Any recourse for a totaly misrepsented condition of a car from a long distance

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

Right from the start this about a 928 I just bought not a 911 but this forum has the most informed people so I thought you may be able to help me out. Just to mention, I have two 911's use this forum and buy many parts from our host . Soooo, I purchased this 928 and the owner stated "the a/c was inop,the car has never been hit hard, shifted fine" bla,bla. I got the car delivered it's been smashed in the right front to the inner fender and the a/c heater box was filled with a piss smelling mouse nest the a/c heater controls were shot, the trans grinds going into gear etc... Do I have any recourse or just chalk it up to not doing do diligence? Bought online from a guy in Michigan shipped to NY.

Munky King · 10-23-2017, 12:50 PM

How did you pay for the car? Was it PayPal or credit card? You may have some recourse there.
Where on line was the car advertised? Some sites have guidelines that might help you out?
Have you spoken to the seller about the issues? Are they willing to take the car back minus the shipping fees?
Sorry to hear you have bought something that isn't what you were hoping for.

Roswell · 10-23-2017, 12:50 PM

How were the funds exchanged for payment?

Did you receive a 'Bill of Sale'?

Purchased from a private individual? Clear Title? Was the car's condition advertised in a public forum?

Chances are you are screwed.

Reiver · 10-23-2017, 12:51 PM

With some documentation and a lawyer you always have a chance. Depends upon how much it is worth to you as it would take time and money on your end.....if I was seriously screwed I'd talk to a good mouthpiece and see what he/she thought the chances are for a fraud case.
Was this a private owner or a 'dealer/flipper'.

bpu699 · 10-23-2017, 12:59 PM

Lots of these threads lately...

Busta Rib · 01:05 PM

Having purchased many cars remotely, I highly advise you have a Bill of Sale signed by both parties. This is your contract between buyer/seller. In this BoS you specify the terms of the sale: process, payment, condition of vehicle, delivery, etc. I always include verbatim a copy of the For Sale ad in the BoS and basically ask the seller to commit that the vehicle is being sold as advertised.

If anything goes sideways, you have a stronger legal channel and standing to bring a suit or at least coerce a party to follow through on their commitment specified in the BoS.

Also, there is a lot of risk when you don't have a PPI completed on the vehicle in question. Based on your circumstances, you are probably left holding the bag without any clear contract. You can always try discussing with the seller and hope they have some morals and ethics to do the right thing. Best of luck.

eastbay · 01:22 PM

Sounds like the guy used all the proper weasel words. Good luck.
"Inop A/C", that's what you got, mouse nest no charge.
"Not hit hard", well he said it was hit right there. In the biz a hard hit is one that breaks or cracks the windshield in my experience, so he is covered there also.
"shifts fine" well it shifts right? If you didn't ask specifically if it grinds.....

Sucks, but there are better ways to buy cars to cover yourself. Learning to listen for the telltale weasel words is worthwhile.

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

6,800 buying price. 2 grand PayPal the rest was wire transfer.

Roswell · 10-23-2017, 01:34 PM

Contact PayPal asap.

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

Money not transfer for goods. I fell for it.

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

He's on the board here I'm going to wait to expose.

Cal44 · Cal44's Garage

Well, lets be honest, you didn't spend a fortune, so there is that. Anyway, it's over. You'll spend more time and have heartburn over this than it's worth. In the mean time, get out the wallet...........it's a 928. I dig em' but installing a LS1 would be a nice substitute.

By the by, I'm finishing up a mouse poop all you can eat fiesta in the front of a 914 barn find. Three pounds all total. Stinks like heck. The fix, once its all vacuumed out is Trader Joes blue cleaner in the spray bottle. The stuff is non toxic and works wonders.

JMS935 · 10-23-2017, 03:20 PM

It sounds like you were buying a project, it’s just that it’s going to be more of a project than you realized.

A lawsuit, or even paying an attorney for their time to try and resolve this without a lawsuit, is not money well spent based on the purchase price. Put that towards the project.

I’m terms of returning the car, good luck with that, I doubt the seller would be willing to take it back. Even if the seller was willing to you’ve now paid round trip to ship this car from Michigan to NY and back. So that’s just more wasted money like an attorney would be.

My recommendation...

Work out a middle ground with the seller where he returns an agreed settlement amount back to you and you keep the car and put those dollars towards the project instead of wasting money on an attorney or round trip shipping expenses.

bpu699 · 10-23-2017, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezoneill

6,800 buying price. 2 grand PayPal the rest was wire transfer.

Not sure exactly what the expectation was of a $6700 car...

Honestly, for that, I wouldn't expect much of anything. On a sub $10,000 Porsche, assume it needs everything...

gomezoneill · gomezoneill's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by bpu699

Not sure exactly what the expectation was of a $6700 car...

Honestly, for that, I wouldn't expect much of anything. On a sub $10,000 Porsche, assume it needs everything...

Really? Grinding gears and a car filled with mouse piss and and completely bent and crushed frame , are you serious? Totally misrepresented. Big time lie.

Alan A · 10-23-2017, 04:45 PM

In your opinion.
But that's why I buy cars FTF.
A few bills for a plane ticket is cheap insurance.

bpu699 · 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezoneill

Really? Grinding gears and a car filled with mouse piss and and completely bent and crushed frame , are you serious? Totally misrepresented. Big time lie.

I appreciate your disappointment. I get it.

Maybe my expectations are low when I buy stuff that's cheap, keeps me from being disappointed.

Lots of things on a cheap car aren't apparent until you personally look at it. If you don't look at it, or do a ppi, issues like this come up. Wisest thing to do is to price that uncertainty into it, when you buy it. Or, limit the risk by looking at it personally or pay someone to do it for you.

I bought a 914 from a friend. I even looked at it. Later, found mouse nests, some electrical gremlins, oil leaks, etc.

Oh well.

With a $100k car, I have different expectations than from a $3000 car.

Presently looking for boxsters to track. Looking in the $5000-7000 range, tons to choose from. I realize that doesn't buy a cream puff, and have set my expectations to match that.

I have looked at 928s in the past. The ones below 12k$ weren't pretty... $6000 would be a total project, with rust, needing everything... at least in the Midwest...

Unobtanium-inc · 10-23-2017, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezoneill

Right from the start this about a 928 I just bought not a 911 but this forum has the most informed people so I thought you may be able to help me out. Just to mention, I have two 911's use this forum and buy many parts from our host . Soooo, I purchased this 928 and the owner stated "the a/c was inop,the car has never been hit hard, shifted fine" bla,bla. I got the car delivered it's been smashed in the right front to the inner fender and the a/c heater box was filled with a piss smelling mouse nest the a/c heater controls were shot, the trans grinds going into gear etc... Do I have any recourse or just chalk it up to not doing do diligence? Bought online from a guy in Michigan shipped to NY.

You probably have little if any legal recourse, but you can reach out to the seller, he might send you some money back. I have had sellers send money back when a car is mis-represented, I've also had them tell me to pound sand, but it's worth a try. The best I ever had was a guy who told me the car had little to no rust, some bubbling in the doors, etc. When the car arrived the pedals were dangling in mid-air, the floors were gone. When I called and complained he said, "Look, the car photographs really well, just take some pictures and re-sell it, you will do fine." I asked if he wanted me to do to the next guy what he did to me? His answer was, "Look, I'm giving you an out here, if you don't want to take it that's on you."

---Adam

pmax · pmax's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezoneill

Really? Grinding gears and a car filled with mouse piss and and completely bent and crushed frame , are you serious? Totally misrepresented. Big time lie.

Is this the car ?

ohenryinatlanta · 10-24-2017, 08:30 AM

i had a similar issue

paypal's guarantee does not cover motor vehicles. luckily for me after they rejected my claim i initiated a charge back on my credit card. saved me $2k.

most states view an "as is" sale as incumbent on the buyer to beware.

AS is sales to not shield a seller from knowingly false claims but from what you posted he looks to have done enough to shield himself

outside of that, the cost of legal recourse pretty much is ruled out outside of a major f8ck job.