Had fun today (Tales of eBay)
Discussion
Excuse the length (said the actor to the bishop)
Bought a 1996 Renault Megane 1.6e saloon off ebay for £360. ABS, airbags, CD-player and 4-star NCAP. It has a tow-bar with electrics. 6 months ticket. Only 41K but a bit rough here and there and just had the head gasket done amateur-stylee but for that price I wasnt too bothered. Thought I could spend a few hundred and still be on top.
Went and picked it up today! Seemed OK, four good tyres and the brakes worked on a drive round the block so off I trundled, sans-cash.
First thing: it seems to bog with a little misfire quite easily. Well it is running on fumes, I decided to call in at the first petrol station and give her a good drink.
Second thing: the temperature guage isn't registering after a good ten minutes, and the heater is still cold. I'm medium-worried by this bearing in mind the HG situation.
Third thing: loud clunks and bangs from the front suspension. Not too worried by this, probably just a balljoint or sommat. I've got some hammers and a breaker bar so no probs.
Fourth thing: the tappets need checking once the engine gets hot. tap tap tap tap.
Call in at petrol station, fill her up. Checked the water, the level was a bit high but no sign of bubbling or exess pressure so that reduced the worry somewhat. The guage started to register as it sat idling too, so at that point I'm thinking no worries it just needs a 'stat. £10 including fresh antifreeze no probs.
Set off again, its difficult to start and misfiring quite badly at first, difficult to keep idling and to pull away
I contemplate stopping, worried about the cat but it but smoothes out after a few minutes. I also contemplate taking it back to the seller but thought nah, I knew it would need work for £360. On the way home (20 miles) it starts to come together, its quite a relaxing car to drive and the 1.6 is smooth and torquey for its size. Nice clutch action and smooth gearchanges are effortless. Smooth ride. Am starting to like this vehicle. Looking at the way the paint has rubbed off the indicator stalk I start to wonder if it's really done 41K.
Get it home. Freezing my arse off due to lack of working heater/thermostat. My hands are like ice cubes and I fumble to get my keys in the front door and make a hot cuppa. After letting the beast cool down I discover the following facts: 1) Three of the sparks are newish but not torqued up properly and gapped too small. The fourth spark plug doesnt match the others i.e. it's NGK rather than bosch and the tip 'projects' noticably more than the bosch's. Plus the bosh's are grooved. All four plugs look quite black and allmost oily (but not actually oily), I'm guessing due to the 'stat situation and maybe they were the ones that were in when the HG let go? probably explains the misfire anyway. Poking around underneath and around the engine bay I'm more reassured about the 41K thing. Everything looks clean-ish except for some rust-y coolant-y staining around the header tank and various other random places. It isn't uniformly covered in s*** like you'd expect on a high milage car. Fact 2) there's no anti-freeze in the coolant, which allready looks quite rusty.
With the plugs cleaned and re-gapped she climbs my ramps like a mountain goat. The suspension clunking looks like the anti-roll bar end-bushes, theres loads of movement in them. The man round the corner's going to have me a set in for monday, together with the 'stat and the plugs (he only had three of the right ones on the shelf somewhat ironically). The oil & filter looks new anyway so I'l leave that for a few months. (bollox, just realised I didnt check the air filter...) Should come to around £30 anyway, ouch. I'm also going to swap some tyres round to even them up a bit and get it all tracked and ballanced, should be another £30 ish. I just hope that covers most of the faults. It looks like it will....
....Except when it gets dark, the temperature plummets and I tidy up. Go to lock the bugger - turn the key, nothing. Turn it the other way, nothing. s***. jiggle it both ways for ages... nothing. The door still opens! The passenger door lock is the same 
, and the 'lock me in' button on the dash produces a small click from the door and nothing else, anyone want to hazzard a guess at what's going on there then for both door locks to fail to do anything? Hmmm.
Anyway, the Question of Questions and the point to this post if one exists, is this:
What feedback to I give this guy, based on all the above and taking into consideration the £360 factor?
Hope at leat one of you enjoys/reads this Tale of eBay. Lesson for today: In older cars, mileage should be ignored completely. I'm going to treat myself to a Ruby.
Bought a 1996 Renault Megane 1.6e saloon off ebay for £360. ABS, airbags, CD-player and 4-star NCAP. It has a tow-bar with electrics. 6 months ticket. Only 41K but a bit rough here and there and just had the head gasket done amateur-stylee but for that price I wasnt too bothered. Thought I could spend a few hundred and still be on top.
Went and picked it up today! Seemed OK, four good tyres and the brakes worked on a drive round the block so off I trundled, sans-cash.
First thing: it seems to bog with a little misfire quite easily. Well it is running on fumes, I decided to call in at the first petrol station and give her a good drink.
Second thing: the temperature guage isn't registering after a good ten minutes, and the heater is still cold. I'm medium-worried by this bearing in mind the HG situation.
Third thing: loud clunks and bangs from the front suspension. Not too worried by this, probably just a balljoint or sommat. I've got some hammers and a breaker bar so no probs.
Fourth thing: the tappets need checking once the engine gets hot. tap tap tap tap.
Call in at petrol station, fill her up. Checked the water, the level was a bit high but no sign of bubbling or exess pressure so that reduced the worry somewhat. The guage started to register as it sat idling too, so at that point I'm thinking no worries it just needs a 'stat. £10 including fresh antifreeze no probs.
Set off again, its difficult to start and misfiring quite badly at first, difficult to keep idling and to pull away
I contemplate stopping, worried about the cat but it but smoothes out after a few minutes. I also contemplate taking it back to the seller but thought nah, I knew it would need work for £360. On the way home (20 miles) it starts to come together, its quite a relaxing car to drive and the 1.6 is smooth and torquey for its size. Nice clutch action and smooth gearchanges are effortless. Smooth ride. Am starting to like this vehicle. Looking at the way the paint has rubbed off the indicator stalk I start to wonder if it's really done 41K. Get it home. Freezing my arse off due to lack of working heater/thermostat. My hands are like ice cubes and I fumble to get my keys in the front door and make a hot cuppa. After letting the beast cool down I discover the following facts: 1) Three of the sparks are newish but not torqued up properly and gapped too small. The fourth spark plug doesnt match the others i.e. it's NGK rather than bosch and the tip 'projects' noticably more than the bosch's. Plus the bosh's are grooved. All four plugs look quite black and allmost oily (but not actually oily), I'm guessing due to the 'stat situation and maybe they were the ones that were in when the HG let go? probably explains the misfire anyway. Poking around underneath and around the engine bay I'm more reassured about the 41K thing. Everything looks clean-ish except for some rust-y coolant-y staining around the header tank and various other random places. It isn't uniformly covered in s*** like you'd expect on a high milage car. Fact 2) there's no anti-freeze in the coolant, which allready looks quite rusty.
With the plugs cleaned and re-gapped she climbs my ramps like a mountain goat. The suspension clunking looks like the anti-roll bar end-bushes, theres loads of movement in them. The man round the corner's going to have me a set in for monday, together with the 'stat and the plugs (he only had three of the right ones on the shelf somewhat ironically). The oil & filter looks new anyway so I'l leave that for a few months. (bollox, just realised I didnt check the air filter...) Should come to around £30 anyway, ouch. I'm also going to swap some tyres round to even them up a bit and get it all tracked and ballanced, should be another £30 ish. I just hope that covers most of the faults. It looks like it will....
....Except when it gets dark, the temperature plummets and I tidy up. Go to lock the bugger - turn the key, nothing. Turn it the other way, nothing. s***. jiggle it both ways for ages... nothing. The door still opens!
The passenger door lock is the same , and the 'lock me in' button on the dash produces a small click from the door and nothing else, anyone want to hazzard a guess at what's going on there then for both door locks to fail to do anything? Hmmm. Anyway, the Question of Questions and the point to this post if one exists, is this:
What feedback to I give this guy, based on all the above and taking into consideration the £360 factor?
Hope at leat one of you enjoys/reads this Tale of eBay. Lesson for today: In older cars, mileage should be ignored completely. I'm going to treat myself to a Ruby.
Seems fair for a £360 runner to be honest. All hinges on how it was described in the original ad though. If he said it was recently serviced & immaculate then I'd probably give a neutral but if it was fairly described then it's got to be +ve for that money.
I'd only give a neg if it wasn't as described & he's obviously had one's trousers down...
I'd only give a neg if it wasn't as described & he's obviously had one's trousers down...
Don't know about the door problems sorry. But regarding ebay feedback, i'd wait a couple of days till you know what all the problems are. If it turns out that there is something major, then you could leave neg feeback. But TBH, you can't expect too much for £360. Anyway, negative feedback is a catch 22, you leave negative feedback, the seller then leaves negative feedback for you.
One way around this is to leave positive feedback, but add some comments like, 'several problems discovered but good price' or something similar.
One way around this is to leave positive feedback, but add some comments like, 'several problems discovered but good price' or something similar.
Umm. I think it depends on your own rating. IF you put 'Guy sold me a total c
t of a car and he is a complete wr' he is bound to respond with 'This tit is a total loser and pd me about! Avoid at all costs'
That is the trouble with Ebay. Personally I would wait for the other party to give a good rating and then hit them with a bad, as remember you cannot change the rating once given. (although you can do a follow up).
I think you can refuse the ebay deal if it was not whats on offer. That sounds quite good compared to some crap I have purchased out of some 'garages'
I have had to grit my teeth sometimes leaving feedback.
O/T slightly.
I know its buyer beware BUT if you paid for something via Paypal via a credit card do you have the same protection.
Added: Did he mention the headgasket in the advert? If not I would have knocked some off or walked away. (see above).
>> Edited by scared but happy on Saturday 28th January 20:32
t of a car and he is a complete wr' he is bound to respond with 'This tit is a total loser and pd me about! Avoid at all costs' That is the trouble with Ebay. Personally I would wait for the other party to give a good rating and then hit them with a bad, as remember you cannot change the rating once given. (although you can do a follow up).
I think you can refuse the ebay deal if it was not whats on offer. That sounds quite good compared to some crap I have purchased out of some 'garages'
I have had to grit my teeth sometimes leaving feedback.
O/T slightly.
I know its buyer beware BUT if you paid for something via Paypal via a credit card do you have the same protection. Added: Did he mention the headgasket in the advert? If not I would have knocked some off or walked away. (see above).
>> Edited by scared but happy on Saturday 28th January 20:32
OK the item in question: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& I wasnt too bothered about the engine issues cause I kind of expected that kind of thing for the price and its no biggie at the end of the day, the car isn't required immediatley so it's fine. I was contemplating going for the neutral option because of the door locks cause at first I couldnt see how he couldn't have known but I suppose unless you actually check that the door won't open after you've locked it you wouldn't nececarily know... and he freely admitted that it was only a fixer-upper for him so I'm leaning further that way. So positive it will be with some careful wording
But I'l give it a few days before doing the deed just in case. £400... you're having a girraffe, £450 minimum
it's got £40 of petrol in it now...Why do these people always write IN CAPITALS? fk that is so annoying and TBH I find it so much harder to read a huge block of text.
Still not as annoying as the ones that are poorly spelt (Yes I know my spelling is bad! but if I was selling something I would try better).
note to Ebayers: Cars have brakes not breaks.
k that is so annoying and TBH I find it so much harder to read a huge block of text. Still not as annoying as the ones that are poorly spelt (Yes I know my spelling is bad! but if I was selling something I would try better).
note to Ebayers: Cars have brakes not breaks.
yep, i was always told by the old chap never to buy a car unseen.
However, early december i got drunk and bought an old jag on ebay. it looked rather nice in the pix.. it also looked nice when i picked it up, and luckily enough its been rather good. replaced the exahaust and have been having great fun floating about in it. i remember the journey home down the M1 after collecting it, i was terrified something would go bang!
also done a bank job and a couple of post-offices and it hasnt let me down yet!
i wouldnt risk my luck again though, no more drinking and ebaying for me. got away with it the first time so wont push my luck...
However, early december i got drunk and bought an old jag on ebay. it looked rather nice in the pix.. it also looked nice when i picked it up, and luckily enough its been rather good. replaced the exahaust and have been having great fun floating about in it. i remember the journey home down the M1 after collecting it, i was terrified something would go bang!
also done a bank job and a couple of post-offices and it hasnt let me down yet!
i wouldnt risk my luck again though, no more drinking and ebaying for me. got away with it the first time so wont push my luck...
s2gonzo said:
...IT RUNS AND DRIVES EXCELENT...
Clearly it does not - therefore a case of 'not as described' - and a pretty fundamental one at that.
K
Yup, not as described.
That's the first thing that struck me, hence - be careful about giving +ve feedback.
That said, it doesn't sound too terrible - new plugs (points?); new headgasket - I take it there's no water in the oil? Check the timing ... then fix whatever's clunking at the front.
Course ... you're never going to make a real profit on it, but you can run it for a year or so and still sell it for £400.
Thats the one he bought for £70 the week before? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&
Yep plugs, thermostat, roll bar bushes and the locks and it should be sweet.
I see the point about 'runs and drives excellent', allthough I could easily beleive that it did for him if he's only done a few miles in it before the plugs got sooted up... so I'm discounting that one really. The door locks are the swinger though. I've just taken the door apart and a couple of screws were missing, the door card wasnt properly in place (which I couldnt see till I looked closely). Its showing signs of recently being looked at therefore he probably knew therefore I really should give him neg... I still need time to talk myself into it though I've never given a neg before!
The problem looks to be inside the lock barrel, I've got them out now and theres a little pin thats supposed to move left and right thats not doing, so it looks like somethings sheared off inside.. on both sides! what ham-fisted bugger did that?? Can't get into the barrel anyway as the front chrome-y bit is kind of wrapped onto it and would look like a dogs dinner if I took it off, so a couple of locks from the scrappy it is. Except the car's needed from on tuesday onwards and it'l be next saturday before I can get to the scrappers
Profit isn't the motive here, just a need for a decent-ish car at a low, low price!
I see the point about 'runs and drives excellent', allthough I could easily beleive that it did for him if he's only done a few miles in it before the plugs got sooted up... so I'm discounting that one really. The door locks are the swinger though. I've just taken the door apart and a couple of screws were missing, the door card wasnt properly in place (which I couldnt see till I looked closely). Its showing signs of recently being looked at therefore he probably knew therefore I really should give him neg... I still need time to talk myself into it though I've never given a neg before!
The problem looks to be inside the lock barrel, I've got them out now and theres a little pin thats supposed to move left and right thats not doing, so it looks like somethings sheared off inside.. on both sides! what ham-fisted bugger did that?? Can't get into the barrel anyway as the front chrome-y bit is kind of wrapped onto it and would look like a dogs dinner if I took it off, so a couple of locks from the scrappy it is. Except the car's needed from on tuesday onwards and it'l be next saturday before I can get to the scrappers
Profit isn't the motive here, just a need for a decent-ish car at a low, low price!
mark387mw said:
Thats the one he bought for £70 the week before? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&
same car!!! plus he made over 300 quid profit
Sorted!mark387mw said:
Thats the one he bought for £70 the week before? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&
Seems he bought it as a none runner with a knackered head gasket then did it up?
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