Was down in FL for biz this week and got a phone call, "Dad, what does it means when the brake pedal goes to the floor?" Thankfully she was in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot, so told her to call road side assistance. Of course rusted brake line blown, let's see what the details are. This is my youngest's 98 GT sedan.
Car was towed to Pep Boys who proceeded to render an estimate for....are you sitting down....$5300. Three pages of everything including custom bending of all new brake lines, trans pan gasket, oil pan gasket, front end parts, etc etc. What killed me was that I just did a new oil pan and bunch of other stuff last year. Told her to tell them to roll it out into the lot and I would get it this weekend.
Rented a trusty U-Haul trailer and loaded up my '02 GTP coupe to bring over to her in NJ and then pick up her 98 GT sedan from Pep Boys to bring home. So i'm GP-less until I get this brake line issue sorted out. Told her NEVER to bring her car there for work. Trailer was great, traffic was OK and it was a nice day to be on the road from LI to NJ and back.
Meanwhile, I spot an 02 GT coupe on CL, 86k original miles, very clean, only $2100 here on LI. I'm figuring this might be a better way to go than replacing all the brake lines...so I call the guy and make plans to go see it early this morning. The U haul place was closed when I got back from NJ, so figured I would keep the trailer to buy this beauty this morning.
So I show up at 9 am, and the car is sitting roadside on a busy road kind of behind where the guy lived. A nice black 02 GT coupe, leather, sunroof, heated seats, but no Bose or HUD. Drove great, had new tires on it and had some service records from 2012-2014 in the glovebox. Previous owner had the coolant elbows, LIM gasket and other usual stuff done over the last few years. Engine ran amazingly smooth, no rust on struts or rockers, but trans fluid was down about a pint. Looked like trans pan was leaking but no big deal.
He's asking $2100, I offer the guy $1700, we agree at $1800, I tell him I have cash and a trailer, go grab the title and let's do some bidness! And that's when it starts...well...I need to get you a form that you will need but that I don't have, and that I need to get from work tomorrow. You can have the car now and I can bring the form to you on Monday. I said go grab the paperwork you have and let's see what's what.
So he comes out with a title that matches the name on the service records I found in the glovebox. The title has a lien on it from Ally Bank, but attached is lien release from GMAC. I think GMAC bought Ally, and the name on the lien release is different than on the title, but the VIN matches, no not a big deal, loan could have been in the name of a relative. In Nov of last year, the owner on the title signed it over to a large used car dealer here on LI, who in turn sold it to a company in NJ, who in turn sold it to a company that the guy I was talking to said was his. So in 3 months, this car changed hands 3 times....If I'm buying it for $1800 what's the history here?
Bottom line I walked from the deal...15 mins after I left the seller he calls to tell me that he found the right form and didn't need to wait to get his from work after all....I either let a good car go by or avoided a big scam.
BUYER BEWARE
Originally Posted by The Sunfire Guy
