1964 BUICK SPORTWAGON "SUPER WELL MAINTAINED"-"DRIVE ANYWHERE ANYTIME"

Now the real truth!

I recently purchased this vehicle, sight unseen (dont tell me I know -not a good idea) because the listing sounded

very good as was the sellers feedback(see Ebay item # 191186802115)

I am from New Zealand and for our next trip Stateside we planned to spend 5 weeks and approx 4000 miles touring

the Northern States in this Buick. However a health problem changed our plans and I had no option but to ship it

home to NZ. On arrival in NZ I drove it 5 miles with negligable brakes and found no reverse due to low oil.

Started repair inspections and found.

1 Brake cylinders leaking badly (see photo)

2 Drums worn up to 104 thou O/S ( max allowed 60 thou)

3 Steering box leaking at both ends.(see photo)

4 Rag joint soaked in oil.

5 Heater core leaking ,and has been for years.

6 Trans not original (as listed) and leaking.

7 Diff pinion nut loose and also leaking oil.

8 Bad scratches on tailgate window--far too deep to polish out. (see photo)

9 Nice paintwork damaged by steel grinding particles embedded in the paint.

Altogether the only thing not leaking seems to be the radio!!!!!

Seller said I hope you enjoy this Buick as much as my family has. HA HA.

Brake drum surface area rusty thru non use, and licence tags expired Aug 08

Comments and discussion welcomed!!!!

BRUCE

1955 De Soto

1964 Skylark Convertible

1964 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

1956 Buick Super

So maybe you're into it for another 500 bucks and a week or two of work. You probably won't get much sympathy, although one never likes to see another hobbyist disappointed, even if by his own failure to follow one of the basic tenets. I was going to ask if you wanted to buy my El Camino. It's in great shape, perfect for the family....

But hey, it's Thanksgiving up here. Have a great day, fix up the Buick and drive it.

I might be interested in the El Camino if it is optioned with the "self changing oil and underbody/chassis lubrication system".

It sure is!

What year El Camino?

I might be interested in the El Camino if it is optioned with the "self changing oil and underbody/chassis lubrication system".

I suspect that it only has the "self-draining oil" option, not the "self-changing" one. That isn't a very rare option...

I suspect that it only has the "self-draining oil" option, not the "self-changing" one. That isn't a very rare option...

Most British made cars have that "self draining" feature....

People tell me I want too much for my stuff.

My son stood in front of me for the signature picture below. Just a thought.

Bernie

I hope you at least left the seller negative feedback.

A shame indeed.

Don't want to hijack the Kiwi's thread, it's a 1970, bought it in Texas and drove it home, more or less original, 100,000 miles. Sits in the barn becoming a barn find.

I sympathize with you. It must be terribly disappointing, I know I would be upset and it must be 5X as bad for you, given the money you spent on shipping, the difficulty and expense of getting the right parts and general aggravation.

On the other hand, you bought a 50 year old used car sight unseen, and the seller lied about it. I can't say this surprises me or shocks me, since I have bought dozens of used cars and learned long ago not to believe anything the seller says.

I don't know what you can do, if Ebay or Paypal will help. You could at least leave some bad feedback as others have suggested. You may feel better for it, and save someone else from being sucked in.

Don't want to hijack the Kiwi's thread,

But apparently, that didn't stop you...

Just out of curiosity, why do people always say "Don't want to hijack this thread" just before they do?

I suspect that it only has the "self-draining oil" option, not the "self-changing" one. That isn't a very rare option...

You are right, Joe. I always thought the '69 I had was highly optioned, but turns out not so much. I suppose they all had "driver floor foot ventilation" as well, lol!

As far as the gentleman with the Buick, I always say a picture is worth a thousand dollars. Next time, ask for photo's of some key area's, if you are expecting a decent driver. If it's cheap the seller may not want to bother, but if you are spending 10K or so, I would think the seller would spend 20 minutes to sell the car. Just a photo of backing plates and brake lines could determine a $500 difference in value to you.

The original reason about my mention of the El Camino was my feeble and obscure attempt at humor; i.e., if Bruce is in the market buying sight unseen, I could get onboard with whatever I had laying around. I thought the additional phrase, "perfect for the family" would give it away as ridiculous, the EC being essentially a one-seater. Then when Biscayne John asked me about it, my innate courtesy kicked in and I thought I could drop in a response and the rest is history.

Back to our regularly scheduled program though, I initially wondered if Bruce could have tapped the group here to ask if someone could put eyes on the Buick before he got stung. I really don't know how well that would have worked as you never know the expertise, motivation and communication ability of the sort-of stranger you're asking to look at your potential purchase. If it's any consolation, I have heard of other overseas buyers having similar experiences. But that shouldn't be taken as the norm, because you generally only hear about the sour deals.

Sorry you got burned but here are the things I noticed.

1. Scratched rear window is obvious in the eBay pictures\

2. You bought a car with a salvage title, never a good idea.

3. The seller stated that the engine and tranny numbers matched the tranny. That should be enough to put in a claim through Paypal (you did use Paypal I hope). Oil leaks, bad breaks and so on are impossible to prove if it happened while the car was being shipped but a non original tranny should be enough to get some money refunded to you.

After reading an above post, I went back and viewed the e-bay advertisement. Granted, the seller did seem to describe the car as nearly perfect, you have to take the selling price into consideration. That's not to say it is ok to deceive, but sometimes things really are too good to be true. It sounds like the seller would have been receptive to a professional inspection, so that might be something you want to keep in mind for the future. I know 8K is quite a bit of money, but I really think you got a pretty decent car for the money, and shipping cost are pretty much a given for any vehicle you purchase in the states. I would look at it from the standpoint of not what the car needs, but more of what you don't have to do to it. The paint and body looks decent, appears to be complete and the trim looks nice, a very nice original interior, etc.. Things add up quick. Just put a few finishing touches on it, and drive and enjoy it!

After reading an above post, I went back and viewed the e-bay advertisement. Granted, the seller did seem to describe the car as nearly perfect, you have to take the selling price into consideration. That's not to say it is ok to deceive, but sometimes things really are too good to be true. It sounds like the seller would have been receptive to a professional inspection, so that might be something you want to keep in mind for the future. I know 8K is quite a bit of money, but I really think you got a pretty decent car for the money, and shipping cost are pretty much a given for any vehicle you purchase in the states. I would look at it from the standpoint of not what the car needs, but more of what you don't have to do to it. The paint and body looks decent, appears to be complete and the trim looks nice, a very nice original interior, etc.. Things add up quick. Just put a few finishing touches on it, and drive and enjoy it!

I have to agree here. In looking at the photos posted with the auction, the steering box leakage is obvious, and frankly to be expected. As others have noted, everything you've listed can be fixed for a few hundred bucks. I always assume that a 50 year old car that I buy will need brakes and rubber parts, especially one described as "all original". The far more important issue is that there does not appear to be any rust and all the parts that are unique to the SportWagon and Vista Cruiser are there. As another data point, I purchased a 1964 Vista Cruiser earlier this year for about half what you paid for yours. In my case the seller did not represent my car as "ready to drive anywhere" and the mechanical condition was about what I expected. I paid what I considered to be a premium for the car (and cross country shipping from Reno, NV) based on a rust-free car. Unfortunately, it was only a "no rust visible with the naked eye". While the body is solid, the pinchwelds around the roof windows and rear quarter windows have significant rust holes under the stainless trim. What I hoped would be an easy resto to a driver has now become a more significant project to weld in all new metal in these areas. I only blame myself for this. I'd rather have paid what you did and have gotten a car in the condition yours is in.

The money aspect does not worry me too much ,but I have tried the seller for a refund. The main purpose of my thread was to highlight this

sellers shortcomings! Sure I was dissapointed but it would have been much worse if I had arrived in LA and found I had an unusable vehicle

The repairs dont worry me too much,parts are cheap and I can do all the work myself. However I did not need another project! I have 3or 4 going at the moment.All in all I am happy with the wagon ,it will be nice when finished. Bruce.

It is really hard to buy a car that doesn't meet your expectations and have it be a total loss. Sometimes it is harder to live with thoughts of the one that got away.

My rule of thumb is that I am willing to risk an annual loss of $3,000 on hobby car stuff. That is all it has been for years, willingness. I never have. If I bought a car I didn't like I sold it. And usually made a little money.

A very nice 5.0 Mustang from the late 1980's taught me a lot around 20 years ago. I was dickering for about $600 when someone else came along and bought it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I don't haggle price anymore either. If I want it I buy it. If the seller asks more than I have, they keep it. If I don't like it when it gets home I sell it.

And now I have too many cars.

Every car I own was purchased at the asking price except the Riviera. I was 30 and had to do the testosterone dance.

Bernie