Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

Some of you might recall my rambling about the '03 Ford Taurus I just picked up Monday night in the ramble on thread. If not, I was basically complaining about the guy's outright lies about the condition of the car. Mainly focusing on the rear suspension being completely shot, and not finding out until I handed him the cash and hopped on the highway. Then once I called the guy and asked him WTF was up, he made me feel like I was out of line for calling him, and he said he was going to have his "uncle cop" come and arrest me, he also muttered to not call his number again.

I'm sure the guy is just bluffing about the whole police and lawyer thing, and even if he wasn't I'm not intimidated by it. Like I said, he made me feel like me calling him after the sale and getting loud about it was totally uncalled for, so I just let it go. So the car is registered in my name, insured, and now I'm driving it. I figure that I fucked up by going to see the car at 10pm and its my fault for not test driving it on the highway. Whats done is done, and I'm actually not too bummed about the car anymore. Its really not all THAT bad for the price.

Then last night, just for fun, I go on my craigslist iphone app to check if anything new popped up since I stopped looking. I scroll through a couple cars and see a similar ad for a '99 Taurus and click on it. The ad was almost a spot on copy of the ad for the Taurus I bought, e.g., new water pump and timing belt, one owner, always garaged, great on gas good in snow, car needs nothing, etc etc. Even the angles of the pictures were shot in the same manner, but a different location.

So I check the phone number and it sure enough, it looks familiar. I saved the guys name in my phone as "mike scammer", and when I checked for a match, it did! ************! So naturally I continued checking cl for anymore of his ads and sure enough, found one for a Dodge Caravan that was written a little different, but still had all the same context, pictures, and phone number. He told me he bought an Expedition and that's why he was selling the car. The '99 Taurus ad stated that he was moving out of the country, and I don't recall if the Caravan had details or not about why he was selling.

So after this now I'm wondering what did he tell me the truth about. I'm sure the car hasn't had a recent tb/waterpump job if he's claiming that for all the cars. My gf and I were going to call him last night and say "so how many cars do you have for sale, and do they all come with the same story?", but I don't want to harass him just yet. I should also mention that his claim of "always garaged" is total bullshit. In the pictures and from 10ft away the car looks pretty damn good, but get up close and do some looking around and you can tell its been sitting outside for awhile, e.g., inside the gas cap lid is mildew city, side mirrors have buildup in the corners of the glass, between the spoiler and trunk lid looks like it wasn't washed for 7 years, underneath the center console is FILLED with what looks like nuts and tree bark, top of motor is covered in the same type of squirrel nest material, etc etc.

Now I'm asking myself how the **** does this guy have the ***** to keep listing cars, all described the same, and probably none of them truly matching the description. I find it hard to believe that I'm the first, nor that last guy he'll fool. Then I remembered the paperwork. The title wasn't in his name, it was in some "family and children's center" name, which I cant remember for the life of me. He then had a supplemental title from them to him, and then another one from him to me. It must be legit enough to have worked at the DMV, or else I wouldn't have been able to register it.

Here's the conclusion I'm coming to. I think that he's selling off donated cars. I don't know how to prove it, but that's the feeling I get. Maybe that's not spot on, but somethings up. I know I have already have the car and whatever, but I work hard enough to make an honest living and some trash little **** like this guy is running around listing $6k worth of cars in one week?! He wasn't too honest with me about anything, so I doubt he's on the up and up in general.

My question is what should I do? I want to do something, but I don't want to risk the chance of possibly losing the car I just bought, and maybe even the $1750 I paid, + tax, reg, insurance. If he's up to no good, I'm guessing that there's a chance that could happen. However, I don't want this little scummy **** to keep getting away with whatever it is he's pulling. I'm thinking that maybe I'll contact the state's attorney general and give them a tip, but I don't know if that's a smart decision on my part.

Boy I would LOVE to see that guy in person right now. I would call him out on everything and ask him what explanation does he have? What is the truth and whats a lie? Then I'd punch him right in the face.

Please guys, tell me what you think about this! I know some of you on here are pretty well educated in **** like this, so I know there's got to be something I can do.

neogenesis2004

iTrader: (12)

I think you are fucked. Assuming the car is still titled to him I would just try to use it to frame him in some sort of felony. Just an idea.

chriscar

iTrader: (24)

For what? Lying about the condition of a used car? Happens every day. Selling donated cars? Those donated cars get sold at auction, and the new owner can resell them for whatever they want. The charity gets their money from the auction house.

You had your opportunity to check the car out and didn't go the extra mile. At under $2k, just drive it for a while and flip it when you're ready. Don't go fixing everything, and you'll get your money back in the Spring.

You may think the guy is a scumbag, but plenty of people sell used cars out of their house for extra income. Would it be better if he did nothing and collected unemployment?

Dude, let it go, and move on.

C

Doppelgänger

iTrader: (12)

You bought it, you're fucked. He is just some shitbag who lies to flip cars.You were his sucker and that is that...nothing you can do about it. It might be a different story if it were even a small mom-and-pop dealership (depending on your states laws)...but private seller? Yeah, all you can really do is crawl around under the hood and hope to see signs of recently completed work. Depending on your states laws, you could report him to the police and DDS/DMV for selling cars without a license. ALWAYS be wary if your buying a car and the title isn't in the seller's name. ALWAYS try to get the information off of their driver's license for any future complications.

Oh and....punching is the last ******* thing you need to do right now....we don't want to hear your vagina whining on here about having surger and whatnot

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

You bought a used car from a guy off craigslist and expected him to tell the truth about its condition and history? I think that is the most amusing part of the story.

Small time car dealers buy those donated cars at auctions all the time and sell them on CL. What I don't like is all of the dealers that list cars as "by owner." Anytime I have called about a car on CL I ask "about the car you have on craigslist" and if they ask "which one?" I give them a good ration of **** about it.

Just drive your car and be happy you paid less than retail.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

He's selling auctioned cars. In Texas if you register more than 5 cars a year you have to be a licensed dealer to discourage shade-tree re-sellers like this.

CL used to rock, and like everything else people take advantage of it and it's all gone to ****. You would think buying face to face is better than a used car lot, but not always. It's almost not even cheaper anymore. Dealers around here are HURTIN' to sell cars.

You really don't have much recourse here. Hard lesson learned, sucks ***** and all, but just like your online transaction intuition you need to credit those doubts taht nag you when you're checking something out in person.

Doppelgänger

iTrader: (12)

Quoting this for people to read again.

Thus being aware of people selling cars that aren't titled in their name. If they don't title it, they can get around the law because by DMV/tax commissioner record, they never owned/titled/registerd the vehicle so there is no history on how many cars they buy and sell. If the DMV would keep a record of the seller's names on bills of sale, they *could* crack down on this kinda crap. But that would require manpower, money and software...and there probably isn't enough net gain from this to justify the added cost and time to monitor who is selling what car. Unfortunately it's an honor-based system that has been abused as usual.


I once sold a Corolla with the PO's title. But in my case, it was one car and the reason I bought the car was to get around for a few weeks whil I was working on my Miata. I knew from the get-go that I wasn't going to keep the car so there was no point in spending the money to register it.

Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

I have it up on the lift now and there's good news and bad news. It needs a new muffler for sure, as well as the pair of rear struts. The shaking is due to a bent driverside rear rim, so I need a wheel rather than an alignment.

Other than that it's in fairly good shape. Passenger side front end has been replaced recently, new starter, and the oil is clean and down a quart. Also has a new coilpack and wires, maybe plugs but I didn't check.

In anycase, the guy is still a lying ****** in my book. The guys down here at the shop, just like many of you, have said to just leave it be. Lesson learned. I guess if that's the best thing to do I'll just have to leave him be.

Doppelgänger

iTrader: (12)

Seller was a liar and the buyer was a sucker. Denial is often turned into anger. Get some cheap Monroe struts and a wheel from a junkyard...hell, you could probably buy everything from a salvage yard as there are tons of those things in there.


The real scary thing is people that guy whacked cars and do shitty repair job and do **** like replace the airbags with a new cover, a resistor for the light and no actual airbag..just something to fill the void behind it.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

I bought a used car and the CD player doesn't work.

I just bought a new one. Also dealing with some CELs, new injector on the way for that.

jbrown7815

iTrader: (1)

If it makes you feel any better, your car is pure sex and I want it.


<3

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

You bought the car in good faith, therefore no one is going to confiscate it from you - it is legally yours.

When you bought the car, the seller, by law, gives warranty that the car is as stated, unless explicitly (in writing and aknowledged by you) stated that it comes with no warranties explicit or implied. In this case, the seller has a legal obligation to you that everything is as stated. Do you have a printoff of his CL advertisement? "he said that it had new...." doesn't hold up in court. "His CL advertisement, that I have printed here for the court, says the car had a new....." does.

In Ohio, there is a state-run effort to put "shadetree resellers" out of business because of bad business practices. You might check into CT Law (call the CT dmv) regarding the issue. CT will likely take legal action against him, in which case it is "billy bob vs. the state of conneticuit" instead of "billy bob vs. vash"....and he'll lose for certain.

Finally, you may also file a grievance in small claims court. It will be cheap to do, and if you have evidence, you'll may win enough money to repair the car to the "as stated" condition, if not a judgement to return the full purchase price to you in return for giving the car back to the guy, which may then be forfeitted to the state and used as evidence against him.

Statute of limitations probably allows something like 2 years for you to file a grievance (and you certainly have unlimited time to turn in a suspected illigitimate business).

In this circumstance, you have two actions of recourse:
1. The law
2. Vigilante

The difference between the two: One is quick, cheap, and probably feels pretty good if you pull it off right. The other is legal and you are less likely to get shot in the face.

bluemax

iTrader: (3)

I think the only recourse is what you've already done - contact the seller and see if he'll man up. He didn't so now you're kind of screwed. But hey, at least you don't have a payment on it.

Vashthestampede

iTrader: (17)

I was totally reeled in by the ad. I ASSUMED that there's still honest individuals out there, especially when your face to face making the transaction and can drive back to the persons home.

Luckily all the electronics seem to be working great (knock on wood).

Thanks man!

Thanks for the info! I wish I had made copies of the title, supplementle bill of sale's, cl ad, etc. I guess really all I have is my word against his at this point.

I dont think I'm going to do anything more about it. I'm ordering the rear struts and wheel as we speak. Once those are replaced, the car should be good to go. I spent 5 hours today cleaning the god damn thing!

I took all the interior panels off that I could, removed everything from the trunk, cleaned the engine bay, you name it. The inside looks 95% new. Honestly I almost like it better in the Taurus than in the miata! lol

This! That is the #1 reason why I wanted to buy it like this. No payment on the miata, no payment on the Taurus. Just need to keep up on insurance and the regular yearly stuff. More money to keep putting aside for business and maybe one day be able to hire someone! lol

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

You could always **** with him on CL.. Send him to meet buyers that aren't there, flag his ads, etc. It's stupid and childish but it may give you some satisfaction.

dstn2bdoa

iTrader: (18)

This happened here last year. A young lady died because of it.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

For this exact reason I:
1) ALWAYS get drivers license or ID info from a seller
2) NEVER buy from someone that's not on the registration/title
3) ALWAYS get a bill of sale listing all the work and money put into the car
4) NEVER buy a car without test driving the **** out of it



It could be worse. You could have gotten seriously scammed.
You have a running car. Probably not in the shape it was described, but at least you're not stuck with a thumb up your *** and no car and no money.

Just take it as a lesson and let it go.

jasonb

^^ that is very sad. i never had heard about ppl doing that.


assume anything bought on cl with 4 wheels is actually this unless proven otherwise:

jedduh01

iTrader: (4)

not to push things further, y ou know the guy is a liar... that 3.0 pushrod engine, has no timing belt. It would run cam to crank with a chain.

Possibly a new waterpump, might want to look if even that was replaced.