Please be careful buying from anyone who is obviously a Trader and has feedback in the lower ratings.

I bought a landRover 88" SWB from a Trader based in Little Oakley, Near Colchester. This bloke uses several different Ids but he is based in a yard in the village of Little Oakley. Some of his Ids have now been de registered by eBay after I complained.

I later found out that this Trader based near Colchester bids on his own items, wins his own auctions that have had no bids on them, then posts his own positive feedback. He is using several userids and has done a few dodgy deals in the past.

When buying from a trader don't just look at his feedback, follow the links to see what he says and the responses are from the person that left him Negative feedback.

The eBay auction for the LandRover SWB stated it was used daily, had been well maintained and was in good condition. In fact the auction stated the landy was in very good condition for its age. It had been through his on site workshop, filled and resprayed cherry red to make it look good in the photos.

After I won the auction the Seller insisted on payment within three days from the end of auction, which ended on a Sunday,  and wouldn't accept Paypal or a Cheque.

When I collected the Landrover the following saturday it was obvious it was in a very poor state. It had no fuel in it and the gearbox gear selection was almost unusuable. However I took it as it appeared sound and started to drive the 120 miles home. Within a few miles I found the condition of the brakes dangerous and when I filled the Tank I flooded a garage forecourt with petrol as the petrol filler pipe was split.

The defects that became apparent on this Landrover were:

Poor Brakes

Steering drift

Bodywork been patched with Isopon or some grey filler in many places and then sprayed.

Bulkhead rotten requires replacement, corrosion badly filled.

Clutch slave servo wrapped with insulation tape as the seals are gone.

Fuel filler pipe split

Passenger and drivers door bottom support cross member corroded through. Snapped in the corners.

Bonnet bracing corroded through and bonnet going up and down with road vibration and movement of spare wheel & carrier on the bonnet.

Windscreen required replacement, welding burn bottom right of drivers side.

Rear Door bracing gone. Rear door lock faulty

Top half of both doors (Window frames) loose and leaning out. No rubber seals, perished.

Passenger side floor has holes in it.

Heater fan had been wired the wron way round so it sucked instead of blowing.

Dashboard heater controls fell off, screws missing.

Gear selector springs broken.

I had the Landrover examined by a professional mechanic and he found the bulkhead had been patched and requires replacement. The Landrover, originally a BT yellow,  had been sprayed Cherry Red to hide the bodges and the filler and if it hadn't been bought for restoration was ready for the scrapyard.

I contacted the MoT Certificate verification department of the Government to see if I had a dodgy MoT on this landy. I told them the problems with it and they gave me a contact number for MoT investigations. I believe they want to see how this LandRover had passed a MoT only five months ago when it was obviously unsound.

My advice is don't buy or pay for any vehicle till you've been over it first and have had a test drive. Don't pay for a vehicle on Auction unless it is as described in the auction. Try to avoid the eBay Car Dealers and Spare Parts Traders. They pose as Private Sellers and are in fact eBays version of the

Great White Shark!