Don’t Buy A Car Without An Inspection First

Here’s a Rusty Lexus SUV that was purchased online without a vehicle inspection. The word TRUST is a five letter word with no meaning. It’s imperative to inspect the vehicle first before purchasing on a long distance deal. Otherwise you might not be happy with the car you receive.

Also a word to the wise about buying a car from the northeast area, or anywhere where they use rock salt and sodium chloride on the roads.

We like to jokingly call these the rust bucket states. That rock salt just eats up a car. The undercarriage and under the hood is where the greatest damage occurs.

That’s just the way it is. Unless a northern car is garaged in the winter it will be a rust bucket in 3-6 years. And we are not counting the sliding on the ice and crashing into something. Most northern vehicles have been hit at least once.

I know a dealer down south who bought late model 2wd trucks and suv’s in the middle of a northern winter at auction. The auctioneer would holler out “2 Wheel Drive” and the bidders would scatter like roaches when someone turned the lights on. I remember the salt truck as we used to call it pull in with a load of cars. Looking up you could see just how much damage was done in only a year or two.

It’s advisable to use toolhaus.org to scan for a sellers previous negative feedback . Do this first if considering buying a vehicle on eBay Motors. Sales people have been known to exaggerate the truth. And also tell flat out lies about a vehicles condition.

Buyer posted this on the motors forum : I have been looking for an older Model Lexus / Land Cruiser for awhile and came upon one listed
I called the number listed and spoke with a salesman and felt comfortable with going ahead with the purchase. Feedback was over 400, I was assured the care was in great condition and rust free .

I was asked if I would deal directly with them since it would save them money not going through eBay and the listing was ending. They had good feedback and went ahead. (you don’t have to respond to this, I know I should not of. I am writing this as a warning to others)

I received and reviewed the contract and they had added an additional charged for Vin Etching of 275.00. This is where the dealer makes a great deal of money on customers imprinting the vin number on the car windows. There are kits online for 25$ to do yourself.

I told them , no that I did not want any additional services. They told me it would be removed. I received the final processed contract and it had not been removed and I was told it would immediately be refunded to my credit/debit card. It has not.

I received the vehicle in considerable contrast to the pictures and description. The vehicle has a severe rust problem, missing items shown in the pictures, AC does not work, it is leaking fluid from the differential, and rust falls off it when I close the back hatch.

I called the dealership who would not call me back. I wrote an email to the salesman stating I was going to complain to the BBB, AG’s office and other avenues. I soon got a threatening voice mail from the owner stating he would sue me if I even wrnt to the BBB and complained. He stated he has done it before and will again. He told me his lawyer would be in contact with me.

Here are just a couple of pics from the listing to show you what was listed and what I received. Do your due diligence, sellers like this are out there and will try to bully you with threats from speaking out. And yes, always do your transactions on eBay . I have sent my formal complaints to the available resources. Here is a link to my pictures if interested .

Updated 03/22/2014: I dug into this a little deeper today and here is my personal opinion as a former dealer with 40+ years in the business.

This Lexus LX470 VIN: JTJHT00W623517607 was found in a Google cached search of the dealers stock number. Unfortunately the JavaScript photo viewer does not work on a cached page. Most likely the images are already deleted from the server.

Judging from looking at the photos the buyer took of the engine compartment. Id say it’s quite possible the seller did use photos from another LX470 for his engine compartment shots.

Buyer said there are pieces missing, possibly the engine cover? Also if you look at the sellers photo of the engine compartment you will see it’s been sprayed with an armor-all type of dressing to improve the appearance.

In the photos below of the engine compartment that the buyer took there is no dressing that i could see. The plastic cover is missing, and the right side engine photo shows major rust and corrosion on various components. Look over toward the battery and note there does not appear to be any dressing applied.

It’s a sickening feeling to put your trust in someone and be lied to. Judging from what the buyer stated on the eBay motors forum it appears that is the case in this situation. Possibly the photos from another LX470 were indeed used in this eBay listing.

Even if the buyer would have done the transaction on eBay the VPP would not have covered this SUV anyway. eBay Motors vehicle purchase protection has many limitations. One is any vehicle that is 10 years old or older is not covered. You can read the fine print here . It’s advisable to use toolhaus.org to scan for a sellers previous negative feedback.

Don’t commit to buying a car online until you have read my popular article: Used Car Buying And Selling Internet Advice.

And if getting a raw deal was not bad enough. There’s nothing like the insult and ridicule a buyer gets when going to the motors forum to ask for advice.

Yea Black*Max maybe eBay should shut this forum down. It’s not doing any service for the community (if you can even call this a community anymore.) A buyer has a problem and not one eBay member did any real investigation into this situation.

As usual.. Just my two cents worth 😉