KLUTZ
Luke Skywalker

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As some of you know, I was high bidder on what was listed as a 1971 MGB on Ebay, Nov. 26.
Ebay # 4592599401 The link does not want to work for some reason.
The car was only 20 minutes from the house and there were a few things I thought I could use from it for the '71 and the GT. It is described as having the restoration begun by the previous owner... Good I thought.... Has had some work done to it. It looked a little rough in the pictures he posted, but appeared to be sanded down with bondo on places. So, I had my son put in a low bid. Well, it seems the owner dropped his reserve, and I was right at it. (fine, he can do that). I was going to drop over and take a look at the car on Thursday, but a major snow storm came up and it was not possible. I ended up the high bidder and contacted the seller that I would come over yesterday, (Sunday) afternoon to take a look at it. Of course.. Freezing rain, but got there. He took me to the lot next door to his house where there were two big buildings. I thought, great.. stored in a there. But... NO.... he took me over in between the buildings. There was an old Volvo, and the MGB half covered with a blanket and full of snow. He told me that the wind from the storm had blown the "Tarp" off of the car and that is why it was full of snow. I was not impressed. After looking over this :'71 B, I noticed it was a split bumper car, and the front grill was from a pre '70 car. I looked at the VIN on the dash, and it IS a '70, not a '71 like I bid on and was listed as. I told him that and he asked if that would be a problem. He also said the title said '71. I told him I didn't know right then. Anything that was salvageable in the inside of the car was covered in snow, and the rain comming down did not help either. The Carb that looked like a Weber Carb. in the pictures was in fact a Solex Carb, not that he listed it as a Weber though. I think it was from the old Volvo sitting beside it. (it had dual SU's on it) The engine is a 18V as well, so not origional.
I told him I would contact him today regarding pickup. While at work last night I decided that he had not represented this car correctly on his listing and I thought I was bidding on a '71. The fact that the pictures in the listing showed the car in the middle of the parking lot, dry conditions made it seem like it was being stored properly, especially if somone had already begun to restore it. I told him in my Email this morning that he should have contacted all bidders and put an update on the listing mentioning that the car had been filled with rain and snow since the listing went up. I know I would have never even thought about putting in a bid. God knows how many rain storms have filled this poor car.
He said he is going to contact Ebay about getting his listing and sellers fees back and would get back to me. I told him he can contact the next highest bidder, who was only 4 bucks less then mine, and offer it to them. I also told him that it was maybe a $300.00 car after sitting in those conditions, not the $700.00 I would be paying.
So, to all the Ebay Junkies here... Do I have a case here or might I be stuck buying this car? I would hate to tarnish my perfect Ebay record.
Any opinions out there please?
Thanks
Paul
Ebay # 4592599401 The link does not want to work for some reason.
The car was only 20 minutes from the house and there were a few things I thought I could use from it for the '71 and the GT. It is described as having the restoration begun by the previous owner... Good I thought.... Has had some work done to it. It looked a little rough in the pictures he posted, but appeared to be sanded down with bondo on places. So, I had my son put in a low bid. Well, it seems the owner dropped his reserve, and I was right at it. (fine, he can do that). I was going to drop over and take a look at the car on Thursday, but a major snow storm came up and it was not possible. I ended up the high bidder and contacted the seller that I would come over yesterday, (Sunday) afternoon to take a look at it. Of course.. Freezing rain, but got there. He took me to the lot next door to his house where there were two big buildings. I thought, great.. stored in a there. But... NO.... he took me over in between the buildings. There was an old Volvo, and the MGB half covered with a blanket and full of snow. He told me that the wind from the storm had blown the "Tarp" off of the car and that is why it was full of snow. I was not impressed. After looking over this :'71 B, I noticed it was a split bumper car, and the front grill was from a pre '70 car. I looked at the VIN on the dash, and it IS a '70, not a '71 like I bid on and was listed as. I told him that and he asked if that would be a problem. He also said the title said '71. I told him I didn't know right then. Anything that was salvageable in the inside of the car was covered in snow, and the rain comming down did not help either. The Carb that looked like a Weber Carb. in the pictures was in fact a Solex Carb, not that he listed it as a Weber though. I think it was from the old Volvo sitting beside it. (it had dual SU's on it) The engine is a 18V as well, so not origional.
I told him I would contact him today regarding pickup. While at work last night I decided that he had not represented this car correctly on his listing and I thought I was bidding on a '71. The fact that the pictures in the listing showed the car in the middle of the parking lot, dry conditions made it seem like it was being stored properly, especially if somone had already begun to restore it. I told him in my Email this morning that he should have contacted all bidders and put an update on the listing mentioning that the car had been filled with rain and snow since the listing went up. I know I would have never even thought about putting in a bid. God knows how many rain storms have filled this poor car.
He said he is going to contact Ebay about getting his listing and sellers fees back and would get back to me. I told him he can contact the next highest bidder, who was only 4 bucks less then mine, and offer it to them. I also told him that it was maybe a $300.00 car after sitting in those conditions, not the $700.00 I would be paying.
So, to all the Ebay Junkies here... Do I have a case here or might I be stuck buying this car? I would hate to tarnish my perfect Ebay record.
Any opinions out there please?
Thanks
Paul