So we have been looking for an SUV for my wife since she sold her Grand AM. Well, we won a 2000 GMC Jimmy 4x4 4dr with the 4.3 for $3500. Granted the vehicle had 171,000 miles on it, but it passed NJ emissions this month. The pictures all looked good and we knew about the scratches down the driver's side. So we drive up this weekend and when we get there, I go in and I ask for Troy. They look at me and as they look down their noses say, "Oh, you are here for an ebay purchase." Then they pull this jalopy around for me to look at. The pictures made it look so much better than in person. Ok, so it was dirty. I begin to look around the car making sure everything worked like it is supposed to. First, the power door locks do not work and two windows hesitate before they move. No big deal there are a lot of miles on the car. So I start looking at it closer. The door panel on the driver's door is busted and is just hanging on the window trim. Ok, can be fixed so far for about $400. I start the car and it runs great, starts easy, no blow by or water in the oil. Engine was responsive and the exhaust was clear. The 4 wheel drive worked in the parking lot, but I did not drive it. I look under the car and see a small oil drip on the oil pan. I ask about it and they know nothing of it, saying maybe it was the oil filter when they changed the oil. So I asked to put it on the lift to look at it. I get under the truck and the oil filter is in front of the engine and the leak is at the back, big issue. So I trace the leak and determine it is the power steering pump, easy enough. Then I look at the transmission and notice about half a quart of oil on the back of the transmission pan. Then I look at the differentials and notice the outer seals on the front differential is leaking, enough to run down the CV axle. I look at the mechanic that put it up and he says that is not good, then says they do not service the ebay vehicles at all. A lot of bells start ringing in my ear. There is definitely something wrong. I start talking to everyone to see what the story is. So they tell me they do not service the ebay vehicles at all and sell them as is.

So at this point I have been up for 30 hours, a full days work on Friday and driving all night to Dayton, NJ. I am not in a good mood at this point. The used car manager, as he introduced himself to me and later found he was not the manager, tells me that the best he can do is take $400 off. Then I tell him that is is at least $1200 of work to do if I do it. So he says the best he can do is $2900 since he paid $2500 for it and he can get $3000 at the auction, the whole time being extremely rude to me and my wife as if he was talking down on us. I told him to do it and I am filing a full report with ebay.

So I am out $400 for the trip 1300 mile round trip and have one heck of a headache to clean up this week. Not to mention the letters and filings against them. Roger, the guy who sold the vehicle on ebay, was actually upset at what had happened to us and wants to try and reimburse us for our trip. He said he was going to call today, Sunday, but I have not heard from him today. I will call him on Monday and see what his proposal is. I just think everyone needs to know of this.


The dealership was Dayton Toyota in South Brunswick, NJ. The Used sales manager's name is Troy.
The ebay account is: daytontoyotatradeoutlet and the guy's name is Roger Ricciardelli.




Matt

Man,thats a long drive to come back empty handed.I would be highly ticked off to.

I'd have been and still would be highly ticked off too. That sucks you had to drive that far, spend that much money on the trip and then come back without a vehicle.

From what you wrote, the people there knew even before you got there what was all wrong with the SUV. I mean if they did change the oil (to me that is servicing a vehicle which you said they said they don't do), and they did it using either a lift or a pit, they had to have seen the oil on the back of the transmission pan, on the diffs, etc. cause it's kind of not hard to see that stuff. Plus if the leaks are that bad, the owner/seller probably knew the problems were there too cause leaks that bad just don't happen over night. It takes a while for them to get that way. I know that cause I owned a SUV before I got my Birds. If the owner/seller stated in his eBay post that it didn't have those leaks, to me that's fraud!

As for it passing NJ emissions, if those are anything like here in IL, they don't even get anywhere near the underside of a vehicle to do that. Here, depending on the year of the vehicle, they either stick a test probe up the tailpipe to check the emissions or they connect to the OBD center to see if any codes are being thrown.

I really hope though that the owner/seller comes through for you with the money like he promised. Another thing you might want to do, is file a report with the BBB. I'd either call your local BBB to get the telephone number and/or address for the one closest to the dealership or I'd get on the net and look it up to get that info. Then I'd file a report so that others know what happened and maybe you can prevent someone else having to go through what you did with them.

But keep us informed on what happens with everything that happens with eBay and with Roger.

Rule of Thumb: Always assume a car for sale on ebay is not going to be worth the $.

Well, I passed out shortly after posting this. Then my wife recieved an email asking us to wait on posting feedback until he can talk to the owner of the dealership to fix the problems. He has been very apologetic and does not want negative feedback. Roger is very worried of what I may do because of this.

Here is what he wrote:

HELLO, I APOLOGIZE AGAIN FOR THE INCONVIENIENCE. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AND I ASK THAT YOU REFRAIN FROM LEAVING A FEEDBACK AT THIS TIME UNTIL I DISCUSS THIS SITUATION WITH THE OWNER OF THE DEALERSHIP.WE DO NOT WANT TO TARNISH OUR PERFECT RATING. THANK YOU AND I WILL TALK TO YOU ON MONDAY BECAUSE THE DEALERSHIP IS CLOSED TODAY. THANKS, ROGER

The more I think about this the more upset I get. I have written several forms of a letter trying to decide which to send to everyone. I am getting the BBB as you suggested, the dealership owner's name, and eBay.

This is the ebay item # if interested. 160080792722

I will keep you posted what happens.

Matt

KRock: That may be the case, but I have been fortunate. Both my Dad's TA and my 95 are both from eBay with people of similar ratings to the one we purchased. I agree, you have to be careful, but 73 people can not all be wrong.

Oh - I agree. My comment was basically to point out to people to be SKEPTICAL of ebay purchases from the get go. I'm sure there are lots of legit sellers out there, and I admire the online market place. I just like to be weary.

Sorry again to hear of your troubles. My guess is that they didn't expect someone with actual knowledge of mechanics to go and look at the car. I'm pretty sure a layman would have just driven off and never been the wiser.

Don't forget to include Toyota in your list of businesses to contact.

Keep your letter factual and without any cussing screaming etc.
Waiting a few days before you send it is a good Idea beacuse it allows you to clear your head and write a good letter.

Good Luck Bro!

If you want someone to read over the letters before you send them, let me know, I'll be happy to look them over for you to check for spelling/grammer/etc.

Thanks guys. So it is 11pm and no call or emails since 12pm today. All that one said was I WILL CALL. So I guess it is time to start fixing up the letters. I think I am going to use the original post as the base and go from there. We have the ebay add saved and printed. So now it is time to get everything ready.

Matt


I was just downloading the pictures and noticed another error that I should have seen before. The tow package consists of a ball in the bumper. Every vehicle that I priced before I purchased my truck has a receiver and plug assembly, whether it will be a 4 pin or 7 pin plug. I am not sure how I missed that.

um... ball in bumper is not tow package. TOW PACKAGE = power (like you said) FRAME welded hitch, transmission cooler, power steering cooler, heavy-duty ball and wire harness. Definitely call the BBB and ebay.

So Roger called today after we emailed him about his lack of response. He said they did not meet Monday due to them being busy. He was meeting with them today and will call us no later than tomorrow morning. I have the eBay ad in pdf form and saved all of the pictures posted. I have spoken to the person that left the neutral response on eBay and we have traded emails, all saved. He had a similar response and experience, but he drove up from NC and drove it back. He was worried he was not going to make it. So, there is more to this. Seems you were right KRock, about not someone knowing about vehicles showing up.

As always, I will keep you posted.

Matt

Ok, so 6pm is morning now in NJ. lol

Roger called with an offer of $200. We are planning to accept it. A letter will be written to the dealership and attempt to remove the auction from our account. WE will see how they like that. We are OK with it since they really do not have to offer anything. That fact that Roger made an attempt and pushed it to get some resolve is very appreciated. let me know what you think I should do here. I am not going to contact him until later tonight or tomorrow.

Matt

Take the money for trouble spent then leave BAD feedback. After all you do not owe them anything - they owe you.
Cash the check first

In your feedback state the facts and how you felt about it - It would be ok to say they compensated you for the fuel and time spent going to see the thing...

my 2c

$200... was that their first offer? How much are your losses for gas? Mileage? Time? Unless you've already accepted the $200, i'd ask for $300.

Screw that, tell him you want the $400 that the "used car manager" offered to take of the SUV the other day. To me, that's the least they can do for all of you time, trouble and wasted gas. Plus in a way they offered it to you already.

I know, I know, I'm a trouble maker. hehehe

Somehow I am not sure they will go for that, but I can always try for more. I guess we need to haggle on payback. Man that sounds funny.

Matt

Hey it can't hurt to try to haggle for more. The most they can do is say no.

So I spoke to Roger this afternoon. I asked if there was anyway to get a larger amount and he said this or nothing was the manager's words. So I said that if he can delete the auction so nobody has to leave any feedback, we will be ok with that. So we will see what happens.

Matt

I see... well asside from the fact that asking if there was "any way" to get a larger amount probably wasn't the approach that statistically would give you the best chance of success, just make sure he takes the auction down or at least edits it. I'd still call the BBB.

OOH! And I wouldn't recommend signing ANYTHING (like a disclaimer of rights). The $200 is just to stop you from posting on Ebay, not to stop you from reporting them to BBB. (Don't tell them that though).

well as per policy with ebay any information such as the leak is breaking the policy since they did not tell you there was one. Regardless of if they say "Sold As IS" or not they are obligated to inform you of everything which means they would HAVE to inspect it but not fix anything. And i wouldnt accept any less than $400 and the ebay listing deleted or you will leave negitive feedback and contact BBB (but BBB isnt going to do much good anywho...personal experience). Your best bet is to threaten them with a ebay invetigation which will prevent them from ever selling a car on ebay again. But hey thats just what i would do.

First, they misrepresented on ebay by not informing of the known latent defects in the car (dealerships have an advantage over consumers because they have mechanics that know exactly is wrong with the car). Second, a dealership is a 'merchant' which means they have to give a standard UCC (universal commercial code) warranty that the vehicle will perform as promised.

I'm not saying that they couldn't get away with it, also, there is no claim against them because no one actually bought the car, or suffered a loss because of it. All i'm saying is that they are leaving themselves WIDE open for a law suit, that will cost lots more than the measily profit from a $3500 car.

Just throwin this out there, but I noticed a newer blazer, 98+ or whenever they changed the front end, sitting outside a local shop for sale. I think I saw 5,700 written across the windshield but I have to drive by there again in the morning so I'll try to remember to pay closer attention. And if you want I can try to go get a close-up look this weekend and give you some more info.