New wagon for fleet! Nightmare....LONG post Need to vent

My wife and I always loved the Subaru Outbacks but they were always out of our price range. I found one cheap... SO I thought...(will post the link at the end of the post). Anyway I talked the guy down to $2,700 and put a $500 deposit through paypal. Arrived in NY to pick the car up.. Clean as a pin. Ran pretty good. Not perfect but I figured I got it a few hundred below fair condition trade in value how bad can it be right? LOL Let me tell you... This is the very first time I ever bought a car this way.Usually I check a car over with a fine tooth comb before I even think about purchasing one. I took my chances with this. When I got into Delaware I heard a slight squeel coming from the left front wheel. I figured it was a worn out brake pad but it sounded a little different... By the time I got home I realized it was a wheel bearing. NP I thought. To TRY to make this story shorter one wheel bearing turned into both bearings,had to buy both hubs new because they were shot, ball joints,axles,rotors,and pads( while apart I figured it was the smart thing to do). While I was under there I discovered the steering rack boots were split on both sides. The engine bleeds oil like it was just murdered. While the heater is on it smells of antifreeze. I honestly believe every single seal and gasket on this car bleeds. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
I have nobody to blame but myself with this situation. I knew better but I took a chance. The only GOOD thing through all this is that I am doing all the work myself saving tons of money and when I am done I will have a brand new 1999 Subaru Outback...... One piece at a time. Want to talk about an adventure!!! I havent even pulled a back wheel off yet! LOL. Anyway take it from me... Someone who knew better... DO NOT BUY A CAR WITHOUT CHECKING IT OUT FIRST!!
On a lighter note I figured out why they are called an Outback... They (mine anyway) tends to be OUTBACK broke most of the time. LOL here is the POS .....



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___AWD-4X4-GARAGE-KEPT-FULLPOWER-BEST-ON-EBAY-WARRANTY_W0QQitemZ220354141022QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item220354141022&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A13|39%3A1|240%3A1308

 

Unfortunately no. It was a lesson well learned I can honestly say.

 

The description has this:

You can leave negative feedback, and maybe you have some recourse here:
http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/

I just barely got lucky when I bought my Fairmont. the description said "clean as a pin".
They forgot to mention the interior full of mouse feces.
I said so in my feedback. I bought it, and I'm glad I did, but it took some work to get it cleaned up. Drove about 1000 miles round trip with Stormin Norm to get it.

 

I'm sorry to hear that you ended up with that can of worms. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

 

Dont get me wrong I knew we werent getting a new car and I knew it needed some work. The description however was WAYYYY OFFFF by a long shot. The "light tap" turned out to be enough to actually bust the timing belt cover on the engine.To make things worse the car wasnt repaired properly. Nothing was replaced (except the radiator) . Everything was just stretched back out and patched up. Like I said before I am really the only one to blame because I knew better but after almost 2 weeks of calming down I think I might give this guy a call and ask for something. Even if its a few hundred bucks its better than nothing. Basically I am stuck now and cant turn back. I need to get this car in good reliable condition..I will keep you all informed. Thanks for your input but dont feel sorry for me... I knew better....

 

you and i are on the same boat ....a sinking one! i have a 96 buick roadmaster that was painted as the best roadmaster on earth by what was supposedly a very reputable buick dealer in indiana pa.

now, from my working in the auto industry i knew that most (new car) dealers wont stock anything older than 3-4 yrs old unless they are a rare or exceptional vehicle! yes mine was a 96 with 80k on it and no rust. i drove it ..every thing sounded good and felt good. not even a week later i have bering noise and rearend leak....the dealer told me to go to hell.
despite my mechanic telling me that the bering was jimmy-rigged recently to be silent. and the rear main bering seal was replaced but was overtightened so the bering itself was crushed.

i know how you feel.

 

Here's my take only IMO!

First, the car is definately clean and I can make any car look clean with enough Armor All or slick crap! Cars ALWAYS look better in the PICS than they really are!

Second, the car is from New York, any car driving up there on those NE roads would have trashed machanics, enough said!

Third, this guy is a wholesaler, he buys cars from dealers that can't sell them on their lots because the mileage is way too high and they don't want to put money into them to make them 100% or guarantee them, so they wholesale them to guys like this and he sells them to you. This car could have been wholesaled 3 or 4 times before you got it, you really don't know!

Forth, you bought the car OFF eBay, you have no recourse, you can't even leave him negative feedback! Why do you think most of these guys say to call them and make an offer, so they can sell them OFF eBay!

Fifth, this Subaru has way too many miles on it and it's at the point where all this stuff you are talking about needs replacing anyway, so no big surprise there! How long or many more miles do you think you can drive this car?

I could go on and on here but don't have the energy!

We have all done the same thing and we all learned the lesson the hard way so now it's just your turn!

This is only my opinion and please don't take it the wrong way OK!

I just sold "BIGWOODY" on eBay, the guy came out to pick it up and looked at it and completely checked it out and told me what he thought was wrong with it and I just said "Yea, it probably does, it's 17 years old and it's got 115, 000 miles on it and if you don't want it I'll give you a refund on PayPal for your deposit and I'll just keep it" so he drove it around the block again and he said "I'll take it"

I explicitly said in my eBay ad that I welcome all inspections BEFORE the auction ends, NOT AFTER, so what does this guy do, inspects the car after!

I know he'll be happy with the wagon and I felt good about the sale, all is happy!

Clark

 

Did you get a clear title? Did you already register the car in your name?

There might be some way to get your money back on this sale. Laws are much different in NY about getting ripped off.

You might want to check with a BBB or lawyer!

He might want to give you a refund if he doesn't want to fool with it.

Just tryin to help!

Clark

 

I once worked with a car wholesaler for about a year and you wouldn't believe what goes on!

I bet this guy that bought this Subaru wagon could have paid less than $800 for this car, you never know!

 

Sorry to hear this. Lessons learned the hard way tend to stay with us.
Just think, along with all that work and expense comes that Subaru stigma. Don't let the wife wear flannel.
Could have been worse, look what else he's offering
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cadi...262QQcategoryZ6152QQihZ012QQitemZ220364368033

 

The guy I bought my wagon from lives a couple doors down on the other side of the street. He told me I could ask anybody in the neighborhood (he's sold a few cars to my neighbors) about his cars and they'd give him good reviews. He also told me if I ever had a problem with the car, he'd help me out and I could bring it right over. He even has flagged me down on occasion to give me extras he's found and just to see how the old girl is running. Best deal of my life.

 

hey now....thats a fine automobile! its hard to find a cimmaron these days! Usually because electrical fires have turned them all into
"cimmaron-toast-crunch!" who wouldnt want a cavalier with leather!

 

I've had Subaru's...they'll climb a tree. They were always rated in the top five cars for dependability.....UNTIL around the years '99/2000. When they stretched the bore from the reliable engine's to the 2.5 they had problems for awhile. They would overheat and chew up head gaskets. Many people ended up with frozen up engines. What surprised me most (and pissed me off) is that Subaru wouldn't acknowledge that they had a problem. They just came out with a cooling system "conditioner" and told owners to use it or lose their warranty, That conditioner was probably just a stop leak. Then later...they came out with a new head gasket. Best to stay away from subaru's of that vintage.

 

More bad news...And some good

Well the saga continues... I was going up the road Friday night around 65mph in the Subaru and the timing belt broke. I would imagine it completely destroyed the engine. Now I know what piston and valve collisions sound like!Talk about a horrid noise. On a positive note I looked at the paperwork and realized it was still under warranty!(engine and tranny 1,000 miles) Talked to the dealer today and he has agreed to either fix the engine or replace it. He is sending a wrecker this week to pick it up.I am hoping the whole engine needs to be replaced to be honest. If so,I am going to try to get him to replace the timing belt and water pump in the replacement engine. To his credit he was very polite and assured me that he would take care of it. I just hope he doesn't try to piece the current engine back together just to get it out of his hair and save a few bucks. Ebay has those JDM 35-40k milage (so they say) engines for around $900. I am going to try to convince him to pick up one of those instead of a junkyard engine.