I bought a used car from Terry that I saw on eBay. It was an old bmw he described as meticulously maintained with a recent paint job. I had bid on the car but lost track of time and missed the auction end and was not the high bidder. Several months had passed and I emailed him telling him I was in the market for the same kind of car. He told me he still had the same car from eBay.
I went and looked at it at his shop. It had a new paint job and looked pretty good.
His description was as follows from eBay.
Terry Sayther Automotive is proud to offer this meticulously maintained, beautiful 1974 BMW 2002 for sale. This car was a 2002Tii and still has the Tii short block, etc., though ancillary mechanical injection parts have been removed. This is a NO RUST car originally from the west Texas desert. A reliable daily driver with plenty of pep all the while only sipping fuel. Interior is very clean: car had no sunroof to leak or break. Production date is 06/1974, VIN 2782194, 71937 miles on the clock (actual mileage unknown).
The high points: Car has a very cold Clardy AC system, Bilstein Heavy Duty Shocks and Struts, 5 speed manual transmission, no rust, tii heritage, many new parts, recent tuning, long history at Terry Sayther Automotive, recent turkis/turquoise paint, Nardi wood steering wheel, 13"" Alpina alloy wheels with recent tires, functioning tii dash mounted clock, sheepskin covers.
The lows: A crack in the dash and a small tear in the headliner. That's it.
The winning bid was 5051.00 and I offered him $5500 (he reported the sale to the State of Texas for $2000 dollars so he would not have to pay fair taxes and just another example) for the car plus an extended warranty of 6 months to keep it running. I knew the suspension needed to be redone but everything else sounded pretty good.
I drove it home and within a few days the starter failed I was told at that point that the warranty only covered safety issues by Debbie and that this was the last free repair.
Using the BMW2002FAQ board, I started asking other 2002 members questions.
Found out the engine was not a 2002Tii block
At that point, I discovered rust under the seat. The rear end had also been hit a while ago and it looked like it was repaired by a third grader on lunch break with the fresh paint peeling everywhere due to zero prep work prior.
I sent Terry a long email describing the car and the issues where Terry responded that he would buy the car back (for a lot less) or give me back $1000.
I agreed to the $1000 and he said that I was not to call him or contact him ever again and that our relationship was over. He was very rude at that point.
Debbie got involved and they were both defensive and rude as I complained about the way they repaired my car.
I had seen some negative reviews on Terry but ignored them. BIG MISTAKE...
I also got the info that the original buyer trashed Terry on ebay under his handle TERRYSAYTHERAUTO saying the car was junk and that Terry could not be trusted.
So Terry knew about the issues with the car yet still knowingly misrepresented the car too me.
The recent paint job was done to hide rust. The car was not prepped and the car is bubbling and flaking everywhere. The doors have rust holes at the bottom that are bubbling through leaving dime sized rust holes.
The entire car will need to be sanded down to bare metal and repainted.
The car was basically made cosmetically acceptable and just given enough parts to get it out the door.
His business practice is HORRIBLE, he grossly misrepresented the car, he is rude and a bully when things don't go his way or he is questioned.
What he did to me is an example of how he operates.
He screwed me and he will screw you too.
Search for me on the 2002BMWFAQ (AUSTINMF).... I have a blog with all the pictures.
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