Ebay Warning! 1976 02 in Michigan

[gregp553]

It's been a few years since I posted here but it was fun while it lasted and I think you need to be warned about this ebay listing. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-BMW-2002-SIENNA-BROWN-TAN-INT-NO-RUST-SUPER-CLEAN-/230786967971?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item35bbf9a9a3.

This is my old car that I sold last August. If you search my name on this site you will discover some history. Like I paid $750 for it and shipped it to Detroit from California. The warning is that this ad is not truthful - big shocker, right? While the car is a solid California car, some things are not correct. The "original" seats as you can see came from a 320. I installed them. The real original seats are shredded and still hanging in the rafters of my garage. You can have them. The door cards are not that great and the dash has some minor cracking, although nothing obviously bad. The engine was not, that's not, rebuilt by me in 2009. I never did more than adjust the valves on the internals. In fact it has a factory replacement block with an "X" after the vin so someone rebuilt it at some time. But the odo reads 45,000 because it broke at that point. This car has an unknown number of miles on the rebuild. The paint job is awful, but photographs well. I did some of the body prep and it is a very solid car. But it was late in the season and I took it to Maaco to have it sanded and painted. I'm cheap. Well, they didn't do the sanding and just shot it with paint. So the spots where I sanded every little chip or spot of surface rust now appear in the paint as a flaw. Looks great going by, but in the sun it has flaws on every surface. And lots of them. But all it needs is a sanding and repaint. The carpet is an Esty kit. The steering wheel I got from a junkyard in Arizona. The Blaupunkt is from the '80s I think. I installed it. The bottom line is that you can pay what you want for this car but from what I know it's grossly overpriced. Not much is original. But, it's a great little car for sure. It's more like the $4000 I sold it for last August. I think it's already changed hands twice since it left my driveway but I don't know. That's my story, just didn't want anyone getting taken since this kind of stuff ruins the collector market in my opinion. I no longer have an 02 but I still love the little cars. PS: If anyone sees Alonzo, he still owes me $120!!

[ClayW]

Thanks for the warning. There are, unfortunately, quite a few unscrupulous sellers out there looking to make a buck off of our hobby. It's good to see people looking out for the buyers!

[UroTrash]

Bids at $10,000 and 2 days to go.

[gregp553]

That price blows my mind. I doubt the buyer will pay that when he sees it in person. But I'm stunned by this. Has the market on these cars gone this crazy since I sold it last August? The seller says there does not appear to be rust on the undercarriage. Unless you consider the holes I fixed by riveting in some thin sheet metal in the front passenger foot well. It leaked like most sunroof cars. Notice the back seat color is lighter than the front seats. They're from two different 3-series cars. Ugh.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Greg. I wish I had spoken to you earlier about the 2002. I am the current owner who is trying to sell it on Ebay. As I said to your buddy who helped you transport the car from CA to MI, my knowledge with this car is only as good as what the previous owner has disclosed to me. I have asked him to call me to obtain more info on it but never heard back from him. The previous owner had mentioned that the engine was rebuilt a few years ago as well as the seat was replaced with a 320i. The seat was my fault for mis-posting it. He didn't mentioned anything about how badly the prep-work on the paint job was as the car was in storage condition and raining when I picked it up at his place. I posted the result of the inspection report on the Ebay posting to point out a list of concerns including the low quality paint job, non OEM seat and etc. The previous owner did not have any service records nor history! Nevertheless I took the risk and purchased the car from him. Shortly I found out a few things needed fixing. I see no visible cracks on the dash unless you are talking elsewhere. There were many good points that the inspector pointed out as well as bad points. I will let it be known to the winning bidder about this recent info and he will have a chance to decline to purchase if he wants to. There is no way I would know the history of this car unless I spoke to the original owner but then again, even the original owner may not know as the car may have been modified since he sold it. Everytime we buy a used car, we take a risk whether it's a year old or a decade old. I have no intention to deceive any bidders out there, as I posted the car based on the info I was given by the previous owner. MC

[Guest Anonymous]

Dear cadizauction,

Are there any signs that the vehicle has been in an accident?

Has there been any recent major or minor services performed on the vehicle? Clutch? Brakes? Oil leaks?

Are there any body leaks? Weather seals?

Any electrical problems? All lights work?

Any additional information would be appreciated.

- pe

Dear pe,

It is difficult to know whether this vehicle has been in any accidents. I did not obtain any service records from the previous owner nor history of this vehicle but I know there is no oil leak issue with the engine. Weather Seal: The rear window was not fitted properly and created water leaks. This was repaired recently by a local glass company. No sign of electrical issue except for the fog lamps.

Based on the recent inspection, there were many good points on the car but here are the list of concerns based on the report: (1) Engine has a "tick" at idle, which continues when the car is being driven; (2) floor board repair was not done well and could indicate a residual issue; (3) paint job does not appear to be of a high quality, with several "sanding scratches" appearing under the paint; (4) no maintenance records; (5) clutch and brakes seem soft, which could indicate a repair is needed in the near future; (6) Inoperable odometer; (7) minor tears in ceiling fabric and upholstery. Correction: The seat came from 320i model. There was a gentleman who informed me that he knew the history of this car and helped the owner transport it from CA to MI. I asked him to call me but never heard from him. Unfortunately, the previous owner did not have any service documentation nor much history other than verbal disclosure. He mentioned that the engine has been rebuilt a few years ago but no documentation to prove this. He also did mentioned about the seat being replaced from a 320i so I apologize for the seat misinformation. Like many of us, our knowledge of buying a used car is as good as what the previous owner will disclose along with CARFAX or AUTOCHECK. Thanks for your interest and good luck.

- cadizauction

[Guest Anonymous]

Dear cadizauction,

Hi. The report can only be accessed with an email/password combo, so I can't give you an actual copy.

But they rated it a 3 out of 5, or a "driver." And they valued it at $9000-$11,000..

We're gonna look for one closer to home for ease, but best wishes for the auction.

Thanks,

Shawn

[gregp553]

Hi MC: No buddy of mine helped me transport the car from California. I contracted a company to do that. I never rebuilt the motor in 2009 nor did I tell anyone I did that. Search my posts on this site and I talk about the factory replacement block that it has, but I have no record of when it was installed. I did not post a comment on your ebay auction site because it was not my goal to blow up your sale. I think it will blow up on its own if the buyer knows 2002s. The car actually does not have dents. Nearly every mark you see is a sanding flaw. There is a small amount of filler on the driver door and a few minor spots on the nose. Mostly, it's a pretty solid California car as you can see in the spare tire well. But yes, the passenger floor had rust through holes from years of sunroof leaks. I did an amateur fix that made the floor solid when the carpet kit went in. I never tried to hide any of that, that's why I valued the car at 4k. The front and rear seats do not match each other and the radio needed a better antenna when I sold it. All in all, it runs pretty well but I think the price is way out of line. Good luck to you. The tires, by the way are old, despite the good tread. Maybe 15 years old. This car was a fun 5 year hobby for me. Hopefully, the next owner enjoys it too.

[Guest Anonymous]

Greg - here's the email I received from a person last weekend but never got back to me. Do you recognize the ID esk2002ca?

Nevertheless, I didn't have much info but to go with what I had. I encouraged the ones who sent me questions to feel free to get an inspection done and a few just did so.

Dear esk2002ca,

The info I have came from the person I purchased the car from. Please give me a call at XXX-XXX-XXXX so I can obtain the history of this car. Thanks.

- cadizauction

From: esk2002ca

To: cadizauction

Subject: Vehicle condition: esk2002ca sent a message about BMW : 2002 #230786967971

Sent Date: May-12-12 18:10:33 PDT

Dear cadizauction,

Hi there.....

I know this car....I helped Greg bring it from California to Michigan, and you are misleading potential buyers in terms of history and condition. Perhaps you would like a true edited history on the car, so you can be truthful in your description......

- esk2002ca

[gregp553]

I have no idea who this is but I would imagine it is a person who cares about the 2002 market and does not want to see it get artificially inflated. If cars like my old 76 sell for 10k or more, there will soon be no room for people to do what I did. Buy a $750 heap and enjoy the fun of working on it and bringing it back to some level of quality. I don't blame them. 2002 owners care about their cars and their hobby. There were items in the listing that were just not true. If someone told you these things, they lied or didn't know the truth. But I had no help from anyone bringing this car to Michigan. The lady I bought it from had it towed to the truck company and it was drop shipped to Taylor. I picked it up alone. End of story. You can email me through this site if you ever want more of the story. I can send you pictures of the car in any state of its life for the past 5 years you want. In fact, there are pictures on this site. Look them up. And if you see Alonzo, he still owes me $120!

[Guest Anonymous]

Hey Greg, I found Alonzo and he claims you owe him $120.

Ya see...you never know who to believe!!! Kiddin. Thanks for the photo and hope to see more!

[gregp553]

That's actually funny but I've been after that thieving Alonzo since about 2009. That too is well documented on this site. The real lesson with Alonzo is to not trust anyone on the internet unless you see the goods. He took my $120 and never shipped me the tii exhaust manifold I paid for. By the way, that 76 has a tii manifold from another source. I have other pics on a jump drive which I will send when I find it.

g

[gregp553]

BTW, this is how the old heap looked in 07 when I got it off the shipping truck from California.

[Guest Anonymous]

son of a bitch ,i consiser my car to be in great shape not a tii but would never imagine my 74 selling for 11k,i wish especially non documented as I hVe receipts daTing back to 1989 ,if anyone is ok interested in my car 15k right now LOL

[Guest Anonymous]

son of a bitch ,i consiser my car to be in great shape not a tii but would never imagine my 74 selling for 11k,i wish especially non documented as I hVe receipts daTing back to 1989 ,if anyone is ok interested in my car 15k right now LOL