Let the Buyer Beware - Inspection Recommended

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Community Discussion
1

Like to see the personal assets removed from whoever did this

2 Likes
2

This is frightening. :grimacing:

3

Kiwis Catastrophic Cougars, LOL.
Looks like the fastback Cougar is on the back burner (back ground).

4

Last video was making the front wheel opening symmetrical by sectioning the fender and moving the front of the opening rearwood. Going to be fun when they try and turn the wheels

5

The buyer obviously didn’t look underneath the car before purchasing. I think anyone looking for this type of car would have noticed the obvious bondo with a quick look.

6

.They should have covered the license plate. Sorry to see someone spend good money for something that isn’t so good. Sounds like the owner is going to sell the car. He’s going to take quite a loss to sell it after bringing these defects to light…but that is the honest way to do it. They said he had no recourse after the sale. With these defects making the car unsafe to drive he should probably consult an attorney. Either way, he will incur loss. Ugh, live and learn.

1 Like
7

Depends on how much time has transpired since the sale / auction - it may be possible to ‘rescind’ the sale. If no repairs or alterations have been made to the car since that point in time, and if the auction documents ( and the sale of this particular vehicle was captured on video or cell phone with how it was represented / described during the sale ) and if the vehicles condition was referred to as pristine, perfect or a recent restoration ( especially the use of the word ‘restoration’ ) then the sale itself could be un-done. If the sale was clearly stated ‘AS IS’ then it is a lot more difficult, especially if nothing was said about its condition while being presented during the auction ( not likely, given the kind of hyperbole that goes on during an auction ).
Get the advice of a lawyer, the money spent on this advice / course of action is the money that should have been spend in the first place on an inspection.
Good luck on making something positive out of a negative situation.

8

That’s insane!!!

9

Did a little searching and it only took me about 30 seconds on Google to find the auction. It sold for $22,500 in late May. Came out of Maine, and was originally from Canada. Some of the issues are shown in the photos and should have set off alarm bells for anyone that even remotely knew what they were looking at. While I genuinely feel bad for the buyer, there’s one thing I picked up over the years in all of my hobbies:

“expect what you inspect”

https://www.proxibid.com/1970-Mercury-Cougar-XR7/lotInformation/75865378

10

It was shocking to see how poorly the chassis was treated. Kudos to UTG and Kiwi for exposing this and warning folks.

11

In the May 20, 2023 description of the car ( from Throttle Garage in Scarborough, ME ) the word RESTORATION is used three times as well as this : “Trunk area and floor boards all solid and in near perfect condition.” The few shots of the underside of this Cougar DO NOT show the shoddy ( and quite frankly dangerous ) ‘repairs’ made to the structural elements ( the frame rails and torque boxes ), as well as sheet metal inserts in the floor pan ( held together with pop-rivets ! Get a lawyer - this is clearly fraudulent, as the car has been severely mis-represented.

12

Yep…this is tragic.
I find it hard to believe the the “restoration” happened in 2002.
Occurring then or not, Throttle Garage seems disengenuous in their description and if they claim to know anything about a car, whatsoever, they are easily as cuplable for selling this in this unsafe and poor condition as the person that did the garbage work.

Expect what you inspect…thanks for that. I’ll be using it.

1 Like
13

Really makes me appreciate mine. I am very sorry for the person that purchased this and I hope there is some recourse for them in the future. If I had a 70, I’d offer them my spare parts.

14

Thanks for coming back

15

When you click on the link that Hemikiller posted above, be sure to click on the terms of sale tab. Those bastards in Maine are going to point to this as their get out of jail card.

16

This is very sad for the buyer, but it’s a lesson to everybody that wants to purchase a classic car DO NOT TRUST ANYBODY UNTIL YOU GET IT INSPECTED FIRST !
Thanks for posting this video.

17

Sad situation. Auctions are largely unregulated giving buyers limited recourse after the sale. I would occasionally use auctions to fill inventory holes on types of construction equipment. I would go the day before the sale and inspect/run each piece I planned to bid on. I was always amazed at how few people were inspecting the equipment before hand. I also used to sell equipment at auction and there was a reason those pieces went to auction. I also never sold or bought locally so I was competing with clients. Very easy to get caught in the moment at auctions and make a mistake. Auctions are tough for non experienced buyers- proceed with caution. Do your homework and inspect thoroughly. Descriptions are meaningless.