
Angella of Westminster , MD on May 3, 2011
Hello, my name is Angella and I purchased a used Audi 2002 Allwheel Quatrro 6 on eBay on April 19th 2011. I have the listing from the dealership. The listing falsely represented the vehicle in many ways. Ebay's policy states that the seller must list all defects or issues with any product sold on their site. In the middle of filing a dispute with eBay I found out the seller took the listing down before the auction ended because he knew I was going to purchase it. What I did not know is he ended the listing "without" reporting the sale to eBay to avoid the fees that eBay charges. Therefore there is nothing eBay can do as far as protection to me, the buyer. They can give him a violation for not reporting the sale but this does nothing for me regarding that fact I have been ripped off. The listing as I understood completely was an "as is" without warranty sale. However knowing what is wrong with a vehicle before the purchase is why stating the truth in any advertisement is extremely important. I am a 41 year old, disabled mother of two young boys, which the seller/owner of the dealership knew as we discussed the care carefully over the phone before the purchase was made.
The owner Roy ** and his father Sal ** assured me this wagon was an incredible car and had no issues at all, as a matter of fact Roy assured me "his own shop mechanic" has to certify all vehicles before listing them or selling them. He told me there was absolutely nothing "major" wrong with the car. Understand that when buying a used car 2002 with 100k miles on it. I certainly expected some issues, but not what I was about to learn at all. The fact that I was told I was about to buy an extremely wonderful car in great working order was not only false, but an outright lie. I had the wagon shipped from New Jersey as its a 4 hour drive one way, and with being disabled I am only allowed to drive 15- 30 minutes (doctors orders), so the dealership from the start even recommended a transporter for the car, and said they use them all the time. When selling on eBay, its' a nationwide sales tool in which this dealership sells his cars on.
He is new to eBay and only has 90 sales which isn't much. When I contacted eBay, his response to them was "I told Angella to come look at the car before buying". Which is false. I told him I may have my partner drive out to take a look before buying but its doubtful with two children and a disabled woman who would be in chronic pain for 8 hours. So he knew from the start this was "not" an option. His reply to me was we sell cars on eBay a lot and we have no issues, as we transport them all over the country. I had the car shipped and dropped off right away my mechanic who happens to be directly next door to the Maryland inspection station. The mechanic immediately called me when the car was delivered and said, the wheels and tires on this wagon are very damaged, and he said in his option, I would either have to either buy all new wheels and tires, or refurbish the wheels and buy all new tires. He told me he would try to have the wagon inspected the way it was and see what happens.
He also said the car had an oil leak, that oil was dripping out from under the car slowly, and that he would let me know about that as time went on. The owner of the shop (Red Baron Motors) Michael, then took the car to the inspection station. The wagon failed inspection and Michael was correct. Not only were the wheels severely damaged (the CV boot needed to be replaced as well, and all 4 tires were unsafe to drive and failed inspection as well). In the listing on eBay there is no close up pictures of the wheels and tires. The emphasis was on the beauty of the exterior and interior of the vehicle which are incredibly nice. I certainly expected what the Mechanic (Michael **) at Red Baron Motors also told me, such as there are large deep scratches on the sides by the wheels, and in his option the car belonged to a person who parked against a curb, and this is why the wheels as well were so damaged.
I expected him to say there were knobs missing inside (to the navagation system) because of the cars age. Even though this knob was not mentioned and you can only obtain it from Audi's dealership at a cost of $338.00. He told me there was a entire panel missing from the bumper, and the front grate had a missing piece from hitting something. And the antenna was broken off as well as the radio didn't work. I was ok with all of these minor issues, as I said I expected these types of issues with a used car, but certainly not what I was about to face. The cost of the Audi was $6400 that I paid partly through a $300 deposit through Paypal and the rest was wired to the dealerships account. To me this is a lot of money, for a woman who is disabled and doesn't work, and it took a lot of struggle to save it.
I told the owner Roy that I have to stay within my budget and it was important to me that with two young boys I was buying a safe car that will last. He assured me this was the car for me. Once I replaced the wheels (all 4), The CV boot, and tires I was another $1700 in with labor. This was only the beginning. I told Roy I had $7000 tops as my budget and with taxes, title, and tags I was right were I needed to be. I also had to pay $300 to transport the vehicle. So now with the additional $1700 I was way in over my head. I emailed him as the mechanic inspected the car and advised me of the issues that were unfolding. He told me the wheels on that wagon that left this dealership were in good working order and definitely would have passed inspection because my mechanic signed off on the wagon. I said my mechanic knew just by looking at the wheels that they were severely damaged and the tires were bald, and would never pass inspection and he was correct.
Roy's response to me was the Shipping transporter had to steal, or switch the wheels on the wagon. I said, Roy this is an Allwheel Audi A6 and you and I both know (as I researched the car before buying it), these wheels are very specific to this Audi and you cant just switch wheels. He didn't respond. I said what are we going to do about this, and I mentioned my mechanic wasn't even complete with his inspection and there is an oil leak, as oil was dripping out on the shop floor, as well at the inspection station., He said :there wasn't any oil when the car was here at my dealership. Then he said "lets see where you are when the mechanic is finished." Which made me think maybe Roy will do the right thing and view all the bills as well as the failed inspection and pay back some of this. In the meantime, I asked for at least the $300 deposit back to go toward all the wheel and tire expense, he refused. My thoughts were if he can't help out with $300 what was he going to do. While I emailed him through eBay because this is their policy, he would not respond. When he finally did he said "I don't even know you, is this some sort of scam?" This is when I knew he did not report the sale to eBay to get out of paying their fees, and he just ended the sale. Very fraudulent from the start. I finally went down to pick the car up after it passed inspection and all the work was completed with the wheels, the CV boot was replaced as well as all four tires.
The owner at Red Baron Motors was backed up because he only has two days to work on, and my wagon was taking up much more time than anticipated. So Michael asked me to drive it home and see how it ran, and when he slowed down a bit he would furthur investigate the Audi. I drove the Audi home and smelled oil burning, and there is smoke coming out of the hood, then the Check Engine light came on two miles into my 5 mile drive home. So I turned around and the mechanic told me to park the wagon out front all his bays were full with other jobs. He ran a diagnostic check on it, as can only be done he told me once the "Check Engine" light comes on. It came up the Torque Converter was bad. This is a 10-12 hour job which is a huge labor bill, and he hasn't gotten back to me with the price of the part yet. They took off the oil panel and there was old oil stuck on the top of the pan. Michael told me it was a lot of oil and no way this was missed by any mechanic. Michael (my mechanic) told me there was a very large amount of oil under the panel. At this point I cannot drive the Wagon at all, and with these two major issues that have come up the Torque Converter and this large oil leak, I have no idea where we are in dollars. The owner at Red Baron Motors has to get some of the other jobs out of there shop before going into this any further, however he is ordering a new Torque Converter now.
He told me the labor hours on this job would be about 10 hours possibly 12. There is a lot that needs to be taken apart to get to the Torque Converter. He hasn't even begun this oil issue. I am so disappointed and frustrated. This is so wrong to do to a person you spent 2 days with on the phone going through the importance of buying a car in good running condition, as his listing stated. This is so wrong to do to anyone let alone a disabled woman. All the owner, Roy continues to say to me is I have been in business for 25 years, and I sell cars to doctors, and lawyers. I do the right thing and sell good working cars, he said my mechanic said the car was in good working condition. Well my mechanic begs to differ, and says he doesn't understand how any of these issues were not seen at the dealership. This is a disaster. Please help me in anyway you can, as I feel I was totally scammed. If this mans defense is he told me to come see the car, why did he set me up with a shipping company, and most importantly, why is he selling his cars on a Nation Wide internet Site? His explanation makes absolutely no sense at all. I appreciate your time in this manner very much.