Hey Guys! I have a bit of a situation on my hands, and need some advice (be ready for a long story)….
Here is the “short” story….Middle of July I was in talks with a guy over buying his truck that I saw advertised on Ebay. He said the truck is in excellent condition with a re-built motor, new paint, etc. The only thing he said it could use would be new headers and maybe a new intake manifold (for performance purposes only). Other than that, the truck runs like a dream. Part of the deal was for him to swap out the 4 speed and put in a new/rebuilt automatic transmission. We came up with a price, I deposited the money in his account, and he said he would deliver the truck up to me once it was completed (in the next week). He said he would be up in my neck of the woods picking up a car from an auction. In the meantime he would send me the title and Bill of Sale the next day. Time goes by, still no title or Bill of Sale. I keep in touch with him via phone calls and text messages, trying to stay in the loop of what is going on. Almost 2 weeks later he finally sends me a title, to the wrong vehicle, and still no Bill of Sale. I tell him we got the wrong title etc, send it back to him, and he says he will give us the title when he drops off the truck. Fast forward through the excuses of why he won’t be able to deliver the truck this day or that, he finally makes it up my direction almost a month after the original date when the deal was made and money was exchanged. He wants to meet me at work to drop off the truck. He drops it off in the parking lot and takes off rather quickly, without me even having the chance to meet him.
After work I get in the truck to drive home and I am wondering if I am even going to make it home. This truck is in bad shape. After I got it home, I had three mechanics come out to my place to look at it. Here is what they found to be wrong with it (and I am sure there is more)
Safety Concerns:
- No outside door locks
- You cannot open the door from the inside unless you reach outside the window and open the door from the outside
- The handle to roll down the window is broken, which is a problem, since you need to have the window down in order to open the door
- There are no outside side mirrors or rear view mirror
- No windshield wipers, unsafe in a state like Oregon
- There is no horn
- There is no rear license plate
In reality this “daily driver” as he stated, is not even licensable at the Oregon DMV.
Mechanical issues include:
- The fan belt is hitting the fan shroud
- The odometer is broken, therefore unable to accurately gauge speed
- The engine is leaking a lot of oil. I was told the engine was “in excellent shape”. Because of all the leaks, the engine oil was low and we had to add 3 quarts.
- The motor does not meet minimum compression standards.
- Described as a good daily driver, but in reality is not street legal.
- We paid extra to rebuild the transmission. Instead, we received a transmission that was well used and improperly installed. It had the cooling lines blocked off and the wrong radiator is being used.
- It is missing the inspection plate, and it is absolutely not re-built
- The clutch pedal and tunnel boot were left in the truck, not in accordance with standard conversions.
- The heater and defrost are inoperable
- The rear spring shackles are missing the nuts, therefore not attached.
- The bed was not properly anchored
- The body bushings are missing
- It is supposed to be a 4-wheel drive truck however it is missing a front driveline.
It’s a long list…..
I sent him a letter, listing all of my concerns, asking him if we could in essence, cancel the transaction. He keeps insisting that I got a great buy on the truck. I wanted to return the truck to him, and he would return the money. I feel that if it is such a good deal, he should have no problem re-selling it. I even offered to take a bit less money, just to be done with this whole thing. I just wanted a truck that I could get in, put my wife and baby in and trust that it would start and get me where I needed to go.
He said he is not going to give us the money back. He offered to take the truck back and re-sell it, and give me the proceeds.
I went to the county today and filed small claims paperwork. It looks like we are going to go to court over this.
My question to all of you….what evidence should I make sure to include? Any ideas on how best to present my case? I can answer more questions if need be, I just didn’t want to make this post too long.
As always, you are all amazing and I appreciate any advice/insight you can give me on this situation.
Here is the “short” story….Middle of July I was in talks with a guy over buying his truck that I saw advertised on Ebay. He said the truck is in excellent condition with a re-built motor, new paint, etc. The only thing he said it could use would be new headers and maybe a new intake manifold (for performance purposes only). Other than that, the truck runs like a dream. Part of the deal was for him to swap out the 4 speed and put in a new/rebuilt automatic transmission. We came up with a price, I deposited the money in his account, and he said he would deliver the truck up to me once it was completed (in the next week). He said he would be up in my neck of the woods picking up a car from an auction. In the meantime he would send me the title and Bill of Sale the next day. Time goes by, still no title or Bill of Sale. I keep in touch with him via phone calls and text messages, trying to stay in the loop of what is going on. Almost 2 weeks later he finally sends me a title, to the wrong vehicle, and still no Bill of Sale. I tell him we got the wrong title etc, send it back to him, and he says he will give us the title when he drops off the truck. Fast forward through the excuses of why he won’t be able to deliver the truck this day or that, he finally makes it up my direction almost a month after the original date when the deal was made and money was exchanged. He wants to meet me at work to drop off the truck. He drops it off in the parking lot and takes off rather quickly, without me even having the chance to meet him.
After work I get in the truck to drive home and I am wondering if I am even going to make it home. This truck is in bad shape. After I got it home, I had three mechanics come out to my place to look at it. Here is what they found to be wrong with it (and I am sure there is more)
Safety Concerns:
- No outside door locks
- You cannot open the door from the inside unless you reach outside the window and open the door from the outside
- The handle to roll down the window is broken, which is a problem, since you need to have the window down in order to open the door
- There are no outside side mirrors or rear view mirror
- No windshield wipers, unsafe in a state like Oregon
- There is no horn
- There is no rear license plate
In reality this “daily driver” as he stated, is not even licensable at the Oregon DMV.
Mechanical issues include:
- The fan belt is hitting the fan shroud
- The odometer is broken, therefore unable to accurately gauge speed
- The engine is leaking a lot of oil. I was told the engine was “in excellent shape”. Because of all the leaks, the engine oil was low and we had to add 3 quarts.
- The motor does not meet minimum compression standards.
- Described as a good daily driver, but in reality is not street legal.
- We paid extra to rebuild the transmission. Instead, we received a transmission that was well used and improperly installed. It had the cooling lines blocked off and the wrong radiator is being used.
- It is missing the inspection plate, and it is absolutely not re-built
- The clutch pedal and tunnel boot were left in the truck, not in accordance with standard conversions.
- The heater and defrost are inoperable
- The rear spring shackles are missing the nuts, therefore not attached.
- The bed was not properly anchored
- The body bushings are missing
- It is supposed to be a 4-wheel drive truck however it is missing a front driveline.
It’s a long list…..
I sent him a letter, listing all of my concerns, asking him if we could in essence, cancel the transaction. He keeps insisting that I got a great buy on the truck. I wanted to return the truck to him, and he would return the money. I feel that if it is such a good deal, he should have no problem re-selling it. I even offered to take a bit less money, just to be done with this whole thing. I just wanted a truck that I could get in, put my wife and baby in and trust that it would start and get me where I needed to go.
He said he is not going to give us the money back. He offered to take the truck back and re-sell it, and give me the proceeds.
I went to the county today and filed small claims paperwork. It looks like we are going to go to court over this.
My question to all of you….what evidence should I make sure to include? Any ideas on how best to present my case? I can answer more questions if need be, I just didn’t want to make this post too long.
As always, you are all amazing and I appreciate any advice/insight you can give me on this situation.
Thanks again!
