How bad did you get screwed over?

[dodge man]

How about some stories about how you got screwed over buying a vehicle?

I''ve got one, it happened almost 30 years ago but it still stings.

I was looking at getting a classic muscle car. Guy in a town about 2 hours away had a junk yard but he also did so-so restoration on classis Mopars. I was looking at a 68 Road Runner, Silver, automatic on the column, 383 car. He showed it to me, let me drive it, even put it up on a hoist so I could see how solid it was. I tried to talk him down on price but he was firm. I said O.K. I'll take it. He seemed like such a nice guy and was trying to do me a favor and said "I don't want you to rush into it, think about it over the weekend". This was on a Friday so I called him first thing Monday morning and told him I still wanted it. Yep, you guessed it, he sold it over the weekend. I don't recall what I said to him but it was about 15 seconds of cuss words followed by me hanging up on him.

Looking back on it, and hearing other stories about the guy, he knew he had someone else coming to look at the car. He more or less knew he could sell it to me so he sold it for what was probably $100 or $200 more. I wonder if that little bit of extra money was worth it to him? He made an enemy for life over that deal.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I always want to smash my head against the nearest immovable object when I hear stories about people getting taken and they say "But he/ she was so NICE".

 

[jaxs]

I have a story like yours in every way except for the outcome. After spending quite a bit of time looking, Wife and I found a golf cart we really liked and offered a deposit until we could return with a trailer in two days. Guy said our word was good enough,just bring payment when we came to pick it up. In Texas,golf carts can be operated on public roads if licensed. While talking to our son that evening,he told me that if a cart was ever registered the title should follow the cart from then on same as an automobile. On the other hand a cart that had never been registered could be titled and registered with only a bill of sale or statement of origin. Seller had told me he was original owner so I called to ask if he had ever registered it for use on public road and if so did he still have paperwork. He said he had never registered it,I said ok I'll see you Friday afternoon. When I showed up with cash and trailer,the cart had been sold and the guy was rude as all get out saying he never expected to see me after asking such stupid question. My asking him why he didn't inform me of his decision instead of allowing me to make a trip just seemed to inrage him even farther. Sunday,we found a really nice 3010 Mule for $800 more than I would have paid for the cart. I sure am glad that a hole sold the cart from under me.

 

[Deere Dude]

I bought a 1976 or 1978 3/4 ton ford form a friend at work. It had a 390 with RV cam, headers, cherry bomb glasspacks, jacked up with huge tires. Looked and sounded like a real muscle truck. Rougher than a cob to ride.

Everything seemed alright on it for a 15-20 year old truck but the first time it snowed I found our the front breaks were totally shot. I used it to pull a big fifth wheel so I had to fix them, then was okay and never mentioned anything to him.

I pulled my camper around Wisconsin for a couple years and all was good but then I decided to sell it. He had the hots to buy it back because it was a nice looking fun truck to drive, for short distances. I sold it back to him and a couple weeks later he told me the rear end froze up.

Turn about is fair play.

 

[tractorshopper]

Bought my first vehicle, a motorcycle for $300. Got a bill of sale, but no title. Got my money's worth out of it before giving it to a friend that wanted to put knobbies on it and use as a dirt bike.

Bought a car from an older couple to replace that, got insurance, etc, same as the bike. Paid $300 for the car. Got song and dance about title. Asked every other week. Oh we can't find it, don't know that we actually got it from who we bought it from, etc. Just kept driving on bill of sale. Several months went by. Got pulled over for speeding. Cop impounded it due to not having it registered and bill of sale out of date, well over a month.

That was on a Friday. Monday, found out which tow company had taken it and called them about getting it out of impound. They said $200 to get it out. I told them to keep it. Probably wisest thing I ever did.

 

[CincyFlyer]

I always want to smash my head against the nearest immovable object when I hear stories about people getting taken and they say "But he/ she was so NICE".

Nobody was "taken" in this case. If you want the darn thing, buy it—it was the buyer that appeared to be worried about a few bucks!

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Lol those stories aren't that bad lol

I'm not that old but buy vehicles kinda at the end of there life so you gotta find the issues in a test drive because people won't tell you squat.

I bought a BMW 325ci when I was 21 or so, 5 speed car, rode good, had a few issues but nothing that I couldn't easily fix like a ripped drivers seat and some broken plastic trim.

I gave the guy 4K cash, got the title from him that looked notarized, here was the fun part, it was a Wisconsin titled car and I bought it from a friend of the owners here in Ohio so that part was fishy.

I take the title into the title department to have it transferred and the lady says this isn't the title, it's a memorandum title and says "lien" on the border.

So I contact the guy, he said he will contact the original owners, they will figure out what went wrong and they will get it taken care of but will be a few days. Longest few days ever, 4K on the like, idk if this car is stolen and worst case scenarios are running threw my head, but everything turned out ok and I was able to title the car, car turned out to be a lemon and after dumping 2k into it I sold it 2 years later for $1800.

I bought a 1990 geo metro 5 speed for $1400, put $1000 into that car and sold it a year later for $750 because the unibody rusted out too much on the front and the car was junked basically.

I just (beginning of the month) bought a 1990 F350 flatbed, didn't have a second driver so I towed a trailer behind my truck, looked at the truck, gave $950 for it, hooked the trailer to it and towed my F150 home, 55 mile trip one way and it made it 54 3/4 miles back, completely died 1/4 mile from the house, had to bug a neighbor to drive the truck while I pulled the rig home with my tractor, that truck is sitting in my yard not running, just haven't had time yet, it's a 5 speed with a 351 and 170k. But here's the part that bothers me the most, it's been 20 days now and I'm still fighting with the insurance company on the truck, they claim it's a commercial truck and said they can't insure it, I transferred the title, bought plates for it etc and they still haven't gave me the green light. The truck itself has weak breaks, prob needs the tranny dropped and the clutch replaced/ rebuilt but I knew all that going in so that doesn't bother me.


My mother was recently given a 05 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 with 119k by my 93 year old grandmother, my uncle needed a new van for his business and to make it fair she had my uncle pick out something for my mother, before you all get too hung up on a free car, my mom doesn't have money, I have had to help her out since before I graduated HS and for sentimental reasons she lives in a log cabin, in the hills, alone. I'm 26 now and still worry about her in the winters, but she was happy to get a 4x4. I dropped her off at my grandmothers to pick the car up and I checked the oil before she took off in the jeep and saw it was low, so I told her to stop by at my place before driving an hour home and I'll top it off, later that night I topped off the oil, checked the trans and that wasn't touching the stick, the coolant was low and the car was making a crazy noise like a bearing in something was going out, I was mad at my uncle for not seeing all this but said she would be better off driving her car home (was at my place from when I took her to my grandmothers) and I'll have my dad look at the jeep tomorrow in the light.

We found the compressor was toast and was heating up so much it would burn you even after it had a proper charge so that got unplugged, the coolant was low, trans was a quart low, 4x4 didn't work, rear brake pads only grabbed an inch of the rear rotors and the rotors were shot and now the car is in the shop because I don't have time to fix it, the mechanic lives next door and owns a shop down the road, so now she has to pay to get all those issues repaired on a car she thought was good to go.

I have about a dozen more stories lol but those are some of the more recent ones, when buying a car or truck now I just figure close to $1000 making it right with me doing most of the work, most people either lie or don't know the prob even exists.

 

[Egon]

I have a story like yours in every way except for the outcome. After spending quite a bit of time looking, Wife and I found a golf cart we really liked and offered a deposit until we could return with a trailer in two days. Guy said our word was good enough,just bring payment when we came to pick it up. In Texas,golf carts can be operated on public roads if licensed. While talking to our son that evening,he told me that if a cart was ever registered the title should follow the cart from then on same as an automobile. On the other hand a cart that had never been registered could be titled and registered with only a bill of sale or statement of origin. Seller had told me he was original owner so I called to ask if he had ever registered it for use on public road and if so did he still have paperwork. He said he had never registered it,I said ok I'll see you Friday afternoon. When I showed up with cash and trailer,the cart had been sold and the guy was rude as all get out saying he never expected to see me after asking such stupid question. My asking him why he didn't inform me of his decision instead of allowing me to make a trip just seemed to inrage him even farther. Sunday,we found a really nice 3010 Mule for $800 more than I would have paid for the cart. I sure am glad that a hole sold the cart from under me.

Trail of ownership?? Maybe he did you a favour.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I grew up around the auto business. Grandfather owned a used lot and the local Chrysler Jeep dealership. He was a honest guy and because of that he never "held" a car for anyone, especially family or friends. Either show up and buy it or move on. Keeps you from making enemies.

 

[Stimw]

I bought an Indi Pace Car Edition Z-28 Camaro from an ad in the paper. It was advertised as 1984 and looked great!
I stopped by local Chevy Dealer to see a friend who was parts manager to get new spedo cable, speedometer was jumping.
Told friend what I wanted and he told me 1984 doesn't have cable it's electronic!! We checked VIN and it was a 1982.
The difference in price from the years was $2000.
I got Body File from DMV and who ever typed up title at DMV put wrong year on it.
Checked with a lawyer, contacted seller, he said fair price so I sued him in Small Claims Court for $2000.
I got a 2K judgement against seller. Judgments SUCK!! if they don't want to pay!!!
Seller agreed to pay me $100. a month for 20 months (I paid him cash for car)
Lucky for me seller tried to refi his house 3 months later and bank would not talk to him!! He begged me to take the money and cancel the judgement!

 

[Deere Dude]

Not me but my at the time 17 yo son. He wanted to buy a sporty car from his friend for $2000. I told him no because I didn't like the car, the owner or much about the deal. Finally after enough incessant harping about wanting it I told him to go ahead, it's your baby.

After a week or two of ownership the transmission went out. He is not a mechanic so he had to take everything to a mechanic for most work done. The mechanic said to get a transmission from a junkyard which he did. $800 labor and a $800 transmission later he finds out that transmission is bad. Another $800 labor to change to a good transmission. The car was a POJ but he kept it for awhile but lost his shirt on it. Now he is 45 years old and still making the same mistakes on deals only with costlier amounts.

I have a hard time buying anything other than new for that reason, and many others.

 

[Firemanbuck82]

I always want to smash my head against the nearest immovable object when I hear stories about people getting taken and they say "But he/ she was so NICE".

The judges would also have accepted "But, he tells it like it is...." :laughing::confused2:

 

[oldballs]

I was a die hard Mopar fan....owned just about every engine they made in the 60's thru 80's...Plymouths ..Dodges and Chryslers I got screwed over so many times that I'll never buy another. Sometimes it was the transmissions, sometimes it was the dealerships, sometimes it was the engine...and sometimes it was the fit and finish.

So far I've been pleased with Fords...maybe that is just luck however.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[kthompson]

I have a story like yours in every way except for the outcome. After spending quite a bit of time looking, Wife and I found a golf cart we really liked and offered a deposit until we could return with a trailer in two days. Guy said our word was good enough,just bring payment when we came to pick it up. In Texas,golf carts can be operated on public roads if licensed. While talking to our son that evening,he told me that if a cart was ever registered the title should follow the cart from then on same as an automobile. On the other hand a cart that had never been registered could be titled and registered with only a bill of sale or statement of origin. Seller had told me he was original owner so I called to ask if he had ever registered it for use on public road and if so did he still have paperwork. He said he had never registered it,I said ok I'll see you Friday afternoon. When I showed up with cash and trailer,the cart had been sold and the guy was rude as all get out saying he never expected to see me after asking such stupid question. My asking him why he didn't inform me of his decision instead of allowing me to make a trip just seemed to inrage him even farther. Sunday,we found a really nice 3010 Mule for $800 more than I would have paid for the cart. I sure am glad that a hole sold the cart from under me.

Possible it was stolen and your question worried him you would find out or had found out. Might have even thought the call was being recorded.

 

[jwstewar]

I don't know if it was a screw over or a favor. A few years back we thought we wanted a horse or two. So we started looking at stock trailers, this was in 2009. I found one. It was a gooseneck 4 horse trailer. A little bit of rust, but seemed solid. I think it was a 1990 or something like that. It needed tires and light work and was going to have to have some work done to the rust. I think it was $2000. Then I was going to have to get a gooseneck hitch installed in my truck. I think that was another 4 or 5 hundred. I made the appointment for the hitch and stopped to pay the people for the trailer. I looked one night, called the next day and said I wanted it, they said bring the money the next day. I go to pay and they say it sold the day before. So I called and cancelled the hitch appointment. I then found a bumper pull stock trailer. 16', it was a 2003 model and needed nothing other than change the light plug from 6 pin round to the 7-pin RV like on the truck. It was $2700. It has been a great trailer. Never got the horses, but now we have goats. So we now end up taking the camper with the truck and the trailer with our Suburban. Not sure what we would have done had we ended up with the gooseneck trailer.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Geez - I suppose we have all gotten ripped at one time or another! But, here's my story:

In 1967 when I was young and a pocket full of money just wanting to be spent, I checked out a 1967 Ford Mustang Cobra - the bad boy with the 427 side-oiler, 4-speed, plexiglass side windows, etc. It was a real bad-boy! They wanted $7000 for it. I laughed at them and told them I wasn't going to waste my money on a car with plastic windows! (Smart of me, right?)

So, I went straight down to the Buick dealer, Jensen Buick & Opel dealership. Paid $2500 cash for a new fire red Opel Cadet. Fine car, right? (NOT)

Within a week the hood faded. Took it back to the dealer. They agreed to repaint the hood. Took them 6 weeks.

Next month in downtown Houston during rush hour the motor froze up. Turned out to be the water pump; motor wasn't strong enough to spend the fan belt. Towed it to a shop and had a new water pump put in - out of my pocket.

Winter set in - and rain water poured inside from the windshield not being sealed.

Starter went out shortly after that. Had to jack up the motor to replace the starter - cost again, out of my pocket.

I hated that piece of junk so bad, I sold it to my cousin for $150. He kept if for a month before the starter went out again. He had the junk yard come pick it up - and told them to keep the $40 the offered him for it.

Oh-how I wish I'd bought that beautiful black Cobra... It'd be worth a "Little" more than the $7K

 

[crazyal]

I rarely sell stuff now and when I do I always state first here with the cash wins. I tell them point blank that I will hold it for a specified number of days if they give me a deposit. The one time I got screwed was from a guy who gave me a check for $100 to hold a car. He said he would be back in two days. After a week went by I called and his number wasn't working. Being nice I waited two months before giving up and reposting it. Of course weeks after I sold it he shows up and I tell him sorry but I never agreed to holding it 3 months for you and gave him his $100 back. A few weeks later I get a summons for small claims court. He lost as he didn't have a contract stating I would hold it for longer than a reasonable amount of time. But I still had to deal with that nonsense so now I'm not "nice". Like I said, first one with cash wins. If someone is coming from out of town I make it a point to tell them if someone else is coming to look at it so they don't have to make the drive. Also if I'm getting lots of calls I'll tell them that too but I don't hold anything for someone who may or may not show up.

 

[HillStreet]

When I was about 12 I went on a test drive with my father. He was contemplating buying a 1960 something Plymouth which was only two years old. It was a dealership vehicle. The car broke down after about 5 minutes. My fathers friend was driving by and gave us a ride home, but we stopped by the dealership first to tell them where to get the car.

 

[Industrial Toys]

We use an on line service called Kijiji to sell our junk. It's pretty much a given that most people never show up. My favorite is the people that beat you down on price over the phone and then don't show up.

 

[V65ozzie]

I once sold a car to a friend in need. The price was fair, the car was in really nice shape. I agreed he could pay me weekly. He made 4 payments, then took the car and left the state. Haven't seen it or him since. Haven't done a deal like that again. He had also borrowed some of my tools, haven't seen those since either....
I bought a used plymouth from a dealer, for 100 bucks, plus tags title etc, 400 out the door. It needed work. I replaced the heater core, AC, distributor, fuel pump, and had it running like a top. After a month, still no permanent tag. Temp tags expired, couldn't drive it. 2 months, still no tag, lots of phone calls during this time. Turned out they didn't have a title, so, they offered me my money back. I said ok, but you owe me 1400, due to the parts and time I have put into it. They refused. Not a problem, send me my tags. 2 weeks later, still no tags.
A call to the state resulted in a phone call to the dealership, fraud, theft etc. Got my tags 2 days later. Sold the car for 4000 a week later.