Late last month, after our third blizzard in 2 weeks, I began to become a little concerned about the safety of transporting my two young daughters in the family Hyundai. We live on a poorly maintained road and the buildup of snow and ice had led us to a few close calls. After examining our finances I decided we could afford to buy a four wheel drive vehicle to use as a winter car. My sister in law has a Toyota Land Cruiser and it is an amazing vehicle in the snow and ice so we started looking for a used one to purchase. On searching Craigslist I found what appeared to be an example in good condition with lower miles. The advertisement described a well preserved truck that was in perfect working order and "would pass New York inspection". I called the seller (East Coast Customs) and spoke with John and his wife Nancy. I'm not a mechanic, but I asked them if the truck had any leaks (no), if it was rusty (no), if it needed anything (no). The sellers seemed like very nice folks and assured me that the truck was rock solid and just the thing to transport my girls safely through the ice and snow. I live in the next state over and my work schedule made it hard for me to come pick up the truck so I asked them if, for an extra fee, they would bring the truck to me and they readily agreed. I sent them $1000.00 good faith money to hold the truck for me. About a week later they drove the truck over to my home. When they arrived, they reported that on the way they had stopped for lunch and that the truck had refused to start. After jiggling some wires under the hood they'd got it running. We took it a block away for a cursory check of the starter by a local mechanic and he suggested that the starter was getting ready to fail and that the repair would cost a few hundred dollars. John offered to split the difference by knocking $150.00 off the price and I agreed. We completed the transaction in cash and I was the new owner of a Toyota Land Cruiser. The next day I smelled gasoline around the truck. I took it over to my regular mechanic, and 15 minutes on the lift revealed some bad news. The engine was leaking oil from the filter attachment. The gas tank was leaking fuel, requiring a new tank. The exhaust had a hole in it which would require its replacement. The rear sway bar attachment was badly corroded, allowing the sway bar to fall off its bracket and drag on the ground. I contacted John and Nancy and they told me that issues were not their problem and that I should have inspected it more carefully when I got it. They're right. I was a fool to trust them and assume that they were dealing fairly with me. I resigned myself to fixing these problems to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars and took the truck to for its state inspection yesterday. The inspection station would not pass it, noting that the rear axle is so rusted that it's dangerous to drive, and that there's not enough metal left on the axle housing to re-attach the sway bar connection. I contacted John and Nancy several times by voicemail and email, asking them to call to discuss these issues and have never heard back from them. So there the truck sits in my driveway. It won't pass inspection so I can't drive it. The costs of repairing it aren't justified by its purchase price and are far out of my budget. All the money which I'd saved to buy safe winter transportation for my daughters is tied up in it and we're back to driving the Hyundai. More snow and ice is predicted for tonight and I don't know what I'll do with this truck. I'm embarrassed of myself for trusting East Coast Customs and they ought to be embarrassed of themselves for taking advantage of me and for not standing behind their goods. I hope that someone will be able to benefit from my hard lesson and search elsewhere for an honest and trustworthy source for their next vehicle. By the way, both New York and Massachusetts state law require that every vehicle sold by a dealer receive an official safety inspection prior to being sold. This vehicle never had one, calling into question the legality of the transaction. Had it been inspected it certainly would have failed. read more

if you are looking for a car buying experience that provides equal measures of dishonesty and incompetence then East Coast Customs is the place for you,otherwise it is best avoided. read more