What A Waste Of Time!

Well I feel lower than a rattle snake’s belly button in a wagon rut!

I went out yesterday to pickup my Rambler wagon and was shocked at its real condition.

I was buying this wagon long distance and after weeks of exchanged emails, texts and pictures, I finally had a day off work to go out and pick the wagon up. After a very long drive I arrived to find a vehicle that was only a faint reflection of the pictures I had received. There was not one square foot of metal that did not have at least one rust hole. All of the floors were gone, every square inch of upholstery was ripped or missing, the dash was cracked and hacked up. The headliner showed major water damage and two of the four doors would not budge – rusted shut!

It seemed obvious the car must have been flooded at some point (Hurricane Ike?) and had sat outside rusting from the inside out. I can only guess that is why it looked better in the pictures than it was - that and very skillful camera angles. The owner had nothing to say for himself, just shrugged his shoulders and told me if I didn’t want it there were others who did!

This is the first and last time I try to buy a car remotely. From now on, if I can’t touch the car I am not making an offer! (I’m over fifty and still learning lessons!) :banghead3: I read and hear of folks buying diamonds in the rough all the time via eBay and national car ads – but I am either too unlucky or too stupid to get away with that – or I only hear about the success stories and not all the nightmares! Ha!

So I am back in market looking for a early 60s model wagon for my next project! Wish me luck.

 

I hate to hear that.

Where did you go to see it?

 

Not to Abilene, or he would've bought the 64 Impala. Sucks about your trip, I'm curious to hear where it was and what it was.

 

Doesn't really matter anymore but it was north-west of Houston.
The main issue was it could only be picked up at a specific day at a certain time of day - and of course it was rush hour. So it ended up be over a six hour trek in crazy traffic for nothing. Not toi mention all the time spent before, exchanging emails.

A few honest photos and description could have saved both of us a great deal of time.

I would have normally made the drive to see the car in person before, but the seller was never available and he assured me constantly that the car only had surface rust and ran like a dream! His dream - my nightmare!

Like I said - I am an old dog and still learning!

 

That sucks big time Ivan, I can imagine that was very frustrating.

 

Hey Ivan. Maybe 100 mile 'round trip and a few hours? You got educated for cheap. Try flying from Detroit to Phoenix to buy a '68 Barracuda 383 4 spd formula S fast back that's supposed to be an original Az. Car and finding out when you got there that it spent the 1st 7 years of its life in a northern suburb of Detroit! THE SALT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. Theirs more but if I don't stop now I'll get crabby all over again and its only been 25 yearz Jes remember they ain't all nice guyz out there like you and me

 

I had a very similar experience yesterday as well.
Saw an ad for what appeared to be a fairly nice '89 Colony Park in Olympia, WA - 230 miles away. Owner sent me some additional pics. Everything looked pretty good. Got some cash from the bank and hit the road at 9:30. Get there at 2:00PM. Walked up to the vehicle and i could tell immediately that it wasn't quite as advertised. Lots of door dings and chips in the Di-Noc, severe wear in the driver's door frame, which squeeked and sagged when I opened it. Frame looked solid, but there was oil coating the oil and transmission pans. I didn't even test drive it. Owner for some reason didn't seen surprised that I wasn't buying it.

 

I just got back from picking up my 71 Vista cruiser in Ca. I talked to the original owner several times and thought I had asked all the pertinent questions. I did drive it down the street and back.
Well after getting it home I think the car had been a little neglected. So don't feel bad, I took a buddy along with me and we both overlooked some things, I don't know if it would have killed the sale but I would have given him less then what he was asking. Then we had to trailer it home, that is another entire story in itself. Take care hope you find what your looking for.

 

Wow really hate to hear about this. Sorry it was such a dud. If you tell me what you're looking for I'll gladly keep my eyes peeled from Waco to San Antonio for you. I love the hunt and will gladly give you an HONEST assessment if I look at a car for you.

I just got back from my 1600-mile trek to get my new Custom Cruiser, so I KNOW how it feels to buy a car from a picture!

 

I had a very similar thing happen to me. Spent a lot of time on the phone with the guy, texts, additional pictures, etc. Claims it had only 30k on the clock.. and not a rust spot on it. The pictures he took were also very convincing. 700 miles and 16 hours later I was back home empty handed. Turns out it was NOT rust free, and the frame was rusted out!!

 

That's disappointing. Just shows how lucky some guys really are.

ain't all nice guyz out there like you and me And me and hopefully most members of the station wagon forum.:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

Happens way too often. Maybe we can all help out each other here - when a member is looking to buy a wagon, they can put out the SOS (Save our Sanity in this case) and a member close by could check it out for them. Even if the member charged for gas/time, it would be better than making a wasted trip. Just a thought - I know other members have offered from time to time to do this but maybe we could make it more formal.

 

Last summer I drove to Chicago IL to buy a 1976 coupe de ville d'elegance, originally a nevada car. had come up from Reno in 2001, still only had 68000miles. the car looked nice in the pictures in front of the guy's house. talked to him on the phone sounded like a nice guy the only bad thing he told me was that it could use a fresh paint job since the paint was sun bleached.



well turns out the pictures were from 2001 and the caddy hadn't moved from that spot in front of the guy's house since they were taken.....ten years of of Chicago winters, being splashed with salty slush in the winters, looked like a snow plow may have brushed along it's rear quater. the vinyl roof was curled up, split, and peeling. I didn't even get out of my car I just drove past it and turned around and hit the highway back home.....

 

Sadly with the costs of fuel we don't even plan trips like those much anymore, unless we really think it's gonna be a good deal. Mike was very lucky to fly then drive 1600 miles for his last wagon. Same thing easily could have happened.
Too many people don't know the value or condition of their own cars. And so many are out to rip others off.
Why would a guy even think you are going to buy a rusty banged up car for a high price? They know they wouldn't!
Hopefully us members can help others when a wagon appears nearby. We may not have the time or money to drive far. But we can go across town.

 

Wow - it does sound like I got a easy education.

Your stories make mine seem weak!

It just makes me sad that I am old enough to remember a time when a fellow's word was golden. When being an honest straight shooter actually was a common character trait amongst most folks.

And what do these clowns think when they mislead and stretch the truth? That we will go ahead and buy the car, just because we’ve made the trip?? Make you wonder.

But every time I encounter a car like this on Craigslist or other local ads, I keep track of them and 90% of the time they never sell the car…but never change their ads or their price! The true definition of insanity in my humble opinion.