Burned on an eBay auction

[Deezul_AwT]

Bought a 2000 Grand Prix GT off eBay - here are a couple quotes "excellent condition" "runs and looks great" "well maintained and brought to the Pontiac dealer for it's 3000 mile oil change and mantinance. Bid with confidance this is a great car"

Well, $2200 lighter in the wallet, and STILL not finished with some repairs, I'm a little wiser about an eBay car. I took it in for a Virginia safety inspection and spongy breaks. I figured it might need a bit of work, and saw going in the headlights were pretty foggy and the rear tires had some rot. Maybe $500-$600, but still a good deal for the car I bought.

So what was wrong with it? Leaks in the intake manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets damp, transmission cooler lines cracked, one front wheel bearing loose, the other has some play and will need to be replaced next year, low brake fluid, outer tie rods loose and replaced, rear roters rusted but should be fine after use, power steering line leaking so it was replaced, struts rusted but luckily good for a while longer, oil pan gasket leaking, junkyard transmission but still good, dry rotted rear tires, resonator rusted but not leaking, front sway bar cracked and broken at both ends, rear speakers on the stereo don't work, car alarm was turned off because it wasn't working right.

They installed the GM Handling kit I recent bought for me, and put in the K&N filter as well. Parts, outside what I spent on the handling kit & filter were $900. The labor killed me - $1300. Now, granted, I could have done about half the work they did for me, like the handling kit, filter, spark plug and wire change, but a lot of the things that were wrong SHOULD have been picked up by the dealer. I need to find the dealer that the guy took this to and never use them.

Granted, I have to take some of the blame, as I bought the car sight unseen. But for a $40 bumper to bumper check over, the shop found A LOT of problems. I trust this shop, and I don't think they were out to get me. I'm just freaking pissed off at this. I figured I would have had to put in about $1000 to get it up to snuff. But after this $2200 I paid, I STILL have to buy new headlights, new intake gaskets, and new valve cover gaskets!!! ARRRGGGHH!! I was hoping to get 2 years, maybe 3 out of the car. Now, I better get 4-5 years!!!

[archemedes]

excellent condition on ebay means "it's been washed and oil changed sometimes" it's sad that people misrepresent themselves online, when I bought my car I got it off clubgp, and it was a decent buy, but had some issues (that I am still discovering 4 years later)

[02BlueGT]

sorry to hear that, but lesson learned, and if you have any questions on fixing further probs(if they occur) please ask, that is why we are all here

Oh, and Good luck with the car after the work is done

[SyntheticShield]

Sorry to hear about your troubles bud. That is kinda a raw deal. Ive bought a lot of expensive stuff off ebay, but a car is something I think I would move with caution on. Of course, Im sure you did but there's only so much you can do on line.

The good thing is that you can probably get the 4 - 5 years out of it that you are looking for once you do get it up to speed. But I know how you feel on just wanting to buy something and drive. Ive been looking for a vehicle for my wife and Ive been holding back on some of what we have to spend because I want to be ready for the little things if it is needed.

[David99GTP]

This has been my fear on ebay with vehicles.

[GTPluv]

Wow, that sucks!!!
Want me to burn their house down?
Too bad you are too far away for any of our help. We could've pulled it together!

[Toasty]

where is the leakage visible with the intake manifold gaskets? how bad are the VC gaskets?

[Deezul_AwT]

where is the leakage visible with the intake manifold gaskets? how bad are the VC gaskets?

I'll probably go ahead and put in the HV3 intake insert since I have to replace the intake gasket anyway. The VC gaskets again don't make the car unsafe to drive, but it's a concern the shop gave me. They shouldn't be too hard to replace either, should they? Just take off valve covers, replace gasket, reconnect to torque? Yes, I know I could then do the rockers, but I just want to get this thing driving.

The shop put "intake manifold gaskets leaking coolant internally." ZZP says that this is common on these engines, so I'll get the new upper intake. Is there also a lower intake gasket that might need replacing as well? I know I can go back to the shop and ask them for clarification there, but I'd like to put the order in as soon as possible so I can get the car back on the road.

[Toasty]

how did they know the fluid was leaking internally? milky oil??

[rynoman03]

My rear speakers stoped working on my car too. I put a new radio in it and still didnt work. Seemed to only come on when it was hot outside like above 80. No kidding it was weird. Finally just dropped bout 2k into the stereo and that solved all my problems. . GP's are notorious for electrical problems. Sucks about all the motor and suspension stuff though. I have replaced the VC's on my car myself. Not hard just time consuming. Be sure to get some brake cleaner to clean up the VC's and lots of old rags.

[Deezul_AwT]

how did they know the fluid was leaking internally? milky oil??

"Lots of Moisture and creamy looking in valve cover fill, suspect intake manifold gaskets leaking antifreeze into motor"

[rynoman03]

Oh Noes!!! Thats no good.

[Deezul_AwT]

Oh Noes!!! Thats no good.

Thus the need to replace all them gaskets...

[rynoman03]

Yup. Make sure and drain all the fluids. That happened to my buddy's truck one time and we had to replace all the bottom end main bearings and oil pump. They were rusted and it seized up the pump. Hopefully you get a little more lucky.

[archemedes]

moisture and creamy in valve cover fill can also be from short trips where the engine doesn't get warmed up good (less than 10 miles or so)

[UR LOSN]

^^^^agreed. unlesss your oil "IS" milky....and not just the cap. I would say your gaskets are fine. I would wipe all the gunk out of the cap, and drive it for a while...lon distances mixed with short. to make sure all the moisture is out.

recheck your fill cap....if no more gunky stuff....your fine on the gaskets.

[Deezul_AwT]

^^^^agreed. unlesss your oil "IS" milky....and not just the cap. I would say your gaskets are fine. I would wipe all the gunk out of the cap, and drive it for a while...lon distances mixed with short. to make sure all the moisture is out.

recheck your fill cap....if no more gunky stuff....your fine on the gaskets.

Which gaskets? valve cover or intake manifold? Looking at the Haynes manual for my Imp, replacing the intake manifold doesn't looke nearly as hard or as painful as the valve gaskets. When I got the car home, the SES light was on throwing a P0128 code. I replaced the thermostat, and a bit of antifreeze naturally leaked out. So it's possible some of the dampness there was due to the antifreeze. If i can put off the valve cover gaskets, I will.

[UR LOSN]

the LIM......are what I was referring to.

look and see how bad the valve covers are leaking? if it is just a little damp..or just starting..you have a little while. but if you can see a fluid trail down to the exhaust manifolds...I would say replace immediately

[Deezul_AwT]

the LIM......are what I was referring to.

look and see how bad the valve covers are leaking? if it is just a little damp..or just starting..you have a little while. but if you can see a fluid trail down to the exhaust manifolds...I would say replace immediately

Ok, so I should be find on valve gaskets, assuming no fluid trail. I didn't see one when I changed the thermo, but I wasn't really looking for it. Also, again, assuming everything is clean and no visible leaks, I'm good on the lower gasket as well? So only replace the upper gasket and toss the HV3 in when doing that? Sorry for all the silly questions, but I don't want to do any extra work at this point that I really don't need to do.

[UR LOSN]

if your already going to replaced the upper....the LIM gaskets is right there. all you would have to do is maybe 15more minutes of work to pull off the LIM.

its a toss up. its preventative matinence...........

provided the gunk is gone from your cap....and you oil is not milky. you dont have a leak.

mine developed a mifire..and I had puddles of coolant on the exterior of my LIM by the injectors. thats when I noticed a crack in my UIM..

I think my LIM gaskets cost me 34bux? they were the redesigned version..