Subject: Re: Just bought a 240 on eBay...
From: Stewart Hargrave
[email protected]
Date: 6/4/2004 7:01 AM Central Daylight Time
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[email protected]>
A dealer cannot certify a mileage with certainty - since he has not
driven it for those miles himself he cannot report it as a known fact.
To do so may leave him wide open to litigation.
Any dealer who tells you the reading is the true mileage is almost
certainly attempting to mislead you.
I can understand what you're saying, but I'm not a complete rube. As
Faye-Dunaway-as-Joan-Crawford would say, "This isn't my first time at the
rodeo." A lot of factors went into the decision to take a chance on this car.
For one thing, it's cosmetically beautiful which, I'm sure I don't have to tell
you, is pretty important in these old 240s, as rust will kill them quicker than
anything engine-related. Second, the car checks out in every other way, and,
as I said, I can see how a mistake could have been made in reporting the
mileage, so I'm more inclined to believe what the dealer says. Third, I got
the car at a really low price, so even if for some reason it only lasted me a
year, I'd still come out ahead. Fourth, the seller has a long history on eBay
and a good feedback rating from other car buyers. And last, but far from
least, the car comes with a warranty. If I get it home and have my mechanic
give it a thorough inspection and he doesn't think -- for whatever reason --
it's worth what I paid for it, I have some remedy. (And, before someone says
it, I'm not worried about resale problems down the line, as I usually end up
giving my old cars to charity when I'm done with them.)
But, as I said, I can understand the concerns some of you have expressed. I'm
happy to email the Carfax report to any of you if you're interested in seeing
it.
Patricia
