No more Grand Am....

[AmIGrand]

:crying: Well, due to a bunch of crap that I'd just as soon not dump all over the boards, I'm filing chapter 7 this month. Now, I have the option of keeping my car, but I have to keep the same A$$HOLE financing company, too. Unfortunately, I hate them more than I love the car - although that wasn't an easy decision.

Anyway, I'll still be huanting these here forums, and hopefully another N-body will be in my posession soon (I work at a dealership again, so there are ways....). But for now, I'm carless, what's worse, I'm Grand Amless.... :(

[badassgrandam99]

...sorry to hear dude... but if it's for the better and will help you out in the long run then it's a decision that had to be made... i'm sure that we won't be seeing the last of you around the boards though... best of luck man!!

[Ishan]

damn yo, :( sorry to hear, my dad may have to do that soon..

[AmIGrand]

Well, a light at the end of the tunnel....

Found a 1993 Oldsmobile Achieve SCX for sale!!!! Wow, those are not so easy to come by, I'm very excited. If I get it, it'll be later this week, I'll keep ya'll posted!

For the underinformed, the SCX was built in very limited numbers in 1992 and 1993, 1146 of them in '92 and 500 in '93. It has the W41 Quad 4 HO, a Getrag 5 speed, and a limited slip doff from the factory, runs mid to high 14's stock and is a force to be reckoned with at autocross events. This is gonna be fun!

Oh SpYYYYYYYhunterrrrrr.... :D

[AmIGrand]

Well, it's official - I won the auction! Now I just gotta find a way to get this thing to UT from freakin' Flatwoods, KY. lol The cheapest quote so far to ship it is $886!!! :eek: I think I'll fly out and take a road trip home in my new baby - go the long way and swing south, come up through 'Vegas. ;)

Anyone lookin' for a toy, there's a '92 SCX in IN with a blown headgasket, the guy is asking under $1000 for it as is. As is happens to be very nice, other than needing the head, the car is near perfect. Anyone interested, drop me a PM for his contact info!

[AmIGrand]

Feel free to stop reading if you don't like rants, but here's the story.

Flew back to DC with the wife, showed her where I grew up, visited the fasmily, etc. A nice little add-on to the trip. Tuesday we drove down to meet the seller & pick up the car. Everything went downhill from there.

In retrospect, the warning indicators were there, I was just too excited and/or too busy to put it all together. The result? Well....

The seller showed up 45 minutes late at our rendevous location, driving a different vehicle (he knew when I'd show, it was planned days in advance, and I called when we were 30 minutes out to say we were on time). When asked why he wasn't in the Acheiva, he said he didn't want to have to have one of us in the small backseat. Um, ok.... Because he was late (and I'm sure this was preplanned looking back), we had to rush to the DMV for the title transfer without stopping to see the car. So now that the title is signed over and all funds exchanged, we get to the car.

Exterior "in excellent condidion". Sure - if a bad front fender repaint, numerous DEEP rock chips, the clearcoat peeling in 2 spots, serious wear on the hood finnish from a bra, and the decals peeling/faded is "excellent".

Interior "normal for a high miles car, has some stains and wear". Yeah - the dash isn't cracked and is in good shape. EVERYTHING ELSE is either broken and loose, or just plain missing. "Never smoked in". I guess that explains the badly used cigarette lighter (now disconnected and broken) and the cigarette burns in both seats, eh?

"Good running condition". Here's where the fun begins. I asked him SPECIFICLY before flying out if the engine/tranny/brakes were good, saying I would be driving it cross-country and that those were my primary concerns. I was told that the car was mechanicly sound, ran great. It had been his daily driver for a year or so, with no problems. Now for the story -

He hands me the keys, watches me start it, and leaves. Gone. We get 2 miles up the road while I realize the brakes are acting up. No answer on his cell or home numbers. A stop at the only mechanic open at 6 PM reveals a front caliper locked up, had been that way long enough have heated the brake line and piston seals so badly that the whole mess was melted into one solid piece. Rear shoes are badly glazed and 90% worn. While going over the car in the shop, we discover:

A serious power steering leak, a blown strut, and a glob of JB Weld holding in a broken temp sensor and possibly covering a crack in the head.

The wife and I check into a hotel for 2 nights while repairs commence. $968 later, we're on our way, the head still a mystery but the brakes (new lines, calipers, pistons, rotors, and pads in front, new shoes in back) and power steering hose fixed, the car drivable. While in the hotel, I read over the title more carefully. He has owned the car for 7 months almost to the day, and in that time has put less than 1600 miles on it. Some daily driver. Late Tuesday night, the seller calls me on a speaker phone from a strange number, says he's at work, wants to respond to my numerous messages. Keep in mind, in two weeks he's never once failed to answer one of his phones, and I haven't been able to reach him this whole time. The discussion consists of him reminding me that the car was sold as-is, and denying that he'd misrepresented anything, and me trying to be reasonable but firm about the fact that he screwed me. He asks if he should get a lawyer, I say "hey - you mentioned it first, not me". No more contact is made. We start across country, two days behind schedule and $1200 over budget, so we take the 64 to the 70 to get straight to UT in a hurray, skipping all the social and racing stops we'd planned. Car runs OK, though clearly not 100%, and the heater doesn't work. Oh well, once in UT we'll take care of it, begine the restoration over time. We stop in Colby, Kansas, 57 miles from the CO border, to get gas. It's Saturday morning. At the bottom of the off ramp, the shift linkage cable breaks. I manage to get it into reverse, and back into a truck stop. During the next 5 hours, I call the number on my phone that he called me from Tuesday night, thinking it's his office and I'll catch him. It's a law office, and they're closed for the day. I leavce a message to the effect that I'll see them in court, very soon. With the help of a trucker/mechanic, we get the tranny into 3rd (him manipulating the bolt-action tranny under the hood while I hold the clutch in) and I limp it to the local GM dealer. Both linkage cables need to be replaced, one broken, the other badly worn. Parts can't be had until Tuesday from the Denver wharehouse, and the car isn't driveable. We pay $226 for two Greyhound tickets to Salt Lake City, bus leaves at 5:40 PM. The repair on the car is gonna be $568 total parts and labor. We arrive in SLC at 9 AM Sunday, and get a ride from my mother back to our apartment. I got a call 2 hours before posting this from the dealer doing the work. An oil switch is bad, and the heater hoses have been looped, completely bypassing the heater core - so that's probably bad too. Add another $150 to the repair bill, WITHOUT a new heater core.

The Kentucky small claims court limit is $2500. I was gonna go for that, and not worry about a lawyer and a jury. Nevermind that now.... I'm claiming 50% reimbursement for the cost of the vehicle, full repair costs, full travel and overnight expenses, lost wages, mental anguish and emotional distress, not to mention about $200 in cell phone calls. I strongly suspect this isn't the first car he's sold this way, either. I'm back home with a week lost from my life, $4000 lost from my bank account, and no car to show for it. I have to drive back to Kansas latr this week to picj it up, so the trip isn't even over yet. We'll start the claim at $50,000 and see where we end up, I've already called a lawyer back there.

Anybody else think they had a bad week?

[iceman]

DAMN that is horrible, I hate dishonesty like that, I hope you take him for as much as you can. That's just BS.. totally.

Maybe we can arrange a post-gap event at this dudes house :)

[Slim]

Jebus!! That's crap. I can't believe the guy is trying to pull that kind of B.S on you. Hopefully everything will work out in court for you. :thumbs:

Keep us posted!

[cavingman]

holy **** man. good luck with that! show him what happens to people who are dishonest.

[Not2OLD]

If this guy has any kind of history hustling cars like this - you may own him after all.


I wonder, if he goes by by, "Joequid" or "Stunnaman"??:tool:

[AmIGrand]

Just be careful of anyone selling cars on ebay from Flatwoods, KY. I have a feeling this isn't his first deal, and not his only user ID. Incidently, I bought it from "bjpdgp", whatever that's supposed to mean, so avoid that guy - although again, I think he changes handles.

[VaGT]

Did the guy have any good feedback for previous car sales?


Take him for everything you can. Have the link to the auction still? Make sure you save that page. Take a screen shot, print it, save the page, etc. If you just save the page, he might claim you changed it or something.

[AmIGrand]

Done and done, have the printouts, all emails, etc. He had a 0 feedback rating, he now has a -1 courtesy of yours truly.

Well, I got a call from the shop doing the work on the cables. The JB Weld broke, and she's leaking oil like a severed artery. Luckily (I guess), it turns out the carack is not the head, it's the exhuast cam housing. Cheaper than a new head, but still pretty bad.

The seller contacted me via e-mail yesterday saying he wants to settle, but hasn't made an offer. We'll see. In the meantime, I still have no car, and the new repairs will be about $1400 'cuz I'm having them replace the timing chain stuff and water pump while they're in there, the chain cover & gasket gotta come off to replace the cam housing. The car is now a $5000 investment and counting.

[BTarb24]

curious... how did the trial/settlement go?

[AmIGrand]

Wow - did I never update this? :eek: Sorry 'bout that....

The guy fell off the face of the earth. Phone numbers, email addy's, everything changed. I wasn't able to get the courts to bring the trial to UT, and it would cost more to sue him in TN than I would win. End of painful story.

The car was finally trailered to UT where it has been sitting behind my work for a year now. I couldn't afford to dump anymore into it and parted it out. The shel;l is still there wiuth the wheels and brakes, but the motor and tranny were parted out to recoup whateer I could. Take the purchase price of the vehicle, add travel expenses, tow, and repair bills paid, subtract what I got for the parts I sold, and I ate just over $4000 on the deal. :(

[BTarb24]

ouch, yea thats just evil and a half. sad that people can get away with that. sorry man.

[sicc]

Damn man... that SUCKS. I went through the same thing as far as losing the GA. Even got a 93 to replace her. Luckily I knew somebody who reccomended a good place to get a used car from.

I'm curious though, why did you even consider buying a CAR on ebay from somebody with no feedback?

[BTarb24]

i would assume just the sheer luck of finding such a rare car. good luck finding that car at a local used car shop. you become almost forced to try ebay. just lost on the gamble this time is all.

[sicc]

Ya but still... I won't order something for $25 if somebody doesn't have feedback, let alone $4000. Oh well.

What are you driving now??

[AmIGrand]

I got the car for $2026. The other $3500 I was into it were various repairs, airline tickets to pick it up, and bus tickets home from KS where it broke down. I recouped about $1200 when I parted it out.

I should have been more patient - since I bought it I've seen several others in much better shape go for much less, but it was the only W41 Quad 4 out there when I got it. Numerous telephone calls and emails were exchanged, and I felt comfortable with the guy. Oh well - I got ripped by a pro, now I know better. :(

[2002GT]

What are you driving now??

:whistle:

[AmIGrand]

I picked up a high mileage '96 Saturn SL1 from work before buying the SCX, and I've sinced picked up another '96 SL2 (the wife has the SL1, we're seperated now). So that's my daily beater, once the money works out, I have a line on a 1991 Calais 442 W41 I'm hoping to pick up. We'll see....

[sicc]

sweet... are they 5 spd's? I have one too. ;]

[AmIGrand]

Nope, auto's. :( Can't complain - paid under $1000 for each out the door, lol. Just something to get around in until I get my 442 W41 someday.... :)