cry:cry
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.