fatboy93

I am posting this as a reminder for anyone considering a vehicle purchase from other forum members, or anyone for that matter. I am a new member and had been looking for a nice late model convertible to replace the C5 I sold recently. After being a forum lurker for a long time, I a ran across a 2007 Machine Silver Convertible with 62K being sold by a Senior Member here. Because I didn't have an account at the time, I had another forum member contact the seller and get his contact information.

In the past, I have been really big on buying only one-owner vehicles because the history is usually easier to determine. So, I contacted the member and started getting the background on the car, etc. Because the car was located 700+ miles away in DeBary FL, I was a bit leery of committing to a sale over the Internet. However, I have a high school buddy who lives in Orlando and he volunteered to ride up and take a look at the car. He reported back that the car looked to be in good condition, but the hood was closer on one side and he thought it might have been in an accident. So, when I called the member back to discuss the car, I asked him about the hood and if the car had ever been in an accident. He responded the hood had never been off the car and there was never any damage.

After a few days, we reached a price and set a date for me to fly to Orlando and pickup the car. When I arrived, we began to look the car over. It was fairly clean, but had some road grime around the fenders. I looked at the hood, and it was indeed offset a couple of mm to one side. But, considering our previous conversation, and the fact that the car had a clean CarFax, I didn't pursue the issue any further (mistake on my part). Also, it was late in the day and I was trying to get on the road for a long drive back to KY.

The next morning, after a long trip home, I began to wash the car and noticed clear was peeling around the front fender well (see picture). This had not been visible when I picked up the car due the road grime. I immediately called the forum member and asked him about paint work to the front fender. He adamantly denied any paint work to the front fender had ever been done and blamed the peeling on the removal of some mud flaps that had been on the car. The next day, I took the car to a local body shop and they informed me the car had been painted all down the passenger side and it appeared the front fender had been paint blended to match the rest of the car. Needless to say, at this point I am really pissed off that I had been blatantly lied to. Luckily, the color sand and re-clear was only going to cost 300.00, so I asked the forum member to cover the cost. After sending him a copy of the estimate, he said his local GM dealer told him it should only be a 150.00 shop to fix the clear. Again, this was another lie, as there is not a GM dealer in the USA that does work that cheap. Regardless, I settled for the 150.00 as payment in an attempt to get the title back from him (he had a lien on the car). Once I got the title and registered the car, I called the GM dealer he mentioned (Jon Wall Chevrolet in Daytona Beach) and they faxed me a copy of all the work that had been done to the car. Turns out the car had a quarter panel replaced, door repaired and the car painted from the rear deck lid to the front fender, just as my local guy suspected. To this day the member still denies the front fender has ever been painted.

I learned a big lesson on this deal. Regardless of the person (This guy is a retried USAF Col.) and whether or not they are Senior forum members, there are cheats and liars everywhere. I guess I expected a little more integrity from this guy due to his service to the country. I was wrong.

I don't know the rules about posting his name, or forum alias, but anyone interested can PM me and I will let you know who he is so you can steer clear. Caveat emptor.

Front Fender

Previous Repairs Page 1

Previous Repairs Page 2

Previous Repairs Page 3

Previous Repairs Page 4

Joe_Planet

you should always look at a car during the day.. never as night and always look at a clean car.

everyone's gonna lie...

i'm lying right now

if you would have pulled the service history from the dealer on that vin you probalby would have seen all the repairs done to the car. at least the guy fessed up and paid for some of the repair.

St.Char

Sorry to hear you had to put up with that kind of However, hopefully there won't be anymore unfortunate surprises and you can get on with enjoying your car. How can a guy lie when you confront him with the paperwork

AORoads

I don't know if the service history from the dealer via the vin or VIS system will show this, but you could be correct.

The major thing wrong besides the issues with the car and seller are that the buyer should have had the car checked out by someone who could take their time and professionally put the car up on a rack and go over it, for a small fee relative to the overall purchase price---a person who truly knew C6 Corvettes and whose job it was to repair or work on them. While I don't fault the person/friend who looked at it, the red flag was raised, and ignored. Caveat emptor is applicable.

I applaud the OP for at least exposing this issue, and I don't see any reason why the name of the seller can't be posted. Not trying to start any wars, but lying is lying and should be exposed for what it is.

GatewayShepherd

I'd like to see him come on here and explain himself. But I bet he won't! As much respect I have for the military...they are still humans and are subject to the same poor character that others are....

OnPoint

Who was it?

mpuzach

Wow, that really sucks. Like St. Char said, hopefully you can get the paint repaired and then get on with enjoying your car. It's bad enough that the loser lied to you; to continue denying that there was previous damage after you confronted him with proof to the contrary means that not only is he an idiot, he mistakenly thinks you're one, too. I'm curious - how does he explain the paperwork from the dealer? Here's hoping that everything works out for you.

SlasherMcGee

Wow that sucks man... I feel for ya.. I don't mean to sound all "high and mightly", but this is precisely why I don't buy used unless the vehicles going to be an every day beater... Even if a car seems prestine and the seller looks the part, the car is USED

fleetc

a simple search of the right keyword and viewing of the profiles was an easy find. I'm not dime'ing him out if the OP didn't want to.

c1vettes

Does it show his signiture on the work order? Did he sign off on your contract that the car had never been damaged?

I guess by his agreeing to reimburse you, that he basically has admitted to the lie. I don't know what the Forum can do for you, but I would sure like to hear his story. Things like this just ruin it for everybody.

I bought my '09 from pictures by a dealer in Lansing, Mi. Then had the car shipped to me in Fl. While the car was only 7 months old, it did have over 10k miles. I never inspected the car and fortunately it arrived exactly as described. You would think another Forum member would be as honest and forthright as this car salesman. I don't know if I can name him as I do not know the rules. But he certainly should be recognized since the bad rap used car salesman have, and this man's description was perfect.

I guess that when yor buddy said the hood looked out of alignment you should have passed on that one.

mpuzach

I'm with Bill. Assuming the facts were reported correctly by the OP, there's no reason not to out the seller.

SilverScorp

Wow, that's serious bad news man...

Motorhead-47

This appears to be the car... http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...nvertible.html

vettedoogie

As I have said time and time again, DO NOT TRUST a CarFax. DO NOT TRUST people to tell you the truth about a used Corvette UNLESS you know them (and the car) intimately. Make sure you get the VIN and get a vehicle service history printed out from an objective GM dealer. Then, if every thing looks good, make sure you have the car inspected by a mechanic you trust and by an objective GM dealer to make sure the car has never had a tune. Get that in writing if possible. Then make sure you have access to a clean title. Only then should you exchange any money.

There are a lot of Corvette owners who are taking modded cars and returning them to stock when they go to sell them so they can get their money back by selling the mods separately. How honest they are about that process is really open to interpretation. Buyer beware!

fatboy93

Good detective work

I appreciate the comments guys.

Motorhead-47

9-15-2009

ncvette_1FUNRIDE

That's just terrible that there are people that will lie to your face and misrepresent a car like that. If it were me and I could prove he lied, I would probably SUE him for fraud.

Here is another one of his post.

"Thanks, good idea. I am not concerned about color since the rear quarter panel has to be replaced and the car repainted along the left side."

--------------------------------------------------------

He may be scarce around here after this 'outing'.

mpuzach

OK Colonel Vick - it's time for you to tell your side. What gives?

DWS44

Wow...hard to believe the guy could be dumb enough to lie about damage when his own posts alluding to said damage could be so easily found on the forum! I'd think a long time senior member would be more concerned with their forum reputation than that.

vettedoogie

TOTALLY! Especially for diminished value vs the price you paid.