Hot Rods Just bought the last car I will ever buy without seeing in person.

Some years ago I had a friend in Santa Cruz, (1962) who agreed to look at a '32 Five window (cheap, $175!) advertised in the Santa Cruz paper. I couldn't get there 'til the following weekend, so I asked him to look it over, and call me. "No problem!"
He didn't call, so when I finally got ahold of him, he said "Too late, man...It was sold..."
Couple weeks later, I was in Santa Cruz and before returning home, stopped by a local body shop to visit another friend...there was this nice '32 Five window with the body removed, pristine, no rust, dents, etc. I asked, was told that it was just acquired by my 'friend', and was here to be cleaned up and primered...
"beware of the handshake"...

 

there are good & bad people everywhere. I'm in Nebraska. I was bidding on a 40 Ford from S Carolina. after I didn't meet reserve on ebay, I called him & we worked out a deal. he took my 69 ElCamino in a trade & we met at a truck stop in St Louis to make the swap on a Saturday at 400pm. we had a single axle dolly (u-haul type) to tow the Elcamino. then my brothers brand new (7,000 miles on it) Suburban tow rig broke down just outside of St Louis. when I told the seller what happened, he offered to put the Suburban on his trailer, leave the Elcamino at the truck stop, & take us back to Omaha. I could follow along in the 40. we politely declined the offer. so after checking the 40 over closely, I decided to try driving it back to Omaha Sunday. ran fine all the way home 400+ miles, just as the seller had said it would. my brother was stuck in St Louis til Thursday awaiting parts for the Suburban.

 

WHOA! Bruce.

 

I'd prefer to see them in person, but that's not a guarantee either. I bought a fairly nice '61 bubble top, didn't see the crack in the windshield because the seller had the "for sale" sign taped over it. Cheezey. I guess it's better than the guy who bought an out of state car guaranteed to have no rust. When he got it he understood why it had no rust. The seller had cut it all out with a tin snips.

 

Straight. No rust. No patches. Needs nothing.

Couple of pics.

I'd like to shoot some pics from the back but the window won't go down.

 

This sounds VERY similar to online dating ads.......and the same results. "Slim, large bust, all teeth are real, great personality, very cute, athletic......" but, drive a couple of hours to see the real thing is a shocking surprise!

 

Woody, you're an honest, straight-shooter. You have dealt with others who are as well. But there are two kinds of people "out there" who aren't like you. One is the dishonest, low-down crook and the other is the dumb-as-a-rock good ol' boy who honestly thinks his bondo'd-up rust-bucket is Barrett-Jackson material. I wish you only the best in the future.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I guess the key phrase is "I had a friend".

Ouch.

 

At least I don't have to date anymore!

 

Me either but there is a LOT of "buyers beware" out there in cars, guns, and women.

 

The weird thing with these junk piles is its always the potential buyer that's tagged as a time waster. I think folks that pedal complete trash are the bigger time wasters.... you need to check out a lot of frogs before you find the right car or project

Ive been there with so called honest descriptions, one car even had evidence of having been T boned and the professional seller clearly stated there was no evidence of accident damage... He must have needed new glasses...

 

And hot rod primer hides a lot of sin.

 

SACRILEGE! Is he still your "friend?"

 

Seller's entire experience on HAMB has consisted of listing 9 vehicles for sale. This from listing in question:
"Sweet ride. Needs nothing. $18,900.00 Phone calls only after 4pm xxx-xxx-xxxx Just a few additional pictures for the people who have asked me if the body is straight, which it is and rust free, not patched"

 

Add me to the list of dumb asses who bought a car unseen, I found a car style that I had been looking for a (e-bay) car contacted the owner, a woman who said she used the car to take clients in it to check out houses, she was a realtor. Sent me a dozen more pictures I didn't see any thing that threw up a red flag so I started trying to go see it, air fare from Nor Ca to the car was close to $1800 and 3 transfers, rental car, had to drive from El Paso and back was another $160.+ , motel $190, had to stay 2 days to make flights so I called and she sent me more pictures and lowered the price. I tried to find any one in New Mexico from GG or NSRA with no luck so i jumped the shark and send the money that was almost 2 years ago and I'm still trying to get it in decent shape to drive, I only drove it a mile when I first got it
and that told me to fix all the things that piss me off or junk it.

 

I always trust a seller who down plays the car ... Whenever you hear needs nothing , one of the best driving cars I have drivin, super straight, no rust ect ect ... They typical used car salesmen pitch ... I become suspect

 

I dont agree its your fault. A liar is a liar.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. It's hard to find integrity these days.

 

I learned a long time ago to spend more money up front and buy the best rust free car you can afford. It will save you more money in the long run. Rust repair is expensive and extremely time consuming. You can only tell how much rust you are dealing with by inspecting and climbing underneath the car you plan on buying. Buying something sight unseen is a crap shoot I can't afford to take.

Gary

 

LOL the missus and I drove 4 hours across Kansas to look at a '56 Windsor that was rust free and drivable. Same deal the guy had cut all the rust out. I had to fix the brakes before I could drive it, they were stuck but after all that I did drive it. It was a small town and the missus and I went careening about town for about half an hour before we told the fella no thanks.

 

Even with due diligence, it might be hard to find everything wrong with an old, or hotrodded car. But, sending real money across the country for a car that I only saw some pictures of is something that's not in my DNA. I can get burned much closer to home. Sorry for guys who lost,though..

 

Like we say in East T.N. They must be PROUD of their shit.!!!!!Bruce.

 

This statement falls right into the myth of the "good old days". There have always been less than honorable people around us. Who amongst us has never heard or told a story about used car salesmen. And before them am sure stories were told about wagon and buggy sellers.And just because they're not working out of a lot doesn't guarantee any amount of credibility.

We have an advantage here in the HAMB have someone local check it out first. Then spend the money on a plane ticket if it still sounds ok. And don't do as I've done a time or two and wore a pair of rose colored glasses and brought a pig home.

 

Update. I talked to mr39ford last night. He is not going to do anything for me. He's done. He said I should give the car a chance and maybe I'll start to like it.

mr39ford has another car for sale in the classifieds. Be careful if you are looking at that one.

 

This is a familiar story to me too... I was very lucky, so naturally I thought my luck would hold... well it didn't. It was a C.L. purchase, the site had pictures, it was bad but not so bad that I was scared away. My brother picked it up with his trailer in NY he was coming home to Maine. My brother drove in my driveway with it a few days later, the first words out of his mouth was "you bought this P.O.S.!!!?", the '40 coupe was not the car in the C.L. pics. The Body had to be held on to the trailer with straps as it was no longer connected to the frame, the floors and body mounts had rusted away. Bummed. Called the guy, remained bummed... Tried selling it for half of what I paid,.. no takers. So I started collecting parts, a lot of them! After the purchase did some research on the seller: he was banned from ebay AND banned from the HAMB. I should have started researching the guy's history before, not after. Well after about a year of serious effort it's starting to look better....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/saving-a-40-coupe-and-moving-beyond-a-bad-start.813648/

 

And he still has zero feedback. You have spent time telling us here if he ripped you off take 5 minutes and go give him some feedback so that the fellas who never see this thread have a chance to see what he has done to you, before they lay out their hard earned cash.

@Ryan put that feature in for a reason, it is so that we can help police ourselves.

 

When? There has always been those that would stick it to you, givin the chance. The internet just makes it easier. Sure are a lot of Nigerian car lots nowadays....

 

I was messaging Ryan about the deal. Feedback has been left.

 

Thanks

A little advice for the fellas in general, nothing wrong with posting a thread as far as I am concerned but use the feedback feature, I don't care who you are dealing with even if it is me, if you are not happy with your deal leave some feedback, if the deal went south and you contacted whomever and they made it right leave some feedback, if you were happy leave some feedback. it will help us all in the long run.

 

While I do understand your frustration it's apparent that it is what it is,you own the car now and you ether have to fix the problems or sell it and from my observation your never going to be happy with it. HRP