Very bad experience with EF member but a good lesson too :)

[cdcdoc]

Hi everyone
A guy was trying the other day to sell a mac and a camera and was somehow complaining about what is going on when trying to sell stuff on EF. Even though I do agree that there are sometimes no purpose dumb question, I do not agree that one should jump in and buy something just because it has a good price.
Here is a good example:
I bought almost three weeks ago from from EF member Twirlies this car:
http://www.englishforum.ch/sale-want...05-luzern.html
I admit...a good price even with 7000 and I bought it with 5000. I admit i was dumb enough trusting the guy believing he is in a hurry to sell it and I did not check important things...Never had an EF member cheating or lying...never had a bad experience. BUT still he lied about many things and with what I have to pay, it will go over 7000. I called him an hour after I bought it because driving on the highway I was hearing weird sounds. He said that it is only the bad tires. The next day I went to check everything he said. He lied in pretty much everything. I called for almost a week, send emails, messages...nothing....called his job...nothing. I waited until now because i was hoping that there was some kind of misunderstanding. Just got the mfk invitation which he said it was done.
A good lesson for me...I agree...but Twirlies...be a man and even though you left the country, come out and talk. I really need to know a few things about the car...

[gourmet]

I am sorry to hear about your experience. I have to say that EF or any other forum is no different to buying from say ebay or Richardo. If there is guarantee, that is good, check out the small print; if not, then you will have to do your homework and check your purchase before handing over money, especially on big ticket item.

As to Seller, it will be good to list as much info as possible to help the sale. Dimension, colour, condition, transport/collection etc along with picture, links to product info as well as price all helps to get an item sold and reduce time-waster.

I have to say, I have pretty good experience on EF so far but I have heard some horror stories as well.

Good luck, someone should be along shortly to let you know what is the legal side of things.

[drmom]

I know it is too late, but you really have to take a car to a garage before buying it from a private person. If they won't let you, probably a reason for that and you should probably walk away from the sale.

We had a similar situation years ago when looking for a car for my sister to buy. After we bought it, we then discovered it was a salvaged car. In the end she still has the car 7 years later and there haven't been any problems, but at the time, we felt dumb about it, upon discovering in the US you can look up any car's history and see how many owners there have been, etc.

[lost_inbroad]

	Quote:	cdcdoc
	Hi everyone A guy was trying the other day to sell a mac and a camera and was somehow complaining about what is going on when trying to sell stuff on EF. Even though I do agree that there are sometimes no purpose dumb question, I do not agree that one should jump in and buy something just because it has a good price. Here is a good example: I bought almost three weeks ago from from EF member Twirlies this car: http://www.englishforum.ch/sale-want...05-luzern.html I admit...a good price even with 7000 and I bought it with 5000. I admit i was dumb enough trusting the guy believing he is in a hurry to sell it and I did not check important things...Never had an EF member cheating or lying...never had a bad experience. BUT still he lied about many things and with what I have to pay, it will go over 7000. I called him an hour after I bought it because driving on the highway I was hearing weird sounds. He said that it is only the bad tires. The next day I went to check everything he said. He lied in pretty much everything. I called for almost a week, send emails, messages...nothing....called his job...nothing. I waited until now because i was hoping that there was some kind of misunderstanding. Just got the mfk invitation which he said it was done. A good lesson for me...I agree...but Twirlies...be a man and even though you left the country, come out and talk. I really need to know a few things about the car...

Shouldn't you have checked all these things beforehand (take it to a mechanic, drive it on the highway etc.)?

[rob1]

	Quote:	cdcdoc
	Hi everyone A guy was trying the other day to sell a mac and a camera and was somehow complaining about what is going on when trying to sell stuff on EF. Even though I do agree that there are sometimes no purpose dumb question, I do not agree that one should jump in and buy something just because it has a good price. Here is a good example: I bought almost three weeks ago from from EF member Twirlies this car: http://www.englishforum.ch/sale-want...05-luzern.html I admit...a good price even with 7000 and I bought it with 5000. I admit i was dumb enough trusting the guy believing he is in a hurry to sell it and I did not check important things...Never had an EF member cheating or lying...never had a bad experience. BUT still he lied about many things and with what I have to pay, it will go over 7000. I called him an hour after I bought it because driving on the highway I was hearing weird sounds. He said that it is only the bad tires. The next day I went to check everything he said. He lied in pretty much everything. I called for almost a week, send emails, messages...nothing....called his job...nothing. I waited until now because i was hoping that there was some kind of misunderstanding. Just got the mfk invitation which he said it was done. A good lesson for me...I agree...but Twirlies...be a man and even though you left the country, come out and talk. I really need to know a few things about the car...

sounds can be just tyres... If the tyres are hard because of age or have low tread it can cause sounds like worn wheel bearings also.

What do you need to have fixed? If you went to a ford garage and said fix this then you will have high prices.. there are plenty of other options.

For the MFK you have a stamp on the registration document so can see if it has been done or not, has the abgas test been done also?

[cdcdoc]

I agree it was my mistake too...i said it from the very beginning. And I know it is too late I could find excuses but still I made mistakes. But in the same time, like I said, at least come out and talk to me...let me know what is really going on. He seemed to be a respectable person, works for a big company. That is why I kept trying to make sure it is not a misunderstanding...but this is the way he chose to leave CH...

[Kamarate]

I made a similar mistake buying a car from someone (not off EF). We drove it around a bit and it seemed fine, even took my boyfriend at the time to check it out as he knows his stuff. Seemed like they'd done quite a few quick fixes and we've spent SO much on it (plus I've almost died twice).

If it seems too good to be true... it probably is.

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:	Kamarate
	I made a similar mistake buying a car from someone (not off EF). We drove it around a bit and it seemed fine, even took my boyfriend at the time to check it out as he knows his stuff. Seemed like they'd done quite a few quick fixes and we've spent SO much on it (plus I've almost died twice). If it seems too good to be true... it probably is.

Generally buy an old BMW with 150k for peanuts & you will not go wrong, done this twice now at 298k and happy.

[cdcdoc]

I have not started this thread to hear "shouldnt you have...bla bla bla". I know where I was wrong and it is not that I do not like to hear again my stupid mistakes . Everything went fast and instead of looking at the paper I took his word for it that the MFK was done in 2009. It was actually 2005
I went to Ford. It is something wrong with the car because the tires get used more on half of the tire. He was telling me that he checked and there is nothing wrong with the car but it is the type of the tire. He said that I should go the next day to put the winter ones and everything should be fine. I did go. But Ford told me that they would not let me drive out of the garage with the winter tires and even with the summer ones. Both sets were too old. And they proved it. The next day the seller went awol...
Now...I could have...I should have...like I said...it is not my purpose. A guy was complaining about too many questions on EF even though it is a good price.
But do not do what I did. Ask questions. As many as you can. Have everything checked because even though EF it is one of the greatest things in CH...that does not mean that there are not people that take advantage of this...

	Quote:	rob1
	sounds can be just tyres... If the tyres are hard because of age or have low tread it can cause sounds like worn wheel bearings also. What do you need to have fixed? If you went to a ford garage and said fix this then you will have high prices.. there are plenty of other options. For the MFK you have a stamp on the registration document so can see if it has been done or not, has the abgas test been done also?

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:	cdcdoc
	Everything went fast and instead of looking at the paper I took his word for it that the MFK was done in 2009. It was actually 2005 .

135k on a Ford, will need a waterpump & cambelt NOW if it's not been done. Always check that the MFK is done, without the car is worth way less than 5k

[Kamarate]

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	Generally buy an old BMW with 150k for peanuts & you will not go wrong, done this twice now at 298k and happy.

Hmm... maybe it's a different case if you buy a Daewoo Matiz.

[rob1]

if tyres are wearing in an uneven pattern then you need to have the cars suspension geometry adjusted.. not a big job at all, in germany its about 80 euro , in CH about 150-200ch.

The tyres will have a manufacture date on the side wall usually a 4 digit number eg 2809 28th week of 2009. There is no legal "de date/ not allowed to be used after" for tyres, they however do age and go hard.

the ford dealer is taking you for a ride i they are charging more than 2000 chf for tyres and alignment, unless there is a lot of things that need to be done.

Be sure to make a difference between must and nice to have jobs.

the alignment can also be due to suspension damage but that can be rectified for a fraction of the main dealer cost.

[magic]

Caveat emptor as the saying goes. I am sure many people including myself have made the same mistake.

I try and go with my intuition on these things, but if it is a lot of money to me, then I spend more time to think about things than when I was younger.

We live and learn and I am sure you will never hear from the former EF member, just chalk it up to experience and at least your story is here for others to learn by.

Hope after a bit of cash and some TLC the car works out to give you some trouble free motoring.

[ecb]

	Quote:	cdcdoc
	I have not started this thread to hear "shouldnt you have...bla bla bla". I know where I was wrong and it is not that I do not like to hear again my stupid mistakes . Everything went fast and instead of looking at the paper I took his word for it that the MFK was done in 2009. It was actually 2005 I went to Ford. It is something wrong with the car because the tires get used more on half of the tire. He was telling me that he checked and there is nothing wrong with the car but it is the type of the tire. He said that I should go the next day to put the winter ones and everything should be fine. I did go. But Ford told me that they would not let me drive out of the garage with the winter tires and even with the summer ones. Both sets were too old. And they proved it. The next day the seller went awol... Now...I could have...I should have...like I said...it is not my purpose. A guy was complaining about too many questions on EF even though it is a good price. But do not do what I did. Ask questions. As many as you can. Have everything checked because even though EF it is one of the greatest things in CH...that does not mean that there are not people that take advantage of this...

I understand and sympathise. You know what you should have done and we've all been in that situation ... wise after the event.

I've sold a lot of things on various expat websites (including this one) and only ever had thanks and lovely emails saying how great the stuff is; even pictures of their little ones wearing/playing with the stuff. So it came as a huge surprise to me when a couple of weeks ago I had a less than happy experience with buying furniture. But its easier to put that out of mind than a car which cost a lot of money and which you now have to spend more on to get right.

And out and out lying about the age or dates of things is, for me, inexcusable.

[fatmanfilms]

	Quote:	Kamarate
	Hmm... maybe it's a different case if you buy a Daewoo Matiz.

I have no idea how easy it is to Fix a Doewoo Maitz, & I expect the parts are really expensive. I get the BMW parts in the UK , oil filter £4 for example, & there is loads of space! Changed the oil yesterday in the Street in France, nothing more to do for the next 12K . It's just petrol & oil, then air filter & plugs every 48k. DONT GO TO A MAIN DEALER!

[V__]

The uneven tire thread could also mean that the suspension is giving up or it was damaged by hitting low barrier with the rims with high speed... Check if there is any leak behind the wheels and if there are bumps on the rims. Cars with suspension like this should be avoided at all costs. Feel sorry for your situation, but it is not legal for the owner to hide and not mention that kind of damage/future repairs on the car.

Personally, I really don't think that the suspension needs just realignment, but if you try to fix it, take it to Germany and have it repaired there.

[Kamarate]

	Quote:	fatmanfilms
	I have no idea how easy it is to Fix a Doewoo Maitz, & I expect the parts are really expensive. I get the BMW parts in the UK , oil filter £4 for example, & there is loads of space! Changed the oil yesterday in the Street in France, nothing more to do for the next 12K . It's just petrol & oil, then air filter & plugs every 48k. DONT GO TO A MAIN DEALER!

Parts are very expensive (in the UK, I mean). Wouldn't recommend it for that reason, but it's actually quite a nice little car to drive.

[rob1]

CDCDOC: Can you please send me a pic of the worn tyres or post it on here...

Would i be correct the tyres are wearing on the inside edge?

[cdcdoc]

Thanks for the help but I got winter tires at the Ford garage. If I remember correctly it was on the inside.
I would rather not discuss it more here...not the purpose. I am pursuing the legal aspect on other channels but I need to do it right...

	Quote:	rob1
	CDCDOC: Can you please send me a pic of the worn tyres or post it on here... Would i be correct the tyres are wearing on the inside edge?

[MusicChick]

Thanks for the feedback, makes people more careful.