What's the worse you have been stitched up by a seller?
Discussion
Many years ago I bought a mk.2 Golf GTi and made the mistake of doing so in the dark. Got halfway home before it nearly overheated thanks to a leaking water pump, stopped on a slope to check it only to find the handbrake didn't work at all, then in daylight realised it was 2 very different shades of red. Didn't get much better after that either, constant electrical faults, ate idle control valves and used more oil than petrol. Eventually I had enough but thought I'd put a fresh MOT on it instead of breaking for parts, that cost me something like £600 and I sold it for £400. As on final f you, stripped the sump plug when I went to change the oil.
Only car I've ever owned where I was genuinely waking up hoping to find someone had stolen it (not that they'd have gotten far), and so bad it nearly put me off cars completely.
Only car I've ever owned where I was genuinely waking up hoping to find someone had stolen it (not that they'd have gotten far), and so bad it nearly put me off cars completely.
InitialDave said:
My dad bought an old Ford Pop on the cheap, thought it ran quite badly, clearly only firing on 3 cylinders.
When he removed the head to investigate further, he found one piston and rod had been removed, and a lump of wood hammered into the bore to crudely block it off.
I have heard variations of that story, from old school retired mechanics and fitters.When he removed the head to investigate further, he found one piston and rod had been removed, and a lump of wood hammered into the bore to crudely block it off.
Also, stories of sawdust being stuffed into a diff cover to disguise gear wear and ‘fullers earth’ being injected into the bell housing to mitigate clutch slippage.
Bought a T6 Transporter Kombi private last August, did everything wrong, Took 2 kids who were a pain in the neck to view when it was tipping it down, van seemed fine, a bit steep for Private £32k, said id go back, anyway was getting a bit desperado as needed to get the cash from work and send my company car back, so did a bit of dealing to cover myself if any repairs were needed, got £2.5k off it and went to pick it up.
Quick look over, wife nagging as she wanted to get off (she dropped me off), said she was happy so transferred the £30k loan I had just got to him.
I sat in it and noticed the windscreen had a chip, no danger I thought its £100, tried to put my address in the satnav and the screen didn't work, I asked him about it and he reckoned he never used it, I just drove home and it really took the shine off it for me, got home and it had a few stone chips I'd not seen due to the rain, Jack and tool set / towing bar were missing (my fault didn't check) and 2 weeks later EML was on for a known Transporter fault which should have been done as a recall in 2018(he never got it done) and the seatbelts in the rear were quite frayed.
I have spent £170 on the nav unit repair, Not done the windscreen yet, seatbelts got me through an MOT but will change, not done stone chips yet, the EML is a but recurrent and could be a £80 software update (I then lose the MAP) or a £700 EGR cooler! on the EGR I needed to fix a pipe as he had welded it instead of replacing, that was £150.
Would never spend that money private again, especially on a VAN, I do love it though, suits the family really well and essentially my work are paying for the loan, if I had my time again I would have waited a few more weeks and seen a few more, I got it in my head I wanted one and when work agreed I could have a Van on the grey fleet I thought just do it before they change there mind!
Quick look over, wife nagging as she wanted to get off (she dropped me off), said she was happy so transferred the £30k loan I had just got to him.
I sat in it and noticed the windscreen had a chip, no danger I thought its £100, tried to put my address in the satnav and the screen didn't work, I asked him about it and he reckoned he never used it, I just drove home and it really took the shine off it for me, got home and it had a few stone chips I'd not seen due to the rain, Jack and tool set / towing bar were missing (my fault didn't check) and 2 weeks later EML was on for a known Transporter fault which should have been done as a recall in 2018(he never got it done) and the seatbelts in the rear were quite frayed.
I have spent £170 on the nav unit repair, Not done the windscreen yet, seatbelts got me through an MOT but will change, not done stone chips yet, the EML is a but recurrent and could be a £80 software update (I then lose the MAP) or a £700 EGR cooler! on the EGR I needed to fix a pipe as he had welded it instead of replacing, that was £150.
Would never spend that money private again, especially on a VAN, I do love it though, suits the family really well and essentially my work are paying for the loan, if I had my time again I would have waited a few more weeks and seen a few more, I got it in my head I wanted one and when work agreed I could have a Van on the grey fleet I thought just do it before they change there mind!
jonwm said:
Transporter woes.
I bought an ex airport taxi 2014 Shuttle for £9k in June, a good price I thought just to use as a dog van and runabout. Boot and rear wing a bit creased, no problems I thought can get it sorted, On the way home the oil pressure light came on after 40 minutes, private purchase of course. Went away again, a bit random. Always came on after 40 minutes. A week later my wife ran the side down the fence so it is now dented on 3 sides. Just spent a touch over a grand on it, cambelt, investigating the oil pressure, egr pipe, front discs, oh and the heater has stopped working the garage changed the thermostat and swore at me it was so hard to do, yet the heater is still broken.
The garage had it a month, cleaned the pickup pipe and the low oil pressure warning now comes on all the time albeit without the warning beep that gives you a heart attack. The pressure was tested and it was above what VW recommend. On the plus side the egr and dpf work perfectly! And tonight in the rain I had to fit a new battery as it was dead in the cold last night.
God knows what it is worth now maybe £6k. My last purchase was a L322 facelift, lost £2k on that as the clutch was slipping. I used to have the midas touch and ran cars for 15 years without costing me a penny.
S2000.
‘Engineer’ seller carried out an oil change prior to collection but failed to actually do it up correctly. Enter a plume of smoke and a bang whilst at 9k, such was the extent of the frag grenade, I couldn’t see forwards, to the sides or indeed behind. 4 ltrs of oil now dripped from every surface.
Thought I’d got away with it (oil starvation) as was moments from home but engine was kaput. 6 months and a replacement engine later, I’m 6.5k down (albeit with new clutch and flywheel) the S2k owes me 20k. This was 12 months ago. Not worth selling the b
d thing now. Still, drives well!
‘Engineer’ seller carried out an oil change prior to collection but failed to actually do it up correctly. Enter a plume of smoke and a bang whilst at 9k, such was the extent of the frag grenade, I couldn’t see forwards, to the sides or indeed behind. 4 ltrs of oil now dripped from every surface.
Thought I’d got away with it (oil starvation) as was moments from home but engine was kaput. 6 months and a replacement engine later, I’m 6.5k down (albeit with new clutch and flywheel) the S2k owes me 20k. This was 12 months ago. Not worth selling the b
d thing now. Still, drives well! Edited by Tekno on Wednesday 4th January 01:13
I bought an E36 M3 for about £5k a number of years ago. Let the Mrs at the time, who was also a car nut, view it and leave a deposit. Agreed to buy it. Went to collect it and brought it home, found a minor issue but decided to take it since she'd put the deposit on and it seemed to have had a load of work done such as being under sealed etc.
Started stripping it down to make some improvements and clean it up etc. It never went back together. The amount of rot was unreal. They'd undersealed it over the rust. Absolute bds. I didn't lose money thanks to the values of them soaring whilst it was in bits and made about £1k profit when I finally admitted defeat and sold it.
I miss it though. I only drove it that one time, to bring it home. It never moved again.
Started stripping it down to make some improvements and clean it up etc. It never went back together. The amount of rot was unreal. They'd undersealed it over the rust. Absolute b
ds. I didn't lose money thanks to the values of them soaring whilst it was in bits and made about £1k profit when I finally admitted defeat and sold it.I miss it though. I only drove it that one time, to bring it home. It never moved again.
Tekno said:
S2000.
‘Engineer’ seller carried out an oil change prior to collection but failed to actually do it up correctly. Enter a plume of smoke and a bang whilst at 9k, such was the extent of the frag grenade, I couldn’t see forwards, to the sides or indeed behind. 4 ltrs of oil now dripped from every surface.
Thought I’d got away with it (oil starvation) as was moments from home but engine was kaput. 6 months and a replacement engine later, I’m 6.5k down (albeit with new clutch and flywheel) the S2k owes me 20k. This was 12 months ago. Not worth selling the bd thing now. Still, drives well!
Was that the oil filter only being hand tight and not torqued correctly (22-24nm)?‘Engineer’ seller carried out an oil change prior to collection but failed to actually do it up correctly. Enter a plume of smoke and a bang whilst at 9k, such was the extent of the frag grenade, I couldn’t see forwards, to the sides or indeed behind. 4 ltrs of oil now dripped from every surface.
Thought I’d got away with it (oil starvation) as was moments from home but engine was kaput. 6 months and a replacement engine later, I’m 6.5k down (albeit with new clutch and flywheel) the S2k owes me 20k. This was 12 months ago. Not worth selling the b
d thing now. Still, drives well! Edited by Tekno on Wednesday 4th January 01:13
Probably my most recent purchase. My previous car heater matrix started leaking and had to be bypassed since they don't make the part for it anymore. This was around that week when we had heavy snow and ice. I couldn't tolerate the cold and needed something immediately.
Found a 2011 Volvo S40. I knew it wasn't a cherished car but bought it anyway because it was cheap and I was desperate. Problems have appeared since including:
Big gash in the front bumper I didn't notice when I viewed the car
Cracked coolant expansion tank
3rd grinds into gear at high revs. Didn't notice on the test drive because at 3000rpm or less it doesn't grind
Worn engine and/or gearbox mount (which explains the 3rd gear grinding), I can hear the gearbox knock at times
Failed swirl flap solenoid giving a huge flatspot under 3000rpm and piss poor MPG (confirmed with Vida diagnostics).
Marks and tears in the leather seats
Missing wheel nut wrench - luckily have the locking wheel nut
Missing jack
Luckily most of these problems are cheap and can be fixed myself. Coolant tank £15, solenoid valve £40, engine/gearbox mount and possibly new cables plus labour I'd estimate £150, generic wrench £15, leather refurb gonna be £400ish if I bother to do it.
I can actually trade the car in for what I paid, so all is not lost.
Edit: Purchased privately from a 'mechanical engineer' who claimed to have done all the servicing himself. The only SH it had was a clutch at 50k and full service in 2016. It does have 4 new looking tyres on it and the CV boots were replaced a year or 2 ago as the MOT history shows.
Found a 2011 Volvo S40. I knew it wasn't a cherished car but bought it anyway because it was cheap and I was desperate. Problems have appeared since including:
Big gash in the front bumper I didn't notice when I viewed the car
Cracked coolant expansion tank
3rd grinds into gear at high revs. Didn't notice on the test drive because at 3000rpm or less it doesn't grind
Worn engine and/or gearbox mount (which explains the 3rd gear grinding), I can hear the gearbox knock at times
Failed swirl flap solenoid giving a huge flatspot under 3000rpm and piss poor MPG (confirmed with Vida diagnostics).
Marks and tears in the leather seats
Missing wheel nut wrench - luckily have the locking wheel nut
Missing jack
Luckily most of these problems are cheap and can be fixed myself. Coolant tank £15, solenoid valve £40, engine/gearbox mount and possibly new cables plus labour I'd estimate £150, generic wrench £15, leather refurb gonna be £400ish if I bother to do it.
I can actually trade the car in for what I paid, so all is not lost.
Edit: Purchased privately from a 'mechanical engineer' who claimed to have done all the servicing himself. The only SH it had was a clutch at 50k and full service in 2016. It does have 4 new looking tyres on it and the CV boots were replaced a year or 2 ago as the MOT history shows.
Edited by Acuity30 on Wednesday 4th January 10:05
Bought an S1 RS Turbo once, many moons ago, with a fresh paint job and some nice bits and a good new build engine from a reputable builder with receipts.
Turns out the guy for whatever reason had just given it a load of filler and a quick blow over. First night at home with a bit of cold it was covered in paint blisters the morning after and on further investigation was as rotten as a pear.....highlights being the nearside a-pillar rusted about 95% through and smoothed over with 'liquid metal' and filler. Similar underneath, inner wings, sills etc etc. You get the idea
Immediately stripped the car, scrapped the shell and sold the bits. Came out slightly up financially but down on time and aggro.
Turns out the guy for whatever reason had just given it a load of filler and a quick blow over. First night at home with a bit of cold it was covered in paint blisters the morning after and on further investigation was as rotten as a pear.....highlights being the nearside a-pillar rusted about 95% through and smoothed over with 'liquid metal' and filler. Similar underneath, inner wings, sills etc etc. You get the idea
Immediately stripped the car, scrapped the shell and sold the bits. Came out slightly up financially but down on time and aggro.
Not been ripped of like that but I did once many years ago help a mate out with a viewing of a 4 year old Vauxhall Chevete. It was suspiciously tidy, on enquiry the seller explained he had resprayed the lower half due to stone chips etc. Seemed reasonable but on inspection it had a different reg number on the back to the one on the front. We declined to buy it and left sharpish. I guess that car probably caught someone out. At least he had painted both halves the same colour 
Travelled by train from North Wales to London in 2007 to view a Merc C240 Sport estate, about eight years old, 60k. Private seller, lovely chap, car had been used for the school run and was as close to mint as I've ever seen and came with full MBSH. We did a deal and I set off home.
It started breaking down around Luton. Eventually got home at about 3am having stopped about a dozen times by the side of the motorway / A5 until it would restart.
Limped to Mercedes Chester the next day, they changed the crank sensor and off we went.
Took the car to a local Merc specialist a couple of weeks later for a couple of smal jobs - oil change service, fit a towbar for bike carrying. They came back and said they had found a small water leak which they believed was from the rubber hoses which pass through the bulkhead. Changed those, made no difference. Suspected head gasket failure. As the car is a V6, they had to change both at a cost of £1400.
Got the car back, and a couple of days later every single light on the dash lit up when I braked.
Most expensive car experience ever, paid £6000, spent £2000 or repairs and got £5000 as a trade in, so £3000 in one month.
I've never had another Merc since.
It started breaking down around Luton. Eventually got home at about 3am having stopped about a dozen times by the side of the motorway / A5 until it would restart.
Limped to Mercedes Chester the next day, they changed the crank sensor and off we went.
Took the car to a local Merc specialist a couple of weeks later for a couple of smal jobs - oil change service, fit a towbar for bike carrying. They came back and said they had found a small water leak which they believed was from the rubber hoses which pass through the bulkhead. Changed those, made no difference. Suspected head gasket failure. As the car is a V6, they had to change both at a cost of £1400.
Got the car back, and a couple of days later every single light on the dash lit up when I braked.
Most expensive car experience ever, paid £6000, spent £2000 or repairs and got £5000 as a trade in, so £3000 in one month.
I've never had another Merc since.
I spotted a fairly rare Citroen advertised some years ago, at the time it was a perfect runaround that could used in the future to donate the engine for my 205. It was unfortunately a long journey via train but a one way ticket was really cheap so I went for it. The seller picked me up from railway station and took me out the middle of nowhere where they lived.
On arrival the car looked good, the photos were a bit grainy so I was pleasantly surprised with the bodywork being clean... until I walked around the other side to see the door stoved in.
Seller offered no excuses, said take it or leave it and the price was fixed. If I wanted they would call me a taxi back to town (about 30 mins). I priced up a train ticket home on top of the taxi and given how late in the day it was it just about made sense to buy the car.
On arrival the car looked good, the photos were a bit grainy so I was pleasantly surprised with the bodywork being clean... until I walked around the other side to see the door stoved in.
Seller offered no excuses, said take it or leave it and the price was fixed. If I wanted they would call me a taxi back to town (about 30 mins). I priced up a train ticket home on top of the taxi and given how late in the day it was it just about made sense to buy the car.
Acuity30 said:
Big gash in the front bumper I didn't notice when I viewed the car
Cracked coolant expansion tank
3rd grinds into gear at high revs. Didn't notice on the test drive because at 3000rpm or less it doesn't grind
Worn engine and/or gearbox mount (which explains the 3rd gear grinding), I can hear the gearbox knock at times
Failed swirl flap solenoid giving a huge flatspot under 3000rpm and piss poor MPG (confirmed with Vida diagnostics).
Marks and tears in the leather seats
Missing wheel nut wrench - luckily have the locking wheel nut
Missing jack
Surely 5 or 6 of those aren't you being stitched up as such, as they're easily noticeable on inspection/test driveCracked coolant expansion tank
3rd grinds into gear at high revs. Didn't notice on the test drive because at 3000rpm or less it doesn't grind
Worn engine and/or gearbox mount (which explains the 3rd gear grinding), I can hear the gearbox knock at times
Failed swirl flap solenoid giving a huge flatspot under 3000rpm and piss poor MPG (confirmed with Vida diagnostics).
Marks and tears in the leather seats
Missing wheel nut wrench - luckily have the locking wheel nut
Missing jack
Edited by Acuity30 on Wednesday 4th January 10:05
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