Donated my E320 to charity - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

benhogan · #1 11-27-2012, 09:40 AM

Here is the short version-
I have always had good luck buying cars (all MB) sight unseen. My theory was that people who own these cars take care of them.

4 months ago, I bought the car sight unseen from this doctor who claimed that it was 'perfect'. The car turned up with a with a bad head gasket, cracked plastic bumpers, 2 dead cylinders among other things.

Needless to say, I will never buy another car sight unseen again.

I started putting it on Craigslist but decided against it. So I just donated the thing to my church via some charity (charity gets 30% and my church charity gets 70%).

If i sold it on CL, it would be nothing but trouble for the buyer and he/she would send bad Karma my way which I don't need.

So I take a loss on the car but I look pretty to good to my church for donating a Mercedes.

Life goes on........but no more sight unseen purchases!

The Clk Man · #2 11-27-2012, 09:45 AM

Good for you man, the Lord will bless you.

TX76513 · #3 11-27-2012, 09:49 AM

This is Charity Day also. 2X Karma

Brian Carlton · #4 11-27-2012, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benhogan

The car turned up with a with a bad head gasket, cracked plastic bumpers, 2 dead cylinders among other things.

I always wonder if such people are deliberately dishonest or are simply clueless.

I faced a similar issue when I sold the SDL. It would consume coolant..........slowly...........about one quart every 1500 miles or so. With my knowledge of the engine, I couldn't, in good conscience, sell the vehicle without disclosing the potential issue. This disclosure reduced the price of the vehicle by a fair amount.

Others are not so forthright and they make more money.

So be it.

strelnik · #5 11-27-2012, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

I always wonder if such people are deliberately dishonest or are simply clueless.

I faced a similar issue when I sold the SDL. It would consume coolant..........slowly...........about one quart every 1500 miles or so. With my knowledge of the engine, I couldn't, in good conscience, sell the vehicle without disclosing the potential issue. This disclosure reduced the price of the vehicle by a fair amount.

Others are not so forthright and they make more money.

So be it.

Brian,
Did you ever figure out what caused the coolant leak?

Brian Carlton · #6 11-27-2012, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strelnik

Brian,
Did you ever figure out what caused the coolant leak?

Nope...........but, I had my suspicions............

elchivito · #7 11-27-2012, 12:00 PM

Good for you. Take the deduction and be done. The Lord likes his Benzes. Everybody knows that.

barry12345 · #8 11-27-2012, 12:09 PM

It is a slippery slope. I would like to say most people still avoid acting that way but I am no longer really sure that is true.

In a way our system suggests it is smart to screw the next guy. Or there are so many examples illustrating this in practice by osmosis it becomes more the norm with time.

I am a victom of regulatory agencies all too often. Give any idiot a little power and you may get the resultant issues. Common sense is usually the first thing lost in the process.

What really bothers me is we pay them good money. My other suspicion is they could not hold a real job in the private sector. Or have had any personal experience with the practicalities of what they regulate. There of couse as in most things are exceptions. Just not enough of them. Certainly society needs guidlines but many things I see are over the top when it cames to the actual enacting of them.

A guy sells an item stating it is in good condition when it is not. The redress is so complex most just swallow the loss and deal with any resultant frustation. The legal venue is so complex, distorted and expensive mind certain. It usually gets put on the backburner pretty fast. Personally I am totally unable to tell someone something is good when it is certainly not. This does not make me a better person but I do have an uncomplicated and fairly content existance compared to some that think otherwise. Less money of course to some degree perhaps but not even certain of that. Far too much of our system is based on money rather than the important values. I am certainly not religious either.

Jim B. · #9 11-27-2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry12345

It is a slippery slope. I would like to say most people still avoid acting that way but I am no longer really sure that is true.

In a way our system suggests it is smart to screw the next guy. Or there are so many examples illustrating this in practice by osmosis it becomes more the norm with time.

I am a victom of regulatory agencies all too often. Give any idiot a little power and you may get the resultant issues. Common sense is usually the first thing lost in the process.

What really bothers me is we pay them good money. My other suspicion is they could not hold a real job in the private sector. Or have had any personal experience with the practicalities of what they regulate. There of couse as in most things are exceptions. Just not enough of them.

I decided to quit working for private companies FOREVER (and took a job at a far lower beginning wage, with the City of San Francisco) after my employer's payhecks bounced higher than the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

It was a decision I have never regretted, and served me well in retirement too.

TylerH860 · #10 11-27-2012, 12:24 PM

You've been really lucky if this is your first time getting burned.

I have just learned to expect it, and I only buy cars if they are exceptional deals in case its a basket case and after a very thorough interview... or I have a PPI done.

What cured me of taking any risk was one year ago buying a 98 S320 described as perfect. Arrived with a bad head gasket, bad transmission, burned out vacuum pump, and paint issues. Easily doubled the puchase price, and sold all sorted for my biggest loss ever. At least it went to a forum member who has had great luck with it.

The Clk Man · #11 11-27-2012, 12:31 PM

Honesty is the best policy. When I sold my clk 320 last year, I told the buyer everything I knew about the including the tranny problem that I had repaired twice. when he paid me for the car, I even gave him enough money back to repair the car if the tranny problem arose again. I don't have look over my shoulder.

pj67coll · #12 11-27-2012, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

I always wonder if such people are deliberately dishonest or are simply clueless.

There seems to be a strange psychosis that comes over some folks selling old cars. I've seen so many that were described in glowing terms that could best be described as bombed out nuclear wastelands on wheels that I have to wonder just how stupid people can be.

- Peter.

retmil46 · #13 11-27-2012, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benhogan

Here is the short version-
I have always had good luck buying cars (all MB) sight unseen. My theory was that people who own these cars take care of them.

4 months ago, I bought the car sight unseen from this doctor who claimed that it was 'perfect'. The car turned up with a with a bad head gasket, cracked plastic bumpers, 2 dead cylinders among other things.........

.........Needless to say, I will never buy another car sight unseen again.
Life goes on........but no more sight unseen purchases!

Agreed. The one and only time I have bought a car sight unseen, sad to say, was from a longtime member of the DD forum on this site. And he had one or two other DD members, who lived in his local area, backing up his claims on his e-bay ad and in the "Cars for Sale" section that the car was in excellent shape.

Let's just say that 4 years later, with a 2 year hiatus while working in TX, I'm still dealing with the "errors of omission" in his and his friends claims, and his errors of commission in his kludge mechanical/electrical/cosmetic fixes to the vehicle.

If I am ever tempted to buy a car so far outside of the local area that I can't inspect it personally again, I'll pay one of the car inspection services to fully check it out.

I took the high road and didn't publicly complain or start a flame war here on the site about the above situation, but if asked privately, I will identify who the individual was, just as word of warning to anyone else that might consider having dealings with him, to be on their toes and check everything out to the nth degree.

elchivito · #14 11-27-2012, 12:59 PM

Every car in every category that I looked at today in my morning CL perusal was perfect in every respect and gets at least 30mpg. It's always like that. We must have really good cars around here. Or something.

Darktech · #15 11-27-2012, 01:09 PM

No matter how well you know someone, no matter how much you trust them or value them as a friend, NEVER buy a car sight unseen unless you have an option for buyback guarantee by the seller. I ran into the exact same thing with a friend. He totally misrepresented the car to me from the model year down to 'it doesn't need anything done to it except the ___'. Turns out, when I went to sign papers, it was 1 year newer than he said, huge when it's a classic car with an engine change and then, while we were eating dinner, he began to 'come clean' about some things that were wrong with it. Needless to say, I'm going to take a $500 hit because of his lack of transparency. NEVER again.