I agreed to buy a Freelander subject to a pre-purchase inspection. I used ClickMechanic. Great service they came out the next day and did a thorough report on the car-all for £93! The car was good apart from a broken coil spring which the seller agreed to fix. I was just sorting out getting the money transferred when I got a text to say he was selling it to someone else. I appreciate that is totally up to him but what a w**ker-he didn't even have the balls to phone up and speak to me.

If it makes you feel any better, I recently towed a car trailer all the way from Brum to Lancaster to buy a car for my wife. Pics looked good, price right, was told it ran well and had not required any work.

What a load of porkies he told; clearly had a recent respray, there was fresh underseal in the wheel arches, poor sill repair and the turbo had clearly gone (made a really loud siren-like whine above 2000rpm). "They all sound like that !" he said as I walked away.

what a bar steward I thought. Jules

Sorry to hear about your experience-makes my £93 seem pretty insignificant which I guess it is. Fair old drive with a trailer and even further coming back with an empty trailer which you expected to be laden with your new purchase. I wish people were honest-life would be so much simpler.

It could have been worse - the weather was nice on the day and I had a good mate come along for the ride - so we had a laugh about it. In the end found a better deal in Newark. Jules

Similar experience. Mate drove me from Birmingham to Cornwall to pick up an ex-Royal Marines 110. The vehicle was a rare one as it was both winterised and had been waterproofed for wading. It was an eBay purchase , bought unseen, but with lots of communication and assurance from the seller.
On arrival the first thing I noticed was the n/s door was held closed by a bungee rope as it had no door striker. The special dash instrument cluster is completely different to ordinary Defender , being sealed against water ingress. These were smashed, making finding a replacement set near impossible. The chassis looked like it had come off of the wreck of the Mary Rose, the steel being brown and swollen and the tyres mis-matched with one tyre being directional, fitted to the wrong side. The seller said I'd have no problem driving it back to Birmingham !! Did I mention the crack in the windscreen and only 1 headlight was working too as the other was smashed and that it would be getting dark by the time I would be half way up the M5. Oh, and both rear indicator lenses had been "stolen" that very day too. Needless to say I declined the vehicle. Cost me fuel for my mates car, plus beer tokens for him taking me, plus I'd already insured and taxed the 110. Lost a fortune that day. PLUS I got a none paying bidder strike on eBay.

Did you take it up with Ebay ? Jules

Tried to, but it was back in the day when they made you pay via Paypal for large purchases. They gave me a none paying bidder strike as I had not paid via Paypal. The rules back then were that I should have made a claim of the item being "not as described" and waited for them to investigate before they issue me with a refund - less a percentage for fees etc. I preferred cash, so I could just decline if the vehicles weren't up to scratch.
It was my second Non Paying Bidder Strike. Again an exMOD 110. that the seller claimed had 12 months MOT,a new chassis and shocks before leaving military service. One coat of paint instead of the usual 20, low mileage etc and brand new tyres.. It looked so good in the one pic he had posted that with all the other things going for it, I was sure it was a good 'un. Won it at £2700 which given the immaculate condition in the picture was a bargain.
Mate from work drove me 100 miles or so . When I got there, there was a really rough 110 on his drive. I remember saying to my mate in jest that I hoped that wasn't it. Then the guy came out and said it was. The "new" chassis was rotten, it only had 1 new shock, and that was incorrect. The new tyres were 205/16 !! The canvas tilt was so rotten at the rear that part of it was missing. (plus it was raining).It was totally unroadworthy and only worth breaking. How it gained 12 months MOT was beyond belief.A heated argument ensued before I refused point blank to take it. He even had the cheek to accuse me of wasting HIS time. Got home around 2 hours later to a None Paying Bidder Strike. I pleaded my case to eBay, who, as I hadn't paid via Paypal, took his side, even though I offered to pay for an AA inspection to prove I was in the right.
I've bought quite a few Land Rovers off of eBay over the years. Most sellers are honest enough. I even bought my F2 via eBay .

The world is full of douche bags, and F2 drivers.

g

You should have bid on this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Seri...SwatRbcBVB FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

and a straight six engine..... need a mortgage to run it.
Dave DAVE.
I.A.M. F1rst Driver.
Gone 2003 Discovery TD5 Auto,
Gone 1986 Defender 90 Station Wagon
Gone 1984 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue Manual.
Gone 1970 Series 11A/3 SWB 3.5 V8 Hybrid
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Van
Gone 1966 Series 11A SWB Van
Gone 1964 Series 11A LWB Station Wagon,

instead of filling the tank with water you could fill it with petrol....

Had a similar experience when looking for a little run around for the wife a few years ago Saw a very tidy Fiesta diesel on Autotrader at a dealers in Blackpool which was a 340 mile round trip for us. Mileage was advertised as 114,000 miles but turned out to be 154,000miles when we arrived to view the car. Although it was tidy and drove really well we both decided that due to the "extra" mileage the dealer could keep it. That was before you could look up MOT history etc on the DVLA website. Now I always check there when considering any vehicle for purchase. That way you can see that a car described as immaculate has had loads of welding or advisories for corrosion etc. Checking there first means you can discount a vehicle that you otherwise might have wasted time on travelling to see.