david_vang

ok so i found a wdp 04 non-nav. i initially wanted nav but since this one has the aspec kit already, i figure i'm going to buy the kit once i get the car so i might as well get one that already has it. so i was willing to sacrafice the nav. and wdp is just way to sexy :P

the guy lives in los angeles which is 4 hours from where i live, so i decided i would negotiate over the phone and once everything is sorted out i will go get it.

so we agree on a price. things happen and it turns out he needs to renew the registration on the car. so i tell him once that gets finished then i'll come over. dmv tells him he needs to also do a smog. i tell him to get smog done and get the stickers on the car on friday so we can be there on saturday morning. he messages me friday night and says that the shop "forgot" to smog his car and they will do it on saturday morning.

me and my parents were suspicious as to why he let the registration expire. we came to the conclusion that something must of been wrong with the car, smog check wise. so we insist that he doesn't perform the smog check until we get there so we can do it together. we wanted to make sure he didn't just pay somebody to "pass" his car. we were very very skeptical about this so i asked him on the phone "how can a shop just forget a white car sitting in there parking lot all day!" he tells me that his car is in perfect condition and it will pass smog without 1 issue at all.

we get there at about 9am (left house at 5am *yawnnn*). me and my bro-in-law test drove the car and it was great!!! very strong car!! absolutely nothing is wrong with the car!

at the point we were ready to purchase the car, except we still had to go smog the car. we get to the first shop, the guy working there brings his little computer thing and connects it to somewhere under the steering wheel area. within a few minutes the guy shakes his head, says no, and goes back inside his shop and we don't see him again.

at this point we were ready to say no and just forget about the purchase. but we decided to go try at a second shop. but on the way there he stops at a sketchy looking garage place and says "wait here, ima go talk to my mechanic"... after about 5 minutes he comes back and says "ok lets go".

so we hit the road, and pass about 3 smog places... wtf... finally he makes a u-turn and goes into a mini alley way and takes the car to a creepy looking place. he quickly steps out of his tl without saying anything to us and goes to the owner. they disappear into the office area for about 2 minutes. the dude brings out his computer and checks the tl and says "the car is ready for a smog check". my brother-in-law pulls out his own computer thingy and does his own test, the car failed twice.

the seller of the tl pulls my brother-in-law to the side and has a conversation without me... (i'm the one buying the car not my brother-in-law lolz...). at this point it was way obvious that his car doesn't pass smog, which is why he came to this sketchy ass shop that was reccomended by his "mechanic". my bro-in-law speaks with the owner briefly and finds out that this place isn't legit. although the owner didn't say so directly...

at this point, i'm ready to start doing some damage to ANYTHING in my way. how is this guy gonna lie to me on the phone saying: "the last time i did a smog two years ago the car was perfect. it is GUARANTEED to pass again." i ask him why is lying to us and he starts stuttering and saying bs like "i didn't lie, i have no idea why the car isn't passing." i'm feeling really bad and embarrassed for dragging both my parents and my brother-in-law into an 8hr drive and have no results at the end of the day. we leave and decided to hit up china town . 15mins or so later he calls my phone twice saying that his car is now passing, and offering us deals. i tell him that, we don't trust him anymore even if he now passed the smog test. i tell him we want to choose the shop to take the car to (i'm willing to pay for the extra smog test). he replies back saying that that is perfectly fine................ but he is not available to do it until next week. LOL

im not mad at the fact that his car doesn't pass smog, i actually feel sorry for him because that can be a headache. i'm mad at the fact that he already knew that his car didn't pass but insisted that it will pass guaranteed! but more than anything i blame myself. there were a bunch of red flags before we even got to l.a. we shouldve never left our house.

GAS: $100
FOOD: $60
RESULTS: EPIC FAIL

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

I wouldn't have drove there in the first place.

sorry about the ordeal tho...trust your gut from the start next time and good luck finding a TL in the future.

greekguy000

iTrader: (1)

scumbags

wojo1988

Any info on the car? Listing? how much was he asking? how many kms? If your buying it and he didnt want to go where you wanted then I wouldnt of bought it. end of story. Sorry you got screwed around and wasted a day. You should be able to find an 04 alot closer than 4 hours away. Browse around and on this board

Will1688

sorry to hear your wasted trip to LA, people can be so shady.. but that's why you gotta be careful when buying used from a private owner.. you did a good job at spotting the shadiness from the get go!

truonghthe

OP I def feel your pain man, you should read this little experience when I hunt for my TL https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/just-come-back-test-driving-846472/. I hate when people lie to you, they should told the truth so you can make a decision of whether or not you can afford to buy and fix the car.

david_vang

2004
wdp
108k miles
non-nav
$11k low balled = $10.4k

i had some doubts in my mind, but the guy on the phone was so innocent and nice. i thought there was no way a 2004 tl would have troubles passing smog. my dad's 95 honda oddyssey passes... more importantly i was wayyyy to attached to the car. that's why i decided to go.

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

That sucks. I would have bitched at him.

I would go CPO, find a AZ seller, or find one on autotrader/cars.com. Seems like you found this on CL.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

cliffs?

david_vang

WRONG! i found the posting on this site!!!!! lol

dude i was ready to get into a fist fight or something lol! my brother-in-law used to be in the military and he is an ex-cop so he really knows how to act in public. as soon as i started mouthing off he immediately stepped in and told me to wait in the car

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

http://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/2832915074.html

how did you find one on this site? where?

wojo1988

No shit. Can you post the listing?? from this site. Such a shitty guy, especially if hes a member on here.

wojo1988

Is it just me or does that price seem ridiclously high?? Even though it has nav and 81,000 miles.

truonghthe

Vang can you please provide the link so other won't end up in the same fate?

david_vang

in the market place. that fresno one is probably sold already, it's been posted for a while.

if you go here https://acurazine.com/forums/marketplace/cars/search/
and search by state i'm sure you can find it.

he's had it posted for a while now. i messaged him like 2 months back or something but i guess he just logged back in to see my message. i look on the l.a. craigslist almost everyday and never see his car. so i figured maybe he hasn't sold it yet is because he only posted it on this forum and not that his car is fucked up

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

OP is 17 years old.

VanyDotK

iTrader: (6)

Wouldn't it be funny if it wasn't passing because he had PCD or a J-Pipe and they saw the 3rd cat wasn't there?

I think this might be the one:
https://acurazine.com/forums/member-cars-sale-49/2004-wdp-tl-solcal-la-area-840499/

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I thought the smog test was actually done with a check of the tailpipe emissions and not checking the OBDII connection, so how could both parties check emission by plugging in the code checker?

Now if the OBDII connection indicates a fault code, then the test can't be performed, so for a '04 with 81,000 and at a decent price, and after travelling that distance, I certainly would have found out what the reason was for the failure, what is needed to correct the condition, and possibly a price adjustment.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

That sucks OP. I would be a bit pissed. Luckily you spot it in time and you didn't buy the car.

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

benben01

What was wrong with the car? Seems like the so called experts with their OBD-II scanners have pronounced the car a dud without actually providing any specifics as to what the issue(s) was. If it's a O2 sensor, EGR, or evap fault, it would be simple fix considering the car drove well and performed strongly.

luder917

iTrader: (1)

I bet the seller reset his car for that garantee pass lol. Little did he know that it wipes out the readiness code. That's why it failed when the tech plugged in the obd2 scanner

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Ron A

That's the one. I posted in the thread asking the OP for his side of the story.

wojo1988

I was an emissions tester. I can tell you that the reason we plug in the obd2 is just to get an rpm range. Which can also be picked up magnetically over the engine block. So the obd2 tells you nothing on emissions. If there is an exhaust leak we turn the car down immediately till it is fixed, If a cat is removed we turn it down aswell. However many of the guys performing the tests are unaware of what cars have what cats and where and how many so usually they will run it.

There is a probe which is put into the single exhaust outlet and if it is dual outlet then 2 probes are inserted 10" into the exhaust pipe. After approx 30 seconds of running the car within the requested rpm range, the computer will calculate the emissions and such and either pass or fail the car.

In the beginning we also do a gas cap test and if we test your cap and it fails the seal test you are required to buy a new gas cap to go on with the test.

SO I call bullshit on just plugging into the obd2 and saying it fails.
We dont even have to plug into the obd2 to run the test. As long as what I said above is performed.

Also, if there is a check engine light we will not usually run the car either as it could deal with the emissions. But at that point the customer would have the check engine light checked and we would go from there.

Ive been certified for 5 years doing this so I know my stuff. Let me also say that fake tests have been happening alot and the ministry is really cracking down on shops and fining them if it is caught. The shop must also be a ministry approved drive clean facility capable of doing tests with atleast a 2 wheel dyno. AWD cars are ran in neutral and fwd or rwd cars are run on the dyno around speeds of 20-30 mph. rpms ranging between 1500 - 2000.
If anyone wants more info just shoot me a message

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Certified at 18 fresh out of high school?



This is OP:

SSM4DR

iTrader: (1)

OP from my personal experience, be patient and never get attached to a car that you want to buy. Even if it's a Lamborghini, the more attached that you are. The more the seller will have the upper hand on the deal. I'm sorry to hear about your trip and the time and money you wasted. Better luck next time .
Edit: GP16, I would love to take that girl for a ride in my TL. You know, set the coilovers to stiff and watch those puppies bounce like a low rider lol.

Bearcat94

This.

serbj

iTrader: (1)

At least you found out. Better than those who don't even bother driving there, make the purchase on phone, and find out they have bought another person's trouble.

quanaman

iTrader: (4)

Uh. We do smog here in Va. For cars older than 1996, there is no obdII check. Because Cars older than 1996 generally don't have obdII. Older cars get tested on a machine similar to a dyno at different speeds with The computer testing the gasses coming from the tailpipe.


For cars newer than that, it's ONLY an obdII Check and that's it. There's no running the car on a dump or driving it. It's plug and play. I've had it done countless times on many different cars.

And yea there is a gas cap test but again IIRC it's only on older cars. Newer cars throw a CEL and thus would fail any OBDII test if the gas cap was bad

As for readiness codes, you can get around that. All in Va only 3/5 banks need to be ready in order to pass. If I have a CEL, I just reset it and drive around a bit. Keep checking the readiness with a scanner until 3/5 are ready. Then BAM. stop at the closest emissions station and pass. Works all the time. I did it a few months ago on my Tahoe (01) with a CEL for 02 sensor. Also I Did it on an 02 BMW X5, needed a charcoal canister or something along those lines that wasn't worth replacing.


That's probably what the seller was trying to do.

Acura_Dude

^ Wow I just learned something new. I like reading about emissions. I've found that some states are different than others.

We don't have emissions testing here, so im new to all of this. You just pay to renew your tag, put your sticker on and you're done. You can even do it online to save a trip to the DMV if you can wait for the sticker to be mailed.

OP sorry about the wasted time and money, better luck next time. Try not to stress it.

david_vang

There not gonna smog the car if it cant even pass the obd2

phantom0325

Ok the seller lied. But how bad could it be? idk how smog works but honestly if you drove out 4 hours and the car felt good everywhere else and it was a good price you should have just bought it.

david_vang

how will i be able to smog the car in the future and renew his expired registration.

phantom0325

fix the problem?

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

David, sorry this didn't go well. I don't know if I would have driven 4 hours for a non-Nav TL. At the end of the day, you did the right thing.

It's easy for me to say "be patient", but that's what's got to happen here. You'll find one!

benben01

@ OP... As a parent, I would have never entertained this deal. $10K+ for an 8 yr. old car with 100K+ miles on it just doesn't make any sense. Especially if it's a private seller which means a cash deal. If you were my kid, I would put that money down on a new and sensible car and make sure you can afford the monthly payments. Odds are, as parents, we know we are going to have to pick up that tab as well....

david_vang

His car was priced at 10400

Dont want to buy a 10k car to fix lol

ez12a

it's not impossible to do..expired registration can be renewed. you'll probably need to get it smogged first and then file the paperwork at the dmv to get it renewed/transferred.

either way, buy a car you feel comfortable with. And schedule an inspection with a nearby reputable shop (yelp.com) if you're serious about it. Dont impulse buy the same day.

why not just get a civic? they have far less potential problems and are easy on gas and maintenance.

benben01

My oldest is turning 14 this year. When he wants a car in a couple of years, I can care less what he wants unless he's big and bad and can support himself.

On that note, get yourself something sensible and save some cash. You will have a much better chance of getting chicks when you have cash in your pockets. That is why you want an used TL over a Civic right?