Last month, I bought a car on e-bay from Hot Ride Motors, disguising themselves as L.A.R.S. Group and "Bob." Although I did not have time to order a professional estimate or to inspect the car in person, I messaged the seller through e-bay to inquire about the condition of the car, a 1982 Mercedes Diesel. The seller informed me via e-bay e-mail that the car was in good condition and had no repairs that would be required any time soon. The car's history was one of "no damage report," "no accident report," so forth. So, I placed the winning bid on the car--as time revealed, more of a loss than a win; and as directed, I sent a quickly cashed check within a few days of winning the auction.
Before picking up the car, I requested a receipt from the seller. The receipt read that the car was not roadworthy, contrary to my anticipations from previous correspondence. I called the seller's agent, Frank Irizarry (I believe), and he insisted that the car was in fact roadworthy and that the receipt meant nothing-- it was a form receipt, which would be re-written when I arrived to pick up the car.
Nevertheless, in person, at pick-up time, Frank refused to re-write the forms; but, still, he insisted that these forms and my signature on them would mean nothing. In actuality, the forms were totally accurate-- the car was not roadworthy. And, my signature on the forms gave him legal validation for selling me an overpriced junker, which, I suppose, is the perfect scam.
The e-bay advertising was obviously purposefully manipulated. Holes in the seat were cropped from the pictures of the seat. The radio was pictured and then removed before pick up. The windshield was cracked. The paint job was poor.
In addition to aesthetic issues, an import car repair specialist gave me a pricing estimate of $2500 in order for the car to pass inspection. The repairs needed include:windshield, front door tint removal, wiper blades, tail pipe broken rear muffler welded on, water pump leaking, brake pedal fade, engine vibrates a lot/ engine mounts, L.S. top ball joint, third stop light out, L.S. head light, R.F. tire wrong size, need new battery (the company had supposedly just put in a new battery).
Car item number: 110465734979
I think that you can just copy this number into the search section of e-bay to view the advertisement for the car that I bought. The seller goes by bibflybob on ebay, also perhaps davidsatir? Not sure about the second one, but the reports of missing radio, so forth are similar.
The seller uses the addresses 1241 E Venango St Philadelphia 19134 (pick up address) and 710 S Smedley Street Philadelphia 19146 (e-bay listing address).
Lesson learned, don't by a car sight unseen on e-bay. And, I'd advise anyone considering doing business with Hot Ride Motors, under any alias, to turn elsewhere; but then again, who knows? Sometimes, you get lucky.
