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to both of yours. Here's my tale.
Drove from 3 hours away to test drive car. When I got there the car was not as represented. Among the things wrong were the following; supposed to have 4 "new" Michelin tires, instead had 2 balding Michelins up front, 1 1/2 tread generic on rear, 1 newish Toyo on rear. The Toyo was a directional tire but mounted backwards. Supposed to have four "like new" rims (16" viking) but all 4 were visibly bent, one of them worse than anything I'd ever seen. Supposed to have "no dings, dents, or scratches. Pristine condition". The metal body was in very good shape, but both bumpers were severely pitted and scratched. Previous owner lived in NYC and parked on the street. Every time he or his neighbors parked they would dimple each others bumpers with the mounting bolts to the license plates. There was also a 4" scratch on the hood that had been unprofessionaly repaired with touch-up paint. During test drive the right rear sounded like the wheel bearings were shot and with the heat on the AC would cycle and shudder the car violently. Upon return I pointed out that the overall condition of the vehicle was not as represented in the ad and ran down the list of discrepancies. His response was that the kid who typed the ad was young and inexperienced and may have exagerrated a bit. He also said that the owner of the busines (his partner?) had changed the tires and wheels from a different car in order to make a sale, leaving mine with utter crap. These were pretty weak and unprofessional excuses in my opinion.
At this point I decided to leverage the condition of the vehicle into a negotiation point for the asking price. In the end I was very happy with the car and the price I paid for it. I knew what needed fixing, how much it would cost(I do most of my own work) and thought the price paid was a reasonable compromise to take care of these issues. In the long run I have no complaint about the value or business transaction, only the very misleading advertising parctices. Had I been a fussy, non-mechanically inclined buyer, I would have been absolutely furious with the gross misrepresentation of the ad and stormed out of the place.
posted by 69.162.179...
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