I came across an ad for a FORD E350 Econoline 1 ton van on EBAY motors... it was the van I had…read morewanted to buy for some time, with the features I was looking for: extended body, a sliding door and the 7.3 turbo diesel engine. the van had been listed by Majestic Motors, it was previously used by the state of Ohio as a police truck, as an added feature it also had an large power inverter in it for running ac power... the listing on Ebay motors described the van as follows (quoted direct from the ebay listing): "Runs, drives, and performs perfectly... The van runs and drives great, I wouldn't be concerned to jump in it and go anywhere." the listing also described some negative points on the van, such as the a/c does not blow cold, rear quarter panel damage etc, so I was inclined to believe that the description of the van was accurate and honest. after the van's auction had ended with the result of reserve not met, I called the small dealership in Ohio (I am from Reading PA, 6-7 hours drive from Akron, OH) and made my offer to buy the van based on the Ebay Motors description. I offered the dealer $100 above the auction reserve thinking that it was a fair price to pay for a van with 87K miles and a diesel engine WITH NO MAJOR MECHANICAL problems, and with two new batteries and alternator.
The payment was made and I bought the van, a sales agreement was faxed to me and all I had to do was come out to Akron, OH to pick up the van, I arranged for insurance to drive it home, and MM provided me a temporary tag to drive it home. when I came to the dealership the owner of MM Johnny Hughes wasted no time in getting me to sign an "as is" vehicle condition report and the sales agreement. when we walked out to the lot to start up the diesel van he assured me, "the van has a lot of power, it just needs some fresh fuel in the tank as it had been sitting a while, but I've driven it locally to fetch some car parts it runs great, etc.." we started the diesel up and it seemed to run fine as I drove it off the lot. My wife drove the car we came out in and I drove the van, heading back into PA. by the time we got to Pittsburgh the van had developed a fuel system blockage and began to lose power. I had to stay in the right lane all the way on route 76 as I could only get to about 45 mph with the engine floored. I was being passed by eighteen wheelers with heavy loads and I was in everyone's way with my emergency flashers on going up every hill. and to make matters worse there was a headlight out, making it hard to see as I was driving thru a rainstorm. Any dealership who gives a SH*T about the cars they sell would have gone over it enough to find the headlight out and not been so cheap as to stick someone coming from many hours away with a vehicle with a headlight out on the ride home.
I own an older diesel pickup truck and I have worked on diesels a great deal... I am not a pro mechanic but I know that if they have a fuel blockage they will not run properly. this van was CLEARLY NOT as DESCRIBED in the ebay listing, "runs and drives great" and vans do not develop this type of fuel problem just like that, there is NO WAY THIS VAN RAN GREAT before I picked it up, then just like that developed the fuel problem 60 miles after I drove it off the lot. I would suppose that it could have been given a "band aid" fix by blowing the debris out of the fuel lines with an air compressor to get it by for a few miles, so that it would run well enough for someone to drive it off the lot. I limped home, driving 40 mph up every hill all the way back to my home in PA, wondering if I was going to make it at all. I will fix the van's fuel problem it may cost a few hundred dollars to get a rebuilt fuel distribution pump and new injectors but it will be a great truck once I fix the fuel problems. the TRUTH OF THE MATTER is I wouldn't have made the offer I did had MR. JOHNNY HUGHES been honest about the condition of the vehicle. I would suggest that anyone buying a car from Majestic Motors PROCEED WITH CAUTION... certainly there are other dealers out there who have more integrity and honest business practices. JOHNNY HUGHES clearly resorted to selling this vehicle thru the Ebay motors website because he knew that anyone who test drove it might have detected the fuel problem. he would have had to sell it for much less money with the knowledge that it had a major mechanical problem to be fixed. I had bought a VW tdi for my wife thru Ebay motors a few years ago and I suppose since I had such a great experience with that deal (a private owner sale) I was inclined to trust people who sell cars there but I was wrong. my new motto: TRUST NO ONE, especially those people who run small car lots with names like MAJESTIC MOTORS.