for sale 1973 BMW 2002 "Cautionary Tale" in Northridge, CA

[Mark92131]

Year:: 1973

Make:: BMW

Model:: 2002

Price:: 5000.00

Location: : Northridge, CA

I saw this on Craigslist and thought I would pass it along, not specifically for the deal, but for the story behind the deal.  After reading the history behind the restoration, I felt really, really bad for the seller's experience and thought it might help a FAQ member avoid repeating these mistakes.  The car is kinda of a mess with the first 4 photo indicating it's current condition in "new" Agave paint.  It needs its trim put back on and interior work and I would suspect you might what to go through the mechanicals after reading the ad.  $5000 seems high after reading the disclosures, but the Seller is open to offers, who can blame him.

 

NM/NA, 

 

 

Mark92131

 

 

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/5181599361.html

 

 

Here's the ad copy in case they take it down...

 

 

History of this car..

Bought the car in Maine, January of 2012 for $2000 from a woman who was using it to drive around occasionally, not as a daily driver, but she would buzz around in it from time to time. Before her, I think there were 2 other owners, which would make me the 4th owner since 1973. 

The odometer reads under 70,000, I don't know if that's original or rolled over. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT A SALVAGE CAR -- NO ACCIDENTS.

Since I bought the car almost 3 1/2 years ago, here's what's happened.

I live in CA but the car was in Maine, I found a mechanic who was also a body man in Maine. The car first sat at his the mechanic's place for over a year with promises that he would work on both the body and tuning it up. I told him not to rush because I was in CA and he was in Maine and I could come get it and have it shipped when he was ready, that seemed reasonable. But because of the open timeline, I was put off for weeks, then months, then up to a nearly a year before I got a response. 

At one point, I was worried the car had been sold by the guy so I had a relative go by his shop to see if my car was still there. It wasn't there and neither was his shop, it had closed.. or so I thought. It turns out the mechanic had moved shops 20 miles away and moved my car to his house temporarily. Needless to say I was freaked out with no contact and no response and no car in sight.

 

So I explained to the guy that I needed to move on.. I had the car towed to a new body shop guy's place, 35 years in the business, worked out of his own shop at his house. Big promises of making it nearly the car it once was.. The car then sat at his place for another year before he barely touched it, but he kept telling me he needed more money.. I paid him $5000 altogether to have him bring my car back to solid metal and give it new paint. When I went to have it moved from the body man to a new mechanic, it seemed to look pretty good.

I found an independent foreign motors shop not too far away and had them go over the entire motor and make sure it was running well. So I had a car that was all solid metal with new paint about to have the motor entirely gone over and tuned up. I put about $1200 into a tune up, plugs, wires, new fuel filler neck, battery, carb cleaned, and changing the oil over to synthetic. But they called and said they couldn't drive it because it was unsafe to drive! WHAT?! Turns out around the master cylinder, it needed to be welded up to be solid and said they couldn't believe that the body guy would miss something like that. The mechanic gave me the number of the body guy in the garage bay next to his shop, he was a legit body man who could weld around the master cylinder for me and make it solid and safe. Great, lets do it, I said! Note, I have the paper work with a list of items that the mechanic did if you want to see it when you see the car.

 

When the new body man got into it, after welding around the master cylinder, he noticed the trunk needed to be welded up in a couple spots and that the battery stand under the hood needed to be welded new. He also at my request started to re-assemble my bumpers for me front and rear and couldn't find the chrome trim package anywhere in the car. He asked me where it was and I honestly didn't know what the previous body guy had done with it. So I went online, called around and ended up buying a chrome trim package and mirrors from a guy here in Burbank, CA. I drove over and picked it up and Fedex to the new body guy to assemble in Maine, I spent $800 for the new trim and mirrors and hardware to reattach it all. He got the materials, but to save money I just asked him to stop the assembly of the chrome and just to hold off and I would do it when I got it back to CA.

In addition, the new body guy pointed out that the paint job that was supposed to be bringing it back to near its original color, was actually the wrong color. The previous body guy thought it was green, you could see the original color (burgundy) was in the seams of the body frame and the car door jam in small traces. The original color was definitely burgundy. Not only is it the wrong color, but the paint job on the hood has since bubbled and peeled in one spot that is a 6 inch x 1/2 inch area. It hasn't happened anywhere else on the car, but in that one spot on the hood in that one spot and I've gone over it to see. The paint feels solid every where else, but that one small spot.

The original body guy lost the door panels and one of the front seats, which he later found the missing seat again and put it back in. Needless to say that guy was terrible, miserable jackass.

 

The two front seats and the back bench seat are in the car and need replacing or reupholstering and door panels. As mentioned above, I have a guy here in Burbank (Mr. BMW) that has thousands of parts for this model of beemer, if you want to buy the car, he has everything and it would be helpful to know him for all your parts needs. He has door panels, seats, EVERYTHING!

 

I did buy a brand new molded carpet specifically for this model car in dark brown to go with the light brown interior seats and door panels. I have the carpet in an unopened box from the manufacturer along with all the chrome and mirrors and hardware to be put back on. All accessory parts are in the trunk. 

I hadn't started it in a little while, but I just went out and jumped it and it started right up. It has a choke installed in it, in case its been sitting a while, that does help. This is not fuel injected, it has a carb. But once it started up she stays running, no stalling, etc. This is a vintage car, there is no power steering with this car. It's a 4 speed and shifts good, can be made into a 5 speed.

 

In my humble opinion the cars issues now are: the interior and re-assembling the chrome package (which I have all of the chrome and mirrors as mentioned above). The body is solid metal and painted, but there is that small spot on the hood.

 

This would be a fun ride around town car, take it to antique car meet-ups, Sunday drives, for the Beemer enthusiast, nostalgic 2002 model lovers, and for the person who likes to have a toy to tinker with. Some have even made these into little racers.

 

You now know everything I know about it. Including the purchase price of $2000, I have put $10,000 into it. I was a sucker with the first couple guys and should have found someone better, but by then I was pot committed and felt like I needed to see it through. I have a lot into it, but I want out now. I'd like to get out for $5,000, but I will consider offers.

 

Thanks, Ian

[adawil2002]

A California guy buying a 2002 in Maine. That's where the trouble started. Shear foolishness on his part.

 

California is the place to buy a 2002, this guy did it all backwards.

[Artcop]

Jesus. 12 yards for a 'tune-up' and they couldn't even bother to steam clean the motor... pour that man another Chablis.

[Conserv]

A California guy buying a 2002 in Maine. That's where the trouble started. Shear foolishness on his part.

California is the place to buy a 2002, this guy did it all backwards.

Being, I suppose, a more-or-less heartless person, I'm not feeling a lot of sympathy for this fellow, who represents to me someone who should not own a 40-year-old car, not to mention a car being "restored" 3,000 miles away! As I read his write-up, my "moron warning light" came on time and again.

I've just come away from a 2-year mechanical restoration of a family-owned 1961 F-350, purchased new by a family business in Maine, and I have nothing but warm feelings for the the process and the fabulous "man-of-few-words" Mainer who put it together while I lived in Georgia. I seriously considered bringing the truck to Atlanta to do this, but (a.) the truck has never ventured outside of Maine, New Hampshire, and Canada; (b.) the truck will probably spend its next 50 years in Maine; (c.) Maine is as good as Georgia if you're looking for someone who really knows '61 Ford trucks; and (d.) the truck's original, stump-pulling 5.13 diff made me imagine a very very long drive from and to Maine -- no '61 Maine truck could bear the indignity of being trailered 1,250 miles!

The results were absolutely great but I visited the truck at least every other month, texted "my guy" at least every week and oft-times 10-times a day (he started it, did I say he doesn't like to talk much?), and I hauled parts back and forth from Maine to Georgia, working on sub-assemblies here in Atlanta and having all the powdercoating and re-plating done at my usual places in Georgia.

And....wait for it...my guy charged me $35 an hour and probably put in twice as many hours as he charged me for. I've told him this multiple times, and asked for a revised bill, but he says he had fun doing it! We want to do some body repairs next!

Anything is do-able. But use your brain.

Regards,

Steve

P.S. Those are the truck's original factory 19.5" (by 5.25") rims, which should -- for once and for all -- dispel the myth that I only like teenie-weenie rims. I like my rims "right-sized"!

Edited August 23, 2015 by Conserv

[M3M3]

yikes....yes, there is one born every minute.  why would someone in the land of rust free cars buy a car that lived in rust's home town?  and then pay strangers piles of cash sight unseen to work on it?  

 

wow.