I went to Fresh Rides looking for a truck for a not for profit organization that works with the homeless. The man who came out to help looked me in the eye and shook my hand. I thought it seem like a good sign. We told him what we were looking for and asked about two specific vehicles. He steered me toward the older of the two. He stated the vehicle had only one owner and 'runs great.' I asked him if there were any issues with the truck. He stated that they had checked it out and everything seemed to be 'in great condition.' I let him know again that I was representing an organization that HAS VERY LITTLE MONEY and that the purchase needed to be solid because our private funding is all from donation or out of our own pockets. He assured me it was a great truck and I test drove it. The truck was slow to start and let out a huge cloud of black and gray smoke when it finally turned over after the third try. I was already skeptical as I drove out.
I immediately took the vehicle to get checked out byt a local reputable diesel shop. It cost over $100 to find out what Fresh Rides was trying to sell me. The asking price for the vehicle was around $12,000 - HIGH for the year of the vehicle ('99) . The mechanic told me that he was familiar with Fresh Rides and that the trucks they have looked at in the past had been OK. However, this one was as the mechanic put it - "the truck obviously had some issues that they tried to intentionally cover up." The mechanics over at Fresh Rides had taken the time to thoroughly clean the engine, the turbo, injectors etc. to cover up the fact that the blown seals in front AND back were leaking oil all over the engine. The pinion seals, gaskets on the front and back needed to be replaced ($1000) , the air filter seal was broken and needed to be replaced, the Air cleaner was broken and letting dirt into the engine, the Intake system was toast and needed to be replaced ($350), the TURBO had been taken apart and cleaned but not repaired. The Turbo replacement would have be about $3500, the turbo wheels were totally chewed up and they INTENTIONALLY HID THE PROBLEM AND PUT A NEW AIR FILTER IN TO COVER IT UP. The tread on the tires was very low, they all needed replacing, the paint was cracking in many places and the clearcoat was entirely gone, the air box was broken, it needed an entirely new exhaust system and intake on both right and left sides, the factory exhaust system had been hacked apart. The mechanic said that it would cost a minimum of $5000 - $7000 to get the vehicle in SAFE working order.
When we got back and sat down with the guy and told him what we had found out we offered him a fair price for the truck - taking out The the $5-7000 in repairs the truck needed. He claimed that he had 'more skin in it than that' and that he had someone coming in the following Wednesday that would probably buy it. I said that there were major issues with the truck that he should be disclosing. He then said that I was 'making a big deal out of little issues' and they he could 'work with me on the turbo hell I can replace that for $100" he said. I said that we were too far apart on the numbers and that we wouldn't be doing business with them. He just stood up said alright and walked off.
I WOULD NOT LET A FRIEND OR EVEN AN ENEMY BUY A "FRESH RIDE". THE ONLY THING "FRESH" ABOUT THESE RIDES IS THE GLUE THEY USE TO COVER UP SERIOUS ISSUES. THERE IS A SERIOUS LACK OF INTEGRITY IN THIS BUSINESS. read more