Wasted trips on very bad descriptions by seller

[VYO 372M]

I have (like many others I suspect) wasted hundreds of pounds and time on wasted trips to view a car for sale that is simply mis-described.

I remember many years ago I went to look at a Herald estate car that was described as having a very solid chassis frame and underside.
I was assured that the car was a daily runner and drove extremely well and if I liked what I saw I would be able to drive the car away the same day.
I quizzed this guy for a long time on the phone in order to avoid a wasted three hundred mile round trip.

When we arrived at the vendors we were taken to a builders yard and the estate was parked at the back.
The chassis was rotten in several places, the tail gate and surrounding area was also rotting away and the battery was completely dead.
I was annoyed because I tried all ways to avoid this and it cost me money to view a complete and utter wreck which you really couldn't even consider buying.

This is by no means the only case I have experienced of wasted trips due to vendors simply not telling the truth on the phone.

Has anyone else had a similar experirence?

VYO 372M

[Lewis]

Tell me about it.

Looked at 3 Stags in the past 2 days, all have been misdescribed. Done about 400 miles now looking at them! I've even tried to get the sellers to be brutally honest over the phone yet they still decide to neglect certain things, much to my irritance. Then again, they are trying to make money on it....

Lessons learnt over the past 2 days:

"Never welded underneath" = filled instead, or all chassis rails have been crushed by jacks

"Great new mohair hood" = Frame's damaged and it doesn't seal but it looks nice

"Original engine" = Not matching numbers, usually from another car and rebuilt at that.

"Few rust spots" = Corrosion that if touched, flakes away exposing worse behind....

"History" = 4 MOT sheets and nothing else

"Went through last MOT easily" = 2 fail sheets compromising totally of corrosion aspects and emissions problems

"Interior is mint" = Shot up wood, crap carpets.....

List goes on

These aren't cheap cars either.....

If it's any consolation, I spent 5 hours travelling to Wales to pick up a car I'd bought blind (as Adam will tesify to! ) on the basis that it'd have a new MOT.

Got there, first thing he said was "it's failed". Great start. Could have had the decency to tell me first.......Then it transpired it was red underneath......missing it's vinyl........All sorts!

So I left it and went home

It's still for sale now, 2 years later, at ~1000. That's 350 more than I was offered to pay for it.......

[VYO 372M]

I remember driving a three hundred and fifty mile round trip to view a Herald 1200 saloon that was described as being in mint condition and a real head turner.
Only to find that when we arrived it was a head turner but for all the wrong reasons!

On another occasion we viewed a Spitfire which on the face of it wasn't a bad looking car.
Unfortunately when I looked at the engine oil dipstick I discovered that to my amazement there wasn't even a single drop of oil on the entire length of the dipstick.

VYO 372M

[Lewis]

Unfortunately when I looked at the engine oil dipstick I discovered that to my amazement there wasn't even a single drop of oil

That reminds me of the time I test drove a yellow Sprint in Birmingham - "nice and tight steering" was duly down to the fact that it hadn't been maintained for years and consequently was practically siezed!

Made the car quite challenging to drive - or worse, as I found, to do a 3 point turn in

[VYO 372M]

I remember another incident in the early 1990s when I went to view a supposedly show room condition Dolomite 1500 HL for sale with 23,000 genuine miles backed up by a full service history.
The Dolomite was advertised for £1,750 pounds but was described as being completely original and and totally faultless.
I went to have a look and before I had even got out of the car I had made my mind up that just didn't want it.
The bodywork had received a bottom half re-spray after I had been assured on the phone that the car had not seen any bodywork repairs anywhere.
I was completely gutted because I really thought that this car would be coming home with me for sure.
The vendor couldn't understand the problem and was suprised that we were walking away...

In the mid 90s I was looking for a Sprint, not mint but very useable as I wanted to use it everyday.
I noticed a yellow early sprint advertised in Dolly Mixture which seemed to fit the bill.
I was told by the vendor that the sprint was used by his wife and that he was only selling the car because she had had an accident and could no longer drive it.
The car was described as being in virtually mint condition except for a very minor bit of rust on the front panel which could be easily repaired.
The vendor also told me that the engine had been completely rebuilt professionally and reeled off to me an impressive engine rebuild specification.
We went to have a look and found ourselves looking at a yellow sprint that needed extensive repairs to the bodywork including a full respray.
He admitted that the engine had not in fact been rebuilt but had in fact had a engine service consisting of points, plugs and an oil change.
I was not a happy bunny because I had not only wasted petrol money and my time but had wasted a friends time as well.

VYO 372M

[SprintMWU773V]

Friend bought a Herald convertable blind on ebay for about £500 knowing it would "need a bit of work". Turned up and the first thing that struck me was the absense of the seller at the agreed time. From the 30 paces I was standing from the car nehind a closed gate I could see it was a dog.

Finally the seller turned up, and bearing in mind that my friend wanted to drive the car home (no MOT etc I should point out) I had bought a few tools with me. The car was attached to a battery charger normally used for charging truck batteries and I could actually here the acid bubbling which was somewhat worrying as the seller wandered around the car with a fag hanging out of his mouth.

I then took a closer look at the car which had been dexribed as a "Herald Convertable" to in fact be a Herald saloon with the roof chopped off, a Vitesse bonnet and a 1500 engine. I thought I would have a look at the interior but found only puddles of water and something that at one point was the carpet. I checked for metal underneath the car but found none, only rust.

At this point my friend was still ready to hand over his cash when I asked to see the log book. I noticed that the guy selling it wasn't on the log book so I quizzed him about this. He said it was a trade car and in any case he had been driving it up until 12 months before. Sure there were a few bills to show that he had bought a few items but at no point were there any documents to prove his ownership of the vehicle. I asked him if he could show me his stock book but he got all angry and effectivly ejected us from his yard.

We walked away with the £500 and left that heap of junk where it was. A thorough waste of time and travelling.

[xvivalve]

From the other perspective, when I was advertising my TR6 I had a woman ring to ask if she could view, said she was engaging a TR6 specialist to come and look at prospective cars for her and at £120 a time wanted to ask questions prior to avoid wasting his time/her money. Satisfied with my answers, they duly turned up and I literally fell on the floor laughing as this TR6 specialist commenced trying to open the bonnet from the front; this was even after I had popped it and the back had sprung open! He then started to describe the PI system to her as a triple weber carb set up

[VYO 372M]

From the other perspective, when I was advertising my TR6 I had a woman ring to ask if she could view, said she was engaging a TR6 specialist to come and look at prospective cars for her and at £120 a time wanted to ask questions prior to avoid wasting his time/her money. Satisfied with my answers, they duly turned up and I literally fell on the floor laughing as this TR6 specialist commenced trying to open the bonnet from the front; this was even after I had popped it and the back had sprung open! He then started to describe the PI system to her as a triple weber carb set up

What a plonker, it seems as though a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

VYO 372M

[hutch76]

Glasgow to Newcastle Under Lyme a couple of years ago to look at a Pageant Sprint that won car of the day at the Millenium Triumph Day, and was rust free and immaculate. It was nowhere near either!

Last Friday, down to Axminster to see a condition 1 plus Pageant Sprint. At least it scored 1 out of 2! Lovely car, just not Pageant! To be fair, the owner really did think it was. I'd have been really peed off tho, had I travelled from Glasgow especially!