Bought an R129 unseen - a Cautionary Tale...

[E55BOF]

I picked up my R129 on Monday; well, I say I, but in fact it was a recovery truck. I will explain…

(Picture of the car down below, and a question; according to the data sheet the paint code is 199 (SchwarzBlau), but I’m beginning to wonder. Can anyone identify the colour? It’s noticeably lighter than Tanzanite, if that helps.

I agreed to buy this car in June (lovely car, runs beautifully, you will not be disappointed, only faults seat bolster, small rust blemish one wheel arch, crack in rear window but spare pristine hardtop same colour, commercial sale by Trade Car Centre Bradford), after the Ebay sale fell through, and paid 60% of the agreed price as a deposit (Mug? Oooooooh yes – but read on), but due to my personal circumstances was not ready to collect it until late August. In the meantime, I arranged for the engine wiring loom to be checked; yes, eco-junk decomposing wiring, so asked the Tw4t with whom I dealt to send it to Sileck in Kent to have it rebuilt. It took him five weeks to do it. An omen?

He’s a hard man to contact – several calls before I get a reply. Another omen?

Wiring loom on by 12 October; ‘still a slight misfire’, but he would have the plugs changed. Fair enough; I took new distributor caps and rotors up with me, just in case. I told him that I would come up on Monday morning (19 October) to take the car and drive home, and to have it ready for me.

The car was in Bradford. Up well before crack of sparrows (coffee to be drunk, dogs to be walked, etc. before taxi to Heathrow), 0800 flight up to Leeds/Bradford, landed 0900-ish. Ring him; ‘running a bit late, should be there by ten’. Taxi arrived as ordered 0930, road accident holding up traffic on the way into Bradford, twenty-minute journey takes nearly an hour (yet another omen?), at the car by 10:25 (rundown part of Bradford – Barnard Road in East Bowling, if anybody knows it; old buildings, backstreet garage, small MoT test station, used tyre sales place, skip lorry park/office). Car parked between two single-story brick sheds, three months’ dust on it, badly scratched bonnet, three tyres flat (one of them half off the rim…), no sign of him. Turns up five minutes later; battery dead flat, can’t get into boot. Borrows battery booster from MoT station, opens boot, booster on battery, eventually gets car firing on at least five cylinders (most of the time). Creep it (mostly me and passers-by pushing, really) across road to MoT/tyre place to pump up tyres, change the one half off rim. He now tells me, when asked, that he’s parted from (more like booted out, I reckon) Trade Car Centre, so is now a private sale. He sees I’m really REALLY hacked off, offers refund ‘by bank transfer’. (Yeah, right; if I go away now I’ll never see a penny, or the car, again). Now 11:15; he says must go, back very soon. I say “look, I’ve flown up here to pick up the car, and it’s not even roadworthy”; ‘sorry, you’ll just have to wait, I’ll be back soon’, and off he goes. Eternally hopefull, I set to to change the distributor caps and rotor arms to see what happens.

I haven’t paid the balance yet, by the way.

Text from him 11:58: ‘I’ve got to drop my wife off in Leeds I’ll be back asap mate’ (Thinks: “I’m not your mate, you tw4t, and I’m very p1ssed off indeed. All I really want to do is punch your face and get my money back, and I’m not sure I wouldn’t just settle for the punching bit right now…”).

13:06; ring his mobile; no answer, so leave message (“WTF is going on? Call me”). Car runs – lumpily – at fast idle for 2-3 minutes, then cuts out; turns over, but only slight splutter. Fuel warning light on (always has been – typical generic dodgy dealer behaviour), so get lift to petrol station, buy 10 litres fuel, put in tank. Light goes out, car starts, Hurrah! (at least five pots nearly all the time, often six/ seven, maybe eight, above about 1500 rpm. Still won’t idle, though). After 2-3 minutes at fast idle, cuts out again.

15:00 Still no contact from him. Think “sod this for game of soldiers, I’m going home”. Ring recovery service.

17:00 hrs. Car on back of truck. STILL no contact from him. 17:01 onwards: Shake dust of Bradford from shoes, vow never to go back.

Late on Tuesday, he sends text and leaves message on answerphone. Rings again today (I’m out); ‘What’s going on? Call me.’

Earlier today, message sent to his eBay account: “No more chit-chat, in writing from now on, text/send me email address and I’ll get back to you”. Left same voicemail message on his mobile.

I’m waiting to hear from him. Strangely enough, now that I have the car, and owe him money, his comms are much improved; funny that…

The car now sits in my drive. I put a new battery in today, but the situation is unchanged; the car starts, runs lumpily (at least five pots nearly all the time, often six/ seven, maybe eight) above about 1500 rpm. After 2-3 minutes of that, it cuts out and will not restart. If I leave it till it’s cooled, it does it all over again. I’ll start another thread for that.

If I had walked away without the car, on the strength of his promise to make a refund by bank transfer, I’m pretty much certain that I’d never have got a penny back, nor the car ever fixed and ready for me to go and collect it. Does anyone disagree?

STOP PRESS - He just called, full of apologies, and says we’ll sort it out between us once I get the car running right and know how much it’s cost. We’ll see…

 

[E55BOF]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54006&stc=1&d=1445453508

And there it is.

 

[219]

Looks very like the Azurite Blue my Indian built W124 was .

I thought I had a hard time with my R129 but just about there now .

I think you need someone who really knows these cars to do some proper diagnosis before you spend too much ; if its going to need too much , push him for refund while you still have the car .

Do you feel the car as it stands is worth the amount you've paid out so far ?

 

[Charles Morgan]

Looks Azurite (colour code 366)

Blauschwarz would be basically black with a hint of blue

Check the plate in the engine bay for the code - should be on its own towards the front left.

Sorry to hear of tribulations.

 

[flango]

Looks same as mine 366 azurite. Never by a car from Bradford I work there and have never seen so many scammers per square foot. If it says Bradford just give it a miss there are plenty more. A couple of good used prestige cars sales outfits and a few good service garages but rule of thumb Bradford = Dodgy

 

[LTD]

Tread warily.

If you have only paid the (substantial) deposit and then removed the car without completing the transaction then I would think that you 'might' be found to have taken the vehicle without due consent.

Just my 2p worth ...........

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The ratio of dodgy traders in Bradford is very high, it's like the Wild West in places.

Nice looking SL though, I love those wheels.

 

[E55BOF]

Well, I've paid 60%, so I would argue that I merely removed the car for safe keeping with a view to completing the transaction when possible. In the specific circumstances, I doubt the police would be interested in pursuing the matter. Academic anyway, since negotiation continues; I'm not trying to pull a fast one, just avoid having my leg lifted.

Thank you Charles and Pontoneer; I'll check the plate, but it seems it is now Azurite blue in any event.

I think there's a good car in there trying to get out, and I'll try to help it do so. Once the misfire is sorted (I'll start another thread on that) and I can actually drive the thing, I'll have a better idea, but it's encouraging that it has done so few miles since the MoT.

I definitely feel it's worth more than I've paid out so far, but I need to have some idea of what its value is from someone who knows the market, hence my other thread. I'm not saying how much I've paid, to avoid influencing the opinions I get...

 

[Abb]

Looks lovely from a distance....esp on those wheels! I would agree with all the comments about car dealers in Bradford, however there are exceptions!
Earlier this year I purchased a ML from a car dealer in Bradford, namely Mark Troy Car sales, and I couldn't have asked for better service. I would go as far to say it was exceptional!
I do appreciate he is definitely an exception in those neck of the woods, but it does go to show, not all dealers in certain areas are without scruples.

 

[Doodle]

+1 for Azurite blue, without question. Whereabouts are you? Happy to take a look over it and see if I can pick up on anything the last 12 years with mine has taught me.

FYI those jacking point covers for the AMG kit should still be available from Mercedes.

 

[neilrr]

Ummm, haven't you just nicked the bloke's car?

 

[Doodle]

That would be a black and white appraisal of a very grey situation.

 

[John Jones Jr]

It's far from a straightforward sale that's for sure.

Buy unseen.
Major deposit in June and agree to collect in late August.
Get car sent to Kent for inspection while still only a deposit paid (is that correct?).
Collect in October.
Now the car is a private sale as the seller's position has changed since June.
Car removed without the outstanding balance paid (is that correct too?).

My 2p's worth. If you can do a deal with the seller great (I don't see why he would being candid), if not just pay the balance.

 

[Mike Walker]

That is some story for this early in the morning- even Simon at Sileck got an honourable mention! It make my current discussions with a Dealer near to me seem like child's play.

Looks like a lovely car so good luck with sorting it all out. I shall watch the saga unfold with interest.

 

[toddy2]

Sorry to hear your story.

I remember seeing this one when I was searching. Looked rough if the photos, didn't he have two similar ones up for sale at the same time - was this the better one?

 

[E55BOF]

Yes, I've nicked his car; but only if your definition of 'nicked' includes paying 60% of the asking price, keeping in touch with the vendor so he knows where to find me, and continuing negotiations for the balance...

Doodle, thank you very much for that piece of info; I'd assumed they would be in one of the bins on the top shelf, next to the hens' teeth, the horsefeathers and the rocking-horse droppings... I'm near Beaconsfield. If it's doable, I may very well take you up on your kind offer. My son is coming down over the weekend, so we'll get the hardtop off and see what horrors are revealed when I raise the hood, and I'll see if I can get a lead on the misfiring with someone to sit in the car and work the throttle.

John, no, the car didn't go to Kent; just the wiring loom did.

If the valuation of the car turns out to be such that paying the balance is fair, that's what I'll do. If not, we'll see...

The seller will do a deal with me because

a) he's a scrote who still thinks he can carry on taking me for a mug;

b) the car is 200 miles away, and I won't pay for it to be taken back in the unlikely event that becomes necessary;

c) I'm his only hope of getting anything like the asking price;

d) if he insists on getting it back, I'll put his old knackered bits back on; and

e) because subject to getting it running and driving it, I want to keep the car and pay a fair price for it.

Yes, Toddy, this is the second one; his other one is a pukka AMG version, and worth £15K (according to him...). It didn't look rough to me in the photos, though; the one above is actually from the eBay ad.

 

[neilrr]

I go into Tesco.

I see a lovely big joint of prime beef priced at £20. "Perfect" thinks I, "that's Sunday's roast sorted."

I proceed to the checkout & discover I have only £12 on me. I give this to the cashier, say I'll be in touch regarding the balance & exit the store.

Security guards stop me as I leave.

I'm astounded.

BTW, why 60% deposit?

 

[Doodle]

Yes, I was quite surprised to find that some AMG parts are surprisingly bountiful. When I ordered my spares about 3 years back, they had something like 250-odd of the front bumper badges in the warehouse in Germany!

Beaconsfield isn't far, so that shouldn't be a problem. Will PM you a contact number to arrange.

 

[Doodle]

I go into Tesco.

I see a lovely big joint of prime beef priced at £20. "Perfect" thinks I, "that's Sunday's roast sorted."

I proceed to the checkout & discover I have only £12 on me. I give this to the cashier, say I'll be in touch regarding the balance & exit the store.

Security guards stop me as I leave.

I'm astounded.

Or more accurately:

Having paid a 60% deposit, you've arranged with Tesco to come and collect your beef joint, and arrive to find that the joint is still attached to the entire cow, and you can't actually take it yet.
You then have to spend the entire day wandering around the store while they try to sort this out, and when a piece of meat finally appears with your name on it you discover it wasn't actually cow, but a horse in a cow costume and you didn't get the beef joint you were expecting and had agreed to after all.

 

[neilrr]

If you are seeking accuracy why leave out the bit where he takes it away?

I think you'll find that's the going to be the important bit.