Buying online

[dcs13]

How many time have we heard the stories about a long distance purchase gone wrong.. I'll be blunt, I you put down major cash (you define that price) to purchase something online, you better damn sure do your due diligence or have some protections...
Todays story... Buddy lives in Arizona. Big car guy, not a baller, but is doing good.He texts me last night about a car thats local to me on an auction site. It ends on Friday, current bid is 28k... Says hey, can you go check it out for me, I think im gonna buy it.. Heck ya, im down. I go by...
I go by today after work..Holy shit what a pile of metal. I wouldn't give 2800 for the thing, much less 28k..
The thing was structurally unsafe. The rear leaf shackles look like Ray Charles (or that Cowboy kicker) welded them on (can you really call that welding?)... The rear end was 1.5 inches from the frame and looked like it bottomed out regularly . The body work was lipstick on a pig... I pretty much stopped there, told my buddy on the phone, you aint buying this pile. And left. (seller was less than cordial after he heard that.. Fuck him.
I HATE seeing people get taken be these assholes. Dont waste your hard earned money on stuff you cant verify... I know, I know, no one here would do it, but danmn. The poor fucker thats gonna end up with this auction vehicle is gonna be pissed.. Rant over..