Bad Auto Inspection - Help

[1sturgis]

HI ,Who may be able to help me legally . I had an Auto Appraisal / pre purchase inspection on a T/Bird and report was good. You got it !!! When the car arrived not as reported , where to now please, is their a law firm that handles this sort of problem Thanks

[Harley Eaton]

I believe, in Texas, the Attorney General may help, but there is much we don't know about your problem.

[1sturgis]

Thanks Harley for your reply .When the car arrived and the problem areas discovered I emailed photo's to Auto Appraise Inc Grand Blanc MI ( who carried out the apprasial / inspection) , they refunded their fee and said they suspended their inspector. Emails have since slowed to almost a stop and I am left with a car that need's $10-12000.00 in obvious repairs. The photo's in the report so narrowly miss the rust/ damage areas that it almost looks deliberate. The report states "Underbody--Everything is in solid,good condition. No attempt has been made on the vehicle earlier history to cover up or heavy undercoat any of the bottom surfaces ".
I wonder if the under side was inspected at all !!! It is a great dissappointment that a life time dream turns to a disaster after paying "Experts / Professionals " for a service that they do not Back Up.

[phjohnso]

I'm sorry to have heard of your misfortune - please feel free to post pictures when you get a chance and GOOD LUCK!

[Gary Tayman]

Devastating, to be sure.

I don't know where you live, or if the appraiser is in the same state. Whatever, talk to an attorney and listen to what he/she says. At least you'll know the score, knowing whether you have a case that you can win. Obviously there was fraud here, whether intentional or simple laziness, either the seller or the appraiser should be liable for the difference between what you bought and what you got.

The REALLY unfortunate part of all this is that you're not alone; not by a long shot. I personally got stuck in the behind pretty badly, and am still trying to recover years later. I've chatted with friend after friend after friend, who have given me horror stories even worse than mine. Unfortunately this places a VERY bad name on the hobby itself, and discourages a lot of would-be enthusiasts.

My own story, which some here have heard many times already: I have a 64 Hardtop that I restored myself, for the most part. I'm not a mechanic; I don't have a garage with lifts and heavy machinery and the ability to carry around engines and transmissions. Just a typical cluttered two-car garage and some tools I inherited from my dad, who bought them 50 years ago at Monkey Wards.

As some know I started a business from this, with car stereos. Planning to start taking this car to shows with a tent and promotional materials, I decided I need to spend some money on making this car really reliable, so I sprung for it -- put out some money for a new motor. I bought the motor from a dealer in Wisconsin; he shipped it to Florida when finished. MISTAKE NUMBER ONE: Huge, high dollar products or service, don't go out of state. Go as local as you can. My mechanic put it in; he told me he got it running fine, but in the process it burned through two quarts of oil. That evening I drove it to a car cruise in Venice -- about 30 miles each way. It burned another quart. Long story, it's blow-by, and five years later it still burns oil at the same rate.

I had to pay to remove the motor for shipping back to Wisconsin for warranty. The mechanic was busy, so I had a restoration shop do it. MISTAKE NUMBER TWO: just because someone advertises at car shows doesn't mean he's reliable. The host is not going to turn down income, no matter how questionable the reputation. I should have asked other cruisers about their experiences; turns out there was another shop up the street that does spectacular work and could have easily straightened this out. This shop charged me -- are you ready? -- $15,000.00 to remove and reinstall the motor, and also replace the air conditioner and do some electrical work under the dash. The motor didn't get fixed; it was worse when I got it back. The steering wheel was upside-down, the radio didn't work, the clock didn't work, vacuum leaks everywhere, new power antenna didn't work, keyless entry was only half-installed and didn't work, on the way home the water pump blew, and on a return trip to this shop for "warranty", the gas tank fell out!

Warranty work consisted of thousands more; as they found new parts thay didn't replace before (but were PAID to!). Their attitude was they needed to hurry up and get my car out of there because they have REAL cars to work on. I found out later what all those other cars were -- they were vehicles that customers defaulted on because the service bill was more than the car was worth! They took the title, and made money selling the cars! Sometime later I had someone else look at the air conditioner which still didn't work. Compressor is bad. Really? It's brand new! No, it was a junk compressor that was spray-painted to LOOK new!

Attorneys: For the motor I have a winning case, hands-down. But I'll have to hand-carry the verdict to Wisconsin and serve it in court up there in order to get court action. For the lousy service, Florida has a law, but it's a nuisance to do. Basically upon inspecting the car, or upon dispute of the bill, post the bill instead at the courthouse and it's up to the shop to make the case to collect it. As for warranty, they said they'll stand behind everything they do -- but when you take it back, not only does it NOT get fixed but they find other things to charge you for. So the crooks know how to circumvent the law, and you're stuck.

Consolation? "Just get ridda the &^&^@%$ car!!!" Okay, what does THAT solve? As it stands, I've just now got the car to the point where I can drive it and call it reliable -- as long as I keep a case of oil and a funnel. Electrical, I'm starting to fix it up myself, and you should see the sloppy workmanship! I'm thinking of taking pictures.

A friend took his Corvette to a shop for restoration. He got cancer and was out of the picture for awhile. He got better, and went to check on the car. Shop was closed up. He found his car in Kentucky, in horrible condition. He's restoring it himself.

Another friend lost over $20,000 on a 65 T-Bird body work.

On and on it goes.

Until we can set up a reliable network of reputable dealers to work with, all I can say is buyer beware. If you DO get your money back in court, let us know and I'll be the first to pat you on the back.

[1sturgis]

Thanks to you that have replied. I get the feeling that this sort of "Dodgey goings on " is wide spread. I also see that out of state inspection / purchase can cause problems. So my situation of being in New Zealand makes it impossible, I think, to obtain a resolution of any sort . Auto Appraise will proberly have known this. Great way to do business !!!.
The 56 sits in the garage waiting for "dollars " to make it roadworthy. Have certainly learnt from this experience, that all the "praise and glowing reports " are nothing but BULL---IT. Thanks again

[Gary Tayman]

Originally Posted by 1sturgis

Thanks to you that have replied. I get the feeling that this sort of "Dodgey goings on " is wide spread. I also see that out of state inspection / purchase can cause problems. So my situation of being in New Zealand makes it impossible, I think, to obtain a resolution of any sort . Auto Appraise will proberly have known this. Great way to do business !!!.
The 56 sits in the garage waiting for "dollars " to make it roadworthy. Have certainly learnt from this experience, that all the "praise and glowing reports " are nothing but BULL---IT. Thanks again

So you bought this car and had it shipped to New Zealand? From where, USA?



I suppose it still can't hurt to chat with an attorney, to see if some kind of reimbursement isn't in order, as this deal was no less than outright fraud. But I think you may be dealing with New Zealand law vs. a USA company; you could sue and win but getting anything for it can be another matter. They can stand on the shore and laugh out loud.

But you can look at it a different way. You have a 56 Bird, that's certainly nothing to complain about. Indeed in my case, I've felt disgusted for years over the mess that was made of my car (1964). Took it to cruises just to have dinner with friends, but could care less about the car -- except to keep it running, and even THAT was a challenge. Still, a couple weeks ago, with a little spare time, I decided if I'm stuck with a mess it might as well be a CLEAN mess, so I started polishing and detailing the car, fixing small items and just plain getting it shined up. The past couple shows this car REALLY got attention! Let's face it; it's a good looking, desirable car that turns heads. So at this point I'm cleaning out the garage to make room, and I plan to take this car apart and do some work -- yes I'm redoing what I've already paid for, but I'll treat it as though it's the first time. There's a lot I can do without spending money.

[1sturgis]

Hi Gary Thanks for your reply. I bought the 56 T/Bird from a private seller in Charlotte NC. I asked Auto Appraise to be "vigilant for bondo,rust or previous repairs " ,as here in New Zealand the saftey inspection is tough on these areas.

[Gary Tayman]

Originally Posted by 1sturgis

Hi Gary Thanks for your reply. I bought the 56 T/Bird from a private seller in Charlotte NC. I asked Auto Appraise to be "vigilant for bondo,rust or previous repairs " ,as here in New Zealand the saftey inspection is tough on these areas.

AACCKK!!! So this means you may have a problem getting the thing registered in the first place, let alone having it shined up.

Just how bad is it? A few repairs here and there, or major body panels? How's the rest of the car -- does it run well, or is this gonna be one of those long-term projects?

I've commented on this before; I would love to see some sort of collector car dealer list, sort of like Angie's List (and maybe I'll just start promoting THAT one), that allows for customer feedback on what these outfits provide. There are a lot of honest, good, hard-working people out there who do first-class work on these vehicles, but then there are the clown who charge just as much if not more, and make a total mess of their work. Locally I can give you story after story after story. In one particular case a lady friend of mine took her Chevelle into a resto shop for some serious body work. The car looks nice as it is but was showing small amounts of rust on the bottoms of the doors and rockers -- and the small holes were causing leaks inside the car. She also bought a stereo from me, and this fellow installed it. Stereo had problems, and the USB port disappeared; he said there was never any such thing. C'mon, I gave her a discount because this radio was a DEMO, and I USED that USB to familiarize myself with it, being a model just introduced. Rust began to reappear. She had someone else look at it; doors had not been fixed but the guy had put rags inside to sop up the moisture. That's not incompetent, that's outright crooked!

The shop that screwed up my car -- well, they come to car shows and sponsor the DJ. I've certainly let friends know the kind of work they do, and I know for a fact that their business has suffered greatly because of this. In fact their visit to the shows are becoming rare. I've thought about making copies of their invoices, taking pictures and making signs, and placing them on the dash of my car. The ONLY reason I haven't done this, is because I'm very good friends with the DJ (I also sponsor him) and I don't want to take money out of his pocket by blasting another sponsor at his shows.