Bad Experience

First of all, Hello. I humble myself to all of you as an absolute noob and *****. Let's begin. I have always loved old cars. Not just hot rods, but nice old 50s tank cruisers, as well. I always wanted (go ahead and laugh) a 1957 Chevy Belair. So, when I realised that these cars in just fair condition were $25,000 a pop, I looked at other brands, like Buick. Buick made these flashy hardtop sedans called Buick Specials. They caught my eye. Fast forward two years, I've been looking for a car within my budget for some time now ($12,000). Now bear in mind that the most of my mechanical ap***ude is an oil change and a tire change. Also, I know absolutely nothing about body work. Call me a poser. So, this guy comes along in L.A. *shudder*, posting this ad on a certain used cars listing which I will not mention it's name. He's got a bargain. Oh ****. He wants to sell me a COMPLETELY RESTORED 1956 Buick Special Riviera for $12,500. So I thought, hey, if this is a scam, I can put it on ebay and be protected by squaretrade and ebay's buyer protection policy. WRONG. I convince the guy to put it on ebay, and low and behold, I toss in my credit card information into the little paypal thing. Oh boy. I bid. I win. Buy it now. Fast forward two months. The car still has not been shipped. I'm calling this con artist every day asking him to be there when D.A.S. arrives to GET THE ****ING CAR ON THE TRUCK. Eventually he gets fed up with my calls and puts the car on the truck. The car arrives in virginia three weeks later due to the fact that it sat in the DAS parking lot in California for two weeks, not being put on a truck. Yeah, now I hate that company. So the 60 day period you have after the end of the auction to file a complaint in ebay against the seller for item misrepresentation is over. I'm screwed. So yeah, the car's here. It won't start. I don't get any power in the car whatosever when I turn the key. Terrible. The engine leaks. It was supposedly a fresh rebuild. Yeah right. No oil bath air cleaner. No power steering. The ignition wiring is rotted out. The starter solenoid is shot out. There's no bulbs in the back in the stop lights. He said the heater was in great shape. Hah yeah right. The heater's hoses were COMPLTELY detached from the car, the windshield wipers were completely detached, the wiper motor was gone, and the heater core is all holey and terrible looking. I shudder to think about the condition of the brakes and ******. We haven't even got there yet. The only good news is the car is actually pretty solid, has good paint, and is nicely upholstered. It's valued at about 7,500. I paid 12,500. Jesus. The Stromberg WW 2-bbl carburator is rebuilt, but is cracked somewhere, because fuel just pours out all over the engine after my mechanic rewired it and started the car. So the carb is bad and needs to be replaced. Where can I get one of these 1956 GM Stromberg WW carbs? My mechanic and I have looked EVERYWHERE and we can't find one ANYWHERE. Also, can anyone tell me what it is like driving a mid-later 50s Buick without the power steering? Is it an absolutely dreadful experience? Do I need to buff up to drive this car? It's a truly sad state of affairs. I was looking forward to finally having a nice cl***ic ride and this man, of Buick Boys, in Orange, California, has absolutely ruined that experience for me. As a noob into this hobby my pride has been shattered and the experience has been absolutely miserable. So I was just wondering if anyone here could give me any pointers. That, and hello. Thanks.

 

Contact ebay and find out what your options are going to be. Might depend alot on the conditions of the sale.

 

Also I guess it's worth mentioning here that the engine IS in fact the original Nailhead 322. The intake on it is the original 2 barrell intake. Tiny important detail.

 

What is the chance that you can sue the guy that sold you the car?

 

That's why I said contact eBay's customer service dept. You probably won't get much satisfaction out of them, but they do have a statement in their TOS that says all legal disputes are supposed to be handled in their jurisdiction - or something along that line. If he seriously misrepresented the car, then you've got a leg to stand on in the name of fraud.

 

Yup id try the law suit deal but ive got to hand it to you. Your up front and Honest. Maybe you dont know **** about cars but the other guy shouldnt have ****ed you either. I know your out some bucks but regardless of the ebay sale id contact an attorney .. Did you happen to print out the description of the car after you bid on it? Or befor you did the buy it now.. That could be a legal do***ent for court.
Dave
Good Luck

 

I stay away from ebay. If you do a search you'll find tons of people on here who have been screwed on ebay. I'm not trying to be an *** or anything but, why would you buy a car like that, sight unseen? It's hard enough to buy them went you can check them out, let alone over the internet. Sorry that happened to you but, fraud and deception seem to be a way of life on ebay. Look at it this way, you could have bought it from Barrett-Jackson.

 

um, looks like you bought it.

Ebay is a risk. Most people would tell you to look at something in person before you drop 12k. If you think the deal is too good, it probably is, etc.

And why are lawyers always the ****ing answer?

 

There's your answer. If you bought this car with a credit card then call your CC company and tell them that you didn't receive the merchandise you paid for and have them reverse charges. I'd say that may be your best shot to get out of this.

 

Ummm guys, think about this the other way.

You sell a car on Ebay to a guy who doesn't know what he is buying. He bids high, and then wants to hire a lawyer to sue you because it isn't what he thought he was getting.

Ebay is a 2 way street.

 

If you paid with your credit card you should have credit card protection...
if you used PAYPAL with your credit card you have them to fall back on...file a dispute...waiting as long as you did filing nothing may be your own downfall...Sorry bout your luck...
Sell on E bay!
Buy on the HAMB instead!

 

Your mechanic can't find the crack? Or is the float stuck? Sounds like you need someone with a bit more old car experience... Sorry that this happened but you should be bale t get some help through your credit card company...

 

In his post, he says the car was described as completely restored. That sounds like a serious misrepresentation to me, which is grounds for res***ution.

 

Back when I had a 57 Ht and my arthritic father had a 58 sedan both Specials and no power whatsoever. Neither one of us had a problem because of it.

 

Pointers?

Dont buy a car for $12k sight unseen not knowing anything about old cars.

People these days feel like they are en***led to not be hurt/offended/taken advantage of. Its not a right, we have brains, use them. If not, **** happens. ****, indeed, happened.

Hustlers have been around way before ebay or lawyers.

 

Thank you. This relieves some of my concerns if I end up keeping the car if no res***ution is in order on the part of eBay or through other legal means.

He has a lot of experience with old cars including complete restorations. He is the only reputable old car mechanic in Man***as, Virginia (towing distance). He checked out the floaters, fuel lines, everything. He determined that it would have to be a crack because he phased everything else out.

I have a copy of the auction, yes. And it's still up on ebay, but I won't link to it here for privacy reasons.

UPDATE:

I have contacted eBay's customer service. They have decided that since the seller refuses to provide a ***le, and that the seller stalled on shipping the car, giving me no chance to file a complaint of material misrepresentation; they are giving me a chance to appeal the 30 day deadline they have for filing a complaint against the seller.

eBay does have a Buyer Protection Plan, which covers up to 20,000 for misrepresentation/not receiving vehicles listed. We'll see how this goes. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

See above, also I should clarify that I've been into old cars since I was a boy. I just have zilch mechanical ap***ude. Mechanics was taken out of most PWC High Schools growing up and neither of my parents knew anything about old cars. I got into the hobby mostly through my redneck neighbours who didn't want some teenage punk messing with their automobiles. So alas, I can't rebuild a carburetor, or tune up a v-8 engine. That was the point I was trying to make, and why I looked for a car that was already a driver/restored.

 

He didn't give you a ***le??!! A leaky carb is the last of your issues.

Did his e-bay add say it was being sold without a ***le?

You were mentioning low dollar parts, solinoid, 2bbl carb, ignition wires ect.

Getting a car with no ***le for $12k is a significant issue. You might not own that car.

Sorry man, I wish you luck with this.

 

It would be nearly impossible for you to miss my point any further.

Im not sure who is talking about high schools or parents, I was a music major in college and neither of my parents are into it, but customs are my life.

Not questioning what kind of car you were looking for or why, I honestly dont care.

But you asked pointers. Look, nobody with half a functioning brain puts $12.5k out on a car they have never seen from a dude they dont know. Advice? Dont be an idiot. Should work well for you when applied in as many instances as possible.

Hope for the best but prepare to get nothing out of it but a junk car with apparently no ***le and $12.5k missing due to mostly your neglegence of judgement. I know you are new here, but you are far from the first to ***** about an e-deal gone bad. Sorry, but just sick of people whining about getting ripped off. Proper measures to make sure the car isnt a piece of **** and you would probably not have gotten jacked.

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

 

There's one born every minute...

You paid too much and got more of a project than you were hoping for, but if it is a solid car put some work into it without too much more cash outlay and drive the damn thing. Don't have to be a rocket surgeon to work on old cars, and parts can be found.

I've never driven a Buick, but my '49 Ford doesn't have power anything and it drives like a brand new fully loaded Cadillac... a very smokey fully loaded Cadillac.

Good luck.

 

I know it not may be a ton of help, but I have an original 1955 (Im 90% sure its the same for 56) buick oil bath air cleaner for a 2bbl. If you want it, its yours, Im in Baltimore county.

 

I know that I am mentally deficient. I made no attempt to conceal that fact. If I didn't have overbearing parents the Darwin theory would have claimed my life years ago. However I will not worship you because your IQ happens to be higher than mine. I realise I made a mistake. I know now that buying these cars sight unseen probably wasn't the best idea. Way to state the obvious. You seem to think I am so retarded that I wouldn't realise that already. I was just wondering if people had any idea about what is best to do from here. Don't want read about other people's misfortunes? Than don't. Your call.

 

What's even scarier is the fact that he put it on a cc. Wonder what the interest rate is on the $12K. Man, I don't think you could have screwed this up any more than you did. When you do a car deal you seal the deal with down payment money and then the balance on delivery. You can give the 10% plus shipping and the balance on delivery, etc. You can set it up whatever way is acceptable to both parties. You never pay the full amount up front and sit back and expect everything to be rosy. NO ***LE. I would think that the guy could have Fedx'ed the ***le overnight somewhere along the line. Lawyers are getting to the point that they don't want to spend time on these cases because the laws haven't kept up with the technology and often they're not licensed in the state where the seller lives. It gets complicated and expensive real quick.

Man, a question on the HAMB before you made this deal could have saved you $12K. Sometimes if you're real nice, fellow HAMBers will go look at a car if they're in the area and you buy them a hamburger and a beer. Anyway, good luck.

 

REASON NUMBER 1. why i am done with EBAY,,,,,

,,,i really miss the old days,pre-EBAY..........,put add in paper,,some one calls,,they drive out to house,,look at car up and down,inside and out,,test drive,make offer, seller accepts ,,person drives of with car,,,
done deal,,,,no lawyers,no suing,,no crying,,,

,,buying a car sight unseen is a gamble ,,i ahve bought two cars sight unseen,,,i did ok once and lost the other time,,,never again,,,,hahahaa

 

Well, I've been to the DMV already. They're saying I need to take my bill of sale and some work bills from the previous owner and apply for a ***le in lieu of ***le. I'll just say that the car was bought salvaged by the prior owner and that it was restored and I am finishing the job myself. So hopefully they won't give me too hard of a time on this. Also, I DO have bill of sale paperwork. But they wouldn't give me a ***le at the DMV with just that. I need the bills and the lieu of ***le affidavit.

And yeah, honestly I had an electrician rewire the car already (ignition), thinking I probably wouldn't get anything out of ebay. He put in the new starter solenoid. So that's when we ran into the issue of the carb. The problem with the carb is, true, they're not TERRIBLY expensive (tops around $400), but they are HARD AS HELL to find. These GM Stromberg WW carbs from the mid-50s are the ones that will fit the 56 Buick Specials. And well, they're a total pain to find.

My initial plan, if the car was received as planned, was to take out the 2bbl intake and carb and replace it with a 3x2 offey intake and 3 carbs of some kind. I'm thinking about doing that now, but I've already depleted a lot of my savings towards the car, and I don't have much more to work with. The engine has a 3" leak spot under the car and I'm worried that the engine might not have been overhauled properly, or might not have ever been overhauled at all. So say I have this fancy carburator on the car, and the engine needs to be overhauled for $1000? Not good! The transmission at least is not leaking. That really just means it's sealed properly, but uh.. I'm hoping it shifts alright and at the end of the day it's good when I finally have it on the road.

So there's that and also the rear lights. I noticed that some of the stop light bulbs weren't even in the housing, and that at least one of the bulbs for the turn signal was loose. So, I'm hoping there's nothing to be done back there, or god forbid, that it needs to be rewired. I don't know how common it really is that needs to rewired anyway, I'm guessing not too much since the wiring is kind of well hidden under the seats in the 2 door, and then it forms out in the back under the trunk to the combination housing.. So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed.

Well not really. I put $2k on the card, and then the rest through a certified check through my bank. So yeah. Anyway it's good to know these 56's handle well without power steering. They're damn close to 4000 lbs so I was a bit worried about that. Anyway, it's a beautiful car. Great upholstery, beautiful paint. All the chrome is there. It's solid. It needs NO body work. The floors are great. It's not all bad. But I should have paid $6 or $7k for it, not $12,500. Us idiots always have to learn the hard way though, I guess.

Hey, Baltimore? Karb Kings? I met those guys before. Anyway dude, if you could help me find a Stromberg WW for a 56 that doesn't need any major work on it I'd gladly take that oil bath off your hands. My 2bbl has had it. I'm going to have my mechanic look at this complete 3x2 offey fuel system and see if he thinks it looks good or not. Thanks a lot.

 

Hard luck on your first attempt at getting a car.......I know I will sound like a **** here, but I am glad my Father is a Hot Rodder and was always messing with Hot Rods and Customs...and got me my first Hot Rod at 14 to work on and learn with, anyways...... Good Luck.

John

 

As far as steering the car without power steering, that should be no sweat if everythiong is in good shape. Jillions of little old ladies and little old men drove Buicks of every year back then without power steering and still had the strength to take care of their grandkids and drive them for ice cream at the drug store.

 

I'll give you credit for owning up to your mistake. I just have to add this for the fools that have yet to fall into this trap.

Why would anyone spend any considerable amount of cash on a car they havn't seen in person?!!?!?!?!?!?! Buy a friggin plane ticket and risk a few hundred bucks on a dry run!

 

Just a suggestion, before you get committed to the 3x2 carb and manifold set-up, you might try and adapt a more common 2 bbl carb like a Rochester or a Holley 350/500 cfm to get your car running. That way you can check out any engine or trans issues before you have a $1,000 tied up in the tri-carb package. That can always come later. Two barrel adapter plates can be had frommany local auto suppliers, or from Jeg's or Summit by mail order.

Good Luck, *****6

 

Personally, I think that, all your other woes aside, you're going to compound your worries if you go messing with a 3x2 setup. Your self-confessed lack of mechanical knowledge means you will be better off getting the thing running right with the single carb setup. Through trial and error, and a little help from your friends, from us, and from any books etc, you will gradually aquire some mechanical knowledge and eventually you will have enough to go messing with three carbs. Just my opinion.

 

No, club here. I ordered a rebuil carb from Kanter (www.kanter.com), ran me around $175 I think, and it worked out great. They charge you a core charge untill you return your old carb. The one they sent me looked brand new, and has been running great for a few years now.