A guide of the ins and outs, DOs and DONTs...actually I'm just bullshitting. I'm going to bitch about the fucking horrible experience I had buying and then reselling this FUCKED UP car. Pretty decent packaging. Ugly on the inside.
Feb 21st- I had been "shopping" for cars for weeks. I set my sights on a Volvo, initially an XC90 but that was out of my price range. Being ghetto fab...I had a limited budget (thanks to the tax return) to work with. I'd decided to find either an S40, S60, or S80. I found a couple of S80's that looked nice so I set up a time to look at one at 10am. A 2001. I get there to find that the pictures we're very deceptive. I mean, this car was ugly. Everywhere I looked on this thing, it was damaged. I was pissed that the chick selling it wasn't honest. She wasn't even the owner of the car. Plus it was a little more than I wanted to pay. That was obviously not going to work out. So I called this guy Alex about another S80...He is a "broker" who sells cars for people. Well, at least HE is honest about it I think.
It took me all day AND all night to finally get this guy to meet me and show me the car. First thing I notice...it's not the car pictured in the ad.
He explained that he didn't have picture of the actual car so he found some photos online that looked the same.
I should have walked away there. But I got behind the wheel and took it for a drive. I fell for this car. I fell hard and fast. Ten minutes later I'd decided to go to the ATM and get the cash to buy this thing. I threw my checklist out the window. (Well, not really, cause...littering can be fined up to $1000 here in LA. Ha.) On the way home, the check engine light came on. WHAT?
Again, I should have gotten my money back and ran far far away.
Instead...
February 22nd-Take the car to a Volvo specialist. Armenian guy named Sam. I'd looked up his business online and he seemed reputable and fair. He was VERY busy, so he just plugged the car in quickly, pulled the codes and did the cheapest, easiest fix...a new gas cap. The rubber gasket wears out often on these he explains, which causes the car to think there is a leak in the tank or pressure issue or sensor issue. $40 bucks out the door with no labor charge. He says if the light comes back on, it wasn't that...bring it back in to get a diagnosis. Sure enough...the light came back on. Then I also discover a few things...all telling me RUN RUN RUN! First, there is an oil leak. I pretty gnarly one. Ugh. THEN, when I put in the VIN number to get an insurance quote...lo and behold the car is a 1999, NOT a 2000 as listed in the ad. Did I walk away OHHHOHO NO! I was seriously head over heels for this thing. Dirty oil leak and lying about it's age and all.
February 25th-Take the car back to Sam, he tells me there are several leaks. He'll repair it at a discount...$500 as opposed to $650. Ok. I tell him to get the job done. I go and pick it up the next day. He tells me the transmission HAD a leak previously, but that it had been repaired. He repaired the oil leaks, and cleaned the underside of the car of any oil residue to be sure nothing else was coming out. All clear.
February 28th-I'll make this short...Ignition lock busted. FUCK. At this point I'm fed up. I ugly cry and make hubby call Alex. It's not his problem, but he's does agree to help out. He gets the VIN number from me to order the correct part...He orders a new ignition and instructs us to find a shop to have it installed at the lowest price. He'll pay for it all, don't worry!
I DO worry. I'm afraid we'll get it to the shop, have it installed and then he'll bail out and leave us stuck with the bill.
That's pretty much exactly what happened. Almost.
March 4th-Towed to local shop who quoted lowest price for install, just waiting on the part to arrive from the dealership.
March 5th-Part still not arrived, apparently there was an "issue" with payment and part had to be reordered.
March 6th-Part arrives...install completed...Cost is higher than expected because the keys were not programmed...it's
100 per key. Alex refuses to pay that amount because the keys were
supposed to be programmed already. FUCK! I FUCKING TOLD YOU. Hubby blames me for being negative. I want to hurt him. Whatever. Alex says tow the car from shop to dealership the following day so THEY can program the keys. He'll pay for that too. NO WORRIES!
March 7th- Go to shop to have car towed...they won't release car until balance is paid for installation. Um. Ok. Call Alex...he won't pay. Says my husband agreed to pay for it. THEN proceeds to tell me that the car is fucked up because *I* drove it too hard. I had had it for 4 complete days without having it in a shop for diagnosis/repair since I bought it. I call him a crook, tell him I'm suing his ass, pay the fucking bill, get it towed to the dealership and wait for the keys to be programmed. To my surprise he DOES actually pay for THAT. But there's also a busted headlight that needs to be fixed. I pay.
We think hopefully our troubles are finally over....
March 9th- Arrive at a birthday party in a really nice neighborhood. I had JUST commented that I finally feel like I kind of actually belong there because I'm not driving some ghetto ass car. Radiator hose busts a hole and all of the fluid drains onto the ground and pools in the gutter. Thankfully it's in a place that we can just cut off the hole in the hose, reattach it, and fill with water to get us to and auto parts store for actual radiator fluid.
PHEW!
NOT
March 11th-On our way to have dinner, on the highway...TRANSMISSION SERVICE URGENT. I check the fluid, it looks desperately low. I look under the car. Sure enough there is a leak. We pour in 4q quarts and call Sam, the volvo specialist the next day. I break down crying on the phone. We DON'T have any money for diagnosis. He says he'll look at it for free.
March 12th-I go to pick up the car and get the bad news. First thing Sam says...SELL THIS CAR. It's a bad solenoid but he's seen this problem over and over and replacing the solenoid doesn't fix it. Best thing is to rebuild the transmission...for about $2400. Ugly cry again. He tells me he'll help me, when I go to sell the car, bring it by and he'll reset the codes. I need to get the smog done to complete the transfer of title, and get the registration done. He tells me to take it to a smog shop down the street...he'll even pay the test fee for me and I can pay him later. I do take it to the shop, they wont even run the test. The check engine light was on and it will likely fail. Sam advises me to sell anyway, without the smog.
March 14th- We go to the farmers market, tell our "apple man" about our troubles...he says that in California, when someone sells a car that wont pass smog, they are responsible for the repairs needed to make it pass smog.
March 18th- Alex says to take car to shop to get an estimate for repairs. Again, no money! He gets sassy and refuses to pay the diagnostic fee. Ends up saying he'll give $200 and call it even or sell the car again. We settle to take $3100 when HE resells the car.
We had several people look at the car. One of the guys works on Volvo's as a hobby, he gives the car a BIG thumbs down. The car ended up selling for $3250 and Alex being so kind says I can keep it all because he "feels bad" about all the trouble we had with it and it's the least he could do. UGH. EWW.
I originally planned to take this asshole to court, even though I did recoup the cost of the car plus $250...but now I'm not so sure I want to waste ANY more time and energy on this asshole. I really loathe this man and the thought of having to listen to his shit in a courtroom makes me want to hurl.
I am once again without a vehicle, and I'm not even bitter about it. I'm a little relieved to be honest. It SUCKS not having a car but I'd rather be without than have a car that could completely fail me at any moment.
There is no moral to this story. Like I said. I just wanted to bitch. Hope you enjoyed the ride.
