Being labelled a Messer ......

[Smallfry]

Once again I have been labelled as such, and not for the first time either.

I saw an old car for sale, classic if you like, made in 1962, so was interested in buying it. However, past experience has taught me to never, ever, buy a vehicle sight unseen. I asked questions, and I asked for photos, as it is 150 miles away, I do not see this as unreasonable. Photos were less than ideal and not enough of them, but as the seller seemed OK on the phone, and his description glowing and fairly comprehensive, listing good and bad points, I decided to drive there and have a look.

Yes, he told me about the welding underneath that had done to a good standard, according to his mechanic (failed to send me any photos of it though) the mechanical and electrical faults, and the paint had a few runs in it, which don't bother me much.

However, failed to mention that it had been hand painted with a brush, which wasn't apparent in the photos, self adhesive plastic "chrome" body mouldings, the badly executed welding repairs to chassis and floorpans. His "mechanic" must be Mr Magoo, lots of rust, which to be fair he may not have been aware of, and the obvious bodyfiller which was peeling off.

Anyway, I didn't buy it and walked away, with his parting shot of something about another messer. He has also posted similar comments about it on Farcebook. This doesnt bother me at all, but why is it that one is labelled as such after driving 150 miles there (and back) only to find that there description, and idea of "great condition" is wildly different to mine, and get so offended when you reject their "bargain" ?

 

[roofman]

Once again I have been labelled as such, and not for the first time either.

I saw an old car for sale, classic if you like, made in 1962, so was interested in buying it. However, past experience has taught me to never, ever, buy a vehicle sight unseen. I asked questions, and I asked for photos, as it is 150 miles away, I do not see this as unreasonable. Photos were less than ideal and not enough of them, but as the seller seemed OK on the phone, and his description glowing and fairly comprehensive, listing good and bad points, I decided to drive there and have a look.

Yes, he told me about the welding underneath that had done to a good standard, according to his mechanic (failed to send me any photos of it though) the mechanical and electrical faults, and the paint had a few runs in it, which don't bother me much.

However, failed to mention that it had been hand painted with a brush, which wasn't apparent in the photos, self adhesive plastic "chrome" body mouldings, the badly executed welding repairs to chassis and floorpans. His "mechanic" must be Mr Magoo, lots of rust, which to be fair he may not have been aware of, and the obvious bodyfiller which was peeling off.

Anyway, I didn't buy it and walked away, with his parting shot of something about another messer. He has also posted similar comments about it on Farcebook. This doesnt bother me at all, but why is it that one is labelled as such after driving 150 miles there (and back) only to find that there description, and idea of "great condition" is wildly different to mine, and get so offended when you reject their "bargain" ?

The answer is in your post mate..."Facebook" hate the place, hate the mechanics of it, hate the 95% of bell ends who use it and today i mostly hate even the blue logo colour.... Sorry for rant,please carry on.

 

[Pete.]

It seems like it bothers you TBH. It shouldn't though because all that guy had left was a parting shot and all it did was show his weakness of character.

Some people see the price of 'classics' and think that they can jump on the bandwagon with any rotting POS and anyone who looks at it should become dewy-eyed. Other people are realists.

A couple of guys at work bang on about Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts like they were some mystical creature that should be idolized. They weren't, they were basic, low-spec cars for the masses. They didn't drive half as well as they rusted and the only reason they are so much in demand nowadays is because so many of them dissolved into a brown stain or shat out all their oil on the road there aren't many left. As a youth I think I had 12 mk2 Escorts and they all were crap.

 

[GRW]

You can't fix stoopid (only breed it).
The guy is clearly a total mouthbreather if he thinks a prospective buyer won't actually notice the misrepresentation of the item, and omitting a lot of its faults.

Hardly your issue. Quite the reverse, this tool selling is "The Messer".

Nowadays its worth being direct and saying "I have to travel a long way to see this - is it exactly as you describe, or are there any problems/faults with the car you've not stated or are visible in your pictures. I'd rather know now than waste either of our time."

(Even then, chancers and mouthbreathers will tell you that the Heap you're about to waste time on is a diamond, rather than the turd rolled in glitter that it really is)

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

He'd just tarted it up to make it sell on facebook hoping to snag someone who would buy it unseen I'm guessing.

I think your parting reply should have been...I guess that makes 2 messers then!

Had a guy try to pressure me into buying a Figaro...it was parked in a storage unit around some very (and I mean VERY!!!) expensive motors....I smelled a rat straight away....actually I smelled filler!

Basically I think it was all a distraction....the Figaro really stank of filler! I tapped the sills and it was clear they'd been overplated with what felt like the turkey tin from last Christmas....he wasn't happy that I didn't buy it!

 

[Smallfry]

It seems like it bothers you TBH. It shouldn't though because all that guy had left was a parting shot and all it did was show his weakness of character.

Some people see the price of 'classics' and think that they can jump on the bandwagon with any rotting POS and anyone who looks at it should become dewy-eyed. Other people are realists.

A couple of guys at work bang on about Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts like they were some mystical creature that should be idolized. They weren't, they were basic, low-spec cars for the masses. They didn't drive half as well as they rusted and the only reason they are so much in demand nowadays is because so many of them dissolved into a brown stain or shat out all their oil on the road there aren't many left. As a youth I think I had 12 mk2 Escorts and they all were crap.

Honestly Pete, it amuses me more than bothers me.
I agree about the Escorts though, awful bland things. The last one I had, a 1300E, I left upside down in a ditch. I think it cost £100, and I can never, ever see them as worth more than that, and will never be a "classic" to me.

 

[Nomad]

I've bought a handful of cars from Facebook in the past 5 years - it's maybe a bit different for me as I'm normally looking for a wreck to fix up so I expect problems. Even so I'm amazed at some of the bodges I've found when I started working on them.

It's not just Facebook, I turned up to view an "Immaculate" 20 year old town car, it had been badly repainted without fixing the various dents, window winders didn't work, one door could only be opened from outside and lots more. All the time the seller was standing there insisting it's an immaculate car

 

[tom2207]

you have to deal with the simple fact that every one has different standards ,, to him the repairs may have been done well ,, your standards are just different .

often I tell people ,,, Im upping my standards , up yours .

 

[8ob]

The answer is in your post mate..."Facebook" hate the place, hate the mechanics of it, hate the 95% of bell ends who use it and today i mostly hate even the blue logo colour.... Sorry for rant,please carry on.

Spent five hours on the road today to look at a FB truck a mate wanted, not in any way shape or form did that truck resemble the description, to say it was hanging would be an understatement and the engine was down on one cylinder.The guy needed poking in the eye with a stick.

Bob

 

[addjunkie]

Honestly Pete, it amuses me more than bothers me.
I agree about the Escorts though, awful bland things. The last one I had, a 1300E, I left upside down in a ditch. I think it cost £100, and I can never, ever see them as worth more than that, and will never be a "classic" to me.

The escort was a basic family car, relatively cheap, but I have fond memories of both mk1 s I had plus the Mk2. Iloved my 1300 E, was my pride and joy, learnt a lot about welding cars with that.
As for buying and selling anywhere, not just faceache, I think folks attitude has changed over the years……
Back when Mk1s were rusting for the first time, you scoured the local papers, went for a look, bought it if you liked, walked away if you didnt. Now you peruse a much larger area as www……has opened the market for all to see, camera phones and video have made it possible to look from a distance. But no matter what…..hands on touching and feeling is the only way to spot junk for what it is. If the seller dont want you walking away he should have been honest, fairly simple really.

When I was looking for a defender….went to see one “ best youll find. New mot.” Dealer selling from home it belonged to his wife yea right! He was quite offended when I poked my finger through the chassis in 3 places and pointed it out to him. Clearly his tame garage was very tame!

 

[roofman]

Spent five hours on the road today to look at a FB truck a mate wanted, not in any way shape or form did that truck resemble the description, to say it was hanging would be an understatement and the engine was down on one cylinder.The guy needed poking in the eye with a stick.

Bob

Only recently went to buy 5 pallets of torch-on felt described as 4mm thick, got there after 2 hours driving to be met with 2mm and all seconds (factory rejects) which i do buy normally but at half the price of perfects. Dont even remember the journey back home i was that pizzed off

 

[Onoff]

A couple of guys at work bang on about Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts like they were some mystical creature that should be idolized.

Couldn't agree more. It's not as if they're Ford Capris!

 

[bricol]

It seems like it bothers you TBH. It shouldn't though because all that guy had left was a parting shot and all it did was show his weakness of character.

Some people see the price of 'classics' and think that they can jump on the bandwagon with any rotting POS and anyone who looks at it should become dewy-eyed. Other people are realists.

A couple of guys at work bang on about Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts like they were some mystical creature that should be idolized. They weren't, they were basic, low-spec cars for the masses. They didn't drive half as well as they rusted and the only reason they are so much in demand nowadays is because so many of them dissolved into a brown stain or shat out all their oil on the road there aren't many left. As a youth I think I had 12 mk2 Escorts and they all were crap.

Only ever had lifts as a schoolboy in a 1100 Popular driven by a teacher . . . navigated in a bit better one as a student in the motor club . . . both experiences turned me towards Italian classics that started, handled, stopped and steered so much better.

My mum was a "Messer" before getting married . . . some slight aggro as a schoolgirl during the war due to sounding rather German.

 

[frank horton]

should have seen the trouble I had getting just a forklift........
norm FaceBook is the only way to get stuff here....no ebay, which is almost as bad....

 

[dobbslc]

If he called me a messer I'd have pretended to have a re think then gone back and pulled all the filler out.
****.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Better to be labelled a messer than an idiot for buying a lemon.if he called me a messer he would have got both barrels. Wasted time. Wasted journey wasted fuel. Sounds more like he was the messer.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

A couple of guys at work bang on about Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts like they were some mystical creature that should be idolized.

To be fair they're a lot better now than they used to be...most are restored better than factory!

Makes it easy to spot a survivor car...that'll be the one where the panels aren't fitted quite right

 

[addjunkie]

Couldn't agree more. It's not as if they're Ford Capris!

I had a 2.8i and always thought of it as the best car I ever owned, great towing car too….it was only a year old at the time. A friend bought one a couple of years ago…..nostalgia and all that buying what he couldn't afford back then. Excitedly took it for a spin. Still a nice car, still liked it, but poor by modern standards.

 

[angellonewolf]

dont let it bother you is the best advice i think i can give

buying a car is like buying a lottery ticket you just hope you bought the right numbers

son was looking for a car we seen one on the side of the road with a sign on it we phoned the number spoke to the bloke he said hed be down in 20 mins after getting the keys and starting it up it sounded ok (son was going to buy it)but there was a lot of points i was starting to pick out and as i started to point out this and that bloke just walked across turned the car off and went

we found out later hes owns a car repair shop down the road buys failed cars and fixes them (and good luck to him every one has to make money )but not the ideal person to buy from as they will only do the work required to pass mot not make sure it will run for a good time

as it happed 2 days later a hyndai car only a couple streets away for a family that was getting a bigger car come up we went to see priced fairly loads of money been spent on it(all standard stuff tyres servicing etc) but had a knocking from the steering not bad but there said to son there could be a problem with the ball joints or could be a steering rack spoke to the people the car was good apart from that so a price was agreed to take in to account of the knock

he just run the car as it was for 6 months and found it was a realy good car he done meny miles with no problems at all the knock was still there so after that time we looked at it and yes was the rack so he got a refurb unit installed at the cost 280 ish quid he ended up having the car for 2.5 years and done 20000 miles with no more money spent apart from service stuff and sold it for the same price he bought the car for so it only cost him the cost of the rack for all over that time

 

[MetalMonkey]

Quite a few years ago I bid and won a car on eBay 200 miles away.

Phoned and checked with the guy before bidding and was assured that the sills (common failure point) were solid, no welding. I had my doubts, but I just needed the shell so wasn't fussed on the condition of the rest of the panels and took a chance.

Travelled by train £70, car turned out to be in some under the arches garage with a couple of likely lads. Both sills rotten as a pear and patched. Told them I'm not buying it, clearly not as discussed, gave the guy £20 to cover the listing fee and left.

They waited until the last available day for feedback and then left me negative calling me a messer.

That annoyed me more than the money it cost, as I thought I'd been more than fair considering they basically lied.

Just shrug it off and move on. Most of these Arther Daley wannabees are dreamers and chancers. Something about used cars that attracts them in their droves.