Re: 1949 Custom Eight Touring Sedan

Posted by Fred Puhn On 2009/7/23 12:28:23

Best of luck with this Packard. I need to tell you I was scammed by a Packard seller on Ebay recently. He sold another similar Packard earlier this year which was also a scam job.

Here is what I should have done differently:
1. Go inspect the car or pay someone locally to inspect it for you before making a payment.
2. Check the engine condition (oil pressure verified with another gage, temperature after a hard drive, compression, funny noises, leaks, etc.).
3. Drive the car!! On mine the brakes did not work at all and it was advertized as a "roadworthy running car that stops as it should."
4. Make sure the seller did not overlook photographing all the bad parts of the car (rust, dings, bad chrome, mickey mouse wiring, holes in the upholstery, missing parts,etc.). My scammer took really creative photos only of the good parts.
5. Don't believe what he tells you or what is advertized.
6. Verify the engine number, etc.
7. Make sure the seller has a title and it is in his name.
8. If he advertizes manuals, spare parts, etc make sure you visually see that they exist.
9. Do not trust Ebay's buyer protection plan. It is set up for a crook to have lots of ways to use the arbitrary and impossibly short 30 day deadline to avoid letting you collect.
10. Check for negative feedback and do not trust anyone with little history.

I paid top dollar (about double what it should have been worth) for what seemed like a car I could jump in and use. I have been working on it solid for 2 months and have spent more than the car is worth trying to make it as advertized. I was stupid but hopefully someone else can be helped by my experience,

My scammer lived in Las Vegas and has relatives in California that participated. He is dropped from Ebay now so he probably changed his name and is still out there. Good luck.