In a message dated 12/17/2003 12:20:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ralittle2@mindspring.com writes:
> I figured that someone on this list might know of the car, shoot, might
> even
> be the owner. So, if you've got anything good, bad or ugly to report of
> this car, will you drop me a private email. And remember, you will be
doing
> this poor soul a favor as he does need a Triumph.
Along these lines, when my son and I were looking for a TR4 this past Summer,
we also bought an eBay car. Rather than buying blind and placing our faith
in the seller (which proved to be fine, in this case), we sought help from
strangers of the best sort. In our case, we were contemplating a car in Iowa
and
we live in Michigan.
Our resource proved to be the Team.net Triumph site. On the site is a link
to a list of Triumph owners across the country (U.S.) who expressed
willingness
to shop for others who were looking for a Triumph in an area out of their
home territory. To make a long story short, I contacted the member closest to
the seller and he very helpfully agreed to spend a good part of his Sunday
looking at a car on behalf of a complete stranger (me).
In the meantime I had proposed this "approval" to the seller. We struck a
fair bargain, predicated on the proposition that the car would pass muster
with
the volunteer from Des Moines. Everything was agreed, seller and inspector
were introduced via the miracle of e-mail, and the necessary appointments,
visits, and phone calls were exchanged. I'll be honest, it wasn't quite like
the
pins-and-needles of waiting outside the delivery room when the kids were born,
but it was certainly a suspenseful evening as I anticipated the calls from
both seller and inspector.
Well, as Pa often said in Little House on the Prairie, "All's well that ends
well." I got a good report on the inspection and completed the deal. I'm
again a Triumph owner after two decades in the new car wilderness. I won't go
in
to all the details of the adventure my son and I had when -- with one-way
tickets and a few simple tools in hand -- we flew to Iowa to pick up the car
and
drive it back to Michigan, but suffice it to say that this was one eBay deal
that I have not regretted in the least.
I guess that the moral of the story is that there are many directions that a
deal can take. Ours was the best kind of outcome. I want to express my
thanks to those who were willing to go out of their way for the benefit of a
stranger. I also have to say that the seller was a man of very high integrity
who
also went the extra mile to assure that every comment, description and
statement of fact was as accurate as could be expected. Was there any
downside to
this deal? Just one. My son, now 14 and a candidate for driver's training
next
Summer, has somehow come to the mistaken notion that he has some sort of
inherited right to this car. Over my dead body.
Bob Sharp
64(ish) TR4
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