Big Mistake

[AZ409]

I just purchased a 62 Impala that was listed on EBay, it did not reach its reserve so I negociated a price off line. The seller presented enough pictures and info that I felt allowed me to make an informed decession. I received the car a couple of days ago and it appears that the seller used a filtered camera lens that hid any flaws. In addition the seller represented the car as having very low miles and a 327, 300 HP motor and the original power guide. After checking the numbers I found the block was from a 1975 truck and the trans was a 350.
It has all the SS trim but the only code I could find that represents a SS is the trim code, (385-Red Bucket Seats SS) it also has EF as an acc code. ?

I paid #1 price for this car and its a #3, I accept the the fact that it was a very expensive mistake and Ive been around long enough to know better.

I want to weight my options ( if I have any) before I contact the seller. I'm sure I could hire a lawyer and with the documents I have win the case but that would cost me as much as I've lost. Please let me know your thoughts......
AZ409

[MRHP]

I'm sorry to hear you were taken for a ride. Buyer beware comes to mind. I never buy without looking at in person. Ever. Try contacting the seller and nicely confront him with the discrepencies. Most cars are mis-represented in one form or another. Either on purpose or plane ignorance. Hope it turns out well.

[dq409]

I'm sorry to hear you were taken for a ride. Buyer beware comes to mind. I never buy without looking at in person. Ever. Try contacting the seller and nicely confront him with the discrepencies. Most cars are mis-represented in one form or another. Either on purpose or plane ignorance. Hope it turns out well.


Not much more to say then that, although it is too bad these guys are out there.

How far from where you live did the seller live?

Maybe we should start up a buyers service and have members from around the country check these cars out for the buyers at a justified fee????,, dq

[AZ409]

Thanks dg,

The car was 2000 miles from here, that's why I didn't fly out to take a look. I think a net of members throughout the U.S. would be a great ideal. The least we could do is take real pictures and check #s.
I did send a polite E-Mail asking for a refund in the value difference of the motor as MRHP suggested. LG409

[MRHP]

I would go look at cars or parts for anyone on this site as long as it was not too far. I have driven to the bottom of Missouri, Illinois, and all points in between until I came across my 62 in Vegas. Spent many thousand dollars on wild goose chases. I had plenty of pictures, talked to the seller and even had delt with muscle car dealers. The cars were never in the condition they told me. Not even close! When I go see a misrepresented car I am very up front and blunt with the seller. Almost rude. Why lie to someone to get them to buy your car. B.S. Hope it works out. Brian

[Bam59]

that is one fine idea that dq has, we can take pic's numbers and the folks in the know will tell if it for real or not. great thinking

i'll cover florida

[AZ409]

Count me in......I've retired twice and I now work part time at "Impala Bobs" to keep me busy. But not today, its 112 degrees in the shade. Az is rust free but damn it gets hot. AZ409:doh

[impalaragpat]

Count me in. Will help in the STL area. Will go with cash in hand and buy for myself.:brow
Pat

[rwagon57]

I'll be glad to check anything in NM.

[60biscayne409]

Sorry ,to ear that ,same thing happen to me , well i did not pay that much for the car if i can say that ,$2100.US ,it was a project car, i should ad know better when the car did not sale ,but from the picture the seller send me it look very good , but whe i got the car it was another story, first i contact the seller ,talk to him gently , did not work, after try to be agressif, not a good thing, contact ebay ,pay for one of the ebay lawyer, to contact the seller to work thing over for me , wait,wait,wait, 1 week 2 week 3weeks ,after a month got a email from the ebay lawyer that said that there was nothing he could do and said good luck,it sucks ,it seem the only thing i could do is leave a bad feedback ,the only one i ever leave .
But if You have pay a big price for the car i hope there is something you can do ,i know me i try everything from here in canada , with no result, if your in the US , maybe it will be different.
I hope thing work better for You.
60biscayne409

[Pudde]

ill help in the eugene/portland area....send me a pm:)

[DennisK]

I'll help here in MN, Iowa and Wis. Dennis.:)

[No409]

ill help in the mass, ri, ct area if anyone needs my services

[Rich64SS]

ill help in the mass, ri, ct area if anyone needs my services

I'd watch out for this guy.:brow Every time I stop by his shop, he or his father have just bought something that I wish I had found.:bow

J/K.... Tom knows his stuff.

[Rockfish39]

Count me in......I've retired twice and I now work part time at "Impala Bobs" to keep me busy. But not today, its 112 degrees in the shade. Az is rust free but damn it gets hot. AZ409:doh

Hey AZ 409

If you are Larry Grier, then you are a decent guy! Thanks for helping me out of that jam with my heat riser a month or so ago... I got it just in time !!!! Everything worked out great!!!!! :bow

S0RRY to hear that you got screwed so bad...
Happened to me once in my life when I bough a '57 car from Chicago Car Exchange (Now known as Chicago Classic Cars) many years ago. Not a darn thing that I could do about it... Lost my azz on it. NEVER did that again...

eBay has done wonders for our hobby, but it also makes selling by unscrupulous sellers that much easier. In fact, I often wonder how many "used tools" on eBay are actually stolen property :scratch

Rock :cool:

[dq409]

eBay has done wonders for our hobby, but it also makes selling by unscrupulous sellers that much easier. In fact, I often wonder how many "used tools" on eBay are actually stolen property :scratch

Rock :cool:

If the tools are from the Portland area chances are they are red hot !!

Our meth problem here is out of control and the cops don`t do their job of monitoring the hock shops.
The FBI had to come in and tell Portland to get it under control as thieves from all over the west knew that Portland was the place to fence stolen ggods.

We had a piece on TV that showed back rooms of some of the hock shops with stacks of NEW goods shoplifted from stores from around the west coast !!
One shop had stacks of new chain saws and other high dollar goods stacked to the ceiling and had an Ebay store.

Tons of used goods also,,, Buyer beware,,,dq:cuss

[Old School]

I checked a car for a out of state friend who was about to send an eBay seller (thief) a large wad of cash for a Calif. 60 Impala Convert. . He called me just to see if I thought it was a good deal. The car looked decent in the photos and I offered to drive a few towns away and take a look at it before he forked over the cash.

Here are some underside photos I sent back to my friend. Total rust bucket! Frame was gone. Not even safe to drive. You can see in the photos pistol tagetes covering the floor pans.

The seller was surprised to see me and came right out an told me he was hoping to find a out of state buyer to just ship it to. Told me he was the victim of some guy in Mich buying it without seeing it and now was hoping someone else would do the same for him. He was hoping to recover his loss.


The car went back up for sale on eBay a week later and I watched another victim get stuck by this guy.

Anytime, anyone needs a car checked in Northern Calif, PM me.

[Ronnie Russell]

Count me in. Can check north Texas and south-east Okla.

[petepedlar]

I could look at something/assist in or around Vancouver, B.C. if needed. This is a great idea, lets keep it going !!

Dave

[dq409]

What started out as just a smartass`s idea has turned into a great idea!:brow

Maybe we should formulate a list of members showing the city/state/area that have members that are willing to do this.

ie: dq - Portland OR area

I know that as a member of A.B.A.T.E. (a motorcycle Org.) they have a list and location of members that will rescue you on the road and provide gas, hauling, tools, lodging etc.

We could start the same thing for doing auto inspections for our members.
You never know, this could be contagious and spread to other auto related sites !!,,dq

[Ronnie Russell]

dq, If you will provide lodging, I wont need the rest of the stuff.....:rofl

[Nuts]

I'd be willing to look or assist in South Idaho or Eastern Oregon as needed....:)

[droptop62]

I can help out in and around Minneapolis Minnesota.:)
(Unless the car is in the Ghetto, Drug infested Crappy areas of Minneapolis, then you are on your own).:nono1:

[fatride]

I'm in. :D

[dq409]

dq, If you will provide lodging, I wont need the rest of the stuff.....:rofl

Uza fuuny guy !!!,,,,,,,,,,:doh

[bobs409]

Maybe we need to put together some type of searchable database for this. :deal (thank to DQ for a great idea!) :cheers

Something like this;

1) Your Name-City-State-Zipcode

2) How far you will travel to do this for free

3) How far you will travel to do this at a cost for time/fuel. (hey, gas ain't cheap!) :D


We would want to clarify that no one can be held responsible for those hidden surprises! Bondo and paint can hide many things!!! :eek: Those that offer to do this will do their best I'm sure. :)

[jester]

I can se anything in Eastern NY or parts of Vermont.:rofl

[raymar58454]

Bob Walker

Those crabs can be hard to get rid off. I'd a just settled for the beer.:eek: :rofl

I'd like to help with this,could do north central IL., onlyproblem is I'm on the road and don't get home but a day or two on the weekend.

If you look at the pictures of my 58 in the photo album the paint looks great, as it was advertised on ebay, well it's bad, but I seen it in person before I bought it. I bought it because of the fact it is rust free and solid. I never even started it cuz the plan was to put a 454 in it, then I ran across this bunch. Finally got the 09block back from the machine shop last week. Heads are done. Building the MPFI intake now.:)

[64409]

Hey that sucks to to hear to got ripped off. I bought a jeep off ebay and had to put 1k ( Rebuild carb and new 4x4 vaccum lines) when I got. THe good thing is I took it to the dealer to have the work done and the dumb *** popped the clucth and the jeep jumped into a steel table and the ins. co. totaled the car. I bought it back from ins. and fixed myself. God was definatlly on my side.
Now for your car, ebay say contact square trade and that is just a waste of time b/c they email the seller and if the seller doesn't respond within a week they close the case.
I just watched his other items and told potentall buyers what happend to me. I even made a new ebay name and won some item and never paid to give myself a little satifaction. I'll never buy a car w/o seeing it.
........................ LIVE AND LEARN thats all we can do.......................
Good luck with evey thing............................................. ........................

[64409]

I live in buffalo if I can help just let me know..

[Dond409]

I second that. I want to see that fuel injection setup also.

[Impalaguru]

Hey Guys,
Sorry to learn about the unfortunate deal on eBay. Count me in for Iowa. I'm now located in Des Moines so I'm right in the middle of the state!!
Ross

[models916]

I will help out in Chicago and Subs.

[W Head]

Guys, I live in the central part of Texas, will help out with in 150 miles of Hamilton.

W Head

59 El Camino 348-3,2s
59 Impala 409-2,4s

[AZ409]

WOW. never thought one bad deal would generate 34 responses, seems like lots of good folks have been fooled by a few bad guys. Count me in, if we can create a data base. AZ409

[5509]

Dq has good idea,I will be glad to help any way I can .Portland or TOM

[rstreet]

Count me in on Eastern Shore of Maryland and can cover Southern Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Va.
Please send the beer and crabs IN ADVANCE:brow
Can't do West of the bay. Must leave Baltimore to Walker Heh Heh:)

Oh I forgot I only do Ocean City in the Winter Too Hot and too much traffic.

[bluescreamer]

Count me in, Eastern PA.
Should make a list, add to info exchange
Allen

[61belairbubbletop]

Count me in too. I'll help out in the Northern Indiana / Southwest Michigan area.

Randy

[CDNpontiac409guy]

This IS a great idea, DQ:deal :brow
I have been "recruited" to inspect cars here in Alberta ( once into BC as well ) a number of times. What has been rewarding is, most of the time, the deals were made. I only remember one where the car was not what it was supposed to have been.

On a positive note, some of these long disatance deals really work. When I sold my 64 convertible 3 years ago, to a guy who wouldn't stop hounding me:doh ;) ... he emailed his offer "number", and I reluctantly agreed. The following day, he wired half the purchase price. I replaced the carpet, changed the rear gears, and gave the engine a thorough tune up. He wired the balance a week later, and the car was transported by enclosed trailer, some 2800 miles.
2 days after he recieved the car, he phoned me, and said that he had jammed the shifter ( stock 4 speed ) and couldn't get it to work. He then made suggestion,...
a couple days later, I was provided a round trip plane ticket to Montreal, just to fix the shifter:beerbang . Away I went. Fixed the shifter in 15 minutes, and got to hang out with Brent for a couple days, seeing the sites:deal .

Anyhow, if anybody is looking at a car in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba... I'm available. Have the means to transport too.

[58 Guy]

I'll do my bit too. I'm no expert but I know a hamburger from a steak.
Got a few cameras and two brothers with old chevies.
6 eyes better than 2
Can check out Vancouver B.C. Canada area also.

Hey I posted some Pics you might get a chuckle.

[belair6162]

count me in, I'll cover S.E. Michigan and the thumb area, even northern MI. during
snowmobile season.
I hear more and more bad ebay deals when buying old cars, camera filters ? i dont even know what that is,theifs have gone high tech.

Tom

[MRHP]

Let me know, I'm in upper Michigan. I could venture to Wisconsin as well. Be glad to help!

[Dond409]

I can do some of New York. Probably from Watertown to Scranton, Pa. North to south and Rochester to Albany, east to west. I can also provide transportation of vehicle, too

[58 Guy]

Just had a thought.
If there were a network of contacts to check these cars out and the seller was told that a club member local to them would check the car on the buyees behalf, they might get nervous and come clean or discourage the buyer. This could actually act as a 1st stage kinda deterent without moving a muscle. Just watch for flags from the seller that they want to avoid having the car checked.
Just a thought. :D

[Tic's60]

Web wise it's pretty easy to do, I build'em all day, Select state + city return e-mail addresses of that areas locals. 30 min to 1 hour tops. Use another page to insert potential checkers information ...simple.
With the prices some of these fools charging and other fools accepting this could become a lucrative business hmmmmmm :-)

[nomadci]

I'm in Atlanta Ga...can do the Carolinas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Always looking for a good reason to take a cruise.:)

[StingRaye]

AZ409, go to Impalas.net--Tag Team--read post "Collector Car Fraud" posted by member.

[Dick MacKenzie]

Maybe we need to put together some type of searchable database for this. :deal (thank to DQ for a great idea!) :cheers

Something like this;

1) Your Name-City-State-Zipcode

2) How far you will travel to do this for free

3) How far you will travel to do this at a cost for time/fuel. (hey, gas ain't cheap!) :D


We would want to clarify that no one can be held responsible for those hidden surprises! Bondo and paint can hide many things!!! :eek: Those that offer to do this will do their best I'm sure. :)

This is a great Idea. I can cover Delaware, North Eastern Maryland, South Jersey and South Eastern PA.

[Astro409]

The car went back up for sale on eBay a week later and I watched another victim get stuck by this guy.


I would of sent copies of the pictures to the potetial buyers. Just my 2 cents.:clap I hate when people try to get over like that. Well, i'm also in to help check out cars in the Houston, Texas area and the suburbs. Let me know if its farther than that and chances are that I still can do it,