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You just can't trust anybody on eBay these days


thebelvedereman

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 I finally got the 39 today, and somehow in all the discussion we had about it the gentleman forgot to mention that it leaks antifreeze out of all the freeze plugs out of the radiator out of the water pump, and everywhere else, he forgot to mention that it had a big hole in the gas tank and then the gas pours out just as fast as you pour it in, he forgot to mention that the "brand new" wiring harness that he "installed" was not even a quarter of the way installed, and the stuff that he did why are up is completely wrong, he has wired so when you pull the headlight switch halfway out the tail lights come on, but when you pull it all the way out the tail lights turn off and only the headlights turn on, he told me that this car was a  running driving car, Betty drove to work 10 miles each way every day, it has the original tires from the 30s on the front which are so dry rotted you can poke your fingers through them without even trying, the clutch Chatters so bad you can't even drive it around the block never mind 10 miles each way every day, never mind he would never even make it one mile without overheating and dying with the way the antifreeze pours out almost as fast as you pour it in, I felt a little bad for him when I bought the car because no one else bid on it, and I thought I got a really good deal at $4,000, in all honesty the car is worth about $1,500 in the condition it's in, that's like the third time I got screwed on eBay, sorry about the rant feels good to vent though

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So if the seller misrepresneted the condition of the car then you need to contact ebay since he listed it on ebay and you puchased on ebay with the conditions that you have mentioned were not decribed inthe information about the car.

 

I can only tell from your point of information that he misrepresented the car.

 

Other point is that if you have been taken inother car transactions then I would have thought that you would have gone to look at the car prior to bidding and or after the sale was completed you still have time to back out becasue of the condition that you found the car was different than how it was listed.

 

So as always buyer beware. If you are spending your good hard earned money then spend some time to look at the car prior to taking ownership.  So would you buy a house on a webpage and make the offer without inspecting the home and doing a home inspection?  The same if when purchasing an origianl antique car you need to lookat the car and go over it with a fine tooth comb and then make your offer based on your findings.  I hope thesestatement do not make you even madder but ultimately you were the one that needed to look at the car prior to making the deal a final deal.

 

Rich Hartung

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As you undo all of the car's inadequacies, it will be satisfying.   Frost plugs are relatively easy to install and it is a good opportunity to flush the block.

If the wiring harness is a commercial made one, it can be put right in a couple of days.  Gas tanks are available new.  I would not want to trust an original tank at this late date.

Radiators in these cars are very robust and usually repairable if you find the right shop.

If the tires are that old, it suggests that the car is a low miler.   That it runs at all is a plus.  The clutch is easy to change  .   Not trying to diminish your rightful indignation but it is not a bad specimen  except for the lack of running boards.    Good luck with it.

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54 minutes ago, desoto1939 said:

So if the seller misrepresneted the condition of the car then you need to contact ebay since he listed it on ebay and you puchased on ebay with the conditions that you have mentioned were not decribed inthe information about the car.

 

I can only tell from your point of information that he misrepresented the car.

 

Other point is that if you have been taken inother car transactions then I would have thought that you would have gone to look at the car prior to bidding and or after the sale was completed you still have time to back out becasue of the condition that you found the car was different than how it was listed.

 

So as always buyer beware. If you are spending your good hard earned money then spend some time to look at the car prior to taking ownership.  So would you buy a house on a webpage and make the offer without inspecting the home and doing a home inspection?  The same if when purchasing an origianl antique car you need to lookat the car and go over it with a fine tooth comb and then make your offer based on your findings.  I hope thesestatement do not make you even madder but ultimately you were the one that needed to look at the car prior to making the deal a final deal.

 

Rich Hartung

The problem was I live in New Jersey, and the car was in Utah and there was no way I was going all the way out there to look at it, it is what it is and I'll deal with it

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20 minutes ago, dpollo said:

As you undo all of the car's inadequacies, it will be satisfying.   Frost plugs are relatively easy to install and it is a good opportunity to flush the block.

If the wiring harness is a commercial made one, it can be put right in a couple of days.  Gas tanks are available new.  I would not want to trust an original tank at this late date.

Radiators in these cars are very robust and usually repairable if you find the right shop.

If the tires are that old, it suggests that the car is a low miler.   That it runs at all is a plus.  The clutch is easy to change  .   Not trying to diminish your rightful indignation but it is not a bad specimen  except for the lack of running boards.    Good luck with it.

I'm not sure if the radiator leaks or not, and yes I've done freeze plugs on many of these flat heads before, it seems to be the freeze plugs the water pump and maybe the head gasket, all of which I've done before many times, it is what it is, I was really pissed off because the guys lied flat out about everything on the car, but the body is Rock Solid, and the frame is Rock Solid, and I've always wanted a 39, I've dealt with cars much much worse than this one before, I just felt like venting a little bit, and it has brand new running boards that came with it

Edited by thebelvedereman
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On a positive note,pretty much everything you mentioned would have to be done before you could put it on the road as a reliable driver anyhow,and now you have the car of your dreams,it is paid for,and you can start work on it.

 

Plus,all that stuff and more pretty much has to be done on any old car you buy that has been off the road for a few years. Especially the gas tank,gas lines,and fuel pump. You can buy a brand new gas tank for it for around 230 bucks,and not have to worry about your tank springing a leak and catching the car on fire,or having to come home on a rollback because the gas line is clogged with rust or the fuel pump dumped a load of gas in your crankcase.

 

You might as well go ahead and budget a new/rebuilt water pump while you are at it,too.

 

And new wheel cylinders,brake hoses,master cylinder,and hard brake line. Do it once,do it right,and not have to worry about it.

 

I do understand your frustration,though. Been through it myself. I no longer send anybody any money on any car I buy. If I want it,I go to pick it up and pay them. Like you,I learned my lesson the hard way. My 42 Dodge business coupe that "has no rust holes in it,that's just surface rust you see in the photos" was so bad that the guy I sent to Ct to bring it to me called to ask me if I really wanted it. Not only that,but the trunk full of spare parts that was supposed to be a part of the deal were missing when it showed up,along with the  hubcaps,the distributor,and the carburetor. When I called the seller about that stuff on the phone,he said "Oh,yeah. My son came over here to help me pump the tires uip and move the car around to the front where your guy could load it,and said something about he knew where he could sell all that stuff. I guess he took it." No kidding.

 

The 50 Lincoln I bought from ND that was dent and rust free arrived with a busted windshield and several parts missing from under the hood. The hood was also damaged because whoever stole the stuff didn't close the hood all the way and it broke the windshield and got bent when it flew up. Tried to file an insurance claim against the drivers insurance company,and was told the policy had expired.

 

If I buy it anymore,I go get it. Period. If it is too far for me to go get,I don't buy it.

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The 39 coupe will be nice when you get it running.  I have one, was a real basket case also, probably much worse than yours.  When you determine what all you need make a list and post.  I am starting to go through boxes after a recent move and have some left over parts

Rich

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"You just can't trust anybody on eBay these days''

Unfortunately,that is true and as mentioned, it is better to  transact business  up close  and feel better in the end. :)

 

:(

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Unfortunately that  is true, it is better to transact business up close as mentioned to avoid any disappointment, nothing new, not every seller is trustworthy and long distance transactions are risky...:mellow:

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I  think you could get your money back out of that car should you decide to.  The body and frame are rock solid on a '39...yea they don't make 'em anymore and though Mopars of this era don't bring as much as say a 39 ford they'll only appreciate.  I've always wanted to feel good about what I bought, if I paid  too much that was ok as long as what I bought was what I wanted.  My suggestion,  vent if need be. Take a little time and step back decide if this is a car you want to fix. If it is let the issues go and go at it whole heartedly.  If not the want ads on this forum would be a good place to list it.

    I hope you keep it and fix it, good luck.

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52 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

man what is the problem here...look above the car...it matches the canoe....

What's happening Tim, yeah that's my dad's canoe, he had to have it, got it for nothing,  swore he was going to use it, and it's been hanging there for 4 years, and I'm pretty sure it was broken in half once before he got it, as it has major fiberglass repairs done to it LOL, you know I still got those hubcaps that I bought from you, they're down at my other house in Georgia

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15 minutes ago, Flatie46 said:

I  think you could get your money back out of that car should you decide to.  The body and frame are rock solid on a '39...yea they don't make 'em anymore and though Mopars of this era don't bring as much as say a 39 ford they'll only appreciate.  I've always wanted to feel good about what I bought, if I paid  too much that was ok as long as what I bought was what I wanted.  My suggestion,  vent if need be. Take a little time and step back decide if this is a car you want to fix. If it is let the issues go and go at it whole heartedly.  If not the want ads on this forum would be a good place to list it.

    I hope you keep it and fix it, good luck.

It's definitely a car that I'm going to fix, I wanted a 39 pretty much my whole life just like the one my dad used to race in the early sixties, and I understand the car is 80 years old, but for the guy to just flat out lie straight to my face and tell me the car runs and drives great, and he drove it 10 miles each way every day  right up to the day he listed it on eBay just pisses me off

Edited by thebelvedereman
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Hey is anyone ever used one of those runz voltage reducers on a radio, I know everybody uses them for gauges, but this car has been converted to 12 volts, has all modern gauges in it, but it has the original under-dash 6 volt radio and I'd like to try and use the original radio if I can, I know it's 6 volt positive ground and the car is nail 12 volt negative ground

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If it is an original radio, they are difficult to find and expensive.  Five or six years ago they were selling over $400.  For a power invertor may want to try " Antique Automobile Radio Inc, Palm Harbor Fla.  1-800 -WE FIX AM

Rich C.

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Real nice looking car. In regards to people being honest about selling stuff I fully agree. Ebay deals are mostly a distance thing, if the seller accurately describes the product you can bid accordingly. Understandably being honest doesn’t bring him big dollars and may the flees of a thousand camels infest his bedding for being a dishonest dude. Agree too that it’s always best when spending substantial money to inspect the item but eBay covers a big piece of ground...not always possible. I have had a friend in the location check out the potential purchase, tough sometimes with the shortness of bid time. ‘‘Twas a gamble and you didn’t win big time but you have a pretty cool car that is repairable.

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Rich is right about reporting it to eBay. Try and estimate what repairs need to be done to put the car in line with the sellers description and thru eBay tell him you want that amount refunded. That’s fair. 

But in any event it’s going to make a great looking ride and now the car belongs to you. 

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8 hours ago, Richard Cope said:

If it is an original radio, they are difficult to find and expensive.  Five or six years ago they were selling over $400.  For a power invertor may want to try " Antique Automobile Radio Inc, Palm Harbor Fla.  1-800 -WE FIX AM

Rich C.

I would never sell it, I try to leave all the equipment original whenever it's possible, I just love the sound of those old radios, I actually bought an AM transmitter off of eBay so I can play my MP3 player through original radios, it works kind of like the old time drive-in movies, you tune the radio into a certain station, and it picks up the music through the transmitter, it's really neat I've used it in a few of my cars already, and it only takes a 9-volt battery which lasts a good long time, and we also have an a.m. oldies station locally, and they play some pretty good stuff from the 50s and 60s

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I'm starting to think that my radio is not original, I've looked all over the place and I can't find one that looks like it, everyone that I see for a 38 or 39 Plymouth has the speaker and the radio controls built into one big box, and then just a little control unit that mounts into the dash to change the stations and volume, mine is an under dash unit, it looks original to the car though so it's making me wonder

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Looks like after market stuff. I have a similar style one my uncle had laying around from a mid 30,s Chevy. Without looking it might have been a Zenith or Motorola same detached control and big box under the dash.  Not as fancy. But it is probably period correct for late 30 early 40 stuff.

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2 hours ago, greg g said:

Looks like after market stuff. I have a similar style one my uncle had laying around from a mid 30,s Chevy. Without looking it might have been a Zenith or Motorola same detached control and big box under the dash.  Not as fancy. But it is probably period correct for late 30 early 40 stuff.

This one doesn't have detached control, I think the one that's supposed to be in the car has detached control, the face of this one's pretty small but it grows as it goes back under the dash,  it kind of looks like a 46-48 special deluxe Motorola 802 radio, it's like a big wedge looking thing

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I have a 39 Desoto and the 39 Ply, chrysler,Dodge and Desoto all use the same radio. The radio that you have posted pictures of is a non Mopar radio and is an aftermarket unit.  Inyour dash there is a speaker grill of metal plate inthe middle of the dash . it should be chrome plates and there will be two holes and to vertical cover plates usualyy the plates are wood grained.  The radio fits behind this sectiononthe dahs and there is also n attachment bar that bolts unto the base of the radio to hold in inplace.  There were two styles of anttenas. One that mounted onthe drivers side of the cowel and was on an angle and Not Straight up and down they also had two mounting posts and holes inthe side of the metal cowl.  The other style was under the runningboard and there wer two rods under each board to serve as the antenna. You will see in the instruction roadway and skyway.  The shy way is the exterior antenna and the roadway is the under the running board antenna.  I have the roadway radio and antenna on my 1939 Desoto and it came with the car and was factory installed.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

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I have a factory Accesoory sheets on the 1939 Mopar radios and Antennas. I have acquired a book on the mopar 1938 and 1939 factory Bulletins and also factory Accessories.  These three sheets have been copied and pasted for your information. I also have alot of 1939 Plymouth Dodge, desoto and Chrysler catalogs that have been scanned.

 

Send me you email and I will send you the copies. The files are too large to post on the forum.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

 

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