1970 2800 CS from Freeman Motors

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Robert A

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I purchased the 2800 CS from Freeman Motors in Portland OR that was on eBay. It was delivered 3 weeks ago and the shipper damaged the car and on inspection the rad overflow was full of milky fluid. I called Freeman and they are great, so far, to work with. I took the car to Korman in NC and they are doing a complete AC overhaul along with the Rad repair. Lots of little additional things that will add up to about 6500. The paint will be done by the paint shop in NC. This is the same shop that paints Kormans restorations. I need a few parts to make the car and was wondering if anyone has the wood for the left door and the top part of the steering column.

Robert

2006 997
1972 MGBGT
 
Well, the saga continues with Freeman Motors. What was suppose to be a simple charge of the AC, turned out to be a complete firewall forward change of the AC system. I contact them and they have been great to work with so far. I will let everyone know what pans out in the end. On a different the shipping company sent a check for the damage. this will be applied to the complete, with side marker delete, that I will have done to the car during this process.
 
Hi Robert, Sorry to hear of the trauma on your car. Can you tell me if the carrier was open or enclosed? Just might be a good reference for others. Also, if the A/C is original it's not too surprising that it would need allot of new parts and you could take this time to upgrade the system as well. If you are going to use R12 I have some I can sell for 25.00 per can- you'll need 3, but with an up-graded system they may want to use R134.

Good luck and show us some pictures!
 
I had an enclosed trailer. As usual the carriers used a contractor Rainer Trucking from Washington State. The car that was on the bottom and the car above leaked break fluid on the hood, and a chain had broke loose when he was unloading and it hit the side of the car and made quite the chip that ran down the side and scratched the car. The driver just said I did not have to pay and we would call it quits. NO WAY!!! I got a quote for the repaint and the shipper just sent me a check. Freeman Motors has been good so far, but I will see when the bill comes.
 
Well the saga of the Freeman motors continues. I received a call today and it looks like they are back peddling on paying for the repairs that the car needed when delivered. Freeman noted that the car was essentially perfect. and everything worked. The cars cooling system was like chocolate milk and the AC system was junk. The salesman noted they wanted to keep me happy and just keep him in the loop while it was getting repaired. Now I spoke with his supervisor and it is starting to go south. Does anyone know the law in reference to this?
 
I would also file a case with Ebay. If you have documentation (emails) from Freeman acknowledging that your car was not as described in the listing, and they agreed to pay to make it right, then you have a cut-and-dried claim.

I don't know what Ebay will do about it though as this hasn't happened to me yet.

HTH
James
 
Hi Robert,

I live in the Portland area and I have known your car and have been familiar with Freeman Motors for quite awhile. Freeman used to have your coupe in their showroom at their old location. I haven't seen it in years but I remember if was a very original example in great shape (the only negative I remember was some small bubbling on one of the front fenders). So original, in fact, that I would stop by there when I was putting my car back together anytime I got stumped and needed a reference. That was over ten years ago.

You bought a nice car but it probably hasn't been really driven in years. If old cars aren't driven on a regular basis all kinds of stuff starts to go wrong.

I don't mean to sound negative but Freeman Motors is a used car dealer, not the best but not the worst. Like most used car dealers, they probably had a 'sold as is' disclaimer in the pile of paperwork you worked through with them when you bought the car. I think in these cases, it's the owner's responsibilty to know what they are buying. Getting a PPI is always good insurance.

I hope it all works out for you.
 
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I was informed that it was Eric Freemans personal car. It is very original and after the mechanicals are fixed the small spots of rust are being cut away the side marker lights removed and a complete strip and respray. They say they thrive on the best customer service. We will see.
 
vince said:
You bought a nice car but it probably hasn't been really driven in years. If old cars aren't driven on a regular basis all kinds of stuff starts to go wrong.
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Tell me about it. My Coupe was driven 400 miles in the prior 4 years. It's been a fun year waking her back up.

I'm a Director at an auto group, so I know what they legally must perform. Sadly, it's on their honor to make you whole, unless you have as part of the contract that XYZ and items are present and working. In California, an AS IS buyers guide that is signed by the purchaser is enough to get the dealership off the hook, as is a due bill with "Nothing else promised" signed by the consumer.

Best wishes, and if you want any advice regarding a dealer, let me know.
 
Continuing Saga

Well the car is completed mechanically and headed to paint. Freeman Motors in Portland, OR who wanted to be "kept in the loop" have changed their tune and decided that they sold the car at a fair price and will not pay for any repairs on a car that arrived with a in-op cooling system and a AC that "only needed a charge" Will I guess their word was not that good. So I will just eat this and enjoy the car anyway. $2400 to fix the in-op windows and overhaul the whole cooling system. $7000 to repair the AC, replace motor mounts, replace clutch fan, aux fan, hoses, ect... And parts needed for the total repaint.

So, my question is, what value does a car have after this much work?
 
Routine maintenance which is really what you just spent doesn't really add value but preserves value. A/C that needs a charge is a red flag any day of the week. The value of your coupe depends on the entire vehicle, it will have new paint, how is the interior, chrome trim, bumpers, undercarriage, wheels and tires, what does engine bay look like, etc? Don't know what you paid but it may be worth more now, enjoy it and fix the little things over time. The value will continue to rise if you take good care of it.
 
Sorry to hear about the issues Robert, it seems like you purchased a nice car and paid the Freeman price so you could enjoy driving it without all the headaches (or therapy). I wonder if you could talk to the Freeman folks and have them meet you half way? It would take allot of pain out of the purchase and I think we are all in agreement here that the windows should work, the cooling system should work, and the A/C should work if it was represented that way. Anyhow, we're here for immoral support and I'm sure there are many fine things about your coupe- we would love to see some pictures I'm sure.

Peter
 
Robert A said:
Well the car is completed mechanically and headed to paint. Freeman Motors in Portland, OR who wanted to be "kept in the loop" have changed their tune and decided that they sold the car at a fair price and will not pay for any repairs on a car that arrived with a in-op cooling system and a AC that "only needed a charge" Will I guess their word was not that good. So I will just eat this and enjoy the car anyway. $2400 to fix the in-op windows and overhaul the whole cooling system. $7000 to repair the AC, replace motor mounts, replace clutch fan, aux fan, hoses, ect... And parts needed for the total repaint.

So, my question is, what value does a car have after this much work?
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Cooling system must be fixed and is a good idea anyways. I assume they are paying the repaint due to damage.
$2400 is a lot to fix the windows, that topic has been covered here and the steps are very straightforward, is the body shop doing that? Can you do that yourself?
What if you delete the AC? Where do you live?

Legal recourse? My son told me there is a startup that will ship/deliver feces to a party you name, just for situations like this. Attach somehow a nice and poetic card to the feces.
 
Well, still no reply from Freeman, so I posted to their facebook and will post to other sites about them...

My H.S. Friend painted a pic of the car and named it 2800CS at night. See the attached and if anyone wants a similar painting look him up at johngamboa.com
 

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Robert A said:
...on inspection the rad overflow was full of milky fluid. ... and they are doing ... the Rad repair.
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Milky fluid in the overflow tank may have nothing to do with radiator repair. That sounds more like a mixture of oil and coolant, typically caused by a leaking head gasket. Did Korman diagnose this as a problem limited to the cooling system?

Just in case, is there a Lawyer in OR that can help me.
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John Draneas is an Oregon attorney who writes a monthly article in "Sports Car Market" discussing cases like yours. His website is: draneaslaw.com Here's one of his articles that describes a situation similar to your own: http://www.sportscarmarket.com/columns/legal-files/5413-seven-easy-ways-to-avoid-trouble

$2400 to fix the in-op windows and overhaul the whole cooling system. $7000 to repair the AC, replace motor mounts, replace clutch fan, aux fan, hoses, etc
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I'm no lawyer, haven't seen the agreement between you and Freeman Motors, and don't know what you paid. But it sounds like you expected to receive a perfect car, both cosmetically and functionally, which might be an unrealistic expectation when buying a 44-year old car. While I understand that Freeman seems to be backpedaling, asking them to refund $9,400 to fix the items listed above is a big request. I'm not questioning that deferred maintenance is required; just observing that those are premium prices.
 
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Freeman has a repair division also, but the car is now in NC. The valves were done about 6 months before, but they failed to flush the cooling system. The conversation with the dealer noted the car was essentially perfect.

I was only asking that they pay for 1/2 of the cost for the repair of the windows and cooling which was approximately $1350.00 they offered $300.00. My rub is that the car was the personal car of the owner that he owned 13 years, and I think he wanted to unload it and he thinks he gave it away at $27,000.00. It is a nice car cosmetically, but what lurks below...

Anyway this saga is over I've posted a few beware of seller notes on various sites and I will take my lumps.
 
Welcome

Sorry for your story but you have a good take on going with life.27K sounds like a pretty good deal but like you said what lurks is always an issue buying a 40year old car.Have fun tuning it into your own. Tim
 
Robert A said:
The valves were done about 6 months before, but they failed to flush the cooling system.
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Not to nag, but recall what I wrote in post #16: "Milky fluid in the overflow tank may have nothing to do with radiator repair. That sounds more like a mixture of oil and coolant, typically caused by a leaking head gasket."

Did Freeman just adjust the valves 6 months ago, or did they replace/re-seat them? If replace/re-seat, then the head had to come off, necessitating draining most of the coolant. I can't imagine that Freeman would put the old coolant back in. So the coolant may well have been flushed 6 months ago.

I remain concerned that milky fluid is a symptom of oil leaking into the coolant. My advice is to check the coolant regularly to see if the milky appearance re-appears. Check the dipstick too; coolant in the oil is worse than oil in the coolant.

If Korman said all it needed was a flush, I guess they're the experts. But from my experience, old coolant turns rusty brown, not milky.
 
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