Generally speaking I think this is good advice. It's always better to see a
car in person than to take a gamble on a car sight unseen.
However, it is possible to do it. If not, we probably wouldn't have an "ebay"
(not for cars, anyway). But you do have to be careful, particularly in regard
to pictures. I like to say "photographs don't lie, photographers do." In
other words, I think most of the time it's a case of a person being a poor
photographer, not someone out to conceal something.
But then again, it's amazing what can be concealed in a set of photographs. I
once got a very thorough videotape of a 1970 New Yorker I was thinking of
buying. The owner walked all around the car (I thought), got inside, started
it up, drove it down the road, parked it, opened the hood, showed me the
engine, etc., etc.-- all in real time without cuts or stopping the camera. I
was impressed.
But something was bugging me. I kept watching the video to see what it was,
and I couldn't figure it out. Something seemed wrong. Finally, it dawned on
me: he never showed me the passenger side of the vehicle. I saw the other 3
sides, but not the 4th.
My first thought was that this was simply an oversight, but then I realized the
owner had been extremely thorough with everything else, so it made me
suspicious. When I called him I used the old lawyer's trick of pretending to
know something I didn't and asked him what had happened to the passenger side.
You could almost hear his gears turning, thinking "Darn, I thought I didn't
show that side!" And he told me the fender had been damaged backing the car
out of the garage. I had no idea the fender was damaged, I just guessed.
My point is, it's often very important to note what they DON'T show you as well
as what they do. If they take 25 pictures and none of them are of one side,
you can bet something is wrong with that side. (If they only send 3 or 4,
though, it's probably just a case of that's all they thought was needed.)
Regarding Country Classic Rip Offs, I contacted them once about an Imperial
they were selling, and the salesman was very reticent to answer questions. It
was like pulling teeth. I had to e-mail him 2 or 3 times to get an answer from
him, and when I did get an answer he made an insinuation that I wasn't a
"serious buyer," otherwise, the implication was, I wouldn't be wasting his time
asking him a bunch of silly questions.
To me, these are two BIG tip offs or red flags. If they're slow to answer
e-mail, and then slow to answer specific questions-- or make snide remarks
about a potential customer not being "serious" when all you're doing is asking
questions, go elsewhere. If a seller won't take the time to answer your
questions, or views communication as a waste of time, walk away. It can only
get worse from there.
Mark M
>
> From: "Dave Grove" <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 2004/06/21 Mon PM 01:12:20 EDT
> To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Re: IML: IML Inspections? Warning: bad dealership!!
>
> Having purchased a car or two "sight unseen", - all I can say is do whatever
> it takes to go and LOOK at the car yourself.
> The last one I bought was from a LONG ways away (and not exactly "practical"
> for me to go and look myself), - but I wish I had just "got off my wallet",
> and bought a plane ticket. I would NOT have purchased the car. I did have
> someone "check it out" for me, - but he is either a moron (hard to tell that
> sometimes via email), - or was "in bed with" the seller. Pictures are no
> help, - they LIE. Besides, - you will see what you *want* to see in them
> anyway (and nothing that you do *not* want to see), - I still have all the
> pictures of that car that the seller sent me, - and occasionally, - I go
> back and look at them, and I still can't "see" much, - even though I now
> know what I am looking for.
> There's just no substitute for looking at the car yourself, and if the money
> you are spending amounts to anything more than "pocket change", - it is the
> wise thing to do.
>
> After all, - "beauty is in the eye..........."
>
> Regards,
> DaveG.
>
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