On Becoming a Macan "Expert"

[32wildbilly]

I always interpret "Fine, do whatever you want" to mean "The next one is the last one."

You are a very smart person.

[5chn3ll]

Mrs. S. and I had a come-to-Jesus conversation after the 996 purchase. It has been made clear to me, in no uncertain terms, what that phrase means when uttered by an annoyed wife.

I knew what I was doing, but I professed ignorance to save my life.

There is a degree of hypocrisy given how much she actually likes the 996, but I am smart enough to know not to point this out.

[32wildbilly]

Mrs. S. and I had a come-to-Jesus conversation after the 996 purchase. It has been made clear to me, in no uncertain terms, what that phrase means when uttered by an annoyed wife.

I knew what I was doing, but I professed ignorance to save my life.

There is a degree of hypocrisy given how much she actually likes the 996, but I am smart enough to know not to point this out.

Great choices all around.

[FRUNKenstein]

There is a degree of hypocrisy given how much she actually likes the 996, but I am smart enough to know not to point this out.

Yeah, doubling-down is probably not the smart play.

[FRUNKenstein]

So, I posted the black 2015 Macan Turbo for sale on Sunday. The first person to look at it (Monday) bought it. He picked it up on Tuesday. It was in great shape, so no surprise.

The white 2018 Turbo that I bought back on August 23rd was still sitting at the auction in Shreveport as of Tuesday, Sept. 5th, even though I had ordered and paid for shipping through the auction company on August 23rd. I had called 3 times previously to inquire why the auction's shipping company had still not picked it up. Then, Tuesday morning, I got a bill from the same auction for storage fees because it hadn't been picked up yet. Talk about adding insult to injury. Suffice it to say, I called said auction house Tuesday morning, the storage fees invoice was cancelled and the auction company's shipping company picked it up Tuesday afternoon. It arrived here in Olathe, KS on Wednesday morning.

It's a nice vehicle, but the auction's condition report (that you rely on in deciding whether to buy the car) missed a bunch of stuff, some of which are significant items:
1. The condition report said it came with two keys. It only came with one. That's $500+ for a second key right there.
2. The windshield that a big rock chip with 4 cracks branching out about 1 inch each. Yesterday, the cracks spread to where I need to replace the windshield now.
3. The Pirelli P Zero tires that the auction listed as having 7/32nds tread on all 4 tires had less than 3/32nds on all 4 tires when I put a gauge on them. That's a $2,000 set of tires (although I'm putting some less expensive replacements on)
4. The 21" factory rims were listed as having curb rash on the front left wheel only. All 4 wheels have significant curb rash, so I'm going to have to fix them.
5. The B pillar trim on both sides is cracked down the middle. Both the B and C pillar trim is badly scratched on both sides. About $300 in parts and a bit of a PITA to replace (you have to remove the door cards on both sides and unhook the window regulator).
The windshield trim on the left & right sides has been damaged. Thankfully, those are only about $40 each, but still, it was obvious damage and should have been listed.

The arbitration period (10 days) ended while the car was still waiting to be picked up by the auction's shipping vendor. I spoke to the general manager of the auction yesterday after notifying them of the problems right after delivery on Wednesday. They are refunding $515 (the shipping charge), which I guess is legally more than they have to do. But, man, this is going to be more of a project and much more expensive to prep for sale than I expected.

[32wildbilly]

So, I posted the black 2015 Macan Turbo for sale on Sunday. The first person to look at it (Monday) bought it. He picked it up on Tuesday. It was in great shape, so no surprise.

The white 2018 Turbo that I bought back on August 23rd was still sitting at the auction in Shreveport as of Tuesday, Sept. 5th, even though I had ordered and paid for shipping through the auction company on August 23rd. I had called 3 times previously to inquire why the auction's shipping company had still not picked it up. Then, Tuesday morning, I got a bill from the same auction for storage fees because it hadn't been picked up yet. Talk about adding insult to injury. Suffice it to say, I called said auction house Tuesday morning, the storage fees invoice was cancelled and the auction company's shipping company picked it up Tuesday afternoon. It arrived here in Olathe, KS on Wednesday morning.

It's a nice vehicle, but the auction's condition report (that you rely on in deciding whether to buy the car) missed a bunch of stuff, some of which are significant items:
1. The condition report said it came with two keys. It only came with one. That's $500+ for a second key right there.
2. The windshield that a big rock chip with 4 cracks branching out about 1 inch each. Yesterday, the cracks spread to where I need to replace the windshield now.
3. The Pirelli P Zero tires that the auction listed as having 7/32nds tread on all 4 tires had less than 3/32nds on all 4 tires when I put a gauge on them. That's a $2,000 set of tires (although I'm putting some less expensive replacements on)
4. The 21" factory rims were listed as having curb rash on the front left wheel only. All 4 wheels have significant curb rash, so I'm going to have to fix them.
5. The B pillar trim on both sides is cracked down the middle. Both the B and C pillar trim is badly scratched on both sides. About $300 in parts and a bit of a PITA to replace (you have to remove the door cards on both sides and unhook the window regulator).
The windshield trim on the left & right sides has been damaged. Thankfully, those are only about $40 each, but still, it was obvious damage and should have been listed.

The arbitration period (10 days) ended while the car was still waiting to be picked up by the auction's shipping vendor. I spoke to the general manager of the auction yesterday after notifying them of the problems right after delivery on Wednesday. They are refunding $515 (the shipping charge), which I guess is legally more than they have to do. But, man, this is going to be more of a project and much more expensive to prep for sale than I expected.

The condition report missing all those easy to see defects seems a little scammy to me. Actually a lot scammy! Their generous (bullshit) offer to pay shipping doesn't even come close to covering your costs much less your labor. 4/32" of tread depth difference is really easy to see with a tread depth gauge. The topper is the "just keep the car on the lot past the ten day complaint period is over."

You don't have any recourse against them??

You're probably not the first nor will you be the last if no-one holds their feet to the fire.

[02TX996Cab]

The condition report missing all those easy to see defects seems a little scammy to me. Actually a lot scammy! Their generous (bullshit) offer to pay shipping doesn't even come close to covering your costs much less your labor. 4/32" of tread depth difference is really easy to see with a tread depth gauge. The topper is the "just keep the car on the lot past the ten day complaint period is over."

You don't have any recourse against them??

You're probably not the first nor will you be the last if no-one holds their feet to the fire.

Seems to me an appropriately-worded letter from an attorney might get more appropriate compensation from the auction house. Just sayin...

But it is Louisiana we're talking 'about, not that anything shady ever happens there...

[FRUNKenstein]

The condition report missing all those easy to see defects seems a little scammy to me. Actually a lot scammy! Their generous (bullshit) offer to pay shipping doesn't even come close to covering your costs much less your labor. 4/32" of tread depth difference is really easy to see with a tread depth gauge. The topper is the "just keep the car on the lot past the ten day complaint period is over."

You don't have any recourse against them??

You're probably not the first nor will you be the last if no-one holds their feet to the fire.

Seems to me an appropriately-worded letter from an attorney might get more appropriate compensation from the auction house. Just sayin...

But it is Louisiana we're talking 'about, not that anything shady ever happens there...

Well, legally, the value of the time I would spend fighting them would quadruple any damages I'd get. They are in the position of being a middle-man in the transaction rather than the seller. Although, in this case, the car was owned by Carvana, and Carvana owns ADESA, so maybe they do get preferential treatments on condition report ratings. I see that frequently at our local Manheim auction - if it is a car owned by major seller, it's almost always graded higher than it should be.

But, their position as a middle-man is that "hey, we'll do our best to evaluate every car that comes into our auction, but you can't hold us liable if we miss something." And with "AS-IS" vehicles, they further recommend that you see the vehicle in person before bidding. So, their policies, terms & conditions are set up so that there's simply not much recourse for the buyer. Even if the shipper got the car to me within the arbitration time frame of 10 days, the deck is still stacked against me. It's kind of a "you're supposed to be a dealer to buy at the auction, so you know there's risks in buying here" kind of thing. For most dealers, the problems with this vehicle wouldn't be that big of a deal. And, in the end, it will be OK for me. I just have a lot more work and expense on this car than anticipated. In fairness, the 2015 Macan Turbo I just sold was in better condition than I expected, so you win some and you lose some.

[02TX996Cab]

Seems to me an appropriately-worded letter from an attorney might get more appropriate compensation from the auction house. Just sayin...

But it is Louisiana we're talking 'about, not that anything shady ever happens there...

Well, legally, the value of the time I would spend fighting them would quadruple any damages I'd get. They are in the position of being a middle-man in the transaction rather than the seller. Although, in this case, the car was owned by Carvana, and Carvana owns ADESA, so maybe they do get preferential treatments on condition report ratings. I see that frequently at our local Manheim auction - if it is a car owned by major seller, it's almost always graded higher than it should be.

But, their position as a middle-man is that "hey, we'll do our best to evaluate every car that comes into our auction, but you can't hold us liable if we miss something." And with "AS-IS" vehicles, they further recommend that you see the vehicle in person before bidding. So, their policies, terms & conditions are set up so that there's simply not much recourse for the buyer. Even if the shipper got the car to me within the arbitration time frame of 10 days, the deck is still stacked against me. It's kind of a "you're supposed to be a dealer to buy at the auction, so you know there's risks in buying here" kind of thing. For most dealers, the problems with this vehicle wouldn't be that big of a deal. And, in the end, it will be OK for me. I just have a lot more work and expense on this car than anticipated. In fairness, the 2015 Macan Turbo I just sold was in better condition than I expected, so you win some and you lose some.

Welp, if "do our best" doesn't even cover counting correctly to the number "2", their "best" is next to worthless. No offense intended to the worthless, BTW.

Good to know that car auctions are pretty much "as is, where is" types of transactions.

[32wildbilly]

Seems to me an appropriately-worded letter from an attorney might get more appropriate compensation from the auction house. Just sayin...

But it is Louisiana we're talking 'about, not that anything shady ever happens there...

Well, legally, the value of the time I would spend fighting them would quadruple any damages I'd get. They are in the position of being a middle-man in the transaction rather than the seller. Although, in this case, the car was owned by Carvana, and Carvana owns ADESA, so maybe they do get preferential treatments on condition report ratings. I see that frequently at our local Manheim auction - if it is a car owned by major seller, it's almost always graded higher than it should be.

But, their position as a middle-man is that "hey, we'll do our best to evaluate every car that comes into our auction, but you can't hold us liable if we miss something." And with "AS-IS" vehicles, they further recommend that you see the vehicle in person before bidding. So, their policies, terms & conditions are set up so that there's simply not much recourse for the buyer. Even if the shipper got the car to me within the arbitration time frame of 10 days, the deck is still stacked against me. It's kind of a "you're supposed to be a dealer to buy at the auction, so you know there's risks in buying here" kind of thing. For most dealers, the problems with this vehicle wouldn't be that big of a deal. And, in the end, it will be OK for me. I just have a lot more work and expense on this car than anticipated. In fairness, the 2015 Macan Turbo I just sold was in better condition than I expected, so you win some and you lose some.

Yeah I figured as much. It just pisses me off when somebody fluffs(bald faced lies) on a report that remote people will have to rely on. eBay will even go to bat for a buyer who buys something misrepresented by the seller online...