Christine- the 93 Miata... a rant

Greetings fellow gearheads.... I am the advisor and friend to Michelle, who has recently had the fortune of being relieved of ... the car. Michelle Clement, has recently sold a Red Miata, 93 model, via this message board/ forum. It recieved a great deal of massaging by TDR. I apologize for my lack of explanation previously. I typed this crap up in response to the poor treatment of the seller by certain persons who are mentioned in the following verbage. It is all true. thanks.

A few points.

Gary at Track Dog... never returned ANY of Michelle's calls for info on the car.... even though his business absorbed $20,000 of the Clements' money. It is beyond my comprehension as to this behavior. (If this comment causes a flaring of the temper, a face to face is available at no charge)

To others, if somebody says, " It's not a daily driver"..... that may mean, don't ask a widow endless repair questions as to what is needed for this car to be your work vehicle. If you have to ask, this is not the vehicle for you.

User name " Red Frontier " aka John, phone number 214-552-2511, test drove the car on Feb. 26th with his daughter and his set of balding front tires on a Nissan , ran the red light at Custer and 121... scoring a $75 fine. The fine he has yet to be paid for and responded to Michelle stating, " now wasn't a good time". Explain that to the buyer of the vehicle, who will be notified of this when he registers the vehicle. He was contacted and is acting like he is clueless. Hey John, pay the fine.

Rick . A stand-up guy, who provided a free part when it was needed.

This car, needs lighter oil, an idler pulley bearing, has a stripped stoopercharger mount bolt, and needs numerous other repairs.

Good luck to all of you and have a great one.

Is this a question or a statement?

Which car again?

WTF?

I do know Gary talked to several potential buyers about the car and what it needed. I also know he told everyone it was a heck of a deal and the new owner of the car talked to Gary about the car.

As for the guy who got a red light ticket, I agree he needs to step up and pay the fine and I also agree Rick is a stand-up guy.

::Hmm:: So is this your attempt to make friends here? If you don't like the results of your listing I'm sure the administrator will be happy to refund your money. Most of the time people that are selling old modified cars get asked a few questions from people looking to buy said car especially when it won't pass inspection. I'm not sure how that is Gary's job to answer those questions as I'm sure he has already told the owner what needed to be fixed at some point when they decided not to do the work. I suggest you either fix the remainig issues to make it street legal or lower the price and have no questions asked policy.

Somehow I doubt TDR held you at gun point and took her money. Installing FI on a Miata is always going to be exspensive, and I don't even want to think about what I have spent and still have a lot more to spend before I'm done.

As for the ticket all you have to do is tell them the name of the person that was driving and they will send the ticket to them.

Edit:
I see the car is sold but I stand behind my statement. However I say we ban this a$$ for the good of the community.

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Originally Posted by Flyin96M

::Hmm:: So is this your attempt to make friends here? If you don't like the results of your listing I'm sure the administrator will be happy to refund your money. Most of the time people that are selling old modified cars get asked a few questions from people looking to buy said car especially when it won't pass inspection. I'm not sure how that is Gary's job to answer those questions as I'm sure he has already told the owner what needed to be fixed at some point when they decided not to do the work. I suggest you either fix the remainig issues to make it street legal or lower the price and have no questions asked policy.

Somehow I doubt TDR held you at gun point and took her money. Installing FI on a Miata is always going to be exspensive, and I don't even want to think about what I have spent and still have a lot more to spend before I'm done.

As for the ticket all you have to do is tell them the name of the person that was driving and they will send the ticket to them.

Edit:
I see the car is sold but I stand behind my statement. However I say we ban this a$$ for the good of the community.

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Lol, I am an ass, but that is beside the point.... the car has a long history, the person who commissioned Gary to work on the car is deceased. Michelle merely asked for some help in selling it, repair thoughts, or even a "hey don't call us anymore". Nope, nada.

You would just think that a business owner would have enough manners to return a call. This vehicle was even worked on in Garys personal garage. So, this is my RANT. This is about how things went down, how the situation was conducted, what has transpired, the skinny. This has nothing to do with selling in the classifieds. I apologize for not spelling it out more plainly.

So, ban away man, I haven't looked through your posts to see if you ever said anything someone disagreed with..... ?? If everybody agreed with you, there wouldn't be a forum for you to talk about Miatas on. Take it how you want.

Back to the subject at hand, the car has been sold and Michelle is still left holding the bag for a guy who can't step up.

:snack:

THAT'S your first post on here?

http://i.imgur.com/7nX5p.gif

Where is the Trickyrix and OZMDD welcoming committee?

He likes Rick remember?

Majik: Did you delete his other threads/responses?

Well here's how I read this starting with the title: Christine- the 93 Miata... a rant. <--- it's a RANT people expect some venting.

First this guy is upset with TDR specifically Gary, for not returning calls. Black Roadster didn't help things by disclosing on here, during the sale, the nickname, Christine, that they gave the car while at their shop. In my opinion, that was with poor judgement.

Second, the guy said the owner was a widow. She may, or may not, be employed or be the major breadwinner of her household but now that her husband is gone she has likely taken a large hit financially especially if she's in her 30's or younger as most guys don't get life insurance until their 40's.

Third, it appears red frontier took it for a test drive and ran a red light. If it's automated with cameras he could be totally unaware that it happened. It could be an error too as many of those log legal right turns on red but regardless, he should pay for it and though I don't know him personally, I'd like to think he would since this is dfwmiata and not clubtoadster or the pointy board. Which leads me to my last point.

Fourth, I don't like censorship and fought hard against SOPA/PIPA so it irritates my that a mod on here would selectively cut out whole responses. I can understand removing red frontier's phone number for his sake to prevent harassing phone calls or editing profanity but the post should remain unless it violates federal laws.

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Originally Posted by Nails

Fourth, I don't like censorship and fought hard against SOPA/PIPA so it irritates my that a mod on here would selectively cut out whole responses. I can understand removing red frontier's phone number for his sake to prevent harassing phone calls or editing profanity but the post should remain unless it violates federal laws.

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This is a benevolent dictatorship, as is most of the interweb. If you don't like it, there's a door somewhere around here which you may exit thru. Since ihatethatcar has the alleged light-runner's phone number (not taking sides), call him if you have a problem with him. This isn't the venue to air your private dirty laundry.

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Originally Posted by Nails

Majik: Did you delete his other threads/responses?

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Nope

Seems you could've helped her sell the car yourself, rather than leave the burden on the "poor widow" as you characterize her now. If you've got a beef with Gary, drop by and discuss it. He doesn't even read these forums; he leaves that to his lackeys.

I have no problem with the OP posting a self-described rant, and he probably has some very valid points. He also is all over the map, mad at Gary and Red Frontier and the forum in general. No need to ban for this. Anyone who clicked on the heading, THEN got offended is a moron.

@ BR - you dug this hole yourself, don't look for me or Rick to back you up. Nails hit it on the head (punny!) with his point about your "christene" disclosure.

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Originally Posted by OZMDD

Nails hit it on the head (punny!) with his point about your "christene" disclosure.

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Second. I had to bite my tongue every time the sales thread was bumped. Calling it Christine is one thing, but some of the other stuff that was said in that thread did absolutely nothing to help sell the car. I wasn't in the market for a highly modified Miata, but if I was I wouldn't have even given that car a second look because of what was said about it. I digress.

F me for trying to help someone sell a car. Won't ever do that again.

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Originally Posted by trickyrix

F me for trying to help someone sell a car. Won't ever do that again.

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Not sure if this was in response to me or not? But I wasn't talking about what you said, just to clarify.

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Originally Posted by OZMDD

If you've got a beef with Gary, drop by and discuss it. He doesn't even read these forums; he leaves that to his lackeys.

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Lackey? I've been a contributing member here well before TDR even existed. Gary doesn't make me do anything. In fact, he actually hates the interwebs. I'm only trying help folks and don't get any financial gain. I'm just a Miata enthusiast like all of you but I happen to work on them for a living.

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Originally Posted by Nails

Black Roadster didn't help things by disclosing on here, during the sale, the nickname, Christine, that they gave the car while at their shop. In my opinion, that was with poor judgement.

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Originally Posted by OZMDD

@ BR - you dug this hole yourself, don't look for me or Rick to back you up. Nails hit it on the head (punny!) with his point about your "christene" disclosure.

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Well this is a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. What if someone bought it here and then asked why I didn't say anything if they had trouble? Especially since the original ad said we serviced the car. Would you want me to lie to all of you? BTW, not saying anything can be construed as dishonest as well.

Looking at the thread, here are my horrible responses.

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In case anyone is wondering, this is the infamous "Christine" as we called it that had spent quite a bit of time at TDR. I don't know the specs either but Michelle is probably correct with her estimate. I believe the motor was rebuilt with stronger internals and possibly port work. Gary at TDR would know more. It was also painted by Rogue and appeared at MWII.

This is a heck of a car and a fair price.

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Yeah, um where does it say anything negative here?

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I guess you'll be getting chummy with Gary then. Long drive from Springtown. This is a finicky car but then again most heavily modded FI Miatas are.

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This is the truth and not characteristic of the car advertised only. I was trying to help a friend make an informed decision.

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Someone buy this car! It's a heck of a deal. If I was in the market for one, I'd definitely consider it. The issues I thought it had are simple fixes according to Gary. "Christine" needs to find a home with an enthusiast that will drive this car as it was meant to be driven. Don't let her reputation scare you away.

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Again, how is this a saying, "Don't buy this car!"?

Besides, all of this is moot. The car is sold and in my opinion, Gary contributed to the sale of the car in a positive way. I also feel my contribution did not negatively impact the sale. I just wanted my friends (meaning all of you) to be aware of my experience with the car. Next time I guess I should just keep my mouth shut and let someone learn things the hard way, huh?

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Originally Posted by black roadster

Lackey? I've been a contributing member here well before TDR even existed. Gary doesn't make me do anything. In fact, he actually hates the interwebs. I'm only trying help folks and don't get any financial gain. I'm just a Miata enthusiast like all of you but I happen to work on them for a living.

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Don't be such a lackey about it.