I bought a car on ebay, had a forum member (established mechanic) inspect it and.....

[ChrisArnt]

Well the car was missing the trim on the rocker panels, the door sill plates, the rear bumper lower valance, some piece behind the passenger rear wheel well, and had clearly had the rear end of the body reconstructed.
You couldn't tell from the pics, but in person it was obvious the moment i looked at it.
Its been several months and I have noticed several other things.
The headlight clips are busted and they were glued in place with JB-weld.
The fuel filler has a problem... when you fill it all the way up the overflow drains into the trunk.
The other day the fuel gun didn't click off and pumped 5 gallons of diesel into the trunk. WTF!!!
The Bulb out notice that comes up every time I turn the lights on.... no bulbs are out. It is a wiring issue.
Highbeams don't work.
Spare tire is basically shreaded.
Ambient temp guage is 10 degrees off.
Several cracked plastic panels in the trunk.

In retrospect I think the mechanic knew the ebay seller.

[vstech]

I may have to move this post further, and put it in OD...

we'll see.

[junker68]

Mmmm, that's a tough one.

I guess you would have to look at the emails between the members and try to determine what was expected, the type of inspection.

If I was to ask a member to do me a favor like that, I would not expect a thorough inspection but a kind of "check it out and let me know what you think," but that being said, expectations vary between people.

But again, it goes back to the exchanges you two had between each other and what was the expectation on both ends.

You also mention after "several months" things were discovered. I don't think that's fair to blame the "inspector". If it took you a several months, why would someone doing you a favor, find it immediately.

It also seems the missing body pieces should have been noticable immediately from photos, but again I was not/am not privy to the photos you saw on Ebay and once again email exchanges/conversations you had with the "inspector."

It's a shame you had a bad experiance, because this is such a wonderful site.

[RavenTBK]

So we've purchased a used car via the internet, sight unseen, and are attempting to blame the seller/mechanic for "annoyances" you find several months later?

Just about everything you described are just that...annoyances. None of which impacts the overall "soundness" of the car...which is all that a mechanic would be checking for when inspecting a vehicle. Unless your agreement with the inspector was to describe every possible bit of damage or non-functionality, your complaints are without merit. The mechanic would be checking to see if the car would be safe driving with kids to Disney and back...not checking if the emissions stickers are all installed properly under the hood.

Let's get started..

Trim panels...big whoop. They have nothing to do with keeping the motor from falling out. I don't believe I have ever owned a used Mercedes that had all of its trim panels in place. Would a mechanic be looking for and checking off each one on a list? No.

...rear end reconstructed. You mean as in an accident and had body work? Okay. Did you run a carfax? If not, why? The inspector would be looking to make sure the rear end won't fall off, not if the paint on the trunk lid matches the quarters.

Headlight clips busted and secured with JB. Are the headlights loose? Do they shake while you drive? Crap happens to cars, and they get fixed...sometimes not the "right way", but still. If the headlights aren't falling out and dangling from their harnesses as you drive, nor are they shooting owls in the trees, why freak out about it? This is also not something that would be documented during a typical pre-sale inspection.

Overflow drains into trunk. Okay, again that is not a mechanical defect that a mechanic would look for during an inspection. So get a new tube and run it. Its just pressed onto a nipple at the fill neck, runs through a hole in the trunk floor, and dangles loose underneath. For $3 that would be fixed.

Fuel gun didn't click off and pumped 5 gallons into trunk. That has nothing to do with the car. That's the fueling stations problem. Its inclusion has no value here. Why weren't you standing there like all the safety signs say to prevent any spills? You = fail.

Spare tire shredded. Okay, this could be an iffy, depending on the conversations between the seller and yourself. Did the seller or description on ebay say "5 tires in great condition"? Would a mechanic check a spare tire for a pre-sale inspection? Highly doubtful. He'd be looking at the tires that are actually on the ground. Spares aren't thought about till they are needed. Its good you're noticing that yours is failure in a can, but again, you've bought a used car over the internet without inspecting it yourself.

Bulb out notification. You said no bulbs are out. Why get pissy about this? Simply check the bases where the bulbs connect. They get corroded over time. Its a fact of life. Either spend 20 minutes to check it yourself or put some electrical tape over the idiot light on the dash like my Grandpa used to do when he disabled ABS on his pickup truck. *shrug* A mechanic would also notice this "error light" and check the bulbs. Since all bulbs are working, there is nothing to report.

Highbeams dont work. Okay, this is one I could see you putting onto the inspector. Again, crap happens. Do you even know whats causing it? Have you simply looked at the fusebox yet? I'd bet that it could be resolved rather quickly too. Regardless, so far, this is the only thing that could be readily blamed on the inspector.

Ambient temp 10 degrees off. As mentioned above with other items, this is not something that would be looked at in any pre-sale mechanical inpsection. I've never found any two thermometers that agree on what temp it is anyways. Also not something that would be readily disclosed during an internet sale of a used vehicle.

Cracked plastic panels in the trunk. Seriously? Its a trunk. You put items in it that shouldn't be in the cab with you. Unless you're looking at transporting your children or mother-in-law back there, who really cares? Do you demand a discount on the sales price because of cracked panels in the trunk area that nobody can see anyways? Would this be reported by an inspecting mechanic? Nope. Would this be reported by your wife when she puts clothes back there? Possibly. You should've sent her to inspect the car instead.

Holy crap. I am in no way involved in this transaction, but for some reason this bout of pointless complaining has rubbed me the wrong way this morning. You buy a car without looking at it yourself, and you want to complain about superficial perceived "issues" that sour the deal for you. The mechanic did his job by giving it the thumbs up, as I see no references about a hole in the block surrounding a chunk of gyrating connecting rod while the engine is running....or that 4th gear is shot....or that it magically caught on fire while waiting in a McDonald's drive thru.

There is a reason why eBay's buyer policy stresses the latin words Caveat Emptor. Translated, it means buyer beware. You sir, did not do your due diligence with regards to this transaction. The overwhelming weight of this supposed bad decision rests on your shoulders.

If I seem too snippy, I'm glad. I am sure everyone who reads this thread that's in a similar position as me is thinking the same thing. Crap happens. You bought a car on eBay from a non forum member. You learn from your mistakes and move on.

[Simpler=Better]

Yeah man, sometimes you get the short end of the stick. Decide if you want to spend the time and money to fix her right, or just drive it as a beater. Nothing wrong with a beater.

[kerry]

How many people would notice a misplaced overflow hose? Was the inspector supposed to carry a second thermometer to double check the one on the car? The only thing on that list that would have effected my decision to buy the car is whether or not it was in a serious rear-end accident and had been repaired.

[JamesDean]

Originally Posted by ChrisArnt

Well the car was missing the trim on the rocker panels, the door sill plates, the rear bumper lower valance, some piece behind the passenger rear wheel well, and had clearly had the rear end of the body reconstructed.
You couldn't tell from the pics, but in person it was obvious the moment i looked at it.
Its been several months and I have noticed several other things.
The headlight clips are busted and they were glued in place with JB-weld.
The fuel filler has a problem... when you fill it all the way up the overflow drains into the trunk.
The other day the fuel gun didn't click off and pumped 5 gallons of diesel into the trunk. WTF!!!
The Bulb out notice that comes up every time I turn the lights on.... no bulbs are out. It is a wiring issue.
Highbeams don't work.
Spare tire is basically shreaded.
Ambient temp guage is 10 degrees off.
Several cracked plastic panels in the trunk.

In retrospect I think the mechanic knew the ebay seller.

Some of these things I probably would not have noticed others I would have noticed and would have made sure to mention. Like missing trim pieces on the exterior of the vehicle. Those are kind of obvious things. Other pieces like the things on the door sill plates, maybe maybe not. I'm usually pretty detail oriented in these cases.

Probably would not have found the fuel filler or the overflow issues as I likely wouldn't have noticed it unless I filled the tank..which probably wouldn't have happened.

Dont be too sure on that bulb out indicator business, you might actually be missing a bulb somewhere. I know my buddy put in some smoked rear tail lights on his 126 and for months couldn't figure out why the bulb out indicator was on...turned out the new lights didnt have spots for a bulb or two on the extreme corners.

I'd generally think that all lighting would be checked, but maybe not idk. Could be both bulbs have gone bad over time or maybe the relay.

Unless I looked at my temp gauge on the way to see the car or something to let me know the current temperature (and even then) I probably wouldn't have noticed the temperature discrepancy.

Who was the forum member?

[vstech]

yup...
OD.

[pawoSD]

Unless the car was described as absolutely perfect and sold/price paid reflecting this, I don't see any of the complaints as valid. Those are all typical small issues a 20 year old car is going to have. When I got my 420 it was in great shape, but still needed about 1k of work on my part to be good to go. Did I complain? Nope.

[HuskyMan]

For me, there is nothing like driving the car myself both on the highway and around town for several hours, filling it with gas, checking the operation of headlights, brakes, transmission, A/C, etc. Then, if I like it, off to a mechanic for a thorough inspection. Anything can be said or represented on Ebay or any other internet web site. And, let's not forget, we ARE talking about a used car.

[JamesDean]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Unless the car was described as absolutely perfect and sold/price paid reflecting this, I don't see any of the complaints as valid. Those are all typical small issues a 20 year old car is going to have. When I got my 420 it was in great shape, but still needed about 1k of work on my part to be good to go. Did I complain? Nope.

It seemed to me that his gripe was more about the forum member's inspection than the used car itself.

[pawoSD]

I can say if I were inspecting a car I'd have probably not made much mention or noticed those listed items either. Those pretty much fall into the "Expected wear and tear" category.

[junker68]

Originally Posted by JamesDean

It seemed to me that his gripe was more about the forum member's inspection than the used car itself.

I agree

[iwrock]

OP, post pictures, if you can.

Some things are more obviously spotted than others.

[Zacharias]

What RavenTBK said, pretty much.

Trim. This one kills me.

If you could not see the missing trim, that is between you and the vendor. He apparently did not disclose, which was wrong. You obviously did not insist on extensive pics, which was wrong. No door sill plates? So are you saying you didn't even see pics with the doors open?

I can understand why a person inspecting the car would assume you have seen photos and would know about missing trim.

Body 'reconstruct': what does that mean? An entirely new rear clip? Poor quality bodywork from a small ding? Mismatched paint? This one is debatable. Many mechanics know diddlysquat about body repairs and how to look for them. It isn't part of their training. Did you specifically ask that the inspector check for previous body damage?

Fuel filler seal: NO ONE would catch that. I would be willing to bet about half of us are driving around in cars with that seal leaking or shot. The issue with you ending up with 5 gallons of diesel in the trunk is, incidentally, the station's fault for having a crappy nozzle. Not the inspector's.

Headlight clips: chicken****.

Spare: really? I have had at least five cars thoroughly inspected by Mercedes specialist shops and I don't recall anyone looking at the spare tire.

Bulb out indicator, ambient temp indicator: footnote issues.

Highbeams: Okay, that one I would probably be annoyed about as well.