I need some serious help/advice please *UPDATE*

[AirborneSilva]

I hope this is in the right place and forgive me if this gets a bit wordy.   I bought a 69 Charger off of e-bay, here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-69-CHARGER-R-T-AWESOME-REAL-DEAL-YEEEE-HAAWWW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQitemZ4575436016QQrdZ1
What I got WAS NOT what was described in the description, here is part of the description;
"LOOKS LIKE IT STILL HAS ALL OF IT'S ORIGINAL BODY PANELS ON IT AND IS READY TO BE RESTORED! THE TRUNK PAN HAS ALREADY BEEN CUT OUT AND READY FOR THE NEW ONE TO BE INSTALLED! THE 1/4'S HAVE THE TYPICAL CHARGER RUST AND WILL NEED SOME EASY WORK DONE TO THEM! THE REAR WINDOW AREA LOOKS TO BE NICE AND SOLID! THE REAR RAILS WILL NEED SOME WORK BUT SHOULD BE EASY TO DO! THE CAR IS PRETTY COMPLETE AND HAS A BIG BLOCK IN THE CAR THAT IS NOT RUNNING! MOST OF THE INTERIOR IS THERE BUT WILL NEED TO BE REDONE! OVER ALL THIS BABY IS SOMETHING WORTH PUTTING THE TIME AND EFFORT INTO AND WOULD ALSO BE A NICE HEMI CLONE!   "
To start, the left front fender has several rust spots and will need to be replaced, that is not in the description at all.   Moving to the inside, the section of where the radio goes is gone and it looks like a section under the glove box is missing as well.   The two front seats don't even look like mopar seats to me and will have to be junked in favor of true 69 charger seats.   Now, onto the real heart of the problem.   The trunk pan was not cut out, it has rusted out, along with the two inner fender wells and worst of all the, and this next bit of wording if for a lack of knowledge of what else to call it since I know it has no real frame, the two frame rails are pretty much GONE, the back end of the leaf springs doesn't even have a place to connect to the frame.   the two rear quarters will have to be completely replaced as will both rockers and the area that goes around the rear tail lights (or perhaps better stated, from the trunk lid down.   This is only what I could see ( wasn't even able to look under the hood).   It was dark after we finally got it off of the truck (which cost almost $300 more then I was led to believe it would cost for shipping - which was $1,095.00 and not the $750 I was told it should cost).   As stated it was dark so I have not been able to take pictures but will in the morning, or in two or three hours since it is 4:05 now and I can't sleep from being bothered by this.

I need some advice here, I do not know what to do.   I was so excited about getting this car since I had wanted another Charger R/T for well over 25 years and now I finally was able to get one to start the restoration process...  

Thanks for your time and any constructive thoughts.

[MoparYoungGun]

From the first line I read in this thread, I was thinking HLPAG. Sorry to say it but, you have just bought a Charger from the worst possibly place. There have been many complaints about their cars not being described well, much more damage than they were letting on, etc. I don't know what to tell you, all I can say is I'm sorry this happened to you.

[Charger4404spd]

HLPAG is right. Sure wished you had came here first and ask for info. Those people have a very bad rep. One lady is supposedly sueing them for a piece of crap she bought. Good luck!

I would at least file a complaint with ebay(that wont do much good though), the more complaints they have on file about them, the better.

I would also consider getting a lawyer to give them a call and demand they buy the car back. If not, lets go to court.

[AirborneSilva]

Thanks young gun.   I looked at the e-bay feed back percentage they had (didn't read any of em), figured a 98.5% positive was pretty good so I felt safe.   

[BigBlockSam]

HLPAG strikes again !

[MoparYoungGun]

Thanks young gun.   I looked at the e-bay feed back percentage they had (didn't read any of em), figured a 98.5% positive was pretty good so I felt safe.   

I don't think they started selling the cars on Ebay untill a month or two ago, they usually just had ads on Colletor Car Trader Online. Maybe that's a reason their feedback is all right? I would also go the route that 4404spd described. Good luck , I hope it all works out for you.

[4402tuff4u]

Sorry to say but I believe you just been taken. There are alot of members here that know about that particular place where you bought the car. I'm pretty sure they can shed a whole bunch of light on them. When I started looking for a Charger nearly 4 years ago I did speak to them on several Chargers they had for sale. However, I always ended up and got a funny feeling about them. Everything always seemed to good to be real. You might want to seek legal representation if the Charger is totally different than advertised. I would also get ebay involved. Don't let them brush this off on you and them. Good luck.

[73dodge]

Okay since you got scammed by HPLAG here's what to do.

1. Make a copy of the cars decsription as posted on Ebay.
2. Take plenty of pictures of all the things that is wrong with the car you'll need them as evidence.
3. Try to find the lady that was sueing them and was a member here maybe you two can start a class action lawsuit against these guys.
4. get a LAWYER and start suing them................


The bottom line if these people get enough lawsuits filed against them it might be enough to put them out of business

[NYCMille]

If you didn't take posession of the car yet - DON'T... if you paid by credit card, CANCEL the transaction - these guys are scumbags... go out IMMEDIATELY and hire an attorney and file suit against them as fast as you can.

[bull]

Sorry man. As soon as I saw the stupid Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw in the description I knew who it was. You just got hlpagged. I wouldn't buy any Charger from anyone anywhere near Lake Villa, Ill. I apologize for what they've done but you are not alone. Somehow they've been getting away with screwing people the same way you got screwed for a long time. I hope and pray one day to wake up and discover that they've finally been run out of business. They are a scourge and quite honestly I am surprised that the place hasn't been burned to the ground by angry customers. If I were you I would do everything in my power to take them down. I'm surprised there hasn't been an effort on the part of several jilted customers to file a class action lawsuit.

[Chargen69]

    sorry dude, take it from experience, never, never, buy any car, especially a classic without looking at it.   People will lie like crazy cause they know you want it.

[bull]

One thing I noticed about that auction that could be a red flag is that all the feedback has been kept private. And with a Feedback Score of 66 and Positive Feedback at 98.5% that might not be a good sign, especially the fact that you have no idea who left the feedback and if it was for sales or purchases. Someone with that kind of reputation will find a way to get themselves into the 90 percentile on feedback, maybe by creating a new username and keeping their nose clean for long enough to get their percentage up. Maybe they just bought 70 CDs from 70 different people at $4 each to jack up their rating.

[Blown70]

Sorry to hear this happened.  Yes they are some people out there that represent poorly.  These guys are most famous.  I THINK THEY COULD PUT ON A SCAM ARTIST CLASS

However,  do you still want the car and want to fix it.  I would get a refund of some kind.  BTW.  Stick around here there are a lot of people with knowledge here.

I would get a lawer and also COPY the ebay ad.  File a complaint with ebay  Do what ever you can.

GOOD LUCK.

BLOWN70

[ramit]

Actually I think they list cars on ebay using several different user I.D's

[cudaken]

 Airborne, sorry you did not get what you thought you where buying. As soon as I saw it was a R/T and sold for $4999.99 I was think this is going to be ruff. Second clue was the bad PIC that where posted of the Charger. No detail shoots.

Do I think you are up the creek? No, I don't! If it is a real R/T you did pretty good. By the way on my 69 Red Charger, Black top, black buckets R/T, R/T stood for Rusted / Trash. I replaced all of the parts you listed on my Charger. Sure it will be more work than you where hoping for but still save able. My self and other people in the Paint and Body section will be able to tell you where to buy the part's and how to install them as well.

Where do you live? More than likely your Charger was hauled with in 2 miles of my house.   Need some help let me know.

                                             Cuda Ken

[ramit]

From the looks of the pictures it looks like the rear quarters are barely hanging on to the car.

[triple_green]

First make sure you email the seller and let them know you think the vehicle is not as described (politely).

Here is the protection Ebay says it gives:

http://pages.motors.ebay.com/services/purchase-protection.html

Good Luck,
3X

[Old Moparz]

First thing you need to do, is save & document every part of the transaction. That means start an actual folder (real paper, not a computer folder) with print outs of the eBay auction, canceled checks, money order receipts, towing receipts etc. If you have nothing in writing, start setting up an outline or journal of the transaction with a timeline of events. Dates of when you made any telephone calls, emails, faxes, & anything relevant to buying the car will prove to a judge that you aren't just making false claims & shooting from the hip. Make & save copies of all these too.

Don't touch the car yet & take 100's of photos of all the problems. It might be to your benefit to even get a body shop to give you an estimate with a description of what is wrong with the car. There's no need to let the body shop know you are using this to possibly go to court because they may be very reluctant to give you anything at all for fear of getting involved in a lawsuit. You're not asking them to go to court, just asking them for a professional opinion of what's wrong. If it isn't a free estimate, pay for it, it'll be cheaper that the actual work.

You may have to contact the courts where the seller is, but I'm not positive. I had went to court over the sale of the "not as described" car once, & had to file in the county where the seller lived. False & misleading claims are different from just a disagreement of the condition. If the seller said the trunk was cut & it was clearly rotted away, I see that as an outright lie. You need a lawyer & to speak with someone at the district attorney's office. The others here mentioned that someone is suing them already. You can check in the county court where the seller is located, but may have to search under more than one name. (Dishonest people have a tendency to use more than one name, imagine that.)

It's too late to tell you that you should have looked at the car in person, but this seller involved here was definitely counting on the buyer not seeing it to make the sale. Don't wait too long to follow up on this with a lawyer & filing a claim. If there are others planning to sue, you'll be at the bottom of the list & may never see a penny.

[andy74]

go to the place where you bought the car and punch the asshole right in the throat-it will make you feel better,and thats what those pricks deserve- as i have stated in the past, i hope their pricks fall off

[THE COLONEL]

Actually I think they list cars on ebay using several different user I.D's

they also use different locations where they say the car is at.  One of the locations they use is Colorado.

Sorry to hear you got took.  A few years ago, I even finalized a deal with these people on a Charger, and heard alot of people talk about these guys.  I then had a friend go look at a couple of their cars, before I went to pick it up, and he said stay far away from any car they sell.  I then called HLPAG and told them to forget the whole thing.  they wern't too happy, but look what I have now.

[RD]

awaiting for troy to chime in 

[Steve P.]

Good luck man.. Keep us posted..    Maybe Troy can sticky this...  These asshole need a visit...

[Charger Aficionado]

  Damn.  I really liked the options it had, but damn it, it was HLPAGame...  Awesome combo of options.  It surely deserves to be restored.  Hope you are the man to do it.  I just had some original rear framerails but cut them for a tailpanel for my '69 500...  You can buy aftermarket ones pretty easily... 

  This business has horrific business ethics.  I hope it all works out. 

Sorry for your luck man.

[AirborneSilva]

Thank you all for your replies and and suggestions.  The wife and I just moved to Arizona  from Hawaii and have been busy all day today house hunting or I would have replied back much sooner.  I have already taken possesion of the vehicle and I don't have a credit card transaction to cancel, we did a wire transfer.  I do have all my receipts (I'm a little anal and like to keep things like that), I have also done print screens of the e-bay add and have e-mails that I have saved (the only problem with that is those e-mails are on my desk top computer and are in my house hold items which will not be delivered for at least a month, perhaps two).  If anyone remembers who this women is that is sueing the bastards then please let me know, my e-mail is AirborneSilva@hotmail.com  I will take plenty of pictures and post them up here.  I do hope too that even if this thread does not make it into sticky land that there is at least a warning made somewhere to inform people of these rip off artists.  I am what I would consider a bit of a macho guy (airbore is cause I was a paratrooper), but I was about ready to cry, literally, when I saw the shape this car was in, then I wanted to rip their throat out. 

Again, thank you to all of my fellow charger owners/lovers for your suggestions and support.

Tony

[Big Lebowski]

  Well if you beat those scumbags in court, maybe you could get enough $$$ to replace all those rusty frame parts. See the rotted frame repair parts at...   www.autorust.com  It's a real R/T so that's worth something