When I first joined this forum I was advised to buy from a forum member, well I nearly did but thanks to spending $275 first I avoiding buying a hunk of junk for $7000 and driving six hours each way for the peice of trash. I don't have the report yet but the car in question that should be a show car according to the add that had no issues ended up being a hunk of crap! fuel leaks at the injectors noisy lifters rusted exhaust scored rotors poor body repairs and lots of dents here and there crank seal leaks (front and back) No compliance plates or documentation Illegal modifications to the reo bar to fit a FMIC rust below the new brake booster front bushes leaking oil bolts missing from cam covers sloppy steering oil leaks below turbos really old tyres misaligned panels damage to exterior mouldings I am not even going to contact this guy to say I'm not buying it. Now my budget is $275 less! I don't expect a 24 year old car to be perfect, but my 19 year old car is in way better condition than this! Is it ok to name this bloke?
Shame, presents itself not too badly. Don't stress about the $275, it just saved you many thousands. Who did the pre purchase inspection?
It really disgusts me that he knew I was going to drag my wife and four kids (one is 11 months the other is two) up to Sydney to buy this and we could have all been stranded on the Hume with an engine fire!
Not defending anyone in particular here. But you will always find good and bad here. Or anywhere for that matter. Sorry to hear things were not up to the advert but dont discount all members due to one situation. Look at the add then look at the comments most the real good cars will have plenty of other members commenting on its condition also build threads can help but dont rely on photos only. I believe being out of pocket 200 odd dollars is the best outcome you could hope for in a bad situation. It seems to me like you have used your head andsavex yourself from a potentially bad situation. This said I believe any z with a fmic runs the risk of reo bar issues there are plenty of threads about this. And you never know the seller may not be aware of the issues if al the work was done by a 3rd party
Not sure what your having a whinging about, no one has ripped you off here. What appears as "mint condition" "custom show car" may look to others as "peiceofshit" "Readyforscrappers" Others may not simply know any better, so as you have done spend some time and money go and have a looksee if you like it buy it, if not walk away and leave it at that.
I wasn't saying people on this forum rip people off, I think the majority are honest people, what I'm saying is just because they are on this forum doesn't automatically make them honest.. Oh well, the search continues.
I simply wanted to let people know that there's problems with a certain car, I have just got off the phone to a mechanic and I'm ticked off. The add clearly says "No Rust,won't disappoint! Should be a Show Car!, well looked after, any Inspection!" If you don't know if there's rust don't say No Rust Well looked after doesn't mean cob webs hosed off to take photos.
It can be done, my wife jammed our five kids in our Slicktop & drove them to school on a rainy day when I had the family car at work. Mind you, school is only a minutes drive down the road from us
Admittedly the guys description was a bit exaggerated lol, but from the pics it looks in pretty good condition for $7K, which realistically when you bargain him down would be probably $6K or less. Whenever you get a pre inspection report done (and yes good idea, I've used them myself in the past) you need to review the results of the report with a grain of salt. They will pick the car to pieces, anything that is not in as new condition will get listed. They have to cover their arses in case you buy the car then find something major wrong that they didn't pick up on. The best way to use pre inspection reports is to then inspect the car yourself with the report in hand. For example the 'fuel leaks at the injectors' may be just signs of old leaks. Then use the report to negotiate on price. On the other side of the coin, don't expect the seller to drop the price completely based on the cost of the repairs. Remember it is not a brand new car! Years ago I was selling a car in Qld, buyer was interested but wanted a report done, so I drove from Noosa to Maroochydore at my expense (they paid for the report), waited for the report to be completed, then waited for the buyer to call. Apparently the report (which I was never given a copy of) listed everything from the retreads (which were in perfectly good condition) to old spark plug leads (again nothing wrong with them except old) requiring replacing at a total cost of $3,500. I was selling the car for $5K! The stupid woman buyer wanted me to discount it to her for the cost of the 'repairs'! $1500 :rofl: I laughed and hung up. Her husband rang back all angry demanding I pay for the report. I told him to go buy a new car for $30K if he wanted a perfect car lol!
I don't expect a perfect car, and I realise the report was probably quite strict but the things I listed are pretty big issues given the add and verbal discription of the car.
But if that's the report you've been given, again without inspecting the car to see how bad some of that list actually is, what are you expecting for $6-7K? I mean really that report is probably about right for a car of that age in the $5K to $6K price range. For example, "rust below the new brake booster". Does that mean there is a great big rust hole through the firewall, or a little bit of surface rust. I'm not defending the guy, his description was obviously exaggerated, but if you beleived you were going to get a show quality zed for $7K you're dreaming. I just think from your rant your expectations are a little off. Use the report as your starting point when inspecting the car, then either walk away if they are bad or use them as negotiating points when discussing price.
I wasn't expecting a show quality car for 7k, I never said I expected the best zed in the world, the car was 8k until Saturday and the price drop was apparently because it's just sitting there, the car was not as described plain and simple, I did not expect to get flamed.
