Vintage Car Collector, Glendale, CA
 

Jokingly asked my wife if I could by an FJ40. She surprised me and said I could use some of my retirement savings for Valentine's Day. Found a low mileage '69 FJ40 on E-Bay. Seller had over 500 "5 star" ratings, no negatives. Answered questions, etc. Listed all things as recently restored except a 350 Chevy V8.

We started out to see the rig in SoCal from north-central Washington. Got as far as central Oregon when I had to check into the ER with heart failure. We headed home and arranged to have it shipped.

His description (Comments in red):

Four wheel drive powertrain works well (One Warn hub frozen=PTM transfer case leaks)

5 off-road tires Arrived with two flats all tires need replacing)

All power train in excellent condition Radiator and oil leaks

Others: Ignition switch is located BEHIND roll bar and almost impossible to reach.

Front bucket seat held in place by the tool box latch.

Window scratched and chipped

Paint overspray on side mirrors, window glass, tires.

Electrical wires to license plate lights, tail lights and back up lights cut and mot connected.

Battery dead

Weather stripping largely non-existent.

Realized it was "Buyer Beware", so I posted negative feedback on E-Bay. It was pulled w/o explanation ($$$$$$??)

Ebay has standards re. their feedback system. Everything someone writes has to be factual. You can’t call the seller a lying dirtbag, for example, even if you think or know it’s true. Without knowing it, you probably violated one of their rules.

I don’t know what you wrote, so I don’t know what rule you might have violated.

I have ~1000 positive feedbacks on ebay in 20+ years, and just one negative over a year ago. I disputed the negative feedback because it wasn’t true, but eBay wouldn’t remove it. English wasn’t the first language of the buyer, so I didn’t even understand his comment. He also emailed me after the sale, asking to buy another of the same item. I was able to get another negative feedback removed a long time ago, but I honestly don’t remember why. I just know that eBay will remove some, but not all, negative feedback that the seller disputes.

Believe a car salesman and you deserve what you get! Just trying to prevent someone else from getting taken!

Update!
 

FJ has been in the shop for two weeks. So far, besides, the issues stated before:

1.Running lights corroded out. Needs full replacement.
2. Driver's seat not bolted down.
3. All rear lights (back-up, brakes and license plate) needed re-wiring.
4. Leaking radiator and hoses replaved.
5. PTO seals out=needed replacing.
6 Fuel filters replaced and carburetor adjusted.
7. Turn signal switch shorting out.
8. Driver's turn signal shorting out.

Previous issues:
1. Hubs frozen=needed re-building
2. paint overspray on mirrors (side and rear-view)
3. Holes in Dash.
4. Weatherstripping needed repalcement.
5. New tires (next after mechanical)