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I have received several negative responses, both on
the club list, and more so on my personal email about the choices and
decisions we made when purchasing our car. Eric and I especially, both
realize the mistakes we made during this process. However, by writing my
warning to the club I was not asking for the negative feedback, but just wanting
to help prevent somebody from making the same mistakes.
I have been doing some research on Country Classic
Cars, and the more I dig, the more complaints I have found, including 2 at the
Better Business Bureau in the last 36 months. I am pretty positive that
this dealership is extremely dishonest, (more so than most) with no concern for
the consumer. I am not trying to bad mouth someone because I screwed
up. I simply don't want anyone else to have the same experience their as
we have.
Eric and I will move on, and fix up our car to the
degree that it was supposed to arrive. But that doesn't mean I am going to
let them get away with what they did, only to rip off the next guy.
So thanks for the tips, and the nice words to get
us motivated to get our Imperial drivable. And just know that we realize
the mistakes we have made. Believe me, we won't be doing that
again:)
Melissa
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 4:09 PM
Subject: IML: Bad deals
Friends:
I cannot fathom anyone buying a
car close to 40 years old without looking at it PERSONALLY and DRIVING it.
There is simply no substitute for an up close, first-hand examination of the
vehicle and a good test drive. If the trip to see the car seems too expensive,
then wait until a suitable vehicle closer and more convenient surfaces. All
sorts of vehicles, including Imperials, come on the market.
Melissa
should have sensed the storm flags flying on this particular car from the
outset. When she first raised the notion of the purchase, she low-balled what
she was willing to spend. Then she and her husband went after a car that was
close to her budget and expected to get a first-rate vehicle at a bargain
price. When trashing the dealer in her e-mail, she pointed out that the
vehicle they bought had sat at the dealers a long time. Hey! Cars like this in
first-rate condition and close to budget prices don't sit around on lots for a
long time. There had to be serious flaws with the car for it not to sell. One
of life's simple lessons is that Real Bargains don't sit around unsold for
long.
None of this excuses the dealer's actions. But it still takes two
to make a car sale. Rather than venting spleen and rancor over this most
unfortunate incident and writing to everybody under the sun and suing
everybody else, my advice would be to learn from the school of hard knocks and
move on. There are unscrupulous people in every profession; there are
unscrupulous salespeople selling virtually everything. The point is not to be
gullible and not to set yourself up to be a victim.
The important thing
is that Eric and Melissa have their Imperial and can fix it up and make it the
dream car that they sought originally. This will take time and patience, but
there can be a great deal of pleasure and sense of accomplishment in such an
undertaking.
The school of hard knocks is a tough one, but the lessons
learned there can be highly beneficial in every walk of
life.
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