Phil C55

The proverbial other shoe has dropped. When I bought my car a couple months ago, the seller volunteered to lower the price an additional $500 to go towards tires because the front tires need to be balanced. I said that doesn't make any sense, if they need balancing, then I'll get them balanced, doesn't mean it needs tires.

The steering wheel is perfectly straight, car goes straight with no pulling, seems fine except a little vibration at speeds above 70. I take the front wheels off and took them in to get them balanced. Well it turns out the right front wheel inner lip is slightly bent and is giving above avaerage road force. Now my car is sitting on three wheels and I sent my wheel off today to get it fixed and made round again.

F%ckin guy, I hate being lied to. It is not rare for low profile wheels to be damaged by pot holes. The kicker is, the driver side tire has a bit of an egg shape and is showing excessive road force too. The wheel is true but the tire isn't perfectly round. I'm more than surprised the car drove as smooth and as well as it did.

JonMBZ

Well at least he gave you 500 off, I don't think balancing costs more than 50 bucks. I am sure he knew what was up though since he most like ran into a curb.

AlanG

Sorry to hear about what happened with the seller. You should replace that bubbled tire as soon as you can too, because they can blow pretty easily. Good luck getting everything fixed up! On the bright side, at least none of the stuff he was dishonest about should cost more than $500 to fix anyway.

Phil C55

I would guess it was a pot hole since the outside of the wheel is perfect. I didn't take the $500 because I'm old school and said we already agreed on a price and I knew balancing is only a few dollars.

Phil C55

+1 I already have two front tires coming and it won't be driven until they are mounted and the slightly bent wheel is round again.

moosejaw

i know the feeling i had a seller on here sell me carlssons 2/5's here on the board and the tires had a bubble in the sidewall. Get that tire replaced

JonMBZ

Hmm maybe call the guy back up and ask him for the 500 back, you were nice enough to not take it. Maybe he will be nice enough to at least pay the repair bills.

spr

Wow that is just stupid, you declined $500 bucks? The guy likely didn't know anything and was going off what the tire shop told him or something, either that or he knew it was bent hence the $500 for a new rim. You should have just bought a new rim.

Viper98912

Just looking at it from another point of view -

Is it possible that the guy truly did not know that the wheel was bent? If he's not a car guy, it's possible that he thought it was just a misalignment or unbalanced. Don't necessarily think he lied to you.

As well, you bought a used car. No one likes being lied to, but it's just what you need to accept when you buy a used car. For example, when I bought my C55 I checked it out thoroughly inside and out, and underneath the car as well. Well, a few days after having it in my garage I suddenly noticed that the tints were scratched to all hell. I was never told this, and I then realized why the seller always kept the windows down when I was around - not because he wanted it to look sporty, but wanted to hide the scratched tints. I also noticed a hole in the shift boot that was hidden when the car was in park (basically, anytime you're looking at it, aside from the test drive when you're watching the road and not the center console). So honestly? No big deal. I bought a used car, it's going to have a few bugs in it that I might have to fix. Don't necessarily think that you were being lied to though, and if you were, it's just the risk you take when buying used. It's not a brand new manufacturer warrantied car.

JMO btw.

Phil C55

Stupid? I thought I was just being decent since we had already agreed on a price. He was the only person that drove the car, so I highly suspect he knew, you don't hit a hole hard enough to bend a rim and not know it. He didn't offer the $500 to go towards a new wheel, he said for tires that needed balancing. Since he had just had just had the tires balanced, there is no way a tire shop could have looked at that wheel going around and said "yep, ship shape". It didn't happen, I was standing with my tire guy when it was on the machine and in a second we both said "that wheel's bent".

I'm a big boy, I understand buyer beware, I haven't contacted him nor will I, it's my used car and I'll get it corrected. It's just that I'm a stand up guy and don't try to hide crap, I know the world is full of those that aren't that way. It's still disappointing when you come across them.

Viper98912

It's sad to see what the world can truly be, and I'm glad to see another stand up guy.

Hopefully this will be your only blemish with this car. I know I sometimes stop and think and ponder....damn, this car is *** amazing. I just love it. I pointed out an SLK last night to my gf because it had the multispoke wheels and said "you know, they make a sick AMG version of that car". When it pulled up I said you know, it looks nice because of the small drop it has.....until I noticed the AMG brakes and did a double take. I was next to an SLK55.

These are beautiful cars, and I know I love mine every single day. Wish the best to ya

Phil C55

Thanks, I too love this car, it's fast and very well made. It has a perfect history and no paint or body work. Underneath is all original too, control arms etc. The car is nearly perfect, just had a dinged rim and some tires that need replaced. FAR worse things have happened to me before. No, I look forward to opening the garage door every day just to see it. That's how I know I bought the right car for me.

Viper98912

And my coworkers ask me why I drive my car to work everyday. 25 miles each way all highway (rock chips, etc), rackin up miles in a simple A to B trip.

91RS

Yeah, be grateful that's all that's wrong, unlike me and my old C230 that I found out was wrecked after I bought it. Then spent $1200 to get the strut tower pulled back into position and then found out the car was damaged worse and worse every time I took it to the dealer.

Quicktwinturbo

Great excuse to upgrade ur wheels to some BBS or HREs
Sorry to hear that

Phil C55

I spent about $6k more than the agreed budget to get the car, so as long as I'm married, those new wheels are made out of unobtainium.