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

[ChrisArnt]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

The picture in the sig pic appears to be one of a w124, so it would be a 1995 at the latest, I believe.

The first year for the w210 would be 1996, if we are talking about the US spec cars.

The sig pic is of my previous car that this new car replaced. It got rear ended and I took the insurance company to the cleaners.
The leak in the post you are referring to was air suck from the car being parked on a steep incline. I need to hunt that one down. But I don't expect a prepurchase inspection to find that.
The leak I am most concerned about is the one that dumps the fuel filler overflow into the trunk compartment. It was very minor, but had been happening for some time as the spare tire has broken down from repeated fuel exposure.
I realized it when the fuel gun at the station failed to shut off and pumped several gallons into my trunk.

[ChrisArnt]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

I hate to sound insensitive but old cars carry baggage and if you're buying them sight unseen, you should expect the worst and pay accordingly. I've had people ask me to look a car over and I usually turn them down my expectations are usually a lot lower then others and I don't want to disappoint the buyer or get myself in trouble.

True enough. I think I paid a decent price for the miles.
I was actually just posing my ebay purchase story under the sticky and it kind of exploded.
My previous ebay purchase (of another vehicle I think a 1983 280E, but not sure) was much worse.
The car 60,000 original miles and had sat in a barn for 15 year in Montauk. Copious air freshner covered up the fact that all the cotton padding behind the dash, firewall and seats was saturated with mouse urine. Even when I smelled it it wasn't clear because being old and so saturated it actually smells sweet.
That car I inspected and drove before I bought it.

[Mölyapina]

Caps lock off... caps lock off...

[panZZer]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

I hate to sound insensitive but old cars carry baggage and if you're buying them sight unseen, you should expect the worst and pay accordingly. I've had people ask me to look a car over and I usually turn them down my expectations are usually a lot lower then others and I don't want to disappoint the buyer or get myself in trouble.

Al - obviously the guy bought an old used car off ebay in good faith so he deserved to have a totally sorted out refurbished ride witout a single hassle

[TheDon]

Chris,

Watch your typing.

[panZZer]

Originally Posted by ChrisArnt

TRUE ENOUGH. I THINK I PAID A PRETTY DECENT PRICE MILEAGE CONSIDERED.
I WAS ACTUALLY JUST POSTING MY EBAY PURCHASE STORY UNDER THE STICKY AND IT KIND OF EXPLODED.
MY PREVIOUS EBAY PURCHASE WAS ACTUALLY MUCH WORSE. THE CAR HAD 60,000 MILES AND HAD SAT IN A BARN FOR 15 YEARS. COPIOUS AIR FRESHNER COVERED UP THE FACT THAT ALL THE COTTON PADDING BEHIND THE DASH, FIREWALL AND SEATS WAS SATURATED WITH MOUSE URINE. EVEN WHEN I SMELLED IT IT WASN'T CLEAR BECAUSE BEING OLD AND SO SATURATED IT ACTUALLY SMELLS SWEET.
THAT ONE I INSPECTED AND DROVE BEFORE I PAID.

LO frikkin L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Just gets better and better,
So the original owner parked a 1-2 yr old e300d in a barn with the windows down and left it there for 15 yrs as a chicken coop??

[TylerH860]

Every car I have bought out of Florida has come back massively not as described. I'm so jaded, I refuse to buy from any Florida dealer. Close second is in the NE. Every car I have inspected by a third party, and there has to be some bribery going on.

The worst was a 1998 S320 out of Florida. Described as near showroom. Aced a PPI with an independent inspector.

Car arrives and the first thing I notice is the damage all over the outside of the car. Fading on the rear quarter. Rust bubbling around the sunroof. Inside, the headliner is falling down. Drove it and the transmission was junk. A quick inspection showed the head gasket was leaking as well.

He played dumb through the whole thing, pretended not to be the owner at one point, and eventually quit answering the phone.

It took me years to get over it to the point that I can write about it without getting enraged. Never had violent thoughts before, but wanted to go to that POS and make his life miserable. It got to the point where he wouldn't take any calls out of my area code. Had to use out of state area codes. I had friends call and agree to buy his cars, string him along and never pay. Reported him to every agency I could think of.

Now when you google his company you see several complaint sites, F on the BBB rating, as well as a very low google review score with scathing reviews. Also forwarded my complaints and several others to the Florida Attorney General, and the Florida Dealer License Bureau.

Unfortunately, years later, the A-hole is still in business doing the exact same thing. Several more complaints.

Being in the car business, I have so many stories, but this is by far the worst. I do not expect anything to show up as described, and pay accordingly.

[TheDon]

I avoid looking at any cars from south FL or any of the coasts. I always go look at the car in person since I will never buy another car sight unseen. I

[kerry]

Originally Posted by panZZer

LO frikkin L^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Just gets better and better,
So the original owner parked a 1-2 yr old e300d in a barn with the windows down and left it there for 15 yrs as a chicken coop??

Read what he posted. He's not talking about that car but another one.

[dynalow]

Originally Posted by TylerH860

Every car I have bought out of Florida has come back massively not as described. I'm so jaded, I refuse to buy from any Florida dealer. Close second is in the NE. Every car I have inspected by a third party, and there has to be some bribery going on.

The worst was a 1998 S320 out of Florida. Described as near showroom. Aced a PPI with an independent inspector.

Car arrives and the first thing I notice is the damage all over the outside of the car. Fading on the rear quarter. Rust bubbling around the sunroof. Inside, the headliner is falling down. Drove it and the transmission was junk. A quick inspection showed the head gasket was leaking as well.

He played dumb through the whole thing, pretended not to be the owner at one point, and eventually quit answering the phone.

It took me years to get over it to the point that I can write about it without getting enraged. Never had violent thoughts before, but wanted to go to that POS and make his life miserable. It got to the point where he wouldn't take any calls out of my area code. Had to use out of state area codes. I had friends call and agree to buy his cars, string him along and never pay. Reported him to every agency I could think of.

Now when you google his company you see several complaint sites, F on the BBB rating, as well as a very low google review score with scathing reviews. Also forwarded my complaints and several others to the Florida Attorney General, and the Florida Dealer License Bureau.

Unfortunately, years later, the A-hole is still in business doing the exact same thing. Several more complaints.

Being in the car business, I have so many stories, but this is by far the worst. I do not expect anything to show up as described, and pay accordingly.

Guy's name wasn't Harold Hooper was it? He skinned me for about 3,900 for a VW Jetta about 12 years ago. No car & no money.

OTOH, my 300CE was an Ebay purchase. The seller was a retired salesman from Minnesota. I forget his name now, but the car had been "sold" once on ebay, but the buyer looked at it and passed. So, when it goes back up on ebay I called the seller and I offered him the final bid from the first auction (13k) He said 13.5 & I agreed. Then I conditioned the deal on it passing a PPI from Lokey MB in Tampa. New 2013 - 2014 and Used Mercedes-Benz in Tampa Bay FL - Lokey Motor Company Well, they had a laundry list of stuff, including the leaking head gasket. The guy fixed most of them, including the head gasket, which I picked up a part of.

He told me that he'd pick me up at the airport, let me have the car for a day to drive around in and if I wasn't satisfied he'd take me back to the airport. No questions asked.
The car had a few remaining issues, including the missing passenger seat belt presenter. But, for me, it was love at first sight. This is a photo from the ebay auction in Dec, 1991. What's not to like?



It was a low mileage snowbird's Fla car, which was origially sold by MB Manhattan to a guy in Roslyn NY.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by TylerH860

Every car I have bought out of Florida has come back massively not as described..

I'm not sure about now but when I lived in Florida about 10 years ago, you could still drive on some of the beaches which is a quick way to ruin a car. I had friends that lived close to the beach and they'd have to throw out everything (TV's microwaves etc) every couple of years because the salt would make all the circuits rust.

[Skid Row Joe]

I've found a lot of attractively priced units for sale in the mid to far Southern Florida markets. Many in either the general vicinities of West Palm Beach down to Miami/Fort Lauderdale, and the west coast - Fort Myers to Tampa. As luck would have it, I've only closed on one very nice unit less than 1-year old in Pompano Beach. I flew over inspected it in-person, and drove it before closing the deal. Were it not up-to-snuff, no problem - fly home on the return discounted RT plane ticket.

When you buy sight unseen, the more unfamiliar to you the seller is, and sometimes the older the car, the higher the risk that it will disappoint. Unfortunately, it's not always possible to inspect all used vehicles in person, but when you do not know the seller, you have to go in-person or live with what you bought.

[ChrisArnt]

Originally Posted by kerry

Read what he posted. He's not talking about that car but another one.

Yes. You get a pat on the back.
The car i bought that was a mouse house was a 1983 380E or a 280 E I forget exactly. It was a W123 with a V6.
It had 66 miles. Actually it was my profile pic the speedo with 66,666 miles.
The car looked great and had some under body rust issues.

But the damn thing was saturated with mouse urine and it was somehow not obvious. Some how the guy picked an airfreshner that blended perfectly with the urine.

Now I know the trolls are gonna have a field day with this one, but hey.
I swear it was only obvious after I ran the heat for about 30 minutes.
Then I pulled the padding under the dash to finds acorn shells and sticky urine.
I closer inspection of the faded side mirrors made me realize the weren't faded, but the reflective side had been mouse scratched from behind.

So now whenever I buy a car I do a cat scan first. (sorry bad joke)

[cmbdiesel]

Originally Posted by TheDon

Chris,

Watch your typing.

????

[kmaysob]

Originally Posted by cmbdiesel

????

Glad I wasn't the only one to think that