how bad have you been burned on a deal?

I had just sold a truck the day before and had 4 grand in my pocket,saw a v-6 mustang that kept coming down in price,im think`n im going to take advantage of this!Went at night after I got off work,check it out offered the four grand and there I was sitting with it in my driveway.......only to find out a/c did not work tried the recharge as he recamended,no dice it was a bad constant control relay module wich is soldered to a much lager electrical board and was way expensive,tire blew out(wich scared the hell out of me)they were dry rotted,luckely I was only doing 30mph.Then I noticed a bas gas leak where the filler neck goes into the tank.I had to pull a custom fitted stereo out of the trunk to get to the bolts for the filler neck.Not to mention how bad I got screwed when
I got it inspected(This was a 99 mustang gt....I know -not old enough,but im getting to that)I to am very trusting and got burned,needless to say I didnt even have that car for 4 months I grew to hate it,very much...After that I had maid up my mind to get something old,no emmisions,no inspections,NowI have my 1948 chevrolet Stylemaster,baught off ebay .I looked at the guys feedback wich was perfect did not see the car before the purchase,just pictures,And took the chance,Im very happy with the price i paid and I love the car...a lot Was carma lookn out for me for being screwed before...maybe,check it out in my photo`s

 

DUDE,if you think looking out for no.1 is a crock of shit no wonder you got screwed,you are living in la-la-land.DAMN!!

 

INTEGRITY is a word that has been removed from the vocabulary of most people and more so professionals like bankers,lawyers,and contractors. Look out for #1 and CYA. Just don't become a POS like the guys that have done you.

 

We all have heard of these kind of stories (more frequently as of late), sure, it is sad, screwed up, frustrating, morally wrong, etc., but bottom line..some people deceive, lie, mis-represent, cheat, etc. to try and get ahead in life. These people are some of the worst representation of our society. We seem to all harbor a sense of brotherhood of sorts through the HAMB, therefore trusting someone when we shouldn't, just because of their affiliation. Cold hard facts..there are thieves, low lifes, liars in our midst-believe it. Fortunately there are far more great people on here, then the few bad ones. Keep the faith. Live and learn.

 

I tend to buy project cars and use my own motor, transmission, etc. I'm leery of other people's work unless I know the car and the person.

I never buy out of desperation, I crawl in, out and under the car and look for a good excuse NOT to buy the thing. I'll take along another person for their opinion when I can.

Bob

 

I havent been burned as much as I've learned to get all quotes in writing. Two cases in point: I had the exhaust done on my truck last year. Straight pipes with my provided mufflers that dump before the meatball I get quoted $150 to $180. I pick the truck up and I'm billed $225. This is a well known exhaust shop with a great reputation. I pay the $225 go out and start the truck and the exhaust is blowing out the right side manifold gasket. I check the manifold bolts and they are finger tight. I go back in the shop and the owner tells me it was like that when I brought it in. Which is total bullshit. I was pretty pissed. Next time I'll be bringing my business somewhere else

Example number 2: One of the fellas I work with family owns a big truck tire shop. We start talking about powder coating wheels and it turns out his Dad's shop does powdercoating. $25 a wheel. Now thats pretty unbeatable. So I bring down a set of loose rims and have them powder coated. I ask the guy behind the counter how much to mount and balance a set of tires on the rims. Figuring why take the chance myself of scratching them. He quotes me $72 not including the stems. So I figure hell why not, $172 for four powdercoated rims mounted and balanced beats the $250 I was quoted for just having the rims done by another shop.

I go and pick up the rims last week and I'm charged $150 to mount and balance the four tires. The balancing alone was $15 a wheel! I should have just done it myself! I ask the counter guy about the charge and he says he can't remember telling me $72 but agrees do give me a better deal on the next powdercoating job.

Moral of the story.....get everything in writing

 

On a positive note, in my many years of horse trading, I'm happy to report that I have never been burned on any deal with a hot rodder or a restorer (including in-person and across the internet). All others..."caveat emptor".

 

Sad lesson learned in years of doing business: Hope for the best, expect the worst....

 

I'd consider mine a minor burn compared to some other peoples...

I was looking for a driver '56 chev, when I came across a '56 210 HT on craigslist... in southern CA. The owner and I exchanged many an e-mail, photos, phone calls, and I even found someone from another website who volunteered to look at the car for me!

In the photos, the car was wearing ralleye wheels with caps, and a set of LT-1 valve covers. I was told there was an original bumper jack also, then noticed it in one of the trunk photos. The owner also told me he had a short list of extra tri-five parts that I could have with the sale of the car. Some radiator support panels, a set of '55 wheel covers, and a few other odds and ends. He was asking top dollar for the car and I decided to dig deep for it, because my dad had a '56 210 HT when I was born, in the same original color. When was I going to find that again, cuz a 56 210 HT is not a car you can find easily if you are looking...

A friend and I drove 1300 miles south to pick up the car. On the morning of pickup... Where's the ralleye wheel caps? Oh those? I borrowed those from my neighbor. I expected the loose tri-five parts to be nearby or in the trunk. Nope. Where are those? Oh, those you have to pay extra for. He told me I didn't need since the car was complete - he decided he would swap meet 'em... I had the foresight to bring my printed e-mails with, and showed him the agreement - he shuffled his feet but held hard I'd have to pay for them - cuz he had me. I was 1300 miles away from home. After a private conversation with my friend which included some cussin' & swearin', I allowed my friend to be the voice of reason. I bought the car.

It wasn't until I got home that I noticed that the jack and the LT-1 valve covers - both clearly visible in the photos - were no where to be found. I called nthe SOB up, and asked about those - The jack? musta forgot to put it back in the trunk? The LT-1 valve covers? Oh those were never meant to go with the car... This was the first time he told me this. In my irritation with some of the other things, I musta overlooked those. I should have made a check list of things to look for, I guess...

In ending my phone call, I didn't cuss or swear at him, though I would have liked to. Instead, I calmly told him that I didn't think he was an honest guy and that he lacked integrity. Based on his reaction, I think that made him more mad than any profanity that I could have directed at him, as he was roaring and sputtering at me at the same time - I hung up on him.

If I had gotten a sweet deal on the car, I mighta been less bitter about gettin' screwed on some of those things. Instead I paid top dollar, probably more - cuz I had to have THAT year & model car. Gettin' screwed on those things just left me feeling like it was a bad deal, in the end. My friends told me that six months after getting the car I would forget about those things... They were right, for the most part...

if you made it to the end of this, thanks for reading and sorry for the long tale...

 

email from diamond dave on 3 8 2010

about our deal sorry that your disappointed I was honest about the Ford

hey . it's dave with the shoebox. how's it been going? pretty busy round here. i just got a message from a guy who goes by the name jgang on here. he wanted to know whothe 60 went to on here. i told him to do a search on the hamb, that way i wasnt' giving him your name.
but anyways. i 'm buying a 26 foot airstream to pull with the 50. so that'll be alot more fun than my 13 footer is to pull.
i also got a stocker grille. check it out on my posts. hooked up the heater, and maybe i'll get to paint it before spring. maybe a flat gold metallic with black scallops, and black interior trim. i dont know. we'll see how it goes.
anyway. take care man.
<!-- / message --> <!-- sig --> __________________that's what you wrote less than a month ago......... Why didn't you bitch to me ......

 

I guess I've been lucky, I don't feel like I've ever been burned. I have walked away from a few cars who's conditions were not truthfully represented though. It's up to you to really check it out.

 

Also We both looked each others cars over before we signed anything ....The Ford was Pa state inspected.... We looked the cars over 100%. For those who live here in Pa know what assholes those guys can be to get the sticker. We sign papers headed out on each of our trips home. Before I stopped to fill the Chevy up 10 miles down the road the I had to open all 4 windows and vents because of the smell of exhaust. I get home the front bags didn't work for a week till I had a lowrider guy come over and help me find the issue. The wiring on the airbag system to quote him was a hack and slash home job. The muffler was hanging by a coathanger. The "new rockers and body mounts" had rust on them one body mounts was ate up with a hole (not a small one ) which I missed at our day of the trade ...I've talked to you a few times on the phone since the trade and never have you said any of this to me . I have also looked at your profile and thought to myself man I got burned on that trade.... Dave man if you feel raw about the deal I'll trade you back in a heartbeat. The Chevy is still being worked on for the Pa state inspection due to a few things You left out of telling me.... I'm not raw about the deal at all. I've spent more putting the Chevy back on the road than I would have keeping the Ford on the road. If you still have my number give me a ring . I hate you feeling burned about our deal. I have every message we sent to each other and you never seemed pissed about the Shoe . I'm not afraid to answer any questions you have or concerns.

 

I'm embarassed to admit I got ripped on a "second chance" on e-vil bay for a COMPLETE dual quad intake, linkage, air cleaner, and GS valve covers for a Nailhead

 

I got burned buying a car with Hemmings Mag some years back. Bought a car from Alabama that had never seen road salt. The owner failed to mention that the car had been holding up a ditch bank for some time. So I guess I just payed to much for the heap. One persons surface rust is anothers rust through. I have allways had good luck on E-bay cause I only buy from 100% sellers. I have also found HAMB folks really honest and really nice people

 

Ive been fortunate. One pair of 32 Roadster latches that werent as nice as the pictures sent me. And one pair of NOS 31 Chevy fenders that were really 28/29's, but I only paid $250 dollars for, but had to drive 5 hours to New York State one way to get them.. Still have the fenders..

 

I bought a "Mercury" flathead from a guy near Lake of the Ozarks. Well it had mercury heads, intake, and water pumps. Cracked block, FORD crank turned .030 with .015 shims behind the main and rod bearings! The usual "Sold As Is" I will never buy a Merc Flathead again unless I can pull the pan myself. Funny thing is a friend of mine wanted to buy the guys blown Willy's with cash in hand, I told him the story and he decided to look elsewhere. Sometimes the karma train take a while to come back around......but it does.

 

well chris. as i told a ton of other people who pm'd me and inquired about who and what happened. i told them that i was mislead, as the thread states. i now know that all of the work was done by your buddy RatrodFink, or the guy he got it from. but now, he's not on your friends list, and his original posting for the car is gone. and now, you're not on mine. i figured out that you didn't do the work to this car a long time ago,and i dont hold you responsible for the shady shit done to it. the fact is , that i am ok with the car, and have accepted it. it will pull my trailer once i fix the head gasket problem. and i'm upgrading the brakes to disc with a new master cylinder. the steering box is going bye bye to make way for a volvo unit.
you knew i owned the biscayne for 22 days before you got it. i told you all the shit that the p.o. did to it. the only thing i did was make rockers,and drive it. you knew that. so , just as you cant be held accountable for the crazy shit done to the shoebox, i cant be held accountable for the way the bags were ran. i raised the car up all the way when you got there, and you did a thorough inspection of the car.and did you forget the story you told about the guy that bounced the shit out of the car with the switches at the first stop you came to? about 10 minutes away. and then the wire came loose on the one solenoid , and that was the problem with the bag. maybe ''jonny hydraulics'' at the rest stop had something to do with the airbag problem.
i dont' dislike you, i think you're still an ok guy. this thread was just started to inquire about things happening to others.just because the moderators sent a thing to me telling me i havent posted in a while and i should contribute, now that i'm an alliance member. i didn't give names and addresses and pictures to keep it a little anonymous. but i guess that's out the window now. but if you talk to the guy you bought the car from , give him my number, cause i have alot of questions for him about what's what on the car. and feel free to call me and talk if you want. if not. i'll call you later.
d.d.t.

 

Enough to say 'enough'. I now have the 'Larre Rule'. Everything up ft. and agreed upon, and writing up a contract if need be.

 

Dave like I said before if you and I lived closer .... I would see PBR and wrenching together in our future... No hard feelings on this end at all Dave. I'll call you Saturday busy with kids baseball practice..... I'll get Jay's number for ya man np

 

ever notice how, back in the old days, the sheets were hung on the outside lines and the underwear were hung on the inside? It is best to keep the dirty laundry private.

It's good that the two of you are communicating, but why does it need to be public?

Seems to me a few phone calls and some PBR would have made this all good and no drama involved.

I hope this thread gets closed.

 

cool then. i'll talk at you tomorrow. now. does anyone else have a story to share?

 

here's mine, 15 years ago, saw a 52 chevy wagon in Deals on Wheels, in Neb, small pic, short description. called, got the story, nice body, good floors glass etc. sent an agreement notarized by a magistrate. sent half of the money, other half when he delivered the car. numerous calls, no answer,never heard from him again, but the one picture he sent me was in a salvage yard with a 57 ranchero behind it. called a guy in Lincoln from the NSRA fellow pages, he said T-- M----! he screwed me 2 yrs ago. but he spread the story around. 6 months later a body shop guy called me. he saw the ranchero and the wagon in a yard. gave me the info, called the yard, explained my predicament, they said come pick it up. hired a guy, he picked it up, brought it to me for only 100 more than the total i would have paid. it was nothing as described. 4 months later T-- M---- called and said i stole his car.

 

What does this really prove? He could have trailered the car a block or two away, or just far enough to get it hot, and nursed it to your meeting place.

Indication #2 you were dealing with some one who was dicey.

Very first, and HUGE indication you were dealing with a shyster. Today with digital cameras and emails there's absolutely no reason not to be able to provide large detailed images of what you're selling. If a person doesn't have a digital camera or internet access find some one that does.

Just IMO

 

i drove 6 hours to bumfuck North carolina once for a 50 chevy coupe. Talked to the guy multiple times on the phone, had photos everything. He assured me that it was a top notch job. The photos he sent seemed to go along with what he was telling me. So i went for it. Got there, didnt even get out of the truck before i knew i was going home without it. The new paint was rolled on rustolem. He told me to bring a magnet because the car had been completely metal finished.....yeah no shit. you could surf on the patch panels that were flux core welded in. The motor had been sitting on the ground in the rain for years. The "new" and "freshly done" interior certainly were just that....10 years ago before they were sat on a dirt floor in the 2 1/2 sided shed. I was there for 20 minutes. Turned around and drove 6 hours back home with an empty trailer

 

"bobj49f2" I was thinking the same exact things!

 

I once drove 2 hours with my wife to buy a '67 corvette that I was told was decent original car, ran good, look good. Car was for her. Price was a little strong but I was looking for a decent original vette. When I got to the guys house the engine was hanging on a come along from a tree branch in his yard. He said he ran into some problems and couldnt get it together before I got there. Body looked like it was painted with a brush. He couldnt understand why I didnt want his car.

 

I bought an El Camino a while back. It's a nice solid 67, I know a little OT for here but not by much. I didn't need another car, I couldn't afford another car, but I needed the 4.10, 12 bolt bad. I did what I had to do, got rid of some shit I didn't want to, and now the truck is mine.
I got a great deal on it, really. But in all the rush and hustle of buying the car and the snow, mud, location, I skipped an important step. I didn't check to see what gears were in the rear, or if it was even a positraction. No posi, no 4.10, actually a 2.73. Great, I already have a 2.73 that is a posi.
I was disappointed and pissed all at the same time. Not at the guy who sold it to me, (he's actually a buddy of mine.), but at myself. I fucked myself on the deal, I should have checked. Even in the snow and mud how hard is it to check for a posi?
The moral of the story is "I FUCKED MYSELF". It didn't feel too good either. I'm not mad at the guy, he got fucked before I did. I know he honestly thought it had a 4.10 posi. I got a good deal, but not what I needed. I'm dollars ahead, but I needed that rear more than I needed another project. (I kept it to long now and have become attached.)

 

I took a trailer to Memphis from Little Rock for a '63 Fairlane. Asked the seller specifically if the floors were solid -- yeah sure. Told him I didn't want a car with bad floors or sheet metal screwed in place over the holes -- yeah sure no screws in this car's floor.

You already know what I found. Roofing tin screwed into place over a severely rusted floorpan. Underneath, you could pull chunks out of the original floor barehanded. Inside moss was growing on the carpet. The auto trans had a three inch handle sticking up through a hole in the floor for a shifter. The weird thing is that the exterior looked great. I'd swear the exterior panels were all solid -- magnet test would work -- paint looked good. No apparent body filler, panels looked flat, not wavy, etc.

Someone must have taken the time to do decent body work on a car with bad floors and structural rust. Didn't make any sense. I went home without the car.

 

So you got conned into buying a 1999 Mustang GT with a V-6 engine huh?

 

When I was younger I drove 8-hours to Calhoun,MO for a rust-free 1957 F100 short-bed. It had steel plate welded into the bed floor,floors,the body mounts were gone,and the fresh 351-C 4V turned out to be a 400m that hadn`t run in several years.