True story here: Worked at a Lincoln-Mercury dealer as a mechanic, brand new '77 Cougar with a 351 V8 that had been delivered has an engine miss, a severe miss. The engine shook so violently that the hood would not stay raised. Turns out the engine was assembled with just 7 pistons and connecting rods, the 8th. piston was never there. Buyer reniged on the sale and bought an Old Cutlass. Hopefully the engine in that thing had all pistons installed.
My husband was blind also, but he had been a car enthusiast before he went blind at 25 years old, due to service in Vietnam. It was very amusing to watch car dealers try and take him for a ride. He would play dumb with them, get them all excited because they thought they had a sale, and then he'd turn around and tell them everything that was wrong with the car. The looks on their faces was priceless. He was amazing with the things he could "see" with his hands and ears. He taught me a lot.
@@MrTruckerf He was amazing. Before being conscripted he was a drummer in The Mixtures. Think of "The Pushbike Song". He had so many stories to tell, and was a great father as well. I miss him a lot. Heart attack.
@@crumplezone1 He would have appreciated your thoughts a lot. He mainly got a lot of shit thrown at him when he came home to Australia. He beat some guy up for calling him "baby killer". Next week the same guy came back with backup and beat him so badly he was comatose for 6 months, broke both optic nerves.
@@stephaniefairey8633 That's so sad. I thought you meant he had been injured on service in Vietnam, not that so nasty blokes had ganked him once he was back, that's so sad, and I am happy you shared the story and I hope you keep well.
My sister had a Ford Explorer that would make her and her grandkids sick when driving the car. She even put a carbon monoxide alarm in the car that would go off. She took it to the dealer numerous times and they could not find anything wrong with it. A rep from Ford came out and took a ride with her and even though the carbon monoxide alert went off while they were in the car, they could not find anything wrong with it. She eventually traded it in, and the dealer gave them a good deal on the defective one. Now I hear that other Explorers do the same thing and many are police cruisers.
Steven Lundgrin: That is caused by two problems. The body panels are spot welded along the seams. A sealant is used to seal the gap between the body panels. The sealant was improperly applied and on some vehicles there was none. The other problem is the design of the exhaust pipes. They did not extend far enough from under the rear facia and the air turbulence under the vehicle caused the fumes to go back under the body and filter through the incorrectly sealed body panel joints. I don't know how Ford fixed the problem, but it caused a literal headache for the drivers and an expensive one for Ford.
Your story about the car with the door that wouldn't open jogged an old painful memory. In the early 1980's I owned a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring that I had owned for several years. The transmission started to slip. At the time, I lived in an apartment and had nowhere to work on the car myself, so I took it to a local famous "National Transmission Repair" chain store that begins with the letter "A". They had a $50 or $75 diagnostic charge. If they did actual repair work, the money would go towards the repair. If I left without an actual repair, I would be out the "diagnostic fee". I told them to diagnose it. They diagnosed it and said they could fix the transmission and provide a 6 month warranty for $500 or provide a lifetime warranty for $750. The car wasn't worth $500. I said no, I'd pay the diagnostic fee without a repair. They balked and said "But we have it apart. All we need to do is put new parts in it and you are good as new"! I said no again. They gave me my car back and I drove off. I called my Dad and told him to call local junk yards where he lived so I could replace my transmission at his place (250 miles away) with a used one. He called back and said my car had one of 2 transmissions. He needed to know which one I had. To identify it, I had to crawl under the car and find the identifying features to figure out which one I had. I used the bumper jack that came with the car (the one with the little skinny tab that fit in a slot in the bumper) to jack it up. When I jacked it up, I could no longer open the drivers door, which I thought was odd. When I crawled under the car I found out why the door wouldn't open. The unibody had rotted out. There was a 6 inch rust hole on the hidden side of the unibody that could only be seen if you crawled under the car. My car buckled under the pressure of it's own weight. The car was junk. That transmission repair place saw the hole and knew my car was junk. Their $750 "Lifetime Warranty" would have lasted about 30 days had I continued to drive the car, and they knew it. Instead of doing the right thing and telling me my car was unsafe to drive, they tried to sell me a $750 repair that they knew only needed to last a few weeks.
I can relate! I had a 1990 Subaru Loyale that was stuck together exactly like that half/half. Reconstructed title, I paid $5,000 for it with 10,000 miles on it. I drove it about 100,000 miles, and a hail storm cosmetically destroyed it. Insurance paid me nearly the whole $5,000. I bought it back from them for 500 and drove it for another year and then sold it for $1,000. Yes, I got paid to drive that little freak car. I was way younger and risk tolerant back then, I'd never do it again.
Finding this 5 years later. These are crazy stories! Love it. I would be even more interested in your frequent fliers. Now that would be some useful information.
In 2003 I bought my wife a 2002 Buick Century, a beautiful "sand" color. The dealer told me it was a car driven by the manager and since it was now a year old, the manager had received a new vehicle as it was the policy to have the management drive current year vehicles. It was the worst car we ever owned. The trouble lights were coming on all the time, often in different combinations. The dealer couldn't fix it and told us to ignore it. Then the drivers window would arbitrarily roll down, usually in cold or rainy weather. We would play with the switch and turn the ignition on and off and it went up only when it was ready. One winter's night we drove for 40 minutes with the window open. The dealer didn't know what the problem was and only half believed us. Finally one day it wouldn't come up at all. We took the car back with the window stuck down and trouble lights shining bright and traded it in for a lesser vehicle. It was not a good deal for us but they lost a loyal customer. I often wonder who the poor sap was that got stuck with that lemon.
True can't open the doors story: My buddy bought my sister's '57 Ford Fairlane 2 door coupe in 1967. He was a year younger than me, still is, and I took him for his driver's test, which he passed. Now he was a newly licensed driver with a new (to him) car, WAHOO! However, he really wanted a convertible, but he's 17 yo making a dollar an hour washing dishes in a local restaurant part-time on weekends. He can't afford a convertible, BUT he can afford a hacksaw! You can see where this is heading. To his credit, he did a very good job and it actually looked pretty good, but the doors wouldn't open. That's why convertibles had reinforced frames.
I have a story on the flip side. In the mid 80's a friend of mine bought a 1965 Mustang from a local classic car dealership. It was sold to him sight unseen as a 6 cylinder fastback that was in Georgia. He paid for it and a couple weeks later he went to pick it up. He lifted the hood and saw the boss 289 V8! plus it was the 2+2! The dealer now knew the car was worth nearly twice what a 6 cyl would of been! They tried to collect more for the car. Long story short the dealer ended up losing money. He still has the car today, 31 years later.
@@paulm7460 May have meant a HiPo 289. Back in the day, I bought a used bright orange 9 or 10 year old '67 'stang fastback that a dealer had sitting in the back of the lot...a recent trade-in. It didn't have a trunk floor, presumably to save weight, and they relocated the battery in the trunk somehow as well...I assume there wasn't much room in the engine bay since it had a nicely built 390 under the hood. It was equipped with tubular headers, an aluminum hi-rise intake, some sort of double-pumper carb. (the brand eludes me but I think a Holley 650), Mallory dual-point distributor, Hurst competition plus manual shifter, traction bars, and fat meat rear tires. The lope indicated the cam had been changed. Somebody sure did a lot of work on it. The car beat all contenders on Telegraph except one...a Mustang coupe with a 289 HiPo and all the same goodies I mentioned. Both of us were pulled over even though I exited on Michigan Ave and the stranger kept heading south on Telegraph. Sadly I had to sell her because I garnered too many tickets...even just cruising below the speed limit. Almost lost my license. Great memories though.
We had a car that ate engines at a dealership I worked at. It wasn't anything to do with the engine itself, but an out of alignment frame. The misalignment resulted in twisting the block and putting excessive stress on the main bearings resulting in usually the number one main bearing failing, and the crank cracking. Another, Chevy that had an oil leak we could not seem to fix. Turned out to be a porous casting on the block. A factory engineer came out and pressurized the oil system while engine was on a stand, and drops of oil started coming out of what appeared to be solid iron. Facts are often stranger than fiction.
This may be different now because it has been 15 years since I was a Honda new car manager. In Virginia, at that time, we didn't have to legally disclose damage that was less than 3% of MSRP on a new car. The owner of the dealership, to cover himself and to be honest with the customer, made us take pictures of the damage and have the client sign the picture that we disclosed the damage to them.
I worked for a dealer that did the same - they disclosed all damage to customers, showed them invoices for the repairs, and had them sign an acknowledgment form. I had a customer buy a new truck that was in head on collision while on its way to have custom wheels installed (we often did dealer added accessories). The customer who bought the truck only had two concerns: that we agree to warranty our body shop repairs, and that we give them regular trade in value when they traded in in the next four or five years.
In 1970, my mom really wanted a Volkswagen Squareback. So my folks bought a brand-new, fully-loaded 'demo' model, with automatic and AC. In those days, warranties were short and there were no lemon laws. Over the next several years, there were multiple problems with the fuel-injection, and major problems with the engine and dealer-installed AC. Plus, after a couple years, it became apparent that 'demo' meant 'demolition', as the shiny green paint on some body panels started fading faster than others, proving that parts of the car had been repainted. For awhile, until all the paint eventually faded, the car looked sort of like a giant green checker-board! One afternoon, while mom was stuck in traffic, a fuel-hose blew off a fitting and dumped gas all over the engine. We might have been rid of the car there and then, except by some miracle, it didn't burst into flames. Turned out there were no hose-clamps on that fitting! To be fair, the car had a great-sounding German Blaupunkt AM-FM radio, and the automatic tranny was reliable, except if you needed to accelerate or climb a hill, you had to turn off the AC!
Chuck You are absolutely right I love my boat I love it like a drug because every time I tigh. up at the fuel dock I pay as much as if I am on bad drugs. but I'm addicted and I keep killing myself slowly as I cruise a slow death on the water.
I drove OTR for several decades. During the last 15 to 20 years I stuck with one manufacturer. In 1999 the came out with a new model and although the current tractor was only two years old, I called the dealer I dealt with and asked him if he had or could get one. He stated he only had one that was loaded out enough that I would even consider it. I said I would be interested but that I could get there for three weeks as I was on my way from Florida to Alaska. He said he would hold it. I arrived some 3 weeks later after stopping to get my tractor cleaned and detailed. A mistake as I found out later. Upon test driving the new unit I wasnt too impressed but feeling obligated, I bought it anyway. I didn't get a hundred miles down the Ohio Turnpike and realizing that I hated the thing called the dealer to say I was bringing it back. No problem they said, but we've already sold your old unit (never should have had it detailed). I drove this tractor for just a little over 11,000 miles and it broke 27 times. The last being a blown airbag. After the dealership where I had it towed to said it would be 5 days before they could look at it I had it towed to where it was built where on Monday morning I had a very angry conversation with a corporate executive about the reliability of that particular unit while they replaced the air bag. Since many of they issues were concerning the engine they ran a quick check on that too. A couple of weeks later I came to the dealership for service where upon i was informed that i was to go out on the lot and pick any unit i wanted because the manufacturer wanted to dissect mine for all the problems. I picked one near identical to what i had traded on the new one. When ask why not another new one, i replied " because the old ones never gave me any trouble" True to my word it didn't, except for normal maintenance, i drove that tractor from1999 until 2005 putting 1.5 million miles on it with no issues. Still got $20,000 trade in for it. Found out later Cummins had head issues which they weren't telling anyone about.
Your story about the car with the door that wouldn't open reminded me of my Plymouth Horizon. The morning after we brought it home brand new, I went to get in the car and the passenger door handle fell off in my hand. My husband laughed and said he'd open my door from his side as soon as he got in. Then the driver's side handle came off in his hand. So we climbed in through the hatchback and went to work. That was just an omen. Every tow truck driver in two counties knew that car.
Back in "the day", people would fill the rear ends with SAWDUST in order to quieten down the differential. Also, filling the case with "Hyperlube" is a common trick to quieten down rod or bearing knock.
I went out to look at a '79 Mercedes 6.9 in 1997. This is a rather valuable car because of the M100 engine. It shared a body with a more commonplace 4.5 litre version of the same car. The 6.9 had a fancy hydraulic suspension, a dry sump engine, and was $20k more than the 4.5 litre when new. Brock Yates drove one on Road Atlanta at over 100mph with the sunroof open and the A/C on, on street tires, and without any prep for the track at all. IIRC, it was the fastest car sold in 1979. I get to the seller's dealership, look at the back of the car, and it said 6.9 on the trunk lid. I got in, and took a look. Everything looked pretty good. When I popped the hood, however, I realized there was a problem. Pictures I saw of the 6.9 engine showed a hydraulic suspension reservoir near the front of the engine. I couldn't find it on this car. I asked the dealer where it was and was told that it was "probably deleted when the replaced the suspension with coil springs, because the hydraulic system was problematic". I pulled out a file of pictures I had brought with me of various Mercedes engines (this being before smart phones) and compared what I was seeing to pictures of the 4.5 litre engine that came in the lesser model, and it was a match. I took a look at the build plate, and sure enough, with a handy Mercedes VIN decoder I had printed, I found out this started life as a 4.5 litre car (033 versus 036). When I told the dealer he was selling an every day 4.5 litre 450SEL, not a 6.9, he was dismissive and said he'd "look into it". I don't know if he bought it without checking, or was trying to pull a fast one to pocket an extra $10k. I walked out of there without even bothering to start the car. A month later, I bought a real 6.9 from the guy who invented "Slim Jims". I drove it as a daily driver for years, averaging a woeful 6mpg, but with a huge smile on my face every time I lit up those rear tires. The "problematic" hydraulic suspension was used on many Mercedes models of the 80's and 90's, and proved to be very reliable once the mechanics understood how it worked. I don't believe anyone would be so stupid as to remove the hydraulic suspension on a 6.9, because it was needed to support the massive weight of the 6.9 engine and conventional springs would have had to be custom made.
My mother (knowingly) bought an old Honda Prelude that had been assembled from two salvaged ones (for a great price). I have to give the salvage yard credit, it ran flawlessly for many years for the rest of her life, and then lasted several more years until it finally just wore out.
Chaparral boat same story. We sued and were refunded every penny we spent in two years of owning it. We were lucky it had two engines because one went out every time we took it out. We never made it out of Newport Harbor, Newport Beach. What a lemon!! I really enjoy your stories.
Regarding checking a brand new car: In the bad old days of 1970's / early 80's British Leyland there was one occasion when a car got delivered to the dealer with Vanden Plas (top of the range de luxe) trim on one side of the car, and medium trim on the other side.
I worked with a guy who loved Mustangs. So he bought what he thought was a 68 fastback. He brings it to work and says," hey look at my beautiful 68 Mustang, fastback I just bought a while ago. My buddy pointed out to him how strange it was to have marker lights on the front fenders and not on the rear quarters. So the owner scratched his head and said he hadn't notice that until just then. My buddy looked under the car. Then he opened the drivers door and pealed back the two piece carpeting. You could clearly see where it was halved under the front seats and had been welded together. So the back was a 67 and the front a 68. The owner felt so stupid that he didn't ketch it. Plus he paid a lot for this car. This happen more than you know. Prime example why it's good to take someone with you who can remain objective. It's kind of like buck fever for car buyers. You get so excited you may miss the obvious. As far as buying cars sight unseen you need to ask lots of questions. I just bought a 91 Corvette ZR1 from a guy in Minnesota. I asked him how old were the pictures he used in his E bay ad. He told me they were 10 years old when he first got the car. He assured me the car was like the pictures. I asked if the carpet had holes under the drivers feet and asked for pics of the drivers seat. He posted new pics plus did a complete video walking around the car and a start up before I even bid. The cars engine had a complete performance package done by one of the leading LT5 specialist in the country. I talked to him about the car and what he did to it . I then knew I was getting a great car at a really decent price. You have to ask questions. Have them do a video showing the car and it's condition. If anything sounds not right or answers are evasive then don't bid walk away.
I worked in the service department of a new car dealership and we had new diesel jeep grand Cherokee come in. The tech chased an electrical gremlin around it for months. Finally he found the cause. There was a screw through the main wiring harness, put there during manufacturing. They did a buy back and the nice people got another diesel jeep grand Cherokee.
I live on the coast in very northern CA. There was a used car dealership that several stories went around over the years about some of their autos. In high school, my friend saved his money and bought a 3/4 ton Ford 4x4 from them to use for his handyman business. He had it about 3 weeks when got a load of landscaping rock for a yard remodel. He noticed it started handling strangely going to the job, but thought it was because of the load. When he got to the customer's house, he turned in the street to back into the yard. When he hit the sidewalk, the truck broke in half just behind he cab. Upon inspection, it turned out it had been put together from two trucks with the rear end from a third truck that was one year older than the rest of the parts. The dealer said they had bought it from an auction and didn't know about the condition. The dealer ended up taking the truck back and refunding his money plus an extra $150, but he had to sign a liabllity release and non-disclosure agreement. This was the one story about the questionable deals that I knew was true.
In 2000 my wife and I purchased a new Mercedes SL500. Since we wanted specific colors and options we special ordered the car because no dealer had such a car on their lot. After waiting four months for it to be built and delivered, the interior wood trim was dark wood instead of the light wood we had ordered. The dealer took $1,000 off the price because of this mistake. We reluctantly bought the car because we had already sold the car it was replacing and we had scheduled a vacation we expected to take the new car on. A month later we were still stewing about how the wood trim was not what we ordered. I got a quote from the service department and it would cost $3,000 for them to replace the wood with the correct color. I wrote a letter to Mercedes USA headquarters explaining in detail what happened and that we were not satisfied Mercedes customers. Two weeks later I got a call from the dealer we bought the car from saying that Mercedes USA would contribute $1,000 and the dealer would chip in $1,000 towards replacing the dark wood with the light wood we originally ordered. So, we agreed to this since we would merely be returning the $1,000 that was knocked off the purchase price. The service manager thought we were nuts but after the work was done agreed that the light wood looked a lot better with the interior color (light tan) we had chosen. We still own the car and are glad we insisted on getting it right. The exterior is what Mercedes called mineral green with a tan canvas top. The green is stunning and unique.
Pre internet, saw a truck in a paper magazine that was published to sell vehicles. Pictures looked good, description sounded good, stated a liitle rust. Drove 3 hours to purchase this truck. Arrived at the location, saw the truck, could see through the truck from 100 feet. Just a little rust! Lol
It's no excuse for what they did, but just as added information, 90 weight gear oil is not as much thicker than 30 weight engine oil as it sounds. From Wikipedia: "The SAE has a separate viscosity rating system for gear, axle, and manual transmission oils, SAE J306, which should not be confused with engine oil viscosity. The higher numbers of a gear oil (e.g., 75W-140) do not mean that it has higher viscosity than an engine oil."
I was a painter, at a GM dealership body shop and have many spot-ins or blow-ins on bumpers and doors on brand new cars. imagine buying a brand new car that already has bodywork done on it .
Seen the Cut-And-Shut method used before on a Mitsubishi Cordia GST. Two cars cut at the B-pillar and welded together... such a bleedin' shonk it was a crying shame. Fortunately, it was caught by the dealer I was working for at the time (I was the one who had found the signs that it was incapable of being driven straight), so the MTAQ (Motor Traders Association of Queensland) paid him what he'd got the car for and went after the guy putting these things together. The 'mechanic' got fifteen years in jail and a ban on buying ANY cars for twenty years (The MTAQ was making an example of him, because another of his cars got a family killed), and then he ended up getting deported when his resident's visa expired while he was in jail.
The car ends welded together sounds like what happened on the Red Green comedy show. He took two K-car front ends and duct taped them together in one of his skits.
I worked for a shady Hyundai dealership a long time ago at the parts counter, and had a woman with an Accent go through 4 engines. No abuse, as far as I remember. As I never saw a short\long block in their ordering system, I suspect they were getting used engines from a local wrecking yard, cleaning them up and dropping them in. Quit before I ever found out what the end result was, as they were stiffing me on my parts sales commission.
Damage during delivery is very common. My father bought a brand new car a few decades ago, and was rather pissed when I showed him where it had been repainted along the driver side.
Your story regarding the blind man reminds me of my dad’s story. He was looking for a vehicle that was 4 wheel drive. While searching he found a vehicle labeled as FWD. He checked with the saleswoman and asked ‘FWD is Four wheel drive right? She said “oh yes, it’s four wheel drive. Don’t worry about it. So he drives it and buys it. Soon he finds out that the vehicle was NOT four wheel drive but FRONT wheel drive. He went back angry as hell, talked with someone high up. He got his refund, the woman got fired, and was screaming at him about how he got her fired.
Being a city cop, I became a good friend of the local game warden, in fact now some 23 years later, he drove 300 miles to attend my wife's funeral a year ago. At any rate I love fishing and we lived a short drive from Devils Lake North Dakota at the time. So he take me, my son and his son, who were very close friends, out on the State Game and Fish boat. We spend several hours pulling fish from the lake and when it was time to leave, he starts the motor, we get perhaps ten yards and the engine stops. It would NOT start again and a North Dakota Super Cell storm was coming our way, the best we could hope for was to drift into a shallow area near the shore to weather out the storm. With luck, however he did have his portable State Radio with him and called the local Warden for that area who came down and motored out to our location and got us back to shore before the storm hit with 70 MPH winds and golf ball size hail. Man you should have heard the laughs as one State boat pulled the other to the shore. It became the legend of the Devils Lake Game Warden. Oh, and I never did go out on his boat again. He is still around, not retired and moved to a bigger city called me a couple of days ago and said he would drive down one of these days.
I was in the car business 30 years, I can say I've seen all of this and have many more stories, this is hilarious to me that someone is exposing these crooks
The car that went through 7 engines: They never replaced or flushed out the engine oil cooler. This leaves shrapnel (small metal pieces) in the engine oil cooling system laying in wait for the new engine to ingest.
In 96-97 I made a delivery to a company in Houston Tx. They had half of a huge warehouse. The other half was wide open and the were loading Honda cars into containers. They sent wrecked Hondas , bought from Ins co before they had "Junked" Titles, to a site in SA (South America) where they pieced them back together and sent them back to be sold. They welded a few like that I'm sure. I also had a co worker who bought a brand new 1982 Z28. He owned the car for 9 months. He had the car in his driveway for 37 days. Twelve of those days he was waiting for them to come get it and fix it. He finally gave up and returned the car under Tx Lemon law. He had special ordered it just like he wanted it and had to wait almost 6 months before he had gotten it,. AB bought an old Dodge truck.
Had a 2000 Chevy pickup new. took it out for about week or so and then it started... in 8000 mile it was towed 9 times back to the dealer. it wouldnt start on hot days, cold days.. it would just die at a stop light/signs or on the road when driving at any speed (it was dangerous at times). They replaced 139 parts in the motor and anything with the fuel, air and fire. Complete new motor harness (so they say) and so on.. They would call me and tell me its fixed. When I would go get it, I once let the clutch out to fast and stalled it at the dealer ship and it wouldnt restart. They pushed it back into the garage. Ended up filing a lemon with GM. It took so long I let them repo it as it took months and I couldnt drive it, not knowing if it would ever run or get me home. what a mess. Nothing like some of the ones you said but I've been there and really understand that mess. You had me laughing... omg the boat... has a used boat that did the same thing... it was a bad fuel pump.. it would get hot and stop running.. out of the blue it would work again...
Man when I was a tech in the dealer the body shop did that. I remember one of the techs giving grief to the body shop manager about pulling such crap. Stitching two cars into one
At least most of these were one shot deals (except 7 engine guy). When I was a kid my dad spent every day off for a year taking his new 84 Bronco II into or back from the dealer (never buy the first year of production). Eventually he got a lawyer involved and the dealer ended up trading straight across for a new f-150. That actually turned out to be a pretty good truck but man that was a rough year.
My wife' Traverse doors both froze shut this winter. She was using one of those windshield covers that shuts in both doors to keep it in place. Small amounts of water leaked into the door and froze them shut.
In 1978 while stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center I bought a 1978 Camaro RS. I was on orders to go to Tripler AMC in Hawaii so I paid the dealer to have the car Ziebarted due to the salt in the air in Hawaii. 6 months goes by and I noticed rust forming and took it to a Chevrolet dealer and he checked the car and told me the car hadn't been treated.I got a signed letter from him and sent it to the dealer in Maryland through a military lawyer and they had to pay me back the money. Took about 6 months before they paid it.
Here in the UK, that 1st car would (once) be called a cutnshunt (cut n shunt). Not so much prevalence these days as any write off needs (as I believe) an engineer’s report before it’s allowed back on the road, far more in depth inspection than an MOT test, (a test to check various safety & legally required features on a motor vehicle). I had a rod go on a Ford, many moons ago, & apparently a piston went through the side of the block. Got very smokey very quickly, and the knocking was really loud, even for a “Ford Overhead Knocker” (1st direct overhead camshaft). I was told to limp it back to base & got another half mile down the road before the engine seized. Luckily mid ‘80s as I was right beside Gatwick Airport. Easy tiger, all my dating pictures were recent, of me, no filter.... can’t work out why no woman was interested... 😂😂
Worked for a dealership during my time at PennState. Your second story? Yeah, happens sometimes. Vehicles get damaged in transit or on the lot, get repaird and sold. The buyer is none the wiser. I myself did inspections from the cars being unloaded off our carriers (Cassens if I recall).
I know people who work for an automobile assembly plant. They tell me of the many damaged cars that have to be repaired. Most repairs involve removing the damaged part and replacing it with a new part. This is OK. Dealers do similarly to cars that are damaged in transit. This is OK too. But some have serious damage that isn't really repairable as it involves the unibody. They repair them anyway and sell them as new. Such repairs, if they were for damage that occurred after retail sale, would show up on Carfax as wrecked and repaired cars.
08 ford f450 not mine I worked for a state agency but this truck blew 5 engines under warranty when I retired engine 5 was having problems anyway cab has to be removed for engine change after we got truck back after one of the changes my coworker saw that cab was reinstalled with incorrect grade bolts and nuts they think dealership mechanic lost correct bolts etc all engines did not have same problem one threw rod one turbo failed cause damage two had valvetrain problems etc
Fascinating stories, thanks for sharing! Luckily I don't own a car... However, I'm thinking about buying a motor home and I guess, I could run into much more trouble with that... ;-) (Michigan law won't apply...) Found your channel just yesterday, nice episodes. Very interesting.
I rear ended a Charger while driving my 1988 Mustang GT. Scuffed my paint while theCharger rear frame rails where rusted to the point the back half of the car collapsed.
My grandfather Once Sold a car to a deaf guy without a muffler. You'd be amazed by what his body man could do with a frame rack. He once bought an entire trainload of Chryslers because the Train derailed that kept him busy for a couple of months.
Worst vehicle ever... Back in 2002, we bought a new Land Rover Freelander HSE. What a piece of chit that was. Engine problems, transmission problems, windows problems, Sunroof problems, etc, etc. The STEALERSHIP (dealership) was of no help. They would reboot/reset the vehicle's computer just to clear the codes at every warranty visit....
Had a neighbor get stuck in very little snow just down the road from my house in an older blazer. He told me that he has just bought it because he heard 4x4s would be good in the snow. I asked him if he had engaged the 4 wheel drive. He told me that he wasn't sure and just assumed it was always in 4 wheel drive. So I hopped in to make sure... Was very confused so crawled under it and discovered that he had purchased a 2x4 lol woops.
that thing about buying things online is why when I bought my first Moped I had the guy send me a snapchat video of it showing him staring it and operating all the swiitches and stuff before I agreed to buy it and so far that thing has lasted over 36000 miles ive had to keep track of how many times the odometer rolled over.
@Motersickle Bum ..Ford/GM/VW/Toyota make vehicles in Mexico..Honda Fit made in China! RAM 1500 trucks are made in America now,just the single cab RAM 1500 Classic and 2500/3500 trucks made in Mexico(soon all will be made in the U.S)..Toyota moving its Tundra/Tacoma trucks from Texas to Mexico soon!
One of my wife's friends had a Monte Carlo that she drove for years that was welded together between the front and back doors. However, her husband was the junk yard dealer that built the car.
I had a Customer buy a new Chevrolet 350 engine. He installed it in his truck and as soon as he started it it had a bad vibration. He shut it off and had it towed in. I looked at it and asked him what size engine did he pull out? He said a 350, I showed him the label that said 350/400. What happened was he removed a small block 400 and reused his old flex plate and balancer. I said all you need to do is put in a 350 balancer and flex plate. The 350 is internally balanced, the 400 is externally balanced. He said he didn't want to fool with it and paid me to do it. Ford engines are the same between the 390 and the 360. I taught the subject of mechanics and electronics for 33 years. On the side I worked as an expert witness in automotive litigation for 30 years.
The autobody industry calls that Dodge "operation" replacing the front clip or the rear clip. Not recommended to do with unibody construction, only chassis frame and body.
I have a brother that is blind, so is his wife. Some years ago he bought a car and always had a fried drive him when he wanted to go outside the bus routes in his city. He had to give the car up because He could not get insurance on it because he as the owner could not drive and someone else die. He could not afford the insurance. The Insurance company was so unforgiving for not insuring the car that was not driven that much. By the way I am still driving my 2004 chevy truck after 16 years. So far at 95,000 miles. I am 78 and I hope that it will continue being good for the rest of the time I drive. Always garaged, and in Arizona. By the way my brother worked for 45 years for Krogers HQ.in computer support.
A Chevrolet dealer in Grand Prairie Texas sold me a car with a clean title but it was actually a reconditioned patch job car. They didn't want to take it back but it's about the only time in my life actually hired a lawyer and I only paid him $50 at his suggestion to send a letter to the dealership. Problem solved.
I worked at a Toyota dealer and their trucks rust out..I don't even live in the salt belt,West Coast!! The Tacoma and Tundra come back after 1 year with holes in the frame,unreal! They also have Camry's with severe engine sludge even when maintained better than what was recommended at 10,000 miles sludge was oozing out!
Knew of a gentleman who made a career of buying high end sports cars that were totaled and he would bring them back to life. Most interesting story was of a car where a guy died in a high speed crash. The white interior could not be cleaned so it became an off tan color. It sold. Some people want certain cars and pay top dollar.
RUclips decided to Auto play some of your old episodes for me, and while very enjoyable to revisit, I realized just how much I like hearing Heather on the intros and outros of your newer videos! 😂
I see similar things to the first story. People will lease a car and get into an accident. They will then take it to a cheap body shop to repair it off the books so there is no paper trail since they will get charged for the loss of value to the vehicle
I use to work GM as a line mechanic . That was a long time ago . I left that job because of warranty work and the pay . They in my option a option here made some less than perfect cars then . Remember the Vaga , the ols diesel engine that had so much blow by that the fix was to drill out the breather to keep from blowing the seals out there many more examples . I finally buy a GM now . There are car manufactures that have poor wiring and the only reason I buy one is they have a great engine so be advised lol
Probably before your lawyerly time, but I had a 1983 Renault Alliance. You know, that venerable "Car of the Year" winner that even Car & Driver later (begrudgingly) admitted was the biggest turd they gave that award to... complete piece of junk. I think that thing literally sat in the dealership's garage more than my own.
This doesn’t have to do with a dealership or anything, just a funny story about my dad. In the mid-80’s he bought a new Sea-Ray boat that was offered in two different sizes, a 5-meter and a 5.6 meter. While at the dealership I noticed that you could tell which boats were which because the boat trailers had a label on them with the boat’s VIN number and either a 5.0 or 5.6. Anyway, we buy what I already know is a 5.6 meter boat. Maybe a month or two later, we’re washing the boat in our driveway and a neighbor starts talking to my dad about the boat, and I hear my dad tell the neighbor that we had the “smaller” version. When I tell him that we actually have the larger 5.6 version, he goes into full-on denial mode. I don’t know how long the argument lasted, but I’ve never seen someone spew such BS to explain away every bit of irrefutable evidence that showed the boat was the 5.6 meter version. Even after measuring the boat with a tape measure he still just couldn’t accept it.
Had a 1982 LTD with a vvt carburetor. It would run beautiful one day and overheat your engine and catch your floorboards on fire the next. I think they only used that carb for 1.5 years, but almost no one could make them reliable
You'd think so but I've seen cars being sold on craigslist that hit a tree and were never claimed on insurance leaving the title officially "clean". As long as the damage isn't reported the title would stay clean. This is not legal in my state since the state requires you get a salvage title before selling/disposing of it but people do it anyway.
Just discovered your channel. I spent the first half of my working life as a tech in a few different car dealers. Would love to have the opportunity to swap stories over a few beers. Like the service manager who made me roll back odometers to turn demos back into new cars, and then never paid me. Or the machinations I had to go through to make grey market cars squeak though a smog test.
Around 1992, I was finishing college and bought an immaculate 1985 Mercury Colony Park wagon. (Hey, I play drums, I needed the room!) As I was driving the car home from the dealer, the CHECK ENGINE light came on at idle, indicating it was most likely the typical issue with the oil pump that Ford 302's were known for. I'll cut to the chase: The dealer replaced the oil pump, the timing chain, crankshaft and main bearings. It was $400 of new parts and a hell of a lot of labor for a car I only paid $3,600. I was extremely pleased with that experience.
2000 dodge intrepid. 2.7 liter junk engine. Blew 3 times by 60k miles. 2000 miles\6 weeks between 2nd blow and 3rd. They said it was my fault for not changing oil...in 6 weeks\2000 miles!
Former dealer master tech, service manager. I've seen the two cars cobbled together thing done absolutely right (saving classics) and horribly wrong!! (Like my 6 year old daughter could weld better) Secondly, a "parts replacer" mechanic may foolishly follow a manufacturer's diagnostic chart, using flawed procedure to false end over and over! Find a good technician, good shop or good dealer and patron them. They will know your equipment and know you, so as to trust what you relay, you're feel. Should you relocate or kid goes off to college, ask around and even audition shops! BEFORE you are suddenly in need because your vehicle is on a tow truck. Know where to take it. Second opinions are not a bad thing, but bargain buying for technical servicing can be. If you can, talk to the tech (to the point, quick), not the service advisor.
The V8 thing reminds me of when I was car shopping a couple of years ago and a dealer had a 97 Jeep Cherokee with a 4 liter V6. Um, a Jeep 4.0 cut in half and welded together?
On vans it can be real real hard to see how many plugs it has. I would love to know what make went though 7 short blocks. I wonder if the heads were bad?
True story here:
Worked at a Lincoln-Mercury dealer as a mechanic, brand new '77 Cougar with a 351 V8 that had been delivered has an engine miss, a severe miss.
The engine shook so violently that the hood would not stay raised.
Turns out the engine was assembled with just 7 pistons and connecting rods, the 8th. piston was never there.
Buyer reniged on the sale and bought an Old Cutlass.
Hopefully the engine in that thing had all pistons installed.
My husband was blind also, but he had been a car enthusiast before he went blind at 25 years old, due to service in Vietnam. It was very amusing to watch car dealers try and take him for a ride. He would play dumb with them, get them all excited because they thought they had a sale, and then he'd turn around and tell them everything that was wrong with the car. The looks on their faces was priceless. He was amazing with the things he could "see" with his hands and ears. He taught me a lot.
Please Thank your husband for his service Shephanie
It sounds like your husband is gone now. If so, I am sorry; it appears that you had one of the good guys out there!
@@MrTruckerf He was amazing. Before being conscripted he was a drummer in The Mixtures. Think of "The Pushbike Song". He had so many stories to tell, and was a great father as well. I miss him a lot. Heart attack.
@@crumplezone1 He would have appreciated your thoughts a lot. He mainly got a lot of shit thrown at him when he came home to Australia. He beat some guy up for calling him "baby killer". Next week the same guy came back with backup and beat him so badly he was comatose for 6 months, broke both optic nerves.
@@stephaniefairey8633 That's so sad. I thought you meant he had been injured on service in Vietnam, not that so nasty blokes had ganked him once he was back, that's so sad, and I am happy you shared the story and I hope you keep well.
My sister had a Ford Explorer that would make her and her grandkids sick when driving the car. She even put a carbon monoxide alarm in the car that would go off. She took it to the dealer numerous times and they could not find anything wrong with it. A rep from Ford came out and took a ride with her and even though the carbon monoxide alert went off while they were in the car, they could not find anything wrong with it. She eventually traded it in, and the dealer gave them a good deal on the defective one. Now I hear that other Explorers do the same thing and many are police cruisers.
Steven Lundgrin: That is caused by two problems. The body panels are spot welded along the seams. A sealant is used to seal the gap between the body panels. The sealant was improperly applied and on some vehicles there was none. The other problem is the design of the exhaust pipes. They did not extend far enough from under the rear facia and the air turbulence under the vehicle caused the fumes to go back under the body and filter through the incorrectly sealed body panel joints. I don't know how Ford fixed the problem, but it caused a literal headache for the drivers and an expensive one for Ford.
Your story about the car with the door that wouldn't open jogged an old painful memory.
In the early 1980's I owned a 1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring that I had owned for several years. The transmission started to slip. At the time, I lived in an apartment and had nowhere to work on the car myself, so I took it to a local famous "National Transmission Repair" chain store that begins with the letter "A". They had a $50 or $75 diagnostic charge. If they did actual repair work, the money would go towards the repair. If I left without an actual repair, I would be out the "diagnostic fee". I told them to diagnose it. They diagnosed it and said they could fix the transmission and provide a 6 month warranty for $500 or provide a lifetime warranty for $750. The car wasn't worth $500. I said no, I'd pay the diagnostic fee without a repair. They balked and said "But we have it apart. All we need to do is put new parts in it and you are good as new"! I said no again. They gave me my car back and I drove off. I called my Dad and told him to call local junk yards where he lived so I could replace my transmission at his place (250 miles away) with a used one. He called back and said my car had one of 2 transmissions. He needed to know which one I had. To identify it, I had to crawl under the car and find the identifying features to figure out which one I had. I used the bumper jack that came with the car (the one with the little skinny tab that fit in a slot in the bumper) to jack it up. When I jacked it up, I could no longer open the drivers door, which I thought was odd. When I crawled under the car I found out why the door wouldn't open. The unibody had rotted out. There was a 6 inch rust hole on the hidden side of the unibody that could only be seen if you crawled under the car. My car buckled under the pressure of it's own weight. The car was junk.
That transmission repair place saw the hole and knew my car was junk. Their $750 "Lifetime Warranty" would have lasted about 30 days had I continued to drive the car, and they knew it. Instead of doing the right thing and telling me my car was unsafe to drive, they tried to sell me a $750 repair that they knew only needed to last a few weeks.
Good story, glad you shared. This happens!
My ADD wouldn't allow me to read your post.
@@KoJo-qh9od Sorry about your ADD, you missed a good story. Have you tried comic books? Not many words and lots of pictures.
Love it
Great
I can relate! I had a 1990 Subaru Loyale that was stuck together exactly like that half/half. Reconstructed title, I paid $5,000 for it with 10,000 miles on it. I drove it about 100,000 miles, and a hail storm cosmetically destroyed it. Insurance paid me nearly the whole $5,000. I bought it back from them for 500 and drove it for another year and then sold it for $1,000. Yes, I got paid to drive that little freak car. I was way younger and risk tolerant back then, I'd never do it again.
Bob Frazier, what is the name of the insurance company that paid you $5,000 after hail storm?
Finding this 5 years later. These are crazy stories! Love it.
I would be even more interested in your frequent fliers. Now that would be some useful information.
Same
In 2003 I bought my wife a 2002 Buick Century, a beautiful "sand" color. The dealer told me it was a car driven by the manager and since it was now a year old, the manager had received a new vehicle as it was the policy to have the management drive current year vehicles.
It was the worst car we ever owned. The trouble lights were coming on all the time, often in different combinations. The dealer couldn't fix it and told us to ignore it. Then the drivers window would arbitrarily roll down, usually in cold or rainy weather. We would play with the switch and turn the ignition on and off and it went up only when it was ready. One winter's night we drove for 40 minutes with the window open. The dealer didn't know what the problem was and only half believed us. Finally one day it wouldn't come up at all. We took the car back with the window stuck down and trouble lights shining bright and traded it in for a lesser vehicle. It was not a good deal for us but they lost a loyal customer.
I often wonder who the poor sap was that got stuck with that lemon.
True can't open the doors story:
My buddy bought my sister's '57 Ford Fairlane 2 door coupe in 1967. He was a year younger than me, still is, and I took him for his driver's test, which he passed. Now he was a newly licensed driver with a new (to him) car, WAHOO! However, he really wanted a convertible, but he's 17 yo making a dollar an hour washing dishes in a local restaurant part-time on weekends. He can't afford a convertible, BUT he can afford a hacksaw! You can see where this is heading. To his credit, he did a very good job and it actually looked pretty good, but the doors wouldn't open. That's why convertibles had reinforced frames.
I have a story on the flip side. In the mid 80's a friend of mine bought a 1965 Mustang from a local classic car dealership. It was sold to him sight unseen as a 6 cylinder fastback that was in Georgia. He paid for it and a couple weeks later he went to pick it up. He lifted the hood and saw the boss 289 V8! plus it was the 2+2! The dealer now knew the car was worth nearly twice what a 6 cyl would of been! They tried to collect more for the car. Long story short the dealer ended up losing money. He still has the car today, 31 years later.
That's a big bunch of awesome!
no such thing BOSS 289
Good story! But probably a Boss 302.
@@paulm7460 May have meant a HiPo 289. Back in the day, I bought a used bright orange 9 or 10 year old '67 'stang fastback that a dealer had sitting in the back of the lot...a recent trade-in. It didn't have a trunk floor, presumably to save weight, and they relocated the battery in the trunk somehow as well...I assume there wasn't much room in the engine bay since it had a nicely built 390 under the hood. It was equipped with tubular headers, an aluminum hi-rise intake, some sort of double-pumper carb. (the brand eludes me but I think a Holley 650), Mallory dual-point distributor, Hurst competition plus manual shifter, traction bars, and fat meat rear tires. The lope indicated the cam had been changed. Somebody sure did a lot of work on it. The car beat all contenders on Telegraph except one...a Mustang coupe with a 289 HiPo and all the same goodies I mentioned. Both of us were pulled over even though I exited on Michigan Ave and the stranger kept heading south on Telegraph. Sadly I had to sell her because I garnered too many tickets...even just cruising below the speed limit. Almost lost my license. Great memories though.
DrmPilot365 computer has
We had a car that ate engines at a dealership I worked at. It wasn't anything to do with the engine itself, but an out of alignment frame. The misalignment resulted in twisting the block and putting excessive stress on the main bearings resulting in usually the number one main bearing failing, and the crank cracking. Another, Chevy that had an oil leak we could not seem to fix. Turned out to be a porous casting on the block. A factory engineer came out and pressurized the oil system while engine was on a stand, and drops of oil started coming out of what appeared to be solid iron. Facts are often stranger than fiction.
This may be different now because it has been 15 years since I was a Honda new car manager. In Virginia, at that time, we didn't have to legally disclose damage that was less than 3% of MSRP on a new car. The owner of the dealership, to cover himself and to be honest with the customer, made us take pictures of the damage and have the client sign the picture that we disclosed the damage to them.
Honest dealership? I don't believe you lol
I worked for a dealer that did the same - they disclosed all damage to customers, showed them invoices for the repairs, and had them sign an acknowledgment form. I had a customer buy a new truck that was in head on collision while on its way to have custom wheels installed (we often did dealer added accessories). The customer who bought the truck only had two concerns: that we agree to warranty our body shop repairs, and that we give them regular trade in value when they traded in in the next four or five years.
In 1970, my mom really wanted a Volkswagen Squareback. So my folks bought a brand-new, fully-loaded 'demo' model, with automatic and AC. In those days, warranties were short and there were no lemon laws. Over the next several years, there were multiple problems with the fuel-injection, and major problems with the engine and dealer-installed AC. Plus, after a couple years, it became apparent that 'demo' meant 'demolition', as the shiny green paint on some body panels started fading faster than others, proving that parts of the car had been repainted. For awhile, until all the paint eventually faded, the car looked sort of like a giant green checker-board! One afternoon, while mom was stuck in traffic, a fuel-hose blew off a fitting and dumped gas all over the engine. We might have been rid of the car there and then, except by some miracle, it didn't burst into flames. Turned out there were no hose-clamps on that fitting!
To be fair, the car had a great-sounding German Blaupunkt AM-FM radio, and the automatic tranny was reliable, except if you needed to accelerate or climb a hill, you had to turn off the AC!
Boats are the RV’s of the water. Two best days in a boat owners life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it.
Chuck Iringtwice nah I enjoy my boat every day
Ik Lam /well there exceptions to every rule.
Unless they scuttle it. if they do, that's the best day.
Boat is actually an acronym. Stands for break out another thousand
Chuck
You are absolutely right
I love my boat I love it like a drug because every time I tigh.
up at the fuel dock I pay as much as if I am on bad drugs.
but I'm addicted and I keep killing myself slowly as I cruise a slow death on the water.
I drove OTR for several decades. During the last 15 to 20 years I stuck with one manufacturer. In 1999 the came out with a new model and although the current tractor was only two years old, I called the dealer I dealt with and asked him if he had or could get one. He stated he only had one that was loaded out enough that I would even consider it. I said I would be interested but that I could get there for three weeks as I was on my way from Florida to Alaska. He said he would hold it. I arrived some 3 weeks later after stopping to get my tractor cleaned and detailed. A mistake as I found out later. Upon test driving the new unit I wasnt too impressed but feeling obligated, I bought it anyway. I didn't get a hundred miles down the Ohio Turnpike and realizing that I hated the thing called the dealer to say I was bringing it back. No problem they said, but we've already sold your old unit (never should have had it detailed). I drove this tractor for just a little over 11,000 miles and it broke 27 times. The last being a blown airbag. After the dealership where I had it towed to said it would be 5 days before they could look at it I had it towed to where it was built where on Monday morning I had a very angry conversation with a corporate executive about the reliability of that particular unit while they replaced the air bag. Since many of they issues were concerning the engine they ran a quick check on that too. A couple of weeks later I came to the dealership for service where upon i was informed that i was to go out on the lot and pick any unit i wanted because the manufacturer wanted to dissect mine for all the problems. I picked one near identical to what i had traded on the new one. When ask why not another new one, i replied " because the old ones never gave me any trouble" True to my word it didn't, except for normal maintenance, i drove that tractor from1999 until 2005 putting 1.5 million miles on it with no issues. Still got $20,000 trade in for it. Found out later Cummins had head issues which they weren't telling anyone about.
You could't open the doors on the General Lee, either. They were welded shut!
I would imagine no attorney wants to go against a blind plaintiff in a jury trial.
Bad optics all around.
Your story about the car with the door that wouldn't open reminded me of my Plymouth Horizon. The morning after we brought it home brand new, I went to get in the car and the passenger door handle fell off in my hand. My husband laughed and said he'd open my door from his side as soon as he got in. Then the driver's side handle came off in his hand. So we climbed in through the hatchback and went to work. That was just an omen. Every tow truck driver in two counties knew that car.
Some years ago I bought a New Dodge Van that smoked like a Mosquito Commission truck. Turned out it was missing its piston rings.
But was it a V8?
Back in "the day", people would fill the rear ends with SAWDUST in order to quieten down the differential. Also, filling the case with "Hyperlube" is a common trick to quieten down rod or bearing knock.
I went out to look at a '79 Mercedes 6.9 in 1997. This is a rather valuable car because of the M100 engine. It shared a body with a more commonplace 4.5 litre version of the same car. The 6.9 had a fancy hydraulic suspension, a dry sump engine, and was $20k more than the 4.5 litre when new. Brock Yates drove one on Road Atlanta at over 100mph with the sunroof open and the A/C on, on street tires, and without any prep for the track at all. IIRC, it was the fastest car sold in 1979.
I get to the seller's dealership, look at the back of the car, and it said 6.9 on the trunk lid. I got in, and took a look. Everything looked pretty good. When I popped the hood, however, I realized there was a problem. Pictures I saw of the 6.9 engine showed a hydraulic suspension reservoir near the front of the engine. I couldn't find it on this car. I asked the dealer where it was and was told that it was "probably deleted when the replaced the suspension with coil springs, because the hydraulic system was problematic". I pulled out a file of pictures I had brought with me of various Mercedes engines (this being before smart phones) and compared what I was seeing to pictures of the 4.5 litre engine that came in the lesser model, and it was a match. I took a look at the build plate, and sure enough, with a handy Mercedes VIN decoder I had printed, I found out this started life as a 4.5 litre car (033 versus 036). When I told the dealer he was selling an every day 4.5 litre 450SEL, not a 6.9, he was dismissive and said he'd "look into it". I don't know if he bought it without checking, or was trying to pull a fast one to pocket an extra $10k. I walked out of there without even bothering to start the car.
A month later, I bought a real 6.9 from the guy who invented "Slim Jims". I drove it as a daily driver for years, averaging a woeful 6mpg, but with a huge smile on my face every time I lit up those rear tires. The "problematic" hydraulic suspension was used on many Mercedes models of the 80's and 90's, and proved to be very reliable once the mechanics understood how it worked. I don't believe anyone would be so stupid as to remove the hydraulic suspension on a 6.9, because it was needed to support the massive weight of the 6.9 engine and conventional springs would have had to be custom made.
My mother (knowingly) bought an old Honda Prelude that had been assembled from two salvaged ones (for a great price). I have to give the salvage yard credit, it ran flawlessly for many years for the rest of her life, and then lasted several more years until it finally just wore out.
Chaparral boat same story. We sued and were refunded every penny we spent in two years of owning it. We were lucky it had two engines because one went out every time we took it out. We never made it out of Newport Harbor, Newport Beach. What a lemon!! I really enjoy your stories.
Regarding checking a brand new car: In the bad old days of 1970's / early 80's British Leyland there was one occasion when a car got delivered to the dealer with Vanden Plas (top of the range de luxe) trim on one side of the car, and medium trim on the other side.
90W gear lube has a distinctive smell
Correct. Gear oil is full of Sulfur compounds, that stink.
Better off to use SAE 50 oil. Hard to find but you can get at airports!
FACT
I worked with a guy who loved Mustangs. So he bought what he thought was a 68 fastback. He brings it to work and says," hey look at my beautiful 68 Mustang, fastback I just bought a while ago. My buddy pointed out to him how strange it was to have marker lights on the front fenders and not on the rear quarters. So the owner scratched his head and said he hadn't notice that until just then. My buddy looked under the car. Then he opened the drivers door and pealed back the two piece carpeting. You could clearly see where it was halved under the front seats and had been welded together. So the back was a 67 and the front a 68. The owner felt so stupid that he didn't ketch it. Plus he paid a lot for this car. This happen more than you know. Prime example why it's good to take someone with you who can remain objective. It's kind of like buck fever for car buyers. You get so excited you may miss the obvious.
As far as buying cars sight unseen you need to ask lots of questions. I just bought a 91 Corvette ZR1 from a guy in Minnesota. I asked him how old were the pictures he used in his E bay ad. He told me they were 10 years old when he first got the car. He assured me the car was like the pictures. I asked if the carpet had holes under the drivers feet and asked for pics of the drivers seat. He posted new pics plus did a complete video walking around the car and a start up before I even bid. The cars engine had a complete performance package done by one of the leading LT5 specialist in the country. I talked to him about the car and what he did to it . I then knew I was getting a great car at a really decent price. You have to ask questions. Have them do a video showing the car and it's condition. If anything sounds not right or answers are evasive then don't bid walk away.
And make them disclose any non-working parts or damages to the car. I'd say beware of any car sold "as is."
Wanna hear a joke? Old Corvette 😆
I worked in the service department of a new car dealership and we had new diesel jeep grand Cherokee come in. The tech chased an electrical gremlin around it for months. Finally he found the cause. There was a screw through the main wiring harness, put there during manufacturing. They did a buy back and the nice people got another diesel jeep grand Cherokee.
The dealer that takes advantage of a disabled person must be common and this is terrible. Most dealers I have done business were honest.
I live on the coast in very northern CA. There was a used car dealership that several stories went around over the years about some of their autos. In high school, my friend saved his money and bought a 3/4 ton Ford 4x4 from them to use for his handyman business. He had it about 3 weeks when got a load of landscaping rock for a yard remodel. He noticed it started handling strangely going to the job, but thought it was because of the load. When he got to the customer's house, he turned in the street to back into the yard. When he hit the sidewalk, the truck broke in half just behind he cab. Upon inspection, it turned out it had been put together from two trucks with the rear end from a third truck that was one year older than the rest of the parts. The dealer said they had bought it from an auction and didn't know about the condition. The dealer ended up taking the truck back and refunding his money plus an extra $150, but he had to sign a liabllity release and non-disclosure agreement. This was the one story about the questionable deals that I knew was true.
Your shows are really good. Going to watch some more.
In 2000 my wife and I purchased a new Mercedes SL500. Since we wanted specific colors and options we special ordered the car because no dealer had such a car on their lot. After waiting four months for it to be built and delivered, the interior wood trim was dark wood instead of the light wood we had ordered. The dealer took $1,000 off the price because of this mistake. We reluctantly bought the car because we had already sold the car it was replacing and we had scheduled a vacation we expected to take the new car on. A month later we were still stewing about how the wood trim was not what we ordered. I got a quote from the service department and it would cost $3,000 for them to replace the wood with the correct color. I wrote a letter to Mercedes USA headquarters explaining in detail what happened and that we were not satisfied Mercedes customers. Two weeks later I got a call from the dealer we bought the car from saying that Mercedes USA would contribute $1,000 and the dealer would chip in $1,000 towards replacing the dark wood with the light wood we originally ordered. So, we agreed to this since we would merely be returning the $1,000 that was knocked off the purchase price. The service manager thought we were nuts but after the work was done agreed that the light wood looked a lot better with the interior color (light tan) we had chosen. We still own the car and are glad we insisted on getting it right. The exterior is what Mercedes called mineral green with a tan canvas top. The green is stunning and unique.
Pre internet, saw a truck in a paper magazine that was published to sell vehicles. Pictures looked good, description sounded good, stated a liitle rust. Drove 3 hours to purchase this truck. Arrived at the location, saw the truck, could see through the truck from 100 feet. Just a little rust! Lol
It's no excuse for what they did, but just as added information, 90 weight gear oil is not as much thicker than 30 weight engine oil as it sounds. From Wikipedia: "The SAE has a separate viscosity rating system for gear, axle, and manual transmission oils, SAE J306, which should not be confused with engine oil viscosity. The higher numbers of a gear oil (e.g., 75W-140) do not mean that it has higher viscosity than an engine oil."
Cars get damaged at the factory too and I bet they fix them right up and sell them as new
Not as much as you'd think,the final assembly plant my uncle worked at had to send them someplace else.They couldnt even fix a broken mirror.
Stand up & actor Steve Harvey worked for Ford for many years... he has shared a few wild factory stories & inside stuff on air over the years...
I worked at a dealership in the 70's, and saw damaged cars come in and they put Bondo on some of them, and repainted them.
I was a painter, at a GM dealership body shop and have many spot-ins or blow-ins on bumpers and doors on brand new cars. imagine buying a brand new car that already has bodywork done on it .
@@abelincoln332 How many of those damaged cars were damaged in transit? I have heard stories of them being driven off the trailer and crashing.
Anyone besides me who is unnerved by seeing this now in 2019 and watching Steve wearing a dress shirt?
Seen the Cut-And-Shut method used before on a Mitsubishi Cordia GST. Two cars cut at the B-pillar and welded together... such a bleedin' shonk it was a crying shame. Fortunately, it was caught by the dealer I was working for at the time (I was the one who had found the signs that it was incapable of being driven straight), so the MTAQ (Motor Traders Association of Queensland) paid him what he'd got the car for and went after the guy putting these things together. The 'mechanic' got fifteen years in jail and a ban on buying ANY cars for twenty years (The MTAQ was making an example of him, because another of his cars got a family killed), and then he ended up getting deported when his resident's visa expired while he was in jail.
Watching your old videos Steve! You have have somehow had me hooked on law for the past 2 months. You make this shit so interesting! Awesome channel!
The car ends welded together sounds like what happened on the Red Green comedy show. He took two K-car front ends and duct taped them together in one of his skits.
I worked for a shady Hyundai dealership a long time ago at the parts counter, and had a woman with an Accent go through 4 engines. No abuse, as far as I remember. As I never saw a short\long block in their ordering system, I suspect they were getting used engines from a local wrecking yard, cleaning them up and dropping them in. Quit before I ever found out what the end result was, as they were stiffing me on my parts sales commission.
Damage during delivery is very common. My father bought a brand new car a few decades ago, and was rather pissed when I showed him where it had been repainted along the driver side.
Love the boat story. We had an old Glastron that was also allergic to water.
Your story regarding the blind man reminds me of my dad’s story. He was looking for a vehicle that was 4 wheel drive. While searching he found a vehicle labeled as FWD. He checked with the saleswoman and asked ‘FWD is Four wheel drive right? She said “oh yes, it’s four wheel drive. Don’t worry about it. So he drives it and buys it. Soon he finds out that the vehicle was NOT four wheel drive but FRONT wheel drive. He went back angry as hell, talked with someone high up. He got his refund, the woman got fired, and was screaming at him about how he got her fired.
Being a city cop, I became a good friend of the local game warden, in fact now some 23 years later, he drove 300 miles to attend my wife's funeral a year ago. At any rate I love fishing and we lived a short drive from Devils Lake North Dakota at the time. So he take me, my son and his son, who were very close friends, out on the State Game and Fish boat. We spend several hours pulling fish from the lake and when it was time to leave, he starts the motor, we get perhaps ten yards and the engine stops. It would NOT start again and a North Dakota Super Cell storm was coming our way, the best we could hope for was to drift into a shallow area near the shore to weather out the storm. With luck, however he did have his portable State Radio with him and called the local Warden for that area who came down and motored out to our location and got us back to shore before the storm hit with 70 MPH winds and golf ball size hail. Man you should have heard the laughs as one State boat pulled the other to the shore. It became the legend of the Devils Lake Game Warden. Oh, and I never did go out on his boat again. He is still around, not retired and moved to a bigger city called me a couple of days ago and said he would drive down one of these days.
I was in the car business 30 years, I can say I've seen all of this and have many more stories, this is hilarious to me that someone is exposing these crooks
Lmao. watching this in 2021. Looks like it was filmed in 1995. Glad the camera has been upgraded. Love the channel. keep the videos coming!
The car that went through 7 engines: They never replaced or flushed out the engine oil cooler. This leaves shrapnel (small metal pieces) in the engine oil cooling system laying in wait for the new engine to ingest.
In 96-97 I made a delivery to a company in Houston Tx. They had half of a huge warehouse. The other half was wide open and the were loading Honda cars into containers. They sent wrecked Hondas , bought from Ins co before they had "Junked" Titles, to a site in SA (South America) where they pieced them back together and sent them back to be sold. They welded a few like that I'm sure.
I also had a co worker who bought a brand new 1982 Z28. He owned the car for 9 months. He had the car in his driveway for 37 days. Twelve of those days he was waiting for them to come get it and fix it. He finally gave up and returned the car under Tx Lemon law. He had special ordered it just like he wanted it and had to wait almost 6 months before he had gotten it,. AB bought an old Dodge truck.
You represented a blind driver? That’s so cool.
Had a 2000 Chevy pickup new. took it out for about week or so and then it started... in 8000 mile it was towed 9 times back to the dealer. it wouldnt start on hot days, cold days.. it would just die at a stop light/signs or on the road when driving at any speed (it was dangerous at times). They replaced 139 parts in the motor and anything with the fuel, air and fire. Complete new motor harness (so they say) and so on.. They would call me and tell me its fixed. When I would go get it, I once let the clutch out to fast and stalled it at the dealer ship and it wouldnt restart. They pushed it back into the garage. Ended up filing a lemon with GM. It took so long I let them repo it as it took months and I couldnt drive it, not knowing if it would ever run or get me home. what a mess.
Nothing like some of the ones you said but I've been there and really understand that mess. You had me laughing... omg the boat... has a used boat that did the same thing... it was a bad fuel pump.. it would get hot and stop running.. out of the blue it would work again...
Best car deal I ever got was purchased sight unseen. Every once in a while you get lucky, helps to know the right questions to ask.
Man when I was a tech in the dealer the body shop did that. I remember one of the techs giving grief to the body shop manager about pulling such crap. Stitching two cars into one
Objection, your honor...
You can tell a V6 from a V8 by the sound. True story.
At least most of these were one shot deals (except 7 engine guy). When I was a kid my dad spent every day off for a year taking his new 84 Bronco II into or back from the dealer (never buy the first year of production). Eventually he got a lawyer involved and the dealer ended up trading straight across for a new f-150. That actually turned out to be a pretty good truck but man that was a rough year.
My wife' Traverse doors both froze shut this winter. She was using one of those windshield covers that shuts in both doors to keep it in place. Small amounts of water leaked into the door and froze them shut.
The three people that disliked this video are Dealership Sales people
Zak H 5 now hahaha
And I'm not sure we can call them people.
In 1978 while stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center I bought a 1978 Camaro RS. I was on orders to go to Tripler AMC in Hawaii so I paid the dealer to have the car Ziebarted due to the salt in the air in Hawaii. 6 months goes by and I noticed rust forming and took it to a Chevrolet dealer and he checked the car and told me the car hadn't been treated.I got a signed letter from him and sent it to the dealer in Maryland through a military lawyer and they had to pay me back the money. Took about 6 months before they paid it.
Here in the UK, that 1st car would (once) be called a cutnshunt (cut n shunt). Not so much prevalence these days as any write off needs (as I believe) an engineer’s report before it’s allowed back on the road, far more in depth inspection than an MOT test, (a test to check various safety & legally required features on a motor vehicle).
I had a rod go on a Ford, many moons ago, & apparently a piston went through the side of the block. Got very smokey very quickly, and the knocking was really loud, even for a “Ford Overhead Knocker” (1st direct overhead camshaft). I was told to limp it back to base & got another half mile down the road before the engine seized. Luckily mid ‘80s as I was right beside Gatwick Airport.
Easy tiger, all my dating pictures were recent, of me, no filter.... can’t work out why no woman was interested... 😂😂
Worked for a dealership during my time at PennState. Your second story? Yeah, happens sometimes. Vehicles get damaged in transit or on the lot, get repaird and sold. The buyer is none the wiser.
I myself did inspections from the cars being unloaded off our carriers (Cassens if I recall).
I know people who work for an automobile assembly plant. They tell me of the many damaged cars that have to be repaired. Most repairs involve removing the damaged part and replacing it with a new part. This is OK. Dealers do similarly to cars that are damaged in transit. This is OK too.
But some have serious damage that isn't really repairable as it involves the unibody. They repair them anyway and sell them as new. Such repairs, if they were for damage that occurred after retail sale, would show up on Carfax as wrecked and repaired cars.
08 ford f450 not mine I worked for a state agency but this truck blew 5 engines under warranty when I retired engine 5 was having problems anyway cab has to be removed for engine change after we got truck back after one of the changes my coworker saw that cab was reinstalled with incorrect grade bolts and nuts they think dealership mechanic lost correct bolts etc all engines did not have same problem one threw rod one turbo failed cause damage two had valvetrain problems etc
Fascinating stories, thanks for sharing! Luckily I don't own a car... However, I'm thinking about buying a motor home and I guess, I could run into much more trouble with that... ;-) (Michigan law won't apply...) Found your channel just yesterday, nice episodes. Very interesting.
You need to watch Steve's episode on never buying an RV!
excellent movie!...haven't seen "Dirty Mary & Crazy Larry" in decades!
I rear ended a Charger while driving my 1988 Mustang GT. Scuffed my paint while theCharger rear frame rails where rusted to the point the back half of the car collapsed.
My grandfather Once Sold a car to a deaf guy without a muffler. You'd be amazed by what his body man could do with a frame rack. He once bought an entire trainload of Chryslers because the Train derailed that kept him busy for a couple of months.
Worst vehicle ever...
Back in 2002, we bought a new
Land Rover Freelander HSE.
What a piece of chit that was.
Engine problems, transmission problems, windows problems,
Sunroof problems, etc, etc.
The STEALERSHIP (dealership) was of no help. They would reboot/reset the vehicle's computer just to clear the codes at every warranty visit....
Had a neighbor get stuck in very little snow just down the road from my house in an older blazer. He told me that he has just bought it because he heard 4x4s would be good in the snow. I asked him if he had engaged the 4 wheel drive. He told me that he wasn't sure and just assumed it was always in 4 wheel drive. So I hopped in to make sure... Was very confused so crawled under it and discovered that he had purchased a 2x4 lol woops.
I’ve been watching for a couple of weeks and I love the videos please continue to make them
that thing about buying things online is why when I bought my first Moped I had the guy send me a snapchat video of it showing him staring it and operating all the swiitches and stuff before I agreed to buy it and so far that thing has lasted over 36000 miles ive had to keep track of how many times the odometer rolled over.
I like the idea of welding two cars together however as long as it’s done properly
this channel is a treasure
lol RAM 2015 MADE IN MEXICO 13 recalls 24 warrenty issues FIAT/CHRYSLER IS A JOKE!
@Motersickle Bum ..Ford/GM/VW/Toyota make vehicles in Mexico..Honda Fit made in China! RAM 1500 trucks are made in America now,just the single cab RAM 1500 Classic and 2500/3500 trucks made in Mexico(soon all will be made in the U.S)..Toyota moving its Tundra/Tacoma trucks from Texas to Mexico soon!
Chrysler products are garbage
One of my wife's friends had a Monte Carlo that she drove for years that was welded together between the front and back doors. However, her husband was the junk yard dealer that built the car.
I had a Customer buy a new Chevrolet 350 engine. He installed it in his truck and as soon as he started it it had a bad vibration. He shut it off and had it towed in. I looked at it and asked him what size engine did he pull out? He said a 350, I showed him the label that said 350/400. What happened was he removed a small block 400 and reused his old flex plate and balancer. I said all you need to do is put in a 350 balancer and flex plate. The 350 is internally balanced, the 400 is externally balanced. He said he didn't want to fool with it and paid me to do it. Ford engines are the same between the 390 and the 360. I taught the subject of mechanics and electronics for 33 years. On the side I worked as an expert witness in automotive litigation for 30 years.
The autobody industry calls that Dodge "operation" replacing the front clip or the rear clip. Not recommended to do with unibody construction, only chassis frame and body.
I have a brother that is blind, so is his wife. Some years ago he bought a car and always had a fried drive him when he wanted to go outside the bus routes in his city. He had to give the car up because He could not get insurance on it because he as the owner could not drive and someone else die. He could not afford the insurance. The Insurance company was so unforgiving for not insuring the car that was not driven that much. By the way I am still driving my 2004 chevy truck after 16 years. So far at 95,000 miles. I am 78 and I hope that it will continue being good for the rest of the time I drive. Always garaged, and in Arizona. By the way my brother worked for 45 years for Krogers HQ.in computer support.
A Chevrolet dealer in Grand Prairie Texas sold me a car with a clean title but it was actually a reconditioned patch job car. They didn't want to take it back but it's about the only time in my life actually hired a lawyer and I only paid him $50 at his suggestion to send a letter to the dealership. Problem solved.
Dating sites, you are going to put your best foot forward with pictures. I've wondered who foot are they using?
I worked at a Toyota dealer and their trucks rust out..I don't even live in the salt belt,West Coast!! The Tacoma and Tundra come back after 1 year with holes in the frame,unreal!
They also have Camry's with severe engine sludge even when maintained better than what was recommended at 10,000 miles sludge was oozing out!
01trsmar
:
Be careful! The Toyota Cultists will be after you for "nasty" words!
Knew of a gentleman who made a career of buying high end sports cars that were totaled and he would bring them back to life. Most interesting story was of a car where a guy died in a high speed crash. The white interior could not be cleaned so it became an off tan color. It sold. Some people want certain cars and pay top dollar.
That first story, a tale of two chargers, was painful.
Geez, as if being a Chrysler wasnt bad enough...
What lawyer would take a case about cheating a blind man to a jury?
RUclips decided to Auto play some of your old episodes for me, and while very enjoyable to revisit, I realized just how much I like hearing Heather on the intros and outros of your newer videos! 😂
I love these stories, sounds like my friends trying to make more than two laps around town in their new ride!!
I see similar things to the first story. People will lease a car and get into an accident. They will then take it to a cheap body shop to repair it off the books so there is no paper trail since they will get charged for the loss of value to the vehicle
Components of "90w gear lube" will degrade the bearing material even further. So adding it to hide a problem is even worse.
I use to work GM as a line mechanic . That was a long time ago . I left that job because of warranty work and the pay . They in my option a option here made some less than perfect cars then . Remember the Vaga , the ols diesel engine that had so much blow by that the fix was to drill out the breather to keep from blowing the seals out there many more examples . I finally buy a GM now . There are car manufactures that have poor wiring and the only reason I buy one is they have a great engine so be advised lol
Probably before your lawyerly time, but I had a 1983 Renault Alliance. You know, that venerable "Car of the Year" winner that even Car & Driver later (begrudgingly) admitted was the biggest turd they gave that award to... complete piece of junk. I think that thing literally sat in the dealership's garage more than my own.
This doesn’t have to do with a dealership or anything, just a funny story about my dad. In the mid-80’s he bought a new Sea-Ray boat that was offered in two different sizes, a 5-meter and a 5.6 meter. While at the dealership I noticed that you could tell which boats were which because the boat trailers had a label on them with the boat’s VIN number and either a 5.0 or 5.6. Anyway, we buy what I already know is a 5.6 meter boat. Maybe a month or two later, we’re washing the boat in our driveway and a neighbor starts talking to my dad about the boat, and I hear my dad tell the neighbor that we had the “smaller” version. When I tell him that we actually have the larger 5.6 version, he goes into full-on denial mode. I don’t know how long the argument lasted, but I’ve never seen someone spew such BS to explain away every bit of irrefutable evidence that showed the boat was the 5.6 meter version. Even after measuring the boat with a tape measure he still just couldn’t accept it.
My 1st car was a Karman Ghia made out of 2 crashed ones.
I knew about it going in, and it was fine.
Had a 1982 LTD with a vvt carburetor. It would run beautiful one day and overheat your engine and catch your floorboards on fire the next. I think they only used that carb for 1.5 years, but almost no one could make them reliable
I'm surprised the first car was able to be titled. Both donor cars should have been salvaged out.
You'd think so but I've seen cars being sold on craigslist that hit a tree and were never claimed on insurance leaving the title officially "clean". As long as the damage isn't reported the title would stay clean. This is not legal in my state since the state requires you get a salvage title before selling/disposing of it but people do it anyway.
Just discovered your channel. I spent the first half of my working life as a tech in a few different car dealers. Would love to have the opportunity to swap stories over a few beers. Like the service manager who made me roll back odometers to turn demos back into new cars, and then never paid me. Or the machinations I had to go through to make grey market cars squeak though a smog test.
Around 1992, I was finishing college and bought an immaculate 1985 Mercury Colony Park wagon. (Hey, I play drums, I needed the room!) As I was driving the car home from the dealer, the CHECK ENGINE light came on at idle, indicating it was most likely the typical issue with the oil pump that Ford 302's were known for. I'll cut to the chase: The dealer replaced the oil pump, the timing chain, crankshaft and main bearings. It was $400 of new parts and a hell of a lot of labor for a car I only paid $3,600. I was extremely pleased with that experience.
2000 dodge intrepid. 2.7 liter junk engine. Blew 3 times by 60k miles. 2000 miles\6 weeks between 2nd blow and 3rd. They said it was my fault for not changing oil...in 6 weeks\2000 miles!
Thank you very much.🍀🇺🇸
Unbelievable , only from the annals of Lehto's Law. 🎱
Still interesting and funny the second time around!
Former dealer master tech, service manager. I've seen the two cars cobbled together thing done absolutely right (saving classics) and horribly wrong!! (Like my 6 year old daughter could weld better) Secondly, a "parts replacer" mechanic may foolishly follow a manufacturer's diagnostic chart, using flawed procedure to false end over and over! Find a good technician, good shop or good dealer and patron them. They will know your equipment and know you, so as to trust what you relay, you're feel. Should you relocate or kid goes off to college, ask around and even audition shops! BEFORE you are suddenly in need because your vehicle is on a tow truck. Know where to take it. Second opinions are not a bad thing, but bargain buying for technical servicing can be. If you can, talk to the tech (to the point, quick), not the service advisor.
The V8 thing reminds me of when I was car shopping a couple of years ago and a dealer had a 97 Jeep Cherokee with a 4 liter V6. Um, a Jeep 4.0 cut in half and welded together?
On vans it can be real real hard to see how many plugs it has.
I would love to know what make went though 7 short blocks.
I wonder if the heads were bad?
Dealership: "I stand corrected, it is a low mileage, two owner car."