Complaint Review: Car Cheer

Car Cheer also sells cars on e-Bay using the name Europa Online.  In my case, the putative owner, "Dave" advertised a mint condition, garage kept, BMW 328i convertible.  The e-Bay ad included multiple pictures, but the pictures strategically left out cosmetic imperfections.  More importantly, Dave did not run the sale through e-Bay.  As a result, I lost all e-Bay protections.  That is critical because within 50 miles of leaving the dealership the dash board had "check engine," "ABS," and "traction control" lights all on.  When I called Dave, he gave me a "song and dance" and I believed him until it was too late.  I continued my drive from PA to Virginia, took the car to a trusted mechanic.  The check engine repair found MAF VSS and catalyst malfunction -- which required a new set of catalytic converters and oxgen sensors.  In addition the hood struts were replaced along with MAF sensor and air filter.  The biggest hits were the catalyst at $2664.42, the four O2 sensors at $831.12, and the MAF sensor aat $752.34.  The total bill was $5820.72.  He said the computer codes indicated these were not new problems and the seller must have done something to temporarily trick the computer not to display "check engine."

Meanwhile, the mechanic could not find the cause of the ABS and traction control light being on.  He felt something was amiss, but did not know what. 

I went to get a state vehicle inspection -- and with the catalytic converter fixed it passed the emissions inpection.  It failed safety -- and another problem emerged.  The seat belt light (SRS) did not come on when the engine was started.  So I had a malfunction in the seat belt of the passenger seat along with the ABS/traction control problem.  I took the car to a mechanic who specializes in BMWs and he too was initially confused by the ABS light.  What he found was that "after replacing right rear speed sensor there is still a fault present.  Need to trace wiring. . . . Found someone had taken the right rear ABS speed sensor harness connectgor apart and put a small wire inside the connector to lie to the ABS control unit!  Removed and ABS now functions properly" (after replacement of  right rear speed sensor).

The SRS light was also interesting.  It turns out that the passenger seat occupancy sensor was inoperable as was the seat belt tensioner.  The light began to work only after mechanic fixed another problem.  He described it as follows:  "Someong removed the SRS bulb from the instrument cluster and filled the hole with RTV silicone.  Need to remove instrument cluster and remove RTV/replace bulb.  The second mechanic (investigator in many ways) cost $2887.47.

Finally both mechanics informed me that the rear tires were nearly bald and needed replacement.  The ad had indicated "plenty of tread."  On top of that, when I took the car in to replace the tires, we found the existing tires were mismatched.  I bought four new Michelins for $689.36.

My complaint is that the car was misrepresented as having passed mechanics inspection.  Instead, the wiring had been tampered with to hide the need for over $9000 in repairs. 

I decided to do a Google search on Car Cheer.  I found two reviews on Yelp! with stories similar to mine.  I put a review on Yelp! and heard from another two victims over the next week or two.  However, mysteriously all the negative Yelp! reviews disappeared.  However, a group of Car Cheer victims began communicating by email and our stories were identical in the deception by "Dave" at Car Cheer. 

I am not a nut, just a naive buyer who trusted positive reviews on e-Bay and bought a car sight unseen.  Don't repeat my mistake and those of many others.  Don't buy from Car Cheer.