you would have decided to decline to buy it?

 

Yeah, when I looked at it the pictures looked alot better than the actual car. I didn't ask enough questions. Lots of essential parts were missiing that the previous owner didn't even know. He wasn't a Ford guy and I really think he did the same thing I did buying it sight unseen. It came with a new wiring harness, but everything was ripped out and thrown away, light sockets, headlight switch, wiper switch, wiper motor assembly, brake switch, blinker assembly, etc. All the stuff you take for granted was just tossed. It was set up to run off a aftermarket ignition switch. The alternator was not hooked up and it seems to have been put together in a hurry to sell. All four tires are a different size, trans does not have kick down cable. it's just like what was said you think it needs another 500 to get up and running, but it needs triple of what you thought.
So far I have removed brake pedal assembly, sandblasted, painted and installed new bushings. New dual master cylinder is in and now bending new lines. Once it rolls and moves it might go back on Ebay for the next person. It's a shame, this car was an original 289 4spd car with no frame rot and they pulled the 4spd ??

 

Bought a 426 max wedge engineblock from Jack Rawlings from Louisville Kentucky for $ 2500,- 5 years ago. Had it shipped to the Netherlands, where I live.
Got the engine..it had 8 frostcracks.
My buddy made a table out of it. And no...no refund.

 

Bought these on the "bay" from a guy who said, "Absolutely rust free....1931 Dodge Brothers wire wheel hubcaps...no refund". Saw a good frontal photo....I thought they looked "good and usable". They fell apart in my hands as I pulled them out of the box I received them in. I was sick every time I walked past them in the shop. I finally re-sold them to a guy for a pittance of my cost. I guess he was going to make belt buckles or ornaments of some kind because they certainly could never be used as hubcaps again. I was able to rip the seller to shreds on my own description when I re-sold them, so I feel better about that.