Gerry,
Part of this copied message is mine and most of it isn't (less your
responses).Actually, the only portion that is mine is the very first copied
section. So...I will respond to only this section and give a slight opinion
on the rest.
The front end of my car WAS rebuilt by the DPO. The front brakes WERE redone
by the DPO(Calipers replaced with new or rebuilt, etc.). The DPO forgot to
do ONE thing(and I have no F#$%ing idea why!)He didn't bolt the calipers
back onto the A arms! although he DID put the tires back on the car. Apon
looking at the car, it was obvious that the car had the breaks replaced but
not obvious that the bolts that hold the calipers in place were missing!
Oh...yes there was new fluid in the master break cylinder.
As for the rest of your posting; I don't know where you pulled it from. It
isn't part of my original posting!
I do agree with you on one part...
It is the responsibility of the buyer to check the car.
but I will say... one should proceed very cautiously when climbing on a
"high horse".
People come here to get advice as well as vent some of the frustrations with
themselves and the DPO. They don't need and are not looking for someone to
criticise them and state that they should have looked at the car
closer...or..."nobody put a shotgun to your head and told you to fork over
the money for the car".
As far as for your used car salesmanship...Good for you.
I'm glad you were able to sell a couple of cars.
As for me...I was raised with a little more integrity...I would have
questioned the girl who didn't look under the hood...but that's me.
Oh...I did find one other point that I agree with you about..."NEVER assume
anything the seller says is true". I will take this a bit farther...NEVER
ASSUME ANYTHING.
Do us all a favour ensure that when you reply to a posting that either you
separate the different responses from others or note that your response is
to a conglomeration of different people's responses to the original post.
Thank you and have a nice day,
Dan Dwelley
77 Midget... with a rebuilt front end, never was told it was a one owner
car, knew that the engine hadn't been rebuilt, and knew the DPO removed all
of the emissions equip.
P.S. I apologise to all of the other listers for taking up this bandwidth
for this message.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Brinkmann, Gerardo V
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 5:06 PM
To: 'The MG List'
Subject: DPO Woes for 1999
>> My 1999 isn't starting off well. I set off to work on my 77 Midget
>> yesterday, the weather was a little warmer than it has been, and figured
I'd
>> tackle the brakes. The DPO had told me that when he rebuilt the front
end,
>> he had done the brakes as well.
I fully sympathize with your situation, I when I was younger and not as
wise, I too
bought some real "dream machines" - held together with bondo/duct tape and
being
sold as "totally resorted, one owner, etc etc etc"
However, we are always so eager to blame other people and DPO's for our own
mistakes. If in fact the previous owner had indeed rebuilt the brakes, was
there clean
fluid in the master cylinder ? were the brake pads new ? were the rotors new
or at least re-cut ?
>> this car I just bought was supposedly a one-owner car, 113K miles,
rebuilt engine at 90K miles.
If the engine had been rebuilt 23K miles ago, a simple compression check may
have revealed otherwise,
was a compression check performed ?
>> Oh, and about that smog test it passed last week.
Did you ask for documentation, concerning the smog test ? any DMV emission
testing center in NJ will
print out a copy of the emissions for free
Sorry to get on a bit of a high horse on this, but it is the BUYERS
responsibility to check everything
out, nobody put a shotgun to your head and told you to fork over the money
for the car. I buy and sell
a couple of cars a year as a hobby, and always take a pair of dirty
overallsand some basic tools, so
that I can crawl around under the car, after all it's MY money that I am
spending, and if I do not like what
I see - I can walk away.
I just saw a MG Midget I owned for 10 years being advertised as
"Beautifully restored 1977 Midget, 57K Miles, Totally Reliable"
I did every major endurance TSD Rally in the North-East in that car, the
whole underneath
of the car shows the outline of rocks that I hit. I bought it in 1988 with
97K miles and
sold it with 255K.
I sold a 3 year old Jeep Wrangler to a young woman a couple of years ago,
who did not even
open the hood to check ANYTHING on the car. She liked the "color" and bought
it on the
spot. Now if anything had gone wrong on the car who do you think she would
be blaming - the DPO
NEVER assume anything the seller says is true
gerry
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