About that 65 Mustang I went to pickkup..

[phat rat]

I drove all the way to Rapid City, SD to get a "restorable" '41 OLds in 2000, only to find a junker, unlike the pictures the "used car dealer" showed online.

I'll bet that dealer was Motion Unlimited

Yep...what a waste.  The car was the same color, but it couldn't have been the same car I saw in the pictures.

LOL Don't bet on it. I was warned by Rapid locals before I went there in 94 that his stuff was pretty bad up close.  What color primer was he using the year you went?

[38HAULR]

Having had a similar experience Beck, I feel for you. In my case I purchased a 62 Buick Convertible from Ted Vernon Autos in Miami,after it arrived in Australia it was nothing like the portrayed advert,none of the "new parts" had ever been replaced. "Runs great" actually ran like a chaff cutter,and the brakes are virtually non existant.A two piece exhaust,joined by a slip sleeve of flexi tube.,no clamps And I have plenty of work to do on the "Swiss Cheese Floors" that were described as "good".Even the qtr vent window frames are rusted ,cracking the glass.,and from some of the lifting fresh paint ,I will find some other nasties.  I note you are in Illinois.  There are some 65/66 Mustangs for sale in Staunton at "Country Classic Cars" ,should be close enough for you to check them out in the flesh. On the other side of the coin I have a 66 Mustang that was imported from LA in 2004 ,this is my daily driver and is a reliable vehicle,I was in a smash with it late 2005,and it was "written off" ,then the insurance co decided to repair ,it still is a great vehicle,love it .........Frank.

[Beck]

Having had a similar experience Beck, I feel for you.   I note you are in Illinois.  There are some 65/66 Mustangs for sale in Staunton at "Country Classic Cars" ,should be close enough for you to check them out in the flesh.

I go by there occasionally. They are about 50 miles away but on a major highway I use when going north.
Most dealers of that sort seem to think their cars are worth a lot more than I do. I have never delt with this one. I did stop one Sun and they were closed. They charge a buck or two to just go in and look! When is the last time you had to pay to look at a car you may be interested in buying?

[58 Yeoman]

Having had a similar experience Beck, I feel for you.   I note you are in Illinois.  There are some 65/66 Mustangs for sale in Staunton at "Country Classic Cars" ,should be close enough for you to check them out in the flesh.

I go by there occasionally. They are about 50 miles away but on a major highway I use when going north.
Most dealers of that sort seem to think their cars are worth a lot more than I do. I have never delt with this one. I did stop one Sun and they were closed. They charge a buck or two to just go in and look! When is the last time you had to pay to look at a car you may be interested in buying?

....and don't get out of your car, unless you've gone to the main bldg. to get someone to go with you.

[34ford]

looks like a nice unit. don't know what you are looking to spend.  

http://lincoln.craigslist.org/cto/790510926.html

[38HAULR]

Nearest experience of paying to view cars for sale Beck, is we have a self serve wrecking yard not far from me. You pay $1 admission ,they have a compound inside with "for sale' vehicles ,these are vehicles too good to wreck,that you can buy complete for re registration. FYI "www.countryclassiccars.com" is the viewing site I use for that company in Illinois.  Looks as if many of us at some stage have travelled a long way to view a vehicle,to find it not as described,in my case a 4 hour journey to the north of our state to view a 27 Chev Roadster with "late model" running gear,after glowing reports from the farmer owner ,I packed up the family and did a 6AM start ,only to view the biggest pile of crap I had ever seen[up until that time] .It was a disintegrating paddock bomb with an engine welded into place with angle iron,worth no where near the asking price,and the bloke was angry when I said no deal,he claimed I was "wasting his time".  Re my  unfortunate Buick  purchase from Ted Vernon Autos in Miami,the jury is still out on whether I was the victim of his usual trading practice,or just plain unlucky with a one off dud, I emailed three of his publicised "testamonial" contributors,with no reply. I do hope you get a good Mustang deal in the end Beck.......Frank.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

We all have a story or 5 about a car seriously  misrepresented  over the phone.

25 years ago we looked at Ford coupe hotrod  , 1932 - 34 year  , I don;t remember.  This car's tires were becoming "1" with the dirt, the tires were flat , stuck to the earth.  The seller tried to convince me he had been out in the street  with this turd smoking the tires the previous week.

I flat told him he was so full of Sh** ... I was unsure how he  could stand up.

[chimp koose]

We had a fellow here locally that drove over to look at a mustang advertised on kijiji as needing a few cosmetic items to complete. He was so disgusted with how it was misrepresented that he placed his own ad alerting people to the dangerous condition this car was in.It was a convertible that was horribly rusted in the frame areas and 'patched over' to hide its true condition.The mustang ad was gone a day or two later.When I sell anything I first tell people what I know is wrong with it that way you know the person coming to see it knows what to expect.When I sold my Anglia parts car,I asked the person if he knew someone locally who could take pictures for him.This car was to be sent by truck on a 7 hour trip ,sold without in person viewing. His brother in law ,a non car guy, came and took pictures. I made sure he took pictures of all the rusted areas.

[SKR8PN]

I can feel your pain as well Beck. I once drove 17 hours one way,from Mansfield Ohio to Fluker La to purchase a 1934 Plymouth rumble seat coupe. They had sent me tons of photo's and even a video. Found out after I got there that the pictures and the video were over 5 years old and all had been taken by the previous owner. The car was the biggest pos I had ever seen. I drove the 17 hours back home with an empty trailer and a pocket full of cash.

[dave boley]

Ebay claims to have the protection of the buyer in mind but in reality it's all BS.  So far the measures I have seen them take are purely in their own best interest.  Their dispute resolution feature is pretty much all smoke and mirrors.  It is primarily designed to wear both side out with endless rounds of he said-she said stuff.

I believe Phat mentioned Craig's list.  I have had far more success with that than uPay on large items and vehicles.  You can immediately establish direct communications with the seller and if you use common sense from that point on it will work out.

I think one of the big problems is that when people see something on uPay they want so bad to believe it is just what they are looking for that they sometimes fool themselves.  Just remember, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is just that.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself if you feel you have to use uPay.  Start keeping a list of sellers that frequent that sort of stuff and check their feedback carefully.  I keep a list and sometimes I am able to get phone numbers and e-mail addresses by watching their auctions and communications.  If I see them selling something I am interested in, I do an end run on uPay and go direct.  From there on it's just like Craig's List.  Do I feel bad about that???  HELL NO!  uPay is out to get my money and I'm out to get a good deal.  All is fair in this game.

Later...

[Petejoe]

Well,
 This forum and also the Hamb are very good avenues to check out a car before you go to pick it up. I realize during an ebay 7 or 10 day auction it may not be feasible to get someone to view it fast enough. But simply asking if someone on those forums are in the area of the car and offering to pay for time and gas may save alot of money and heartache in the long run. I don't see anyone asking for that favor here. Its fun to go on roadtrips to look at cars for sale. Alot of times you end up finding other cars available for sale. Maybe you'll find that 32 3 window in the corner of an old shed with chicken sheet paint.

[phat rat]

Beck, being as your in Ill. check this site out. I just got the Mi copy and there was more that one Stang in it. I don't however remember if any were converts though

[57larry]

that's a shame. that's also why I never buy a car without seeing it first

[reborn55]

Sorry to hear of your nice road trip to find the item not what you wanted.  Being as we are close--let me know what you are looking for and I will keep my eye open--Never know what may come up.
My ragtop came from Idaho and I relied on another persons eyes and his eyes didn't match my eyes.  Needless to say it wasn't what it was represented to be.    learned by experience--always look first.  Just my .02

[Crosley.In.AZ]

aBay protection is a joke from what I read...I've had two problems on eBay.  I finally received the items many weeks later.

as I recall ol Tomslik  was to file a "non payment" complaint on a recent eBay auction he had.