Well when I bought my car, I bought it on Ebay. The car was in Milton Keynes, I was in Doncaster, the price was right and I didn't have time to go look before bidding. Allegedly the car had just had a 70K engine fitted (This could still be true, I know the engine was replaced for several reasons, one of which was I could see his old bottom end sat outside his garage), it also allegedly had uprated turbos in it, which we've now found out to be false, it has Automatic turbos in. Mikey squeezed his head up into the engine bay from underneath today and read the numbers on the turbos, so not impressed there, that also explains why I have what appears to be an automatic oil dipstick.
The car was also photographed for the ebay ad, with a snap off momo steering wheel, which by the time I arrived to pick the car up, was nowhere in sight, it was advertised with uprated discs and pads, yet by the time I got to pick the car up, he had pulled the front drilled and grooved discs off and replaced with standards, he'd done the same with the yellow stuff pads, thankfully he hadn't had time to do the rears.
Another fallisy was that is supposedly had coilover suspension on it, another lie, it had el-cheapo struts and lowering springs, very low and very firm granted, but not adjustable and it failed the MOT a few weeks ago on a leaky front strut. Plus after pulling them out, they are only fit to be weighed in, I couldn't even sell them on to someone to re-con them I don't think.
More problems we found with the car, like the thermostat was stuck open, several bolts on the front of the engine were not tightened either, mostly on water pipes. It looks as though someone has done a DIY cam belt job on it and just forgotten about the bolts on the lower side of the pipes, or couldn't get to them without proper tools or whatever. It also may or may not have been a tooth out, we will see when the new belt goes on, how it lines up. The CAS had been adjusted all the way to the left as well, which isn't usually a good sign.
I already knew my plenum was foobarred from when I had my regular mechanic do an oil change and change the rocker cover gaskets, before I had my own garage and a second car, but this is just a huge list of problems with the car, that shouldn't have existed! I wouldn't mind so much, but when I got down there the rear tyres were as bald as Captain Picard as well, so I had to change those before I could drive it back to Doncaster. All in all this car has now cost me (With replacement parts, up-rated parts rather than going back to/replacing with standard etc.) over £3K that it shouldn't have had to cost me if the Ebay ad were true. A 70K engine, allegedly professionally fitted, would NOT have these problems.
Another two huge lies which really do annoy me, were the dent in my drivers side wing and the rust on the rear sill. He allegedly "Wrote off a plant pot on his drive way", a few weeks ago I looked underneath, after someone on here had spotted it on a photo and suggested that perhaps someone had tried to jack it up on the front sill, and low and behold that's what had happened, that front sill is now completely rusted away to wafers and will have to be completely cut out, not impressed! The rust on the rear sill, he said it went through the MOT last April in just that exact same condition, which is *****CKS! because on closer inspection, it's got a hole all the way down the damn thing, which has been filled in and painted, so I reckon he did that to get it through it's MOT and sell it.
What I SHOULD have done in Milton Keynes when I realised he had pulled off the steering wheel and the brakes etc, was bargain him down or walk away, but since I'd gone to the trouble of getting the cash out the bank (That was a nightmare, but is another thread in the non-zed section), got on a coach to Milton Keynes, had him pick me up from the bus station, etc. I figured screw it, I'll buy it and deal with it. I won't be doing the same again! I'm just glad for my own morals, that I didn't take any of the offers on the car when I put it up for sale a few weeks ago, there is a lot of work that needs doing to this, mostly simple stuff granted, but costly, and I didn't know about most of it until now. I could have landed someone with a real lemon!
Moral of the story is, NEVER trust someone selling a zed on Ebay with limited history and stories of uprated turbos etc. If there are things missing, like steering wheels, brakes, suspension, replaced with standard parts from what was advertised, bargain them down or walk away, because they've likely ripped it apart, stripped all the goodies off and over-sold it. I am SO annoyed about the sale it's untrue, but there's nothing I can do about it now, other than put the car right and hopefully enjoy it from there on out.
Sorry about the long post, but am fuming and had to vent.
Well when I bought my car, I bought it on Ebay. The car was in Milton Keynes, I was in Doncaster, the price was right and I didn't have time to go look before bidding. Allegedly the car had just had a 70K engine fitted (This could still be true, I know the engine was replaced for several reasons, one of which was I could see his old bottom end sat outside his garage), it also allegedly had uprated turbos in it, which we've now found out to be false, it has Automatic turbos in. Mikey squeezed his head up into the engine bay from underneath today and read the numbers on the turbos, so not impressed there, that also explains why I have what appears to be an automatic oil dipstick.
The car was also photographed for the ebay ad, with a snap off momo steering wheel, which by the time I arrived to pick the car up, was nowhere in sight, it was advertised with uprated discs and pads, yet by the time I got to pick the car up, he had pulled the front drilled and grooved discs off and replaced with standards, he'd done the same with the yellow stuff pads, thankfully he hadn't had time to do the rears.
Another fallisy was that is supposedly had coilover suspension on it, another lie, it had el-cheapo struts and lowering springs, very low and very firm granted, but not adjustable and it failed the MOT a few weeks ago on a leaky front strut. Plus after pulling them out, they are only fit to be weighed in, I couldn't even sell them on to someone to re-con them I don't think.
More problems we found with the car, like the thermostat was stuck open, several bolts on the front of the engine were not tightened either, mostly on water pipes. It looks as though someone has done a DIY cam belt job on it and just forgotten about the bolts on the lower side of the pipes, or couldn't get to them without proper tools or whatever. It also may or may not have been a tooth out, we will see when the new belt goes on, how it lines up. The CAS had been adjusted all the way to the left as well, which isn't usually a good sign.
I already knew my plenum was foobarred from when I had my regular mechanic do an oil change and change the rocker cover gaskets, before I had my own garage and a second car, but this is just a huge list of problems with the car, that shouldn't have existed! I wouldn't mind so much, but when I got down there the rear tyres were as bald as Captain Picard as well, so I had to change those before I could drive it back to Doncaster. All in all this car has now cost me (With replacement parts, up-rated parts rather than going back to/replacing with standard etc.) over £3K that it shouldn't have had to cost me if the Ebay ad were true. A 70K engine, allegedly professionally fitted, would NOT have these problems.
Another two huge lies which really do annoy me, were the dent in my drivers side wing and the rust on the rear sill. He allegedly "Wrote off a plant pot on his drive way", a few weeks ago I looked underneath, after someone on here had spotted it on a photo and suggested that perhaps someone had tried to jack it up on the front sill, and low and behold that's what had happened, that front sill is now completely rusted away to wafers and will have to be completely cut out, not impressed! The rust on the rear sill, he said it went through the MOT last April in just that exact same condition, which is *****CKS! because on closer inspection, it's got a hole all the way down the damn thing, which has been filled in and painted, so I reckon he did that to get it through it's MOT and sell it.
What I SHOULD have done in Milton Keynes when I realised he had pulled off the steering wheel and the brakes etc, was bargain him down or walk away, but since I'd gone to the trouble of getting the cash out the bank (That was a nightmare, but is another thread in the non-zed section), got on a coach to Milton Keynes, had him pick me up from the bus station, etc. I figured screw it, I'll buy it and deal with it. I won't be doing the same again! I'm just glad for my own morals, that I didn't take any of the offers on the car when I put it up for sale a few weeks ago, there is a lot of work that needs doing to this, mostly simple stuff granted, but costly, and I didn't know about most of it until now. I could have landed someone with a real lemon!
Moral of the story is, NEVER trust someone selling a zed on Ebay with limited history and stories of uprated turbos etc. If there are things missing, like steering wheels, brakes, suspension, replaced with standard parts from what was advertised, bargain them down or walk away, because they've likely ripped it apart, stripped all the goodies off and over-sold it. I am SO annoyed about the sale it's untrue, but there's nothing I can do about it now, other than put the car right and hopefully enjoy it from there on out.
Sorry about the long post, but am fuming and had to vent.
/EndRant