Vehicles that aren't accurately represented

Anyone have any stories of driving far to look at a car for sale that was far from what it was supposed to be according to the owner?

A few years back I drove several hours into the heart of WV to look at two 1964 Falcon hardtops. They were supposed to be solid, restore-able, and had lots of extra parts.

After trying to find the place, it was a barn converted into a house. The cars were in the middle of a cow pasture and were sunk a few feet into the mud/manure. They had dents in every panel and every piece of trim was stripped off and on the ground to be trampled by cows.

It was a fun drive but not a fun find.

 

That's just part of the fun!
Following 1000 leads to find 999 duds...but that 1 cool find....it's worth it!

 

good post everyone on HAMB should be able to relate to this one
should be some great stories,cant wait.happened to me many times in the hunt but sweet when you finaly make the kill.

 

All the time...

I guess some people are stupid, or do not know about cars, or do not know how to write an ad or in some cases all of the above.

Then there are those times when it is better than expected or as described. I bought a vehicle this week from a hamber that was exactly as described.

 

Back in the 1970's I worked at a restoration shop, and we maintained a 1913 Bebe Peugeot for a customer. Tiny car designed by Ettore Bugatti with many features he later used on his own cars. One turned up for sale in Boston for $1,000. a three hour drive.........and I had the money. Dad and I got there in 2 1/2 hours, maybe less. The seller was clueless, turned out to be a badly rebodied Austin Seven.

 

i drove from nh to sc with a guy from craigslist i paid to pick up a car. it was so far from what i was told i cut my losses and passed on it.on the way home we kept making calls and found a far better deal in baltimore.one week later i arrived home with the car i wanted in the first place.1928 roadster.i wouldn't change a thing. it was one of the most fun times of my life and i got a great friend out of the deal.

 

I have to agree, a lot of the fun is in the hunt. And every once in a while you hit a winner. I called on an ad for a 61 Merc wagon. It had been sitting for several years. I figured it would be a rusty parts car but made the trip anyway. And what should I find? A solid rust free 40,000 original mile, original paint and nice original interior Mercury Commuter wagon! It was sitting out in a field but only for a couple of months. It came out of an old garage where it sat for 20 plus years! Took it home, did a little clean up and some mechanical repair what do you know? A very nice old wagon. That helps make up for the hundred or so trips to look at the one owner always garaged cars that obviously have never seen a garage! What a great hobby.

 

I drove to Florida to look at a 67 Jeepster was told it was solid and in perfect running condition the photos were great ……
Too bad the photos were 10-15 years old; it was rusted and worn out.
He flat out lied and posted old pics too boot
I wanted to kick his azz.
It was a 12 hour drive round trip and diesel at $3.80 a gallon

 

It's the thrill of the hunt or the chase for me. Even if I do find that 1 in a thousand car or part, the next day I am back searching classifieds looking for the next one and selling the one I just bought! I think it's a sickness!

 

one sunday my buddy and I make a six hr speed run to look at and BUY a 66 charger. Seller is nice. Car is stand up. Deal is made. I start counting out the cash on the hood when the seller says, "Cars got a lien on it, I'll get you the title tomorrow." I lash him 'the look' and start scooping up the money. Stuffing the money back in my pocket I mention to this assnap that maybe he should have gotten the title stuff straightened out BEFORE he put the car up for sale. He says he didn't figure he'd sell it on a sunday, because nobody would have the cash. Walking away I told him he was half right. He wasn't selling it, but he did see the cash.
But all wasn't lost. Took a different way home, and found a Buick GS in nice shape, for a good price, and a CLEAR title.

 

A while back some friends bought a '50 Ford convert out of a garage in their neighborhood and mentioned that there was a '37 Buick that was for sale also.
Didn't sound very interesting but; I went with them to help see if we could get the
car they bought running. It didn't take long to notice the '37 Buick was a '33 Ford
Tudor. Needless to say I bought it. 425 hp 409, T-10, 4:11 posi Chev rear, five US
Royal Masters on five Buick Skylark wires (maybe that where the Buick idea came from), and no rust whatsoever, ever. This was '71; but I thought the $350 I paid was a good deal at the time. Of course I couldn't leave things be; but that is another story.

 

it is very disheartening when an intentional deception is discovered. Especially after a long drive.

yes, the good ones sure do make you feel better, but in my case, they don't overcome the bad ones.

just too many dishonest folks out there.

thank God there are lots of good folks, too

 

Yeah, post up all the bad experiences so everyone gets discouraged and stops looking for old stuff! That will leave more for me to buy!

 

last year i made a 5-6 hundred mile trip to see an ot 69 chevelle. turn key, restored, mint condition etc.when i got there there i knew i didn't want it in less than 3 minutes. it was totally misrepresented. BUT i had a great father and son trip, it got hear about dads deuce roadster with a lincoln v12 and his pan head he bought from a hells angel in san francisco in the 50's. when i got home i found another car on my list 30 mins from my house. IT'S ALL GOOD!!!

 

Back when I was 15 I was saving my money from my job at the Gulf Station. Every Thursday the Bargain Mart came out and I would check it for 55 Chevys. There was one in Maynardville not to far out of Knoxville. It was supposed to be a 2-door post with a solid body and a 327 with a 4-spd. I talked my Dad into driving me out there to take a look at it. Well it did have a 327 in it but the seller didn't tell me it was apart and in the trunk. I went ahead and checked the body out and noticed what looked like mesh under the paint on one of the headlight brows. I pushed down with my thumb and it sunk in and stayed sunk in. My Dad told me later that he was watching me close because he thought I was going to go after the guy.

My Dad took me to look at a bunch of 55's. I wish he was still around.

 

want some cheese with that whine?

 

found out a long time ago the car always look better to the seller than the buyer.but every time i get a good deal it makes it worth the drive and beer

 

Ah yes the ol' picture of car is 10 - 15 years back... I find most that I look at had pics taken from way back.. More like "what the car CAN look like"... but I have to say.. even tho' you've got those types out there... and there seems to be a lot of criticism about all the Craigslist flakes.. most of my Craigslist dealings have been pretty darn positive, and I've met some great people buying and selling. Car guys seem to want to give other car guys a great deal.. it's the "clueless" out there that as "Gold prices" for something that looks more like copper. Ya know what I mean? Love the search... just can't help myself. Always looking.

 

Drove 4 hours across Kansas once to look at a '56 Chrysler Windsor. No rust, driver with a hemi. I figured that a Windsor wouldn't have a hemi but it would have been a neat car.

The guy said that the turn signals and brake lights didn't work but from his discription we could drive it home. it was a poly but I had already figured that. I had to fiddle with the carb and file the points to get it running. The back glass was gone, he said that happened right after I talked to him and knocked 50 bucks off the price, nice of him. It had a brake locked up that I had to free up to drive it. 3 bald tires and one maypop. No rust because someone had taken a sawzall to it and cut all the rust away.

But we did go careening around the little burg in it. Laughing like a couple of school girls all the time.

We didn't buy the car but we did have a good time together, the wife and I always have an adventure, we are easily entertained.

That's just life I guess, sometimes folks get desparate.

I could probably tell stories like this for hours the wife and I have been dragging old cars home for about 40 years.

 

Now that is what i call a top score! Did you get the 2dor too? They could both make totally awesome slammed cruiser.

 

Drove 150 miles once to the middle of nowhere to look at a '67 Corvette. When I got there it was a '68 - very far apart $$$ wise.

If you're not familiar with Corvette values that's like expecting to see a '32 Ford and seeing a Model A.

 

It's not too bad if you only have to drive somewhere to look at a car, but living in another hemishpere makes car buying a real challenge. Last one I was looking at (48 Chev Aero) in Cal was "real good, just a small spot of rust on the sill panel" until I had somebody over there check it out and found out that it was completely rotten underneath. Looked fantastic in the photos I was sent, but no photos of the underneath side (funny about that). How come some people can lay a new coat of paint onto a smelly turd? It only stops the smell for a little while.

 

It started happening all too much...The vehicles I was chasing turned out to be total junk. I'm to the point now that when I talk to the owner on the phone, I ask specific questions about areas of the vehicle and if they give a vague answer or try not to answer at all, I don't waste the money on the trip.

Looked at a 58 F100 a few years back and the owner said it was rock solid, no rust ever. The pictures showed a decent looking truck outside, no detail shots of the underside or anything. When we got the there, the cab steps were totally rotted away and the lower portions of the cowl were shot......The best part was the body filler being held in with window screen on the bed sides, there had to be 15-20 gallons of bondo in this truck! All the seller said was "WOW I never noticed that"

 

It happens. I have learned over the years to ask the right questions, and consider carefully the answers. After a while you become a good judge of people, just from the initial phone call. Make sure your expectations aren't unrealistic.

 

We drove 9 hours (one way) from Ottawa to Windsor to go look at a 62 Pontiac, we got there and the car was so rotten the springs where coming up into the trunk.

The guy who was selling the car admitted the pics he sent where from the mid 70's!!!! the car had been sitting outside for 20+ years. He was in a wheelchair, and a friend of mine was ready to break his arms to match his legs haha

We made a fun trip out of it anyways.

 

Caveat Emptor, as the Romans used to say. I have a good buddy who wanted an F1 pickup. Found one online in Alabama. Calls the guy up, used car lot (first warning sign), who assured him it was a solid truck (guy sounded like Larry the Cable Guy, second warning sign). So he drives from NH to Alabama and discovers the back half of the truck frame is gob welded channel iron and bondo! Didn't appear the truck would stand even a short trip without breaking apart. Good ol' boy at the used car lot ran his mouth as to "that ain't nothing to worry about" and probably doesn't know how close he came to meeting his maker.
But on the other side of the coin, my buddy is an incurable optimist, he continues to pursue getting an F1 and finds one in Arizona. Has the guy send pics and buys the truck sight unseen and has it picked up and delivered to NH. Turns out it is a rock solid great running '51 with just the usual sun bleached exterior of desert cars.
So like the carnival barker says, "you pays your money and takes your chances".

 

went to look at a "good running 64 galaxie vert" it seemed too cheap to be real but after i talked to the seller i went to look anyway. the guy was pretty honest about the condition minus one thing......it was a 65, not a 64.

 

dam'it bobwop !!! i really want to say somethin, i really want to, but i'll just count my blessings. and ryan will just deleat it any way ???

 

back when i was redoing one of my 55 Pontiac wagons,we were at a show & mentioned i was looking for 55 Pontiac parts,a guy pipes up & says his buddy has a bunch of parts-i give my #,& a couple days later this dude calls me up & has a crap load of parts -stuff i pretty much already have but ohwell,we start talking & hey wait a f*cken minute!!!he trying to sell me --my parts!
get this my wagon is in a shed with no windows & the doors screwed shut..he never would call back,i should have played it cool & met up with him--but i was a hit first then ask questions later kinda guy,
me & the misses have logged a million- Nebraska back road miles hunting for old stuff.now it's the kids...

 

I'm headed out to look at a car tomorrow. A '46 chevy coupe that is complte and has been in a barn since '70 and only has one small rust spot on the driver floor, or so the owner says. I really hope this doesn't turn out to be a flop. It almost sounds to good to be true. He told me that he had the car sold 3 times and had gotten deposits everytime. Then the buyers backed out.

I dunno, I guess you never really know till your standing next to the car.

A friend of mine who owns a crane/rigging company found 2 forklifts for sale online that were "totally rebuilt". So he drove his truck and lowboy from NY to Montana to pick them up. When he got there everything looked good at first, then he walked around the other side of the forklifts and they were shit. The guy only painted the one side of the lifts just so he could take a picture. Then he had the balls to say "well, you drove all this way. You might as well buy them." If it were me I'd probably be in prison still. I can't imagine how much it cost in fuel to go there and back for nothing.