On February 28 I used Ebay's (Ebay item #170306542913) buy it now option to purchase a 1989 Mercedes 300TE wagon.
The dealer, Bill Hehemann, 1561 East Course Drive, Riverwoods, IL, (also known as Auto Importers Inc., Autohaus Nation, Benz Depot and Ebay Id CCONSID) claimed the car has 94,000 miles but after many problems within the first 24 hours of purchase I decided to purchase a Carfax report to see if there were any known defects. The Carfax report shows that this car had over 182,000 miles as of 2006.
If you read the listing you can see that the seller claims Satisfaction Guaranteed and that Each vehicle is thoroughly prepared and road tested and Our vehicle are inspected and must exceed expectations in order to qualify for listing.
These proclamations lead me to believe that the car was described accurately. And not only could I trust the seller, but he would stand behind theses claims.
Within the first 24 hours the entire exhaust system fell off and the car had very little power when I would accelerate. I took the car to a certified Mercedes mechanic who told me the car was running on only 4 of 6 cylinders due to total ignition failure.
I paid $999.07 to put the exhaust on and get the engine running. The dealer claimed this car to need nothing, to be perfectly tuned and to be inspected by a 3rd party that would verify the car's perfection.
In the listing the car is claimed to be INSPECTED. I bought this car with confidence that it was in running order yet I spent a lot of money just to get the car running. The mechanic I took the car to will attest to the fact that this car was in poor running condition.
He claimed that the power windows are in working order yet only 2 of 4 work properly. Also claimed twice that the body was in excellent condition yet the body has extensive rust that I was not able to see when I picked up the car due to salt and dirt that covered the car following a Chicago snow storm. Excellent, according to Kelly Blue Book, means free of any rust.
Seller had my mechanic fax the repair bill to him and that was the last we heard from him. No reply to emails or phone calls telling him of the odometer rollback.
The seller also claimed in his listing that all-weather floor mats would be included and even though the picture shows front and back, only the front was shipped after he forgot to bring them when the car was delivered.
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