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Sad and Discouraged

comtec

comtec

Legendary Member
Joined
1 October 2006
Messages
2,738
Location
Memphis TN
The 1997 mint condition car that i have been working to get for the past 2 weeks. The car seemed perfect for me, it even had the wheels and body kit that i wanted (only one that i have found in three months of searching with the kit). I had the vehicle inspected by the local acura dealer which it past with no problems. The dealer even told me that the car was in excellent shape and quote "a very nice car". I wired a deposit to hold the car and made plans to pickup the car and drive it back home. I purchased a one way ticket to pickup the car and paid the insurance so i wouldn't have any problems driving it back.

Well i got off work at 6am and rushed to the airport to fly 730 miles to pickup my nsx. I was so excited for the last week, waiting for friday. I had the cashiers check in my pocket and grabed a cab from the airport to the owners house. When i arrived at his house, i looked at the garage and there it was. The owner was drying it off from a fresh wash. The car was beautiful, exactly what i was looking for. I started looking the car over and the owner opened the driver door. As soon as he opened the door i noticed a dullness in the paint just where the rear quarter panel is attached to the body in the door lach area. When i took a close look at it, it was easy to see it was overspray. I looked all around the rear quarter and it was obvious that the entire rear panel had been repainted (the overspray could be seen in the front, back and top. The paint looked very good except there was overspray on all the ajoining panels. This started me wondering what has happened to the car. It had a clear carfax and i could not see any evidence of damage, only the new paint on the panel. I thought it over and told him i would still buy the car but in my opinion the paint work hurts the value of the car (i was paying his asking price for the car) I told him to me the price of the car should be reduced by 1k. And that i will still buy the car for his asking price -1k. He would not budge on the asking price. So i call another cab and go back to the airport, buy another one way ticket home. I spent the rest of the day at 2 different airports with both flights delayed.

Man what a letdown. I was so excited about this car and then to see the overspray. Just setting everything up has cost me 2k with nothing to show for it.:frown:
 
Very sorry to read this but hang in there, it will be worth it when you find the right one.
In regard to the car, did the owner misrepresent it or did he/she not know about the probable damage?
 
kkt said:
Very sorry to read this but hang in there, it will be worth it when you find the right one.
In regard to the car, did the owner misrepresent it or did he/she not know about the probable damage?
Click to expand...



Thanks kkt
He has only had the car for a few months and he said he had not noticed it.
 
A 97 in mint condition (or almost so) - you walked away over 1/40th (or less) of the price?

I do respect you holding out for what you really want, but if this car would have satisfied you for $1K less, I think you were a bit daft to walk away.
 
bodypainter said:
A 97 in mint condition (or almost so) - you walked away over 1/40th (or less) of the price?

I do respect you holding out for what you really want, but if this car would have satisfied you for $1K less, I think you were a bit daft to walk away.
Click to expand...

I agree. Maybe it was your ego thing, but at the end, I think you would of spent about the same amount. But also the seller should of seen your efforts and met you at least half way on the difference.
 
I agree with the others... if the paint was done well it shouldn't have been a deal breaker.... my Mom backed out the garage and scraped her Lexus the very first day she had it. It was a minor scrape, no body damage but through the paint on a black car. It was repainted and done right. So does that mean the car 9 years later on the used market should be worth less? In threory yes - fractionally less. But in realty - no.

btw: how did you come up with the $1k reduction of the car?

Unless it was a poor paint job, or suspected other damage it was dumb to walk away, especially after spending 2k to get there.
 
I would have done the same thing.
If the seller was not up front & honest on the body work, what else could he have been holding back on?

Twice when I was in the market the sellers backed out! After agreeing to their price, shaking hands, giving them a deposit, getting a cashiers check in their name etc. they backed out! I was livid! Twice! (Both cars have since been sold to Prime members) I was given lame excuses, but believe the cars sold for $1000.00 - $2000 more than the asking price I was given. (Seller's got greedy?) One wanted 35,000, sold 6 months later for 36,500. One was 36,500, sold for 38,500. What really bothered me was that they answered my want add! Then backed out. I had 45k cash to spend and was a serious buyer. Those fools...... LOL LOL

Also looked at several misrepresented cars, its to be expected. In the end I found the one I liked best and lived happily ever after. You will too.
Keep looking.:biggrin:
 
Sorry to hear about your situation. :frown: That is a tough call, but I agree with you that when you want something that is in mint condition, you do not want to see evidence of body damage or paint. It amazes me how many cars are listed in "mint" or "flawless" condition and it turns out that there are issues. I suppose they are hoping to find a buyer that doesn't have a trained eye for those kind of things.
I think it shows alot of restraint on your part for walking away. Probably 90% of buyers would have bought it anyway and perhaps regretted it later. Its better to be 100% certain before spending those hard earned $$$.
Keep up the search and you'll be rewarded in the end.
 
You did the right thing. I have been in a similar situation(not a NSX). I ended up looking for more and more defects until I was driving myself crazy!!!

Keep looking. The peace of mind when you find the "perfect" car is worth it.
 
comtec said:
Thanks kkt
He has only had the car for a few months and he said he had not noticed it.
Click to expand...


I believe I read in your original post that the car had a body kit installed. If that is the case the over-spray could very well be from the body kit installation and not from any body damage.

To install a body kit It usually require fit-up to the car; after fit-up the panels are removed for painting and then reinstalled; there should be no over-spray. If the panels were fit and then painted in place, often done to keep cost down, the likelihood of over-spray is quite high. Over spray can usually be rubbed/buffet out. I would suggest having an experienced body shop take a look to make a final determination.

In any case you need to buy a car that you feel good about. The information provided is in support of your search with my best wishes for a very successful outcome.
 
so you liked the car, but because you could not save $1k, you instead spent $2k, and are still looking?
Click to expand...

Yes i liked the car. Other than the return ticket home, the rest of the $2k was already spent. I was not trying to save $1k, it would have cost at least that much to have the car repaired.


A 97 in mint condition (or almost so) - you walked away over 1/40th (or less) of the price?

I do respect you holding out for what you really want, but if this car would have satisfied you for $1K less, I think you were a bit daft to walk away.
Click to expand...


Well considering the total cost it is more like 1/50th of the price.

It would have satisified me for $1k less, once i had it repaired.



I agree with the others... if the paint was done well it shouldn't have been a deal breaker.... my Mom backed out the garage and scraped her Lexus the very first day she had it. It was a minor scrape, no body damage but through the paint on a black car. It was repainted and done right. So does that mean the car 9 years later on the used market should be worth less? In threory yes - fractionally less. But in realty - no.

btw: how did you come up with the $1k reduction of the car?

Unless it was a poor paint job, or suspected other damage it was dumb to walk away, especially after spending 2k to get there.
Click to expand...


The paint was not done well, it took me less than 5 minutes to notice the problem. I tried to call a couple of members that i had numbers for but could not reach them for advice.

The $1k reduction is what i estimated the cost of repairing the problem, but i still don't like the fact that i don't know what happened to it.



I wouldn't buy a car sight unseen without an inspection. Go to SGS and order a $99 inspection: http://consumer.sgsauto.com/Transition.aspx?ID=M4HFD5DS

They usually come out the next day, inspect and test drive the car, and report back. They can spot body damage like what you saw long before you book your flight.

FYI - good luck in your continued search.
Click to expand...


I knew this and that is why i paid the dealer $190 to inspect the car before moving forward with the purchase.



Sorry to hear about your situation. That is a tough call, but I agree with you that when you want something that is in mint condition, you do not want to see evidence of body damage or paint. It amazes me how many cars are listed in "mint" or "flawless" condition and it turns out that there are issues. I suppose they are hoping to find a buyer that doesn't have a trained eye for those kind of things.
I think it shows alot of restraint on your part for walking away. Probably 90% of buyers would have bought it anyway and perhaps regretted it later. Its better to be 100% certain before spending those hard earned $$$.
Keep up the search and you'll be rewarded in the end.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but it was hard to walk away. I do want a car that is mint, and i would have had to repair the car before being satisfied.




Thanks everyone for the support. Last night after 30 hours with no sleep, sitting in the airport delayed i told myself i would not go through this kind of disappointment again. But as soon as i arrived home I created this post, then i started looking to see if any different cars are available. I still am looking for a car, but i will not get as excited about one in the future as i did for this one before seeing it in person.
 
I believe I read in your original post that the car had a body kit installed. If that is the case the over-spray could very well be from the body kit installation and not from any body damage.

To install a body kit It usually require fit-up to the car; after fit-up the panels are removed for painting and then reinstalled; there should be no over-spray. If the panels were fit and then painted in place, often done to keep cost down, the likelihood of over-spray is quite high. Over spray can usually be rubbed/buffet out. I would suggest having an experienced body shop take a look to make a final determination.

In any case you need to buy a car that you feel good about. The information provided is in support of your search with my best wishes for a very successful outcome.
Click to expand...


Yes it has a body kit and that is what i thought at first. Looking at the body kit it was painted off the car but i thought maybe they had blended in the paint. Looking at the rest of the car there was no sign of this. They only repainted the left rear quarter and the problem can even be seen at the top where the panel meets the rear glass.
 
So sorry to read this kind of thing, but next time get an NSX owner to inspect it for you. Do you mind to post the link of that car and the dealer inspected the car ?
 
Sorry to hear about that. You did what you felt was right and that is the only correct decision. Better to back off now before going home and dwelling on it til it bothers you too much. You have the choice to make a purchase that will make you happy when all is said and done. Keep looking and you will find the right one for you. You have plenty of members here online that will go out of their way to look at a car for you if it is too far. Don't be shy to ask for any help, that's what this community is here for.
 
Thanks wheelman,
I bought a corvette once that had paint work that i didn't notice. After 2 years the new paint started to fade. It cost me $2k to have it repaired but was never close to perfect.
 
BTW. The overspray that i am talking about is a tapeline overspray. It can only be repaired by sanding down the problem and buffing out. The reason they did not do this is because where they taped the panel to paint is in areas that you cant use powered tools to access. It would have to be sanded and buffed out by hand. A quality job if the fender can't be removed to paint would have required the tapeing to be on the exposed part of the fender where the paint would blend into the areas of limited access.
 
Ski_Banker said:
You had contracted to purchase a clean (as represented by seller and the dealership) vehicle. It wasn't clean. You could sue for your travel costs, which you should -- I'd be pissed if my time was wasted like that.
Click to expand...
Dealerships don't check for body damage. They check for mechanical condition.

To check for body damage, a reputable body shop should be used. A mechanic is not the best expert to note body damage.

I'm not sure if the lawsuit would be thrown out as frivilous in court. The seller did not intentionally seek to defraud the buyer, as the posts seem to imply. It seems he/she was unaware of the painting.

Again, the painting/overspray could be just a minor cosmetic effect, not a sign of serious body damage. The buyer would have to prove that the car was not a "clean" vehicle. And the condition "clean" would have to be 100% spelled out in a contract to warrant liability. Most private sales are "as is" basis and have no recourse beyond that.
 
Ski_Banker said:
You had contracted to purchase a clean (as represented by seller and the dealership) vehicle. It wasn't clean. You could sue for your travel costs, which you should -- I'd be pissed if my time was wasted like that.
Click to expand...

Thanks but he may not have known about the problem. As long as i get my deposit back, i will just eat the expenses and just think of it as a learning experience.
 
You guys can say i did the wrong thing or it was dumb for me to walk away for $1k, thats fine. But if i purchased the car adding in all the taxes and expenses the total cost would have been 53,500. For that much on a 1997 car i will not accept any prior body work. I should have just walked away when i noticed it but i still made him the offer. Thinking about it now after getting some sleep, i am glad that he did not accept it.
 

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