S3 lotus esprit off eBay. What could go wrong. Read on.

[Durzel]

flyinyam said:

Paid by bank transfer. To sons account with halifax.

lol

flyinyam said:

I'm not sure if he's a dealer. Think he maybe but not officially.

Well, his feedback alone shows that he's sold 7 cars in the past year, one of which had suspicious feedback "On inspection the car wasn't suitable for what I wanted".

flyinyam said:

Sounded a really well to do genuine chap too.

Did you expect him to tell you that he was scamming you?

How much of this diligence did you do pre-sale? The stuff where you discovered that 1 previous owner was actually 4, and the "full service history" being one MOT once upon a time? Presumably you asked for proof of this stuff before sending £9300 into the ether, rather than discovering it when the car turned up?

Most of the stuff you listed in quotes would've made me walk away from the purchase immediately. If someone lies openly about that stuff, what else are they hiding?

flyinyam said:

I think I've been stupid , funnily enough the wife does too!

Let your wife handle the finances from now on.

[AshleyPatience]

So... what happened. Did he call you back on Tuesday after the 'funeral'? Has there been any more correspondence?

[No Face]

flyinyam said:

I'd keep the car but I'd want to keep it at 6 grand. He told me a service and an mot is all it needed.

Sounded a really well to do genuine chap too.

Have you called him and put that offer forward? A quick part refund would save you all a bit of time and hassle.

[surveyor_101]

His son Paddy!

John and Paddy strike again.


The lack of photos and info on the listing sounds alarm bells to me.

The interior shot was taken from the end of the door which was open was enough for me to limit bidding to about 1500 quid.

9800 on something with that little to go on.

Let your wife handle the money from now on.

[DuraAce]

Oldandslow said:

If you're looking for an example of how NOT to buy a car off the internet this pretty much ticks every box.

Quite. OP, you've been a right plank, hopefully you can find some recourse.

In transactions like this I expect to be scammed/ripped off.... Therefore its upto me to satisfy myself that its not a scam by diligent investigation and inspection of the goods before any momey changes hands (Basically the opposite of what you did!)

[flyinyam]

Might save alot of time. . . I've been a complete twonk and i know it.

I'm beating myself up about and letting it get me down now.

Wife on the other seems to sense my utter utter disappointment and is trying to chivvy me.

Tuesday call is for Tuesday coming.

If son is part of business, why would the money NOT go into his account.

Just to add he has this up presently



Regards
Fy

Edited by lids.mod on Monday 21st May 15:04

[Durzel]

Well, miracles do happen. Maybe you'll get a call back on Tuesday.

Everyone seems to have a funeral to go to when they need to justify going off the grid for an indeterminate amount of time....

Why is the money going into his son's account? Why indeed. Pointless wondering why now though.

What's done is done at this point, by all means try and get your money back but don't pin your hopes on it.

[Welshbeef]

OP
what would it cost to get it road worthy?
Is it a case of this is fit for the crusher only in which case could you recoup your money/more?

Got to be said £9,800 is a fairly high amount to punt on an old car which is known for lot of trouble usually serious from a crew who like dags

[flyinyam]

Welshbeef said:

OP
what would it cost to get it road worthy?
Is it a case of this is fit for the crusher only in which case could you recoup your money/more?

Got to be said £9,800 is a fairgly high amount to punt on an old car which is known for lot of trouble usually serious from a crew who like dags

I've honestly no idea, what I see as catastrophic (this being my first(and last) foray into classics.), could be somebody more capable/realistic not too bad!

I've already fallen out withthe car, and will never feel any love for it, so who knows. . .

Regards
Fy

Edited by flyinyam on Thursday 17th May 18:23

[Faust66]

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare OP and I hope you get a good result .

Word of advice: be careful what you put on a public forum... for all you know, the seller may read these pages.

Just sayin', like.

(might be an idea to edit your previous post before someone quotes it?)

[mellowman]

OP - hope for the best, but plan for the worst...

Maybe he will ring you next Tuesday, to sort out a refund and logistics. But have a plan if he doesn't.

Gather your evidence now, whilst it's still fresh, and keep it ready, with a point by point counter argument of things known to be false.

Keep things civil. Even if he strings you along don't let it get personal.

Even if you despise the sight of the Lotus, it's still a very desirable car, capable of being fixed to a high standard and fetching a lot of money. Unless you spent all your pocket money on it you should have added a contingency fund for repairs and maintenance. Make a list of what needs doing and prioritise things.

Old cars can be depressing, but get it working and give it a polish, you'll feel better for it!

[Welshbeef]

The pics look good/ok.

Surely you can get that into lovely condition.

Take whatever has or hasn’t happened with a knock on the chin and make it amazing.


Also it’s worth £9.8k every day of the week +++

[sinbaddio]

That's some funeral - 5 days long! Still, at least he's got time to post new adverts! Best of luck OP!

[Welshbeef]

sinbaddio said:

That's some funeral - 5 days long! Still, at least he's got time to post new adverts! Best of luck OP!

He has the car and by the pics it looks fine. Might need some work but what does he expect for a stupidly low price - that could easily be worth 3x what he paid.

[andymc]

he's in the Irish Republic? Yes, so in effect you bought a car from another Country and want to inforce UK laws on him? You're shagged whether he's a dealer or not

[williamp]

Ok try to rationalise. You may have been done. Thats unlucky.

But you have a lotus esprit turbo. A desirable car in anyones book. And at the moment, here and now, yes you have probably overspent. But you have one in your garage. I dont.

So take a longview. Its a rolling restoration. A bit here and there, use it and restore it. Youll enjoy it.

Was I mad to spend nearly £17,000 on an Aston DBS V8 12 years ago?? Unreliable, expensive to run, needs work, right at the top of their value etc etc..

Or the other guy on here with the cheap 456Gt. So what if you paid more for it? Give it 5 years, he might be heartbroken

Give it a good clean , get used to if, drive it a bit, fall for it.

[PorkInsider]

Welshbeef said:

The pics look good/ok.

Surely you can get that into lovely condition.

Take whatever has or hasn’t happened with a knock on the chin and make it amazing.


Also it’s worth £9.8k every day of the week +++

Sold!

There you go, OP, Welshy will take it off your hands.

[InitialDave]

Right OP, not going to kick you when you're down regarding your decisions. Let's see some decent pictures of what you've bought, especially the bad bits, maybe it's not that bad. I can see a decent car being worth more than twice that, so it's entirely possible you could come out ahead here.

Maybe he'll call you after the long weekend and it'll all just gets sorted as he's promised. Maybe.

[Camelot1971]

Welshbeef said:

He has the car and by the pics it looks fine. Might need some work but what does he expect for a stupidly low price - that could easily be worth 3x what he paid.

And at least its not an imaginary car.

[S100HP]

Camelot1971 said:

Welshbeef said:

He has the car and by the pics it looks fine. Might need some work but what does he expect for a stupidly low price - that could easily be worth 3x what he paid.

And at least its not an imaginary car.