Amen to that, I recently bought a 1966
LeBaron that was fully submerged underwater for two hours. If I had not saved
it I am convinced that it would have been in a demo derby, but the incredibly straight
Texas body,
excellent original leather interior and completeness sold me. Somebody had to
save this car and it had to be me, who else would? Old cars educate me through
frustration and expenditure; then again I am the only guy in San Antonio with a 1966 Imperial
LeBaron. It is worth it to be unique.
-----Original Message-----
From:
mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of richard burgess
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 7:35
PM
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IML: Bad deals, words
of support
I, for one, know it is difficult to move on when you
feel like you have made a mistake in the purchase of a vehicle. Old cars
just always seem to create stress and heartache at some point in time no matter
what the circumstances. However, Live, learn, and regret is no way to
enjoy a vehicle. I spent "too much" on both my '60 Imperials,
but recouping time, effort, and money was never the goal. The goal has to
be finding a car you like and enjoy restoring/driving. It makes no
sense, but I have enjoyed toiling away on my LeBaron, despite feeling I had
"better" things to do with my time. My purchases did not
involve tremendous amounts of cash, unlike my restoration!
However, misrepresentation of a vehicle always leaves a bad taste in your
mouth, nobody wants to feel the fool. I applaud Melissa and her
efforts to find Eric a car. What a great wife Eric has!
There are always better cars that will come
along and I kick myself for having bought what I did. However,
certain cars seem to seek us out begging for salvation from neglect.
Neglected cars need love the most and when you get your car up and running well
it will be all the more sweet. Since it sounds like you are going to
make a go of it I just wanted to voice my support. I always say: "Someone
really needed to save this car, now why did it have to be me............
'60 LeBaron
Melissa Swenson
<emswenson@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have received several negative
responses, both on the club list, and more so on my personal email about
the choices and decisions we made when purchasing our car. Eric and
I especially, both realize the mistakes we made during this process.
However, by writing my warning to the club I was not asking for the negative
feedback, but just wanting to help prevent somebody from making the same
mistakes.
I have been doing some research on
Country Classic Cars, and the more I dig, the more complaints I have found,
including 2 at the Better Business Bureau in the last 36 months. I am
pretty positive that this dealership is extremely dishonest, (more so than
most) with no concern for the consumer. I am not trying to bad mouth
someone because I screwed up. I simply don't want anyone else to have the
same experience their as we have.
Eric and I will move on, and fix up
our car to the degree that it was supposed to arrive. But that doesn't
mean I am going to let them get away with what they did, only to rip off the
next guy.
So thanks for the tips, and the nice
words to get us motivated to get our Imperial drivable. And just know
that we realize the mistakes we have made. Believe me, we won't be doing
that again:)
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday,
June 21, 2004 4:09 PM
Friends:
I cannot fathom anyone buying a car close to 40 years old without looking at it
PERSONALLY and DRIVING it. There is simply no substitute for an up close,
first-hand examination of the vehicle and a good test drive. If the trip to see
the car seems too expensive, then wait until a suitable vehicle closer and more
convenient surfaces. All sorts of vehicles, including Imperials, come on the
market.
Melissa should have sensed the storm flags flying on this particular car from
the outset. When she first raised the notion of the purchase, she low-balled
what she was willing to spend. Then she and her husband went after a car that
was close to her budget and expected to get a first-rate vehicle at a bargain
price. When trashing the dealer in her e-mail, she pointed out that the vehicle
they bought had sat at the dealers a long time. Hey! Cars like this in f!
irst-rate condition and close to budget prices don't sit around on lots for a
long time. There had to be serious flaws with the car for it not to sell. One
of life's simple lessons is that Real Bargains don't sit around unsold for
long.
None of this excuses the dealer's actions. But it still takes two to make a car
sale. Rather than venting spleen and rancor over this most unfortunate incident
and writing to everybody under the sun and suing everybody else, my advice
would be to learn from the school of hard knocks and move on. There are
unscrupulous people in every profession; there are unscrupulous salespeople
selling virtually everything. The point is not to be gullible and not to set
yourself up to be a victim.
The important thing is that Eric and Melissa have their Imperial and can fix it
up and make it the dream car that they sought originally. This will take time
and patience, but there can be a great deal of pleasure and sense of
accomplishment in such an undertaking.
The school of hard knocks is a tough one, but the lessons learned there can be
highly beneficial in every walk of life.
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