Complaint Review: Lee Borland

I was in search of an affordable collectable El Camino. I found one, or what I thought was one, on Ebay. The vehicle described was one that could be driven and looked very nice in the pictures.

I asked questions on things that weren't listed in the ad and got satisfactory answers. Within minutes of winning the bid the guy e-mailed and congratulated me.

Within a week my El Camino was delivered to me. It did look very nice. It was early evening so I put it in the garage for the night.

The next morning I noticed a puddle of transmission fluid on the floor. I called the person who had it listed on Ebay to let him know but he said it wasn't his problem as he listed it for a friend. He gave me the friend's number. I called him and he said to find out how much to fix it and to not worry.

I got an estimate from a transmission shop about a week later. I called the original owner and told him the price, $526. He then offered me $50 and told me the repair was out of line.

While at the shop and on the hoist the mechanics pointed out other repairs needed. I said that I could not believe that a vehicle with only 72,000 miles could be that bad. He said more like 172,000. The car was advertised with 71,969 miles.

I then set out to verify other things listed in ad. For one that it had a 300hp 327cid engine. After an agonizing weekend with a GM mechanic of over 27 years I found that the motor was more than likely not a 327. All of the numbers that could prove it had been milled off.

I have filed with Square Trade via Ebay and with Ebay's Insurance on passenger vehicles against the person who listed the car but they have been able to do nothing. The guy won't return calls or email from them or from me. All I want is to return the car and get my money back. It most definitley not the car described in the listing.

Allen
Ripon, Wisconsin
U.S.A.