Fantastic test drive adventure! WARNING: Long read!
vboy127
Band Wagon
Hey guys. So I stumbled upon an online classified for a 1988 4wd wagon recently. Decently priced, about $1500, 151k original miles, manual trans, and pretty well off exterior (well off for a Utah car anyway). I was pretty excited to possibly pick it up for a winter beater/ daily driver. Possibly swap in a DOHC ZC.
Anyway, so about the dealer that is selling it. When I first stopped by the place it was super shady. Really "ghetto-ish" type of neighborhood. So I was a bit concerned, but hey, it's for a decent deal on a wagon, maybe it's not so bad. I walk in and start talking to the dealer and he takes me into the garage where the wagon is sitting high on some jackstands, the trans is sitting on the floor and one of the axles is out. He tells me they're replacing the clutch and an axle and won't be able to be test driven for a couple days. So I think, alright, well I'll just wait for a bit and call him in a couple days to see if it's finished. About a week and a half goes by and he tells me the car still isn't fixed yet. His reason was that his mechanic had to leave for emergency reason, "family issue" as he put it. Ok, understandable. I continue to stay in touch with him until just yesterday when he called and told me the car was finally done. So I head down to the dealer for a test drive:
The car in terms of exterior looked good. No real major dents, some small rust spots here and there but all in all good. I then check all the doors. The front doors worked fine, BUT the two back doors didn't open at all, the locks appeared to be in the 'locked' position and were snapped off to the point where they could not be pulled back up again. No working back doors, ok, not a huge issue, since I usually only drive by myself or with my girlfriend (who was with me for the test drive btw). I then try to pop the hood to check the oil and everything else overall under there, pull the hood latch, nothing happens... sigh, the hood doesn't open. I also check the gas door latch... that doesn't open either. ah, ok, whatever, lets just go for a drive. So my girlfriend and I hop in for a test drive. First few things I initially notice; as a start moving along everytime I shifted to another gear and release the clutch there'd be a loud pop from the back (like the rear diff is engaging??) Also, there was this strange whurring noise coming from the trans. Anyway, the car ran decently for a while and I decided to take it onto the highway to see how it could handle it. So I cruised around on the highway at about 65 mph. A couple minutes pass and the car begins to choke. My foot is on the throttle, but the car just continues to deccelerate. Here I am, on the highway, and this car is dying. I quickly and carefully pull off onto the side of the road and turn off the car. I turn it back on and the motor lives just long enough to get us off the highway. I then have to push the wagon while my gf steers it into a neighborhood street where we park safely.
After I called the dealer to let him know that his car died on us, I sat there trying to figure out what went wrong. I take a closer look at the gauges and come to realize... the car ran out of fuel!!!! What sort of dealer lets his customers test drive his cars without any fuel?!? I thought this was absolutely ridiculous. So we wait until the dealer arrives and I tell him it was out of fuel. He doesn't say much, and just goes to bring some gas in one of those red tanks. He forces the gas door open and empties the fuel into the car and I try to start it, doesn't start. We try a couple more times and it still doesn't start. He then blames me for leaving the lights on, hence the car not starting... I left the lights on for about five minutes... is this really enough to drain the battery?? We wait a few more minutes and try again and the car finally starts. I follow him back to the dealership and give him back the keys. He then stands there, stares at me and asks.... "So, what do you think?"... lol, at that point I really didn't know what to say. I just told him I'd think about it and that I'd stay in contact.
So pretty much, if you read the whole thing I've got some questions for you guys. Is this wagon worth it? Btw, he changed the price to about $1800 due to the repairs. What about the popping from the back? Should I just forget about this wagon due to the shady dealer?? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
Cliffnotes:
-Interested in a wagon for sale by dealer
-Dealer seems like a shady guy
-Car has a bunch of little issues
-Car stalled out on the highway during test drive cuz dealer forgot to put gas in the car
-Is this car worth all the trouble?
Any opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
Anyway, so about the dealer that is selling it. When I first stopped by the place it was super shady. Really "ghetto-ish" type of neighborhood. So I was a bit concerned, but hey, it's for a decent deal on a wagon, maybe it's not so bad. I walk in and start talking to the dealer and he takes me into the garage where the wagon is sitting high on some jackstands, the trans is sitting on the floor and one of the axles is out. He tells me they're replacing the clutch and an axle and won't be able to be test driven for a couple days. So I think, alright, well I'll just wait for a bit and call him in a couple days to see if it's finished. About a week and a half goes by and he tells me the car still isn't fixed yet. His reason was that his mechanic had to leave for emergency reason, "family issue" as he put it. Ok, understandable. I continue to stay in touch with him until just yesterday when he called and told me the car was finally done. So I head down to the dealer for a test drive:
The car in terms of exterior looked good. No real major dents, some small rust spots here and there but all in all good. I then check all the doors. The front doors worked fine, BUT the two back doors didn't open at all, the locks appeared to be in the 'locked' position and were snapped off to the point where they could not be pulled back up again. No working back doors, ok, not a huge issue, since I usually only drive by myself or with my girlfriend (who was with me for the test drive btw). I then try to pop the hood to check the oil and everything else overall under there, pull the hood latch, nothing happens... sigh, the hood doesn't open. I also check the gas door latch... that doesn't open either. ah, ok, whatever, lets just go for a drive. So my girlfriend and I hop in for a test drive. First few things I initially notice; as a start moving along everytime I shifted to another gear and release the clutch there'd be a loud pop from the back (like the rear diff is engaging??) Also, there was this strange whurring noise coming from the trans. Anyway, the car ran decently for a while and I decided to take it onto the highway to see how it could handle it. So I cruised around on the highway at about 65 mph. A couple minutes pass and the car begins to choke. My foot is on the throttle, but the car just continues to deccelerate. Here I am, on the highway, and this car is dying. I quickly and carefully pull off onto the side of the road and turn off the car. I turn it back on and the motor lives just long enough to get us off the highway. I then have to push the wagon while my gf steers it into a neighborhood street where we park safely.
After I called the dealer to let him know that his car died on us, I sat there trying to figure out what went wrong. I take a closer look at the gauges and come to realize... the car ran out of fuel!!!! What sort of dealer lets his customers test drive his cars without any fuel?!? I thought this was absolutely ridiculous. So we wait until the dealer arrives and I tell him it was out of fuel. He doesn't say much, and just goes to bring some gas in one of those red tanks. He forces the gas door open and empties the fuel into the car and I try to start it, doesn't start. We try a couple more times and it still doesn't start. He then blames me for leaving the lights on, hence the car not starting... I left the lights on for about five minutes... is this really enough to drain the battery?? We wait a few more minutes and try again and the car finally starts. I follow him back to the dealership and give him back the keys. He then stands there, stares at me and asks.... "So, what do you think?"... lol, at that point I really didn't know what to say. I just told him I'd think about it and that I'd stay in contact.
So pretty much, if you read the whole thing I've got some questions for you guys. Is this wagon worth it? Btw, he changed the price to about $1800 due to the repairs. What about the popping from the back? Should I just forget about this wagon due to the shady dealer?? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
Cliffnotes:
-Interested in a wagon for sale by dealer
-Dealer seems like a shady guy
-Car has a bunch of little issues
-Car stalled out on the highway during test drive cuz dealer forgot to put gas in the car
-Is this car worth all the trouble?
Any opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!
Comments
car dealers could have the weirdest excuses to hide ...
tampering a car...