I'm so fed up with trying to buy used stuff. I just don't understand why people misrepresent what they're selling... in ads, or on the phone, etc. Scamming someone on ebay is one thing, but when I'm actually coming to LOOK at what they're selling... Do they think I'm not going to notice that it's not quite the same when I see it in person??
I just got back from looking at a used Jetski. It's priced under the going rate, but there's a picture on the ad online, and it looks great. I call and talk to the guy. He tells me how he doesn't let it sit outside, how it's always been in a garage, runs great, only has 80 hours on the engine. Etc, etc, etc.
So I get there... and first thing, it doesn't match the photo. Apparently the manufacturer changed the graphics and/or color scheme somewhere around that model year, or something, but the ski in the photo looks like a totally bad ass machine, and the one in person looks a little fruity. But whatever. So I'm standing there with the guy, and he's telling me all about it... and it has some scars/scratches/gouges on top... which he says are from parking at a dock... ok, I can handle that.. so then I look underneath... and it has BARNACLES on it. Now how does a Jetski that is always stored in a garage grow barnacles??? "Oh, well, for about a month I had it sitting in the water at a friend's dock..." So then he's showing me the status display, and it says the engine has 1.7 hours on it. I look at him like that makes no sense, and he says the battery died and the hourmeter reset, but before it died it had 80 hours on it. <beating my head on the desk>
Now, the guy was cool, very nice, and the ski looked okay... I may take it out for a test drive later this week. But I'm so annoyed that I didn't have these things in mind beforehand. He even kept telling me how he had it appraised and the guy said it was the best shape 97 he's ever seen... I guess he didn't look at the not-really-repaired gouge on the bottom, the barnacles, or the sponson on the back that literally had been ripped in half.
But I'm not bitter...
I just got back from looking at a used Jetski. It's priced under the going rate, but there's a picture on the ad online, and it looks great. I call and talk to the guy. He tells me how he doesn't let it sit outside, how it's always been in a garage, runs great, only has 80 hours on the engine. Etc, etc, etc.
So I get there... and first thing, it doesn't match the photo. Apparently the manufacturer changed the graphics and/or color scheme somewhere around that model year, or something, but the ski in the photo looks like a totally bad ass machine, and the one in person looks a little fruity. But whatever. So I'm standing there with the guy, and he's telling me all about it... and it has some scars/scratches/gouges on top... which he says are from parking at a dock... ok, I can handle that.. so then I look underneath... and it has BARNACLES on it. Now how does a Jetski that is always stored in a garage grow barnacles??? "Oh, well, for about a month I had it sitting in the water at a friend's dock..." So then he's showing me the status display, and it says the engine has 1.7 hours on it. I look at him like that makes no sense, and he says the battery died and the hourmeter reset, but before it died it had 80 hours on it. <beating my head on the desk>
Now, the guy was cool, very nice, and the ski looked okay... I may take it out for a test drive later this week. But I'm so annoyed that I didn't have these things in mind beforehand. He even kept telling me how he had it appraised and the guy said it was the best shape 97 he's ever seen... I guess he didn't look at the not-really-repaired gouge on the bottom, the barnacles, or the sponson on the back that literally had been ripped in half.
But I'm not bitter...
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