Archived Help with bad used truck purchase

[jeff95]

I recently bought a 98 2500 Ram on ebay. The seller is a used car dealer in SC. I thought he had a accurate description of the vehicle and I asked additional questions about its' condition. The seller ended the auction early and I paid $10,200. The truck has 250,000 miles so I thought is was a fair deal for a truck in good condition. The truck was shipped to me and after the first 10 minutes with the truck I could see that there were problems.

The truck was very hard to start and continuously died. = low idle

The AC didn't work= I had it charged but, there is a leak

Interior reading lights didn't work=new console

Front speakers don't work

Ignition switch cover is missing

Front cup holder is broken

Cracked tail light

Rear window leaks. They replaced the carpet with vinyl but the bolts for the seats are rusted. I'm worried they covered up rust on the floor and the head liner is water stained, possible rust on inside of cab roof

Fuel gauge doesn't work

Passenger door doesnt unlock with key and won't stay open=I had repaired

Drivers rear door won't open from inside. = I had repaired.

Stake hole in bed looks like someone stuck something in it and ripped it apart. This is visible under the warped bedliner.

10" x 1/4" dent on bed by fuel door.

Front end has been repaired previously. Replaced radiator supports. they used epoxy to repair the headlight box. covered screws with epoxy.

Brakes need to replace along with new front rotors.

Cigarette lighter missing

I expected the normal wear and tear like the door dings, rocker panels with no paint, loose stitching on the rear seat, faded, scratched interior, touched up scratches on the body. (the truck has all of the above problems)

I paid $400 to have the truck shipped. Over $500 for the door repairs and reading lights repaired. $70 to charge the AC. $30 to adjust the idle.

The dealer first said that they would give me $375 toward the repairs. Now he is talking to his partner to increase it to $1000.



This is a link to the ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?viewItem&item=4542055669

I need to know what my options are. Is there a licensing board to mediate this kind of thing.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Jeff

 

[CSnyder]

I'm a car dealer in Iowa and I can't even buy a truck that has that many problems at a wholesale auction for less than 12,000. However, it seems that you have found one of the many shady dealers that operate in the USA because even his as is no warranty section on Ebay states in there that they will not even be held responsible for their own vehicle description. What is the world coming to? I would personally try to squeeze them for more than 1000 but take what they offer before you get nothing. Chris

 

[rholcom2]

jeff, I am so sorry, I have made several deals on eBay for used CTD's, and have never encountered a truck with this many problems. I dont know what to recomend, but I hope that you come out allright not this. Sounds like nothing is going to be "good" with this deal, but hopefully it will get "better".



I think I would call the Better Business Bureau of South Carolina. Looks like there are several branches for the state that can be accessed through this website.



http://www.sciway.net/org/busbbb.html



Good Luck!!

 

[tURBOdIEZEl]

maybe its possible to contact ebay. . let them know the seller false advertised. leave them bad feeback? sorry to hear about your troubles with your truck purchase. i hope things do work out for you and that the seller does re-emburst you for repairs.

 

[rholcom2]

I never thought of that. there should be some sort of recourse through eBay for the misrepresentation of the truck.

 

[brianMo]

If nothing else works, be sure to leave bad feedback so another poor soul does not get burned. I pay very close attention to feedback. Never, never buy anything from somebody with no feedback.

 

[tURBOdIEZEl]

there should also be some sort of seller "guidelines" that you should be able to view on ebay..... report to ebay which ones were not followed... just my . 02

once again, good luck and keep us posted!

 

[E7mack96]

quote: "Never, never buy anything from somebody with no feedback"



How are people like that supposed to get feedback to start with?



Everyone there started with no feedback.

 

[cyborg]

I've been looking for a boat. I seen one that met my needs on Ebay. I asked him if I could come down for a test drive.

He said I could test drive it all I wanted after I bought it.

I ran away from that one.....

 

[BHiggins]

Did you run it through CarFax? If you didn't do it now ($40. 00... Well worth it). . If the truck was in an accident or had any kind of significant damage and the dealer didn't disclose this to you before the purchase, most states have "Lemon Laws" that are there to help people in your situation.

 

[DVR]

I recently bought a 98 2500 Ram on ebay. The seller is a used car dealer in SC. I thought he had a accurate description of the vehicle and I asked additional questions about its' condition. The seller ended the auction early and I paid $10,200. The truck has 250,000 miles so I thought is was a fair deal for a truck in good condition. The truck was shipped to me and after the first 10 minutes with the truck I could see that there were problems.

The truck was very hard to start and continuously died. = low idle

The AC didn't work= I had it charged but, there is a leak

Interior reading lights didn't work=new console

Front speakers don't work

Ignition switch cover is missing

Front cup holder is broken

Cracked tail light

Rear window leaks. They replaced the carpet with vinyl but the bolts for the seats are rusted. I'm worried they covered up rust on the floor and the head liner is water stained, possible rust on inside of cab roof

Fuel gauge doesn't work

Passenger door doesnt unlock with key and won't stay open=I had repaired

Drivers rear door won't open from inside. = I had repaired.

Stake hole in bed looks like someone stuck something in it and ripped it apart. This is visible under the warped bedliner.

10" x 1/4" dent on bed by fuel door.

Front end has been repaired previously. Replaced radiator supports. they used epoxy to repair the headlight box. covered screws with epoxy.

Brakes need to replace along with new front rotors.

Cigarette lighter missing

I expected the normal wear and tear like the door dings, rocker panels with no paint, loose stitching on the rear seat, faded, scratched interior, touched up scratches on the body. (the truck has all of the above problems)

I paid $400 to have the truck shipped. Over $500 for the door repairs and reading lights repaired. $70 to charge the AC. $30 to adjust the idle.

The dealer first said that they would give me $375 toward the repairs. Now he is talking to his partner to increase it to $1000.



This is a link to the ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?viewItem&item=4542055669

I need to know what my options are. Is there a licensing board to mediate this kind of thing.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Jeff

Let me start with I am sorry to hear your deal did not meet your satisfaction.



I have no affiliation with the dealer in question but I do have firsthand knowledge from buying there.



It sounds like you were expecting a truck in perfect shape with 250k miles.



I do not know who you dealt with specificly but I have purchased a few vehicles there. I have received honest and straightforward answers to any and all questions.



I also suspect that you know more about the vehicle than they do. As all dealers, they typically buy at auction with no knowledge of the vehicles prior history.



why didn't you let them buy it back? It appears they offered.



In addition I posted about my good experiences not too long ago (on tdr) and offered to check out a vehicle on the lot in question for free. I used to buy cars at auction for a dealer and would have been happy to help. I have a friend that lives in the area and we meet for lunch at least every other week. there is a good bbq joint a few blocks from the lot. for your sake i wish you had seen my post. .



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124383





I would buy from there again without hesitation.



even with all the problems you described it sounds like a fair price.

 

[jeff95]

You are entitled to your opinion however, as you can read above, most people can see that I did not expect a new truck. I expected an accurate description of the vehicle. The items listed are not things that they did not know about. They omitted them from the description in order to sell the truck.

 

[Deacon_ffff]

Hello, I'm new to this site. I just bought a truck from the same dealer you did. It's a 2001 Ram 2500 24 valve, with 160,000 miles. I drove from Canada 26 hours each way to pick up the truck. I asked what kind of condition the truck was in, and if it would safely make the trip home. I was assured the truck was in "Excellent mechanical condition" and needed nothing. When I arrived, I could tell right away that the tires were shot, I didn't make a big issue about this, as I didn't have time. I asked again if this truck is in the condition that he originally described it as, and his exact words were "Ya man, I'm not going to send you back to Canada in a piece of junk" followed by "if that thing breaks down you call me and I'm comin' to get ya"



We left SC. and headed for home. I could tell immediatly that the front end needed serious work. We stopped in Knocksville Tenn. for the night, and when we went to leave, the truck wouldn't start. I crawled underneath to check the starter, and as soon as I touched the power wire it crumbled and fell right off! I called the salesman, and he says "well thats nothing I did" I had it towed to a local shop where they put a temp. connection on to get me home, and told me the starter is completely shot. I also had new tires installed. When driving home I noticed that if I have the A/C on going up any kind of hill the truck starts to buck like crazy!



When I got home I took the truck to my mechanic, He said all 4 ball joints are completely shot, and that we were lucky nothing serious happened on the way home. I haven't talked to the dealership yet, but I am definately going to be looking for money for repairs, as ball joints are very expensive. I feel the same way you do, I know that the rules as always are buyer beware, but he had to know of the problems this truck had, and knowingly sent me on a 2600Km trip with it! God knows what else I'm going to find, it looks like the truck might have been hit in the front, I ran a Carfax on it, it says no accidents, but I know thats not 100%, when I asked him he said "not that I know of". He bought the truck from an auction in New York. If you want to pm me to talk more about it that would be fine. I will be calling the dealership sometime this week, after I have a Cummins dealership do an engine and transmission test.

 

[nps]

With these trucks in high demand, why would a seller ever have to sell them on Ebay? Because they know the buyer won't be local and underpriced at that. An old saying - free coffee is bad coffee.



My opinion of vehicles on ebay is that they are all free coffee. But definitely leave bad feedback. Complain loud enough and ebay may suspend the seller. But that is about as far as you can go.

 

[tp0d]

I didnt buy my truck thru ebay, but I did buy it online, and flew out 450miles away to pick it up. I had several phone conversations with the dealer, and felt good enough about his word to take the plunge. In my situation though, I was not bound to buy this truck, I could have returned home with just a loss of airfare. I dont know if I would buy a vehicle thru ebay. . duno. .



Well, my 96 2500 had 143k on it, and it had all the standard wear issues of a 2500 that age, and mileage. I changed the ball joints 500mi later, changed the starter contacts, I now have to do the fuel hoses, did the trackbar...



My point is, you gotta expect things like this. I did. A truck with 100k+ and 5-6-10yrs old probably has some major wear issues. This site helps a lot with inspections, etc, ya just have to get a post up a good deal ahead of time to notify people. My other point, you are ALWAYS taking a big risk buying and committing to something you cannot inspect and drive beforehand.





just my 2c...



jerry

 

[DBentley]

Sounds like the same troubles I had with my 96 and a friends 97 had almost the same broken stuff and cab leaks. I dont think there many used dodges over a few years old that dont need a long list of repairs, cab leaks, faulty wiring from the factory, ac evap. front end rebuild, etc. etc. When your done with the list and mods. you will have a good truck that will last a long time . This is the price we pay to be able to have the great cummins motor.

 

[KBalzuweit]

1. Ebay will not do anything. Been there done that. I even had proof that the guy I bought from and a buddy were the same dealer and had faked feedback and bid on each others stuff(dealer in Alabama). They were dumb enough to list the dealer name in there ads.



2. Never buy anything you can not inspect yourself or have a GOOD friend look at.



3. No offense but you flat out paid to much. I bought my 98. 5 quad dually for 10k w/ 142k on it. See the pics in my pictures. That was also about a year and a half ago.



4. Ebay has become a bad place to look for a good deal, I have much better luck internet searching and using the traders.



5. Get all you can out of hime, then slam him on feedback.



I am very sorry you got burned, I have been burned on ebay a few times and now unless I can go to there "brick and morter" place of business I just stay away. The positive is, as long as the engine is strong the rest can be fixed over time, heck it will give youan exuse to have some fund along the way with it.

 

[frijoli]

Is no one here familiar with Carchex? I would rarely buy a vehicle without me seeing it or paying someone else to inspect it for me.

Clay