As the title suggest, curious if anyone else has that one memorable car purchase they later came to regret.
I'll volunteer to go first, and hope - as bad as this is to admit - that I'm not the only one who's ever had a bad case of buyer's remorse (pinch your nose, this is one is awful):
Mine happened when I was in need of a replacement DD and had no other transportation. I initially was looking to short term finance a $2,000 Mazda Protege that was an awesome buy at the price (I had to short-term finance because I didn't have 2k in throwaway cash at the time, as it was also a time when things were very tight economically - the interest rate was favorable though), and that I got word of through a friend of the seller.
Anyway the deal fell through when it went from 2k to 3k. Meanwhile the financing also ran into an unexpected delay, and I was getting increasingly impatient.
I saw a $500 '97 Protege on our equivalent of CL, which I could float with cash, called the seller and arranged a time to look at it.
First mistake: it was dark out, and the neighborhood poorly lit, but I looked it over anyway and didn't see anything amiss.
Second mistake: the owner stated the car was no longer insured, and couldn't be test driven; he did volunteer to take it for a short spin up the street, and I rode along in the passenger seat.
Third mistake: the car was second owner (at least) with no documentation and vague replies on its service history. Consistent throughout, I ignored my gut.
At this point my instinct is screaming pass, but I'm impatient by this point, and its $500 - how bad could it be? Besides that, I rationalized, even though I hadn't driven it, I'd looked it over and ridden along and nothing seemed amiss. So I paid the $500 and drove it away.
The next day, the light of day revealed the cancer I'd have seen if I looked at it during the day. Nothing terribly noticeable on the body, if you're not looking for it (or not looking at it in the light of day), but easily spotted when you are looking for it in daylight.
Here an inspection is mandatory and done by the buyer after the sale, before it can be registered and insured. This is where dishonest garages make a killing. I decided to go ahead and have it inspected anyway, then go from there.
I'd asked around and gotten a couple referrals to a shop owned by a good mechanic who I was told was honest. What the people who were making the referrals hadn't told me, because they didn't know and I didn't find out until much later, was that it had been bought out 6 months prior by a pair of the worst scam artists in the city. That was where the inspection was done.
At this point the financing had also come through, and when they came back with an estimate that was more than what I paid for the car, I didn't blink (4th mistake) - these guys were honest and did good work (or so I was unintentionally misled to believe). It was "nothing major" (the cancer) "just a few spots they could take care of", and all would be kosher after.
Having given the go ahead on an already bad decision, it got worse when the actual inspection & repair bill came back well over the initial estimate. They had a good explanation as to why, and though really kicking myself in the rear, I went ahead and paid it and drove it away.
Fifth mistake: first winter it sees I hit a piece of ice that ruptures the oil pan. No catastrophic oil loss, but the shop I take it to (different one this time) offers to band aid patch it for about $80, or replace it for $330. I opt on the latter (final mistake).
I take it home, can smell oil burning, and bring it back the next day. "Whoops! we used the wrong gaskets, fixed, no charge (of course)."
No more burning oil smell, but it continues to leak oil - unknown to me - and naturally this is worse at highway speeds when the oil is thinnest. Barely a week later on the highway the oil light flashes and a second later (before I could even react) the car throws a rod and the engine is toast. I check the oil and the stick is dry as a bone. Refill the sump and creep along on its still functional 3 remaining cylinders, billowing massive clouds of blue smoke behind me to the nearest garage where I have it sent to the crusher (no charge - my first break LOL).
I let haste over ride my gut instinct. Even after buying it I could have resold it and cut my losses (even if I got peanuts for it I'd have been better off than the course I opted for instead). From there it got worse: flush with cash from the financing intended for the original purchase, I spent a big chunk of it instead on the repairs to make it legal, and the second repair that ended it. The need to validate my decision to buy it as "the correct one," combined with a lot of other carp going on in my personal life at the time, led me to just throw money at it as my focus at the time was elsewhere.
I actually considered it a kind of relief when it bit the dust and I sent to the compactor. Even though I lost far too much treasure in the whole affair, I was sort of relieved to be rid of both the reminder and what I knew would be an ongoing PITA.
I thought it over after, realized the mistakes I made along the way (my only bad buy, but it really made for every good deal I'd ever nailed), chalked it up to lessons learned the hard way, and vowed to never repeat them.
That's one for the hall of shame I (sadly) doubt will be topped.
-Spyder
I'll volunteer to go first, and hope - as bad as this is to admit - that I'm not the only one who's ever had a bad case of buyer's remorse (pinch your nose, this is one is awful):
Mine happened when I was in need of a replacement DD and had no other transportation. I initially was looking to short term finance a $2,000 Mazda Protege that was an awesome buy at the price (I had to short-term finance because I didn't have 2k in throwaway cash at the time, as it was also a time when things were very tight economically - the interest rate was favorable though), and that I got word of through a friend of the seller.
Anyway the deal fell through when it went from 2k to 3k. Meanwhile the financing also ran into an unexpected delay, and I was getting increasingly impatient.
I saw a $500 '97 Protege on our equivalent of CL, which I could float with cash, called the seller and arranged a time to look at it.
First mistake: it was dark out, and the neighborhood poorly lit, but I looked it over anyway and didn't see anything amiss.
Second mistake: the owner stated the car was no longer insured, and couldn't be test driven; he did volunteer to take it for a short spin up the street, and I rode along in the passenger seat.
Third mistake: the car was second owner (at least) with no documentation and vague replies on its service history. Consistent throughout, I ignored my gut.
At this point my instinct is screaming pass, but I'm impatient by this point, and its $500 - how bad could it be? Besides that, I rationalized, even though I hadn't driven it, I'd looked it over and ridden along and nothing seemed amiss. So I paid the $500 and drove it away.
The next day, the light of day revealed the cancer I'd have seen if I looked at it during the day. Nothing terribly noticeable on the body, if you're not looking for it (or not looking at it in the light of day), but easily spotted when you are looking for it in daylight.
Here an inspection is mandatory and done by the buyer after the sale, before it can be registered and insured. This is where dishonest garages make a killing. I decided to go ahead and have it inspected anyway, then go from there.
I'd asked around and gotten a couple referrals to a shop owned by a good mechanic who I was told was honest. What the people who were making the referrals hadn't told me, because they didn't know and I didn't find out until much later, was that it had been bought out 6 months prior by a pair of the worst scam artists in the city. That was where the inspection was done.
At this point the financing had also come through, and when they came back with an estimate that was more than what I paid for the car, I didn't blink (4th mistake) - these guys were honest and did good work (or so I was unintentionally misled to believe). It was "nothing major" (the cancer) "just a few spots they could take care of", and all would be kosher after.
Having given the go ahead on an already bad decision, it got worse when the actual inspection & repair bill came back well over the initial estimate. They had a good explanation as to why, and though really kicking myself in the rear, I went ahead and paid it and drove it away.
Fifth mistake: first winter it sees I hit a piece of ice that ruptures the oil pan. No catastrophic oil loss, but the shop I take it to (different one this time) offers to band aid patch it for about $80, or replace it for $330. I opt on the latter (final mistake).
I take it home, can smell oil burning, and bring it back the next day. "Whoops! we used the wrong gaskets, fixed, no charge (of course)."
No more burning oil smell, but it continues to leak oil - unknown to me - and naturally this is worse at highway speeds when the oil is thinnest. Barely a week later on the highway the oil light flashes and a second later (before I could even react) the car throws a rod and the engine is toast. I check the oil and the stick is dry as a bone. Refill the sump and creep along on its still functional 3 remaining cylinders, billowing massive clouds of blue smoke behind me to the nearest garage where I have it sent to the crusher (no charge - my first break LOL).
I let haste over ride my gut instinct. Even after buying it I could have resold it and cut my losses (even if I got peanuts for it I'd have been better off than the course I opted for instead). From there it got worse: flush with cash from the financing intended for the original purchase, I spent a big chunk of it instead on the repairs to make it legal, and the second repair that ended it. The need to validate my decision to buy it as "the correct one," combined with a lot of other carp going on in my personal life at the time, led me to just throw money at it as my focus at the time was elsewhere.
I actually considered it a kind of relief when it bit the dust and I sent to the compactor. Even though I lost far too much treasure in the whole affair, I was sort of relieved to be rid of both the reminder and what I knew would be an ongoing PITA.
I thought it over after, realized the mistakes I made along the way (my only bad buy, but it really made for every good deal I'd ever nailed), chalked it up to lessons learned the hard way, and vowed to never repeat them.
That's one for the hall of shame I (sadly) doubt will be topped.
-Spyder
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