'71 'Cuda on Ebay - Caveat Emptor!!!

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GTXperience

GTXperience

Orig Stealth Mod
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Folks, I just felt compelled to post about this '71 Barracuda for sale. I looked at it for a friend who lives out of the area. This is the epitomy of a car that looks good as represented on ebay but has so many serious issues. The seller is well aware of many of the issues but of course, is not disclosing any of them. If you have any friends looking at this car, please tell them to be very leary of it. Although the auction states a clean title, it was as dirty as it could be when I looked at it. This was purchased on ebay from the current owner and they are trying to get out of a very bad deal. If you are considering this car and have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I have many pics of it as well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...STRK:MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=120188782942&rd=1

2a87_1.JPG
 
Thanks for the headsup. I saw this on ebay last night and thought it might be worth throwing a bid at.
I have too many friends that bought on ebay only to say that it looked great on their computer screen but turned out to be a bondowagen when they had it delivered.
A few months ago I took delivery for a guy on an ebay car. The ebay car delivery service guy said that 90% of the people he delivers cars to are very disappointed with what was sold to them as a solid car only to end up with a real POS.

Another guy bought a car on ebay in Miami and had a car inspection service that specializes in muscle cars look at a 70 Chevelle and charged him $400. Got a thumbs up that the car was unmolested etc. only to turn out to be another POS scam job. Turns out the inspection service was in cahoots with the seller.
I recently drove to Chicago from Maryland with trailer in tow to look at a car that I had someone else inspect for me too that turned out to be another POS. Owner said the car was in excellent condition (71 Duster 340). When I got there the guy was telling me what a great car it was while I was putting my fist through the frame rails. Obviously excellent means different things to a seller than a buyer. Three days of driving wasted.

I always downplay the condition of my cars when I sell them and find that the buyers are usually pleasantly surprised that I didn't say how good of shape that they were in.

Again, thanks for posting a headsup on this "looks can be deceiving" car.
 
Seems to me that this illustrates everything that is both right and wrong with “The Hobby”.
Kudos to GTX for the watching out for others.

And on the down side:
10K and the reserve isn't met?
Things are getting bad in housing and people think Clarable’s car is worth 10K?
Where do you put the groceries?
No trunk and an afterthought for a back seat.
A few years back I sold a nicer E body for less.
Poor guy should have bought an A body.
 
Before I begin, perhaps some of the issues may have been fixed (but I doubt it). These folks want to get out of this car bad. Before I went to look at it, the asking price was $20K. When I got there, the price shot up to $30K. I have a feeling that the reserve is right around there. Where do I begin? The one thing that is upsetting me is that it states that the car has been described to the best of their knowledge when it fact, they have left out tons of info.

The front end has been in a collision (first noticed by the tweaked radiator support). The front end has been replaced with low quality fiberglass pieces (with a few bolts holding it together). I think that should be mentioned to to prospective buyers. For someone wanting an all metal front end, this would be a big disappointment. We all know how much '71 'Cuda fenders are going for. The rear has been in a collision. The leafspring is slightly tweaked and the rear valance is jammed in between two of the leafs. There are pockets of dough all over the car. I took my spot-rot detector (aka: glorified magnet) out there and it wasn't adhering to quite a few places.

Re: the interior. Don't get me started That is a horrible custom job. Lots of 3M Adhesive and red material on the door panels. There is an aftermarket key switch mounted under the dash (see pic). That concerned me. The seats ... blah. Lots of rattle can black in the interior as well.

The motor seems like it wants to go but this car just doesn't move. it overheated within 10 minutes of driving where water (not coolant) was spewing out of the overflow. The elec. fan was just put on but did not work. Prior to it be installed, it overheated and blew a head gasket. I have never seen a 440 6 pack with non-hp manifolds on it (just looks wrong). The clutch needs to be replaced. I had difficulty getting most for the gears and reverse was almost non-existant. The brakes were very bad. It has crappy aftermarket rotors up front with stock calipers. The rears are drums. The paint is not bad but overall, it looks like someone was going to take this down a path and then decided to do the quick sale and just slap it together to get rid of it. Also see the pics where the grille is almost falling out, the rear valance is cracked revealing some of the dough, misaligned body panels (because of the glass), etc. I could go on but that's enough for me. The wheels/tires are nice but the tires are gouged a little from the low ride height. Oh ya, the driver's side torsion bar adjuster area was cracked and it was welded to the point where it cannot be adjusted. It needs a new piece sectioned in. That's all for now.

Re: the paperwork. First, it was non-existant. Then it was but someone out-of-state had it. It was supposed to have a CA title but then it was an out-of-state title. Then there was no record of it and they had to get a title made up for it. This was an ugly run around. Perhaps they figured something out with DMV, I do not know. Supposedly, they bought it off ebay around a year ago form the LA area. Anybody, recognize it?
 
Wow!,your not kidding,I just loooked at the ad and he says body is pristine and the first thing you see when looking at the rear of the car is a mangled rear valance,what a crook!-as-is-is right!.
 
I went to look at a 69 dart that the guy said was pretty much rust free and real nice interior. When I got their it had filler all over in it alot more rust then said trunk floor was rotted out interior was rattle canned black doors wouldnt line up and motor sounded like it had a rod knocking. Also they had holes drilled in the dash and had spray painted over the gear selector
 
Never ever buy a car-at least one thats 40 years old-without looking at it or having somebody you can trust to look at it.

Unless you don't mind throwing money away.

I got some great buys on E-bay but like $500 is my limit unless its a seller like Holley or Rockford. Those big company's are cool and honest.

I got a rebuilt carb from Holley off E-bay, paid the min price, came from UPS with the pump lever snap off. Holley said, well we just send you a brand new carb and give the broken one back to the UPS guy.
 
whats w/the green motor
whats w/ the red interior
whats w/the bondo in the rear val
what w/ the dent in the rear val
whats w/those rims
whats w/the black paint on the tailight panel
other than that its a real nice looking car.
 
Wow that looks sweet from 10 feet.

Those up close photo's really show how shoddy the work on it is. That wiring is a mess! Too bad there are shady people like this, I feel sorry for the person that buys this for big bucks just to realize later he got a pile of bondo.

The first hint the auction is kinda shady is the small pic's. Why would you put small pictures up for a call that is "suppose" to be worth a lot. A honest seller would try to show as much detail as possible to the buyer. This guy just flat out LIES about things in the description. He makes the car sound like its pretty much new and needs almost nothing.
 
That car is a big POS! Unbelieveable!

If the seller bought it under misrepresentation he should sue but not try and dump it on someone else.:angry4:
 
that car is a heap! how bad does somebody have to want an E-body to buy that thing. i have bought parts cars in better shape.
i once bought an A-100 pickup on ebay, it looked pretty good in the pics, but was a pos when i arrived to pick it up after a 12 hour drive. the part that really got to me was i was offered anything i needed off of a parts van for free, (before i could go pick the truck up) and i asked the seller to just tell me what it needed, and the guy lied to me. i wanted to beat the crap out of him, but the prospect of spending the weekend in an out of state jail kept me from doing it.
he also said it would start and drive onto the trailer but the brakes needed to "be tightened up" there were NO brakes. the motor wouldn't even turn over on it's own, let alone run. it did turn over by putting it in gear and pushing it.
i did get it running in about 2 hours after i got it home. i didn't bid high, and it was worth what i paid in parts, but the dissappointment factor was big.
when bidding on ebay i assume the worst unless i can see it in person and it proves otherwise.
Doug
 
I just noticed that it met the reserve of $25K. I feel really bad for this person or whomever is the high bidder. It just goes to show you that "all that glitters is not gold".
 
dc_mopar said:
When bidding on ebay I assume the worst unless I can see it in person and it proves otherwise.
Doug
Click to expand...

I try to tell everyone I know to use this mentality. If the seller can use his camera with a little creativity he can hide a lot. Anything can look good in pictures. I have bought many cars on eBay (& sold just as many) and have never been disappointed. You really have to have good contact with the seller. Call the seller several times with any questions you may have. Not only does it show you are serious, it also makes the seller know you are an educated buyer and know what to look for. When I am selling something I encourage people to e-mail/call me as I do not want any mis-communication. It has happened to me recently on an item I sold and is best avoided whenever possible.

Ask for lots of pictures, ask details about know problem areas (lower quarters, frame rails, torsion bar mounts, floor pans, trunk pans, fender tag/build sheets, clear/clean title, any previous accidents...). Ask what is original, what has been changed/modified, and what is aftermarket/reproduction.
When buying a Plymouth Barracuda/'Cuda always make sure the front end are OEM 1970-74 pieces. As already stated a nice OEM front clip (original grille, steel gilled fenders, and shakker hood) are worht about as much as most A-body cars.

Of course if the seller flat out lies in the answers he gives you than that isn't doing anyone any good. Usually when a buyer is asking the seller questions about everything the truth will come out, even if the seller is dishonest.

Make it very clear that you are a no bullsh*t person and if you win the car (or buy the car for non-eBay transactions) you will do a thourough walk around & inspection when you first arrive to pick it up. Tell them you will not pay for the car if it is misrepresented in anyway or if he lied in the answers he gave you.
Maybe this will make them less likely to falsify info to you.
Even if you do not plan on actually picking up the car yourself it will still make them think before slipping you a line of B.S.

You could also mention to the seller that you already had a bad purchase and had to prosocute the sellers, but it worked out because you got to keep the car and won your money back. LOL Again the don't mess with me tactic.


If the seller seems hard to get ahold of while he is selling something, imagine how hard they'll be to find once they have your money...

Also ask him why he is selling the car? Make sure his story is believable. If the guy has a garage full of wing cars and HEMI/six pack power cars and he tells you he needs money or doesn't have enough to finish the car as he wants it should send up red flags. If they live in a hut and have no other cars and just happen to have a 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda 440, it probably legally isn't their car. You get the point.

Just my opinions/suggestions...


I do really like the 1971 Plymouth Barracuda/'Cuda cars there value is ridiculous and just plain not worth it to me. I have a hard time swollowing someone would happily pay that kind of money even for a '71 considering it has glass fenders and needs to be redone (granted not immediately). That interior is a little ricer looking for a Mopar in my opinion.
It is clear that the ictures were taken from far away and the instrument cluster pictures were strategically taken as well to not show the sady bolt in the heater selector switch. Also you can't see how ugly the green colored engine is and how dirty it is for being completely restored.
Surprisingly to me you can clearly see the damage on the rear valance and radiator support in their pictures.
 
Well ... it went no higher than 25K (which seemed to be the reserve amount). For some reason, that bid looks a little suspicious (possible shill action perhaps?). I could have sworn that I saw a $25K bid from someone with no feedback but I may just be thinking of the seller. I would not be surprised to see it relisted with the addition of "being relisted due to non-paying bidder." We will see.
 
Remember this one? Well, it appears that the buyer was for real & does not like the car very much (are we surprised?). The car was sold out of the SF Bay Area and he is on the East Coast. Allegedly, he wants his money back and the gal that sold it to him is saying no way. Again, allegedly, he is suing her so we will see what happens.
 
GTXperience said:
Remember this one? Well, it appears that the buyer was for real & does not like the car very much (are we surprised?). The car was sold out of the SF Bay Area and he is on the East Coast. Allegedly, he wants his money back and the gal that sold it to him is saying no way. Again, allegedly, he is suing her so we will see what happens.
Click to expand...

If the car was sold as is, he may be SOL.
 
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