A Swiss in the Forum

[kamaii]

Hello to everyone,

First of all, I would like to apologize for my very bad english. I live in Switzerland, near Lausanne (about 60km from Geneva) and own, to my great misfortune, a 2002' Maserati Spyder. And I've been reading this forum, by the way one of the most interesting and user-friendly I know, for a long time.

The story of this car is quite interesting. I bought this car as a 30th birthday gift. It happened to be my worst purchase. A little summary follows...

I found it on ebay motors in the USA from a Dealer. The ad didn't mention expressly that the car had a salvage title. It was only when I purchase a carfax report that I learned that the car was accidented. As I had already won the bid, I had an independent inspection of the car and, according to that inspection, the car was in perfect condition. Aha ah!

When I got the car in Switzerland, my mechanic told me that it would cost at least GBP 20'000.00 to fix it. Which is to say that I could buy a Maserati here in Switzerland without problem. It occurs that the car had been severly damaged and poorly repaired.

In brief, THE rip off...

Of course, my lawyer says that it is not worth the trouble to sue the dealer or carchex because it would cost too much money...

Passing some funny episodes in which I went to Rome to buy some used parts (about 660 miles from where I live) in the worst week-end of the last 25 years according to the weather report (snow, fog, ice on the roads, closed highways, police controls, etc), I'm still looking for used parts... I will post what I'm looking for in the right topic shortly...

I hope that you're able to understand at least 70% of what I wrote

 

[DaveT]

kamaii

Sorry to hear that tale of woe!

Hope you get things sorted out.

Welcome to the forum.

Dave

 

[conaero]

Welcome Kamaii, your english is fine, and we can fully understand it.

It sounds like you have made a very bad choice with your purchase. This is the second bad car we have hear of on this forum and again, it was a Spyder and again, it was bought without seeing it first, which is a big no no.

So, its a bit late to now, so yes, onto the fix.

Please can you post some pics of the damage and what items and parts you require and we will all do our best to help you sort this problem.

Here is a guide on how to post images:

http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/showthread.php/326-How-to-post-IMAGES-uploading-from-your-computer

Chin up, we have access to a large amount of second hand parts here in the UK. It would be best to find it all first, then hop in the car and come over and pick it all up in one go....and welcome to the forum, we will do our best to look after you.

 

[Torenno Performance]

Kamaii,

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about the bad experience with your purchase.

As canaero says there is a wealth of information on this board and alot of parts can be found here in the UK. If you can get the list im sure people on here would be able to direct you to the best place to buy those parts.

Thanks

Noor

 

[kamaii]

Thanks for your comments.

Well, it was the first and the last time I buy a car without having seen it. The thing is that the dealer lied to me, the inspection wasn't done properly (I think the guy was paid by the dealer) and the company in charge for the transportation did not tell me anything about the car. It was a swiss company and in the contract, they had to do a check up of the car before sending it to Switzerland...

I'll post some pics soon... But the car hasn't a bad visual aspect. The problems are mostly mechanical.

 

[Parisien]

Hi Kamaii, firstly can I commiserate you on being conned by another thief on ebay!

If the car description was stating "in perfect condition" etc.....then its a failure to live up to that description....end of!

Secondly, there is protection for purchasing of cars through ebay up to a level of £50,000, I don't know specific details, but perhaps contact ebay again, even at this late date it may be worth your while, you will need a very good engineers report on the current condition of your car, but certainly, do follow up and let us know how you get on!

In the States don't they have no win no fee type of litigation.........why not make the sellers life a complete and utter misery.....I WOULD!!!!!!!!!!!


P

 

[kamaii]

The statement that the car was in perfect condition is the reason why I bought it. You can check by yourselves here :

http://www.carchex.com/inspect/client/Default.aspx

email: ivo.dias@hispeed.ch
OrderID : 118374

The buyer's protection on ebay is purely fictive. The car must be certified by ebay, it's only for USA citizens and there are a lot of clauses not to give the money back.

About legal things, I went to the police that filed a complaint. The jugde of instruction said I had taken a risk in buying a car without actually see it and that the costs of a trial would be too expensive.

An action in the USA would have been a good option, but I bought the car in June 2009, recieved it in August 2009, made the complaint in September and only had the answer from the Swiss court in June 2010.

Now it is a little late to do something in the USA...

 

[conaero]

Well, the stitching coming undone on the passenger door card its the airbag deployment, that door also looks like it has been resprayed so am guessing that it has been side swiped.

I take it you saw the photos before purchase, its blindingly obvious its an airbag. The stitching is designed to be weak and can be re stitched, but that should have been enough alarm bells to walk away, and as for the company who carried out the inspection, well, that is a joke.

 

[kamaii]

In the ad, the dealer said it had an little accident but everything was replaced and perfectly in order.

Here are the photos of the ebay insert :

 

[kamaii]

I take it you saw the photos before purchase, its blindingly obvious its an airbag. The stitching is designed to be weak and can be re stitched, but that should have been enough alarm bells to walk away, and as for the company who carried out the inspection, well, that is a joke.

The seller told it would be repaired, which was almost done. New airbag but the door panel was just... hand sewed

 

[Easyplan66]

welcome kamaii

sorry to hear your story hope you have some luck from here forwards.

 

[kamaii]

After I recieved the car, the transport company in Switzerland, showed me the accident pics. They have a copart account. It would have been nice to show me those pics before they ship the car to Switzerland....

 

[Parisien]

Not fair when your left without vital info when it should have been sent your way.......how is your mechanic working out its going to take 20K to fix.......got a breakdown of your estimate?

Our respected member Loz......whould be the man to chat too, but hes very busy this week, one of the guys off the board will text him and we will see what else we can do to help!


P

 

[ENZ525]

Kamaii,
Welcome to the forum,
really sorry to hear about your troubles,
I hope we can be of some assistance here and
your situation improves going forward,
Regards,
Enzo.

 

[kamaii]

Not fair when your left without vital info when it should have been sent your way.......how is your mechanic working out its going to take 20K to fix.......got a breakdown of your estimate?

Our respected member Loz......whould be the man to chat too, but hes very busy this week, one of the guys off the board will text him and we will see what else we can do to help!


P

Thanks.

Well, an official maserati dealer here in Switzerland asked about GBP 32k to fix and homologate the car here in Switzerland. A unofficial asked 20k and my trusted old time friend will do it during the week-ends for a very good price. But I need to find the parts first.

Here in Switzerland, besides the fact that no used parts are availiable, the official prices are just crazy. For instance, an undermotor frame here costs GBP 1500.00. At eurospares, it's half price.

 

[conaero]

So, Kamaii, I take it your car is in the repaired condition and not all smashed up, yes?

 

[Parisien]

Thanks.

Well, an official maserati dealer here in Switzerland asked about GBP 32k to fix and homologate the car here in Switzerland. A unofficial asked 20k and my trusted old time friend will do it during the week-ends for a very good price. But I need to find the parts first.

Here in Switzerland, besides the fact that no used parts are availiable, the official prices are just crazy. For instance, an undermotor frame here costs GBP 1500.00. At eurospares, it's half price.

Kamaii, try Eurospares again for 2nd hand parts if you wish, and or David Askew, whose advert is at the top of the forum page, you can e-mail them with requirements, plus theres another guy who Loz can name and ask him too!

P

 

[urbanmaser]

Bienvenue to the forum kamaii. I am really sorry to hear that you have had such an awful experience with your Maserati and hope you get it all sorted. By the way Lausanne used to be like a second home to me. Many moons ago I had a girlfriend who lived in Epalinges and I used to spend much time at the Hotel Navigation on Lac Leman ( not sure if it is still there). Anyways welcome once again and hope you manage to get some good advice here

 

[kamaii]

So, Kamaii, I take it your car is in the repaired condition and not all smashed up, yes?

Yes, I got the car with a few scratches but the body was mostly repaired.

 

[kamaii]

Bienvenue to the forum kamaii. I am really sorry to hear that you have had such an awful experience with your Maserati and hope you get it all sorted. By the way Lausanne used to be like a second home to me. Many moons ago I had a girlfriend who lived in Epalinges and I used to spend much time at the Hotel Navigation on Lac Leman ( not sure if it is still there). Anyways welcome once again and hope you manage to get some good advice here

I live by the lake, not very far from the hotel you mentionned. It is still there and if you feel nostalgic and want to come back to Lausanne, the hotel has been beautifully restored. And of course, I'll be happy to have a coffee/or tea with you.