Ok, I finally settled this issue with the seller. He sent me $500 back (cost of shipping) and I now plan on cleaning the car up a bit and selling it for whatever I can. If I can get $1000 I will break even on this, but I will more likely get around $500 - $750. Now I have a new question. What sort of feedback should I leave for him? Since he dealt with this issue fairly quickly and professionally, I dont think I should give him negative feedback, but at the same time, its hard to give him positive feedback when he so badly misrepresented the car. I guess I could give him neutral feedback, keeping in mind that he will probably respond with neutral or negative feedback to me. hmmmmmmm.......... any ideas?

steve

__________________
'00 Golf TDI
'81 300D

I am on your side, Kingkos. I would give a neutral and explain why but say it was resolved. I once won an auction for a 2500 dollar generator for about 260 bucks. The auction timing was just off and the pictures were bad. It ended up on a Tuesday at like 2 AM so no one else was looking at it, I got lucky. But, the guy never would get off of it and it was a battle. For this car, regardless of how much everyone else says it is worth, you won the auction for a car that should have been in better condition. You bid and got lucky. A good price for that car in the shape it was described in. After a turd was delivered, I would be mad too. Even if you got it for a dollar, you do have the right to complain since it was a contract and the seller did not deliver. I think the outcome was good, though. At least you got something back, almost an admission on his part. You called him out and he folded, at least partly.

__________________

1984 300D, 246k, veggie, sold
1982 300SD 301k

How about no feedback? If you leave neutral feedback and he leaves negative feedback, you're done because eBay sides with the seller. Keep your option until he leaves feedback and hope he doesn't.

Sixto

So now you bought the car for $450. That ought to feel pretty good. Shipping doesn't count as you knew it's distance beforehand.

Did it ever occur to you that the only reason that you prevailed at auction for $950. in the first place is that of all the other people interested in these cars and shopping in ebay no one bid the car any higher than that? To me that alone indicates that there must have been sufficient warning about it's condition contained within the description and photos that it was not so desirable a find.
Next time think about what the other people saw that you missed.

I dont see why "shipping doesnt count". It is an expense that I took into consideration when bidding on the car. It is an expense that I would not have otherwise incurred had it not been for an inaccurate description. Of course shipping counts, and at the end of the day after the $500 refund, I am still out $1000. Of course I got a peice of crap car to show for it.

Also, I think its easy for you (or anyone) to make comments like "did it ever occur to you" after the fact. If this car had ended up being as good as its description, then i'd be the one laughing right now. Go and look at that ad, and tell me what I missed. Give the seller a call and have him repeat what he told me when I called him, then tell me what i missed. Also, experienced ebayers seem to be the ones that wait till the last minute to bid, so how was I supposed to know what price the car would go for? I've see cars jump over $1000 in the last minute of an auction, so basing my bid on the current price may not be the best strategy. What did occur to me was that the guy listed some problems with the car that others may have seem as major, but were actually quite minor (vacuum leak related). I figured that would scare some people off. Anyways, I'm glad to have this ordeal over with.

steve

__________________
'00 Golf TDI
'81 300D

I hope you either fix it to a great car that you someday grow to love (probably not, huh?) or that you are able to sell it for at least what you had to spend.
I do so wish eBay would stand up for it's company and force sellers to do the right thing. But that's certainly NOT the best bottom line thing to do.

Good luck,
Ginny

wow im pretty shocked at a lot of the replies here.

first of all, you are LUCKY to get $500 back from the seller. Indeed, there was no obligation for him to do same. His description is what is known as "puffing" (salesmanship) you cannot hold him reponsible for saying its immaculate or in mint condition or great or whatever. He is trying to SELL. He is not going to be an idiot and say "uhh yeah it doesnt look that good, please buy my POS anyway".

You got it at the price you did for a reason. Not everyone looks under doors and in window creases. If you wanted such an inspection done, it was YOUR responsibility to either go out and inspect it , or use a professional mobile inspection service, before buying (preferably before even BIDDING).

You chose to do cheap out, no inspection, and it got you what it did. If i was the seller I would not have refunded you anything. consider yourself very lucky. you should leave the seller positive feedback for being so cooperative dealing with a naive and pennypinching buyer!

Agreed.

It's widely known, and posted all over ebay, that "caveat emptor" is the rule of all transactions on the site. In case you don't know the translation it means "Let the buyer beware".

Shipping doesn't count because it was a known expense and it WAS performed. You did receive what you purchased, regardless the folly of that purchase, and so shouldn't be considered a part of your "loss" due to any seller performance.

Buyers have to take whatever measures necessary to give themselves assurance and comfort in a purchase before ever placing a bid, or not bid.

I'm thinking that if you clean if up a little (say, spend around $100), you can get all of your money back (including the $100 for clean up).

Seal the windshield, spritz some febreeze in there, and go to the junk yard and get a new glovebox door; and sell it, since you obviously hold a grudge against the car and will never be able to enjoy it, lest you get an excorcism done.

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

It's the SELLERS responsibility to provide the description, not the buyers. You can't mislead and lie about condition and then say "oh i just wanted to sell it".
I do believe ebay has something written somewhere that says "Please enter an accurate description of your item".
The $500 was due to the seller KNOWING he was wrong.
Get off this guy, "pennypinching"? So he should have turned this down and said "i'm sorry, i'm just not spending enough, i want to make sure i'm spending enough to get a good car".

Morality? thx.

I think you lucked out... I have to agree shipping is all on you, he got the same amount of money shipped or local. Buying a car As-Is I really dont think he leagally owed you a dime. It is Your responsibility to ask for more/better pics, see it in person, or come here and ask someone local to check it out. A description is based on his opinion... I have had issues like this before so I feel your pain plus the issues I had cost me A LOT more $$. Just be more careful next time!

This is the exact reason why I would never buy a car that I couldn't inspect myself or by a trusted 3rd party-the seller CLEARLY stated "NO RUST" in the description-clearly lying! Another thing that sets off the alarm bells is the punctuation/grammar/spelling mistakes in the listing-reminds me of the overseas scams/spam that lands in my email box too often. You clearly got screwed, but it could have been even worse...for $950 (U.S.?) you still might make a decent daily driver out of it, good luck!

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1982 300DT 190K (Diesel Purge + synthetic oil=smoothness at last!!!)
2004 Ford E-350 6.0 L PSD 227K
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW HO Cummins 4X4 48RE 42K (brute force tow vehicle)
2005 Scion xB wife's rolling pop can
1993 GMC Sierra C3500 6.2 142K

by pennypinching i mean not having an inspection done. ebay links to a mobile inspection service if you cant come out to the car in person. the inspection would have revealed all these isssues before paying $500 for shipping, but the bidder was too cheap to get it inspected. HIS LOSS.

No one knows if he was "cleary lying" by saying no rust....not everyone looks under the doors....I have another car that looks like it has no rus from the outside, but on close inspection, under the doors, you will see some.

You simply cant take every word in a sellers ad as gospel...ifs foolish to do that and you lose if you do so.

It's bad enough when you can inspect a car in person. Who hasn't brought home the new pride and joy only to spend the first few days of ownership finding all of the flaws that should have been caught on inspection? I know I have, more than once. I'm right in the middle of it again. There's a peculiar sickness that infects our senses when we want something. It hides obvious things from us. To risk depending on someone else's description, particularly someone who wants only to see a car gone, is the worst manifestation of the disease.
But the seller doesn't inflict us, neither does an advertizing avenue like ebay. It isn't their fault - it's our own.

Here's the listing pasted --->

Vehicle Description

1981 Mercedes-Benz 300D

This Auction is For a 1981 Mercedes 300D in Good Condition being Sold AS-IS. This car is the Non-Turbo version of the 3.0 Liter inline five cylinder engine, This car is in good running condition engine transmission and drivetrain all work Great, brakes are good, electric Sunroof still works, paint and interior are excellent, paint is especially nice, no rust, Very minor dents or scratches if any, the interior is immaculate and has no rips or serious damage only some minor dash cracks. Turn signal, horn and stereo works, Car comes with a Pre-installed $600 In Dash Alpine 3-disc changer Cd-Player. It is fully fucntional with good speakers. could be used for subs if you so desired. The Rims on this car are also noted for there quality and style. The oil and filter was just changed. Please Bid with confidence.

_________________________________________________________

The Only problems with the car are as follows

1. The window switches are out (all of them) , NOT THE WINDOWS

2. Passenger door lock will lock but key will not open or lock the door.

3. Sometimes there is some vibration, usually normal for age.

_________________________________________________________

Other than those Issues the car has been pretty much unbreakable, it has Proved extremely relible. these cars I understand are known for there reliability and I find this one to be an example of that, If you would like to view the car please contact me or if you would like any other information or perhapes more pictures I can send them to you. Shipping is done at the expense of the buyer, the car is avaliable for pick up at it's location in or around Sacramento.

NO RESERVE

HAPPY BIDDING

<---

Now what I would do, depends on how the car drives and shifts. Yeah he gave you shipping money back, but if the car was sooo misrepresented that it's actually scrap or parts car, I would still leave negative feedback, if you remember on the 90th day after the sale. I usually forget to leave negative feedback, but that's me.

Not many people want a 25 year old car, so the dollar amount is irrelevant. immaculate is just that immaculate. I bought a set of Rims that were 'immaculate' only to be severly pitted and curb rashed, I asked for and got my purchase price AND shipping back.

Keep em honest. I know I've refunded money on eBay if I missed an issue with something I sold.

Marty
www.benzbonz.biz