So, I had an agreed deal on an agreed price on this car. SAJWA94CX9TH29851
Dealing with Mercedes Benz of Miami, Gregory Campbell.
Money in hand, picking up the car tomorrow.
I get a phone call from him saying the want a lot more money for the car than the agreed sale price.
Then I also found an interesting picture when searching the VIN number.
STAY AWAY!

EDIT BY MOD TEAM

The VIN of the car in your picture is SAJWA94C99TH29551

The VIN of the car that's for sale is SAJWA94C99TH29851

 

Donzi,


Looks like you dodged the big one.

 

?

 

Shisk!!! They were trying to bend you over @the 45!!!

(45° angle)

 

I think you might be jumping the gun a little mate.

The VIN of the car in your picture is SAJWA94C99TH29551

The VIN of the car that's for sale is SAJWA94C99TH29851

 

Hmmm.. unless they changed the ad and vin..
Either way, I had a sales contract on it, they then changed the price afterwards.
Probably a lucky thing for me.
Miami is notorious for this kind of under handed dealings.

 

Well now it get's a little interesting the deeper one looks.

H29551 is definitely a Portfolio according to Topix.
H29851 shows in Topix but without a detailed build sheet, which is a little strange.

It does appear that H29551 which was written off in Maryland sometime before September 2013, re-appeared in Ohio in May 2015 re-built and noted as "major issue" on the accident history and title check (ebay listing). Mileage 53'600, here's a listing of it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2009-Jaguar-...p2047675.l2557

Then there is H29851, advertised in Florida, Oct 2015, Mileage 31'463. Jaguar XJ Super V8 | eBay and Carfax has no bad news in it CARFAX Vehicle History Report for this 2009 JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO: SAJWA94CX9TH29851

Photos of H29551 show it missing the bonnet leaper, and no badges on the boot lid. Makes sense if it was a re-shell or similar.

Photos of H29851 show a pristine vehicle, all original, nothing appears out of the ordinary.

They do not appear to be the same car to me.

 

Weird indeed, so what is a "re-shell"

 

re-shell, taking the body or "shell" of another car and transferring everything from the smashed car into the good shell. Including swapping VIN's.

Looking at the picture of H29551 in it's damaged state, there is no way that body could be re-built. The roof, floorplan, B pillar, the whole shell is stuffed. So find a cheap XJ8L, swap over the lot.

The risk of course is that the repairs have been done as cheaply as possible, cut & shut, slapped together, which is a scary thought on an aluminium bodied car.

 

Oh, got ya. I would not think that would be allowed, swapping the VIN I mean.

 

Yeah it would be totally illegal in most places.

Ironically a re-shell would probably be a much safer car than one that's been cut up and welded back together, even though such repairs would probably be legal...

 

Typical govt. rules...make no sense.

 

Looks like you just typed the wrong VIN when doing your search.

But if they raised the price after an agreement i'd tell them "bless your heart"! And if you're from the South you know what that really means.

 

On the flip side, good to know our cars score well on the side impact crash test.

 

It is common in the used car business to add on dealer charges at the last minute, so at least you had some warning.

I had been looking for an 05 to 07 VDP for a year and took cash on my 600 mile trip to Houston for my SV8 purchase and after sending a $500 deposit, staying overnight, and buying a $180 headlamp, when I sat down at Autoshopper at the end of a long day to sign the final paperwork they hit me with some $500 in dealers costs and fees above the agreed price. I resisted, the closer dickered, and I ended up paying an extra $175.

My bro-in-law worked for an outfit that held tent sales to clear backlogs of used cars from dealers and he said that it was standard practice to add fees after the buyer (sucker) was emotionally involved and ready to sign, and that if the sucker walked away they could waive fees to keep the sale but were "encouraged" to stick it to them for all the extra charges they would put up with. He left the business because he hated to screw folks who could barely afford a crappy used car at the advertised price.

Too bad he wasn't with me in Houston as he might have saved me the extra expense, but so far I have about $7,600 in the car including the trip expenses and replacement parts, and I wasn't prepared to lose the deposit and the trip expenses and start looking all over again. I guess he would say I was emotionally involved and I was, but Momma "loved the color" and my life would have been difficult if I'd had to schlep her back to Arkansas without "her" new car.

 

NO SIR! That's NOT what happened. They raised the sale price by thousands of dollars AFTER I had a deal in writing! I was fully aware of the dealer fees and other misc. charges.
They are SCUM, with a very low rating on eBay. I am filing a complaint with the DMV and with Mercedes Benz of North America.

 

Don't forget Yelp, although they might delete your 1-star review if the dealer paid 'protection money'.

 

If you had the deal in writing, perhaps a law office (much as I hate to suggest it) might be your next stop if the written price was good enough to make it worthwhile to cover their fee.