Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with motors

Would you guys recommend to buy MOTORS LIQ CO (MTLQQ)?

omaralarifi — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:32:31 -0800

Can I buy MOTORS LIQ CO (MTLQQ) AKA General Motors stock? If yes, Would you guys recommend to buy the stock? Whatever your answer I need to know the reason. Thank You

(too) Cheap car with escrow. What could go wrong?

niles — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:56:50 -0800

She's selling the Mini for $10k under retail and will ship it out here at no cost for me to inspect. It's just like nice Mr. Oreck and his vacuum cleaners! So what's the scam? Or is it too good and true? My mom has been wanting to buy a Mini Cooper for the longest time, and regularly looks on Craigslist and other sites for sales. Yesterday, she found someone selling it for under $5,000. The cars retail new for about 4 times that amount. Ostensibly, the seller just needs to get rid of it so it doesn't rot in her driveway while she's deployed in Iraq. I think she could sell in in all of 30 seconds to a dealer for double her asking price. One other weird thing is that the ad was placed locally, but the car is 3 three states away for some reason. I also couldn't find an ad local to where the car is.

So here's the deal. She says she'll set it up though eBay Motors, using their "Business Purchase Protection Program", wherein she ships the car, along with the "title,bill of sale, full service records and more" at her cost. We simply pay eBay, and she ships upon deposit of the money. eBay holds the money "until you receive and inspect the car (you have 5 days for inspection) If you will find the smallest problem with the car you will ship it back on my expense and ebay will send you your full amount back."

This seems like a regular escrow deal. And escrows are supposed to prevent both parties from getting ripped off, right? So is there some loop hole we're missing, or is this really as safe as it looks?

Sell a classic sportscar with a brand new Ebay seller account?

JustDerek — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:22:15 -0800

Selling classic car Filter: Can a seller with no history/feedback/seller rating realistically sell a 1978 De Tomaso Longchamp for $25K on Ebay? My boss, a wealthy executive and occasional classic sportscar collector, is having me list his 1978 De Tomaso Longchamp on Ebay. He bought it about a year ago at an auction for around $25K. His wife got as far as setting up a seller account on Ebay, getting 12 good pictures of the car, (all angles, interior, odometer, engine, etc) before turning the task of listing it over to me. She also told me what reserve price to set.

My question is, are they wasting their time? Are they way more likely to make a little profit on the car by selling it on a different site, or by listing it in some other way offline?

What can I do?

C17H19NO3 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 07:50:12 -0800

I bought a car recently and the seller claimed "This vehicle looks new, with no signs of prior damage. There is no damage present on this vehicle." Turns out the vehicle had been wrecked. Do I have any legal options here or am I screwed? The vehicle was being serviced today and was also being inspected. The mechanic told me that the frame shows obvious signs of having been pulled, and that there are scrapes on the frame and other signs of damage that point to the vehicle having been in a crash. The front bumper isn't flush with the body panels, and one headlight looks newer than the other.

The car's Carfax history was clean, and since the vehicle was being sold in New Hampshire (I live in Vermont) I didn't feel that I really had the resources to have the vehicle checked over by a mechanic before purchasing.

The vehicle was posted on ebay motors and the vehicle description was written:

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you. Although you will not be this vehicles first owner, it will make you a fabulous vehicle. The mileage represented is the actual mileage of this vehicle. Yes, a smoker owned this vehicle, owner was very conscientious and careful when smoking. This vehicle looks new, with no signs of prior damage. There is no damage present on this vehicle. We looked all over and found no door dings, obviously this vehicle is one of those vehicles you always see parked deep in the parking lots. Although this vehicle was not garage-kept, it is in great condition. This vehicle shifts like a vehicle was meant to shift, perfect. This vehicle runs like the engine was very well taken care of. The vehicle's electric is working perfectly. This vehicle is perfectly sound, no known defects. There is a clean exterior on this vehicle. This is a clean vehicle with a beautiful interior. You should feel good with at least 75% of tire wear left on this set of rubber.

The seller also claimed:

This vehicle is being sold as is, where is with no warranty, expressed written or implied. The seller shall not be responsible for the correct description, authenticity, genuineness, or defects herein, and makes no warranty in connection therewith. No allowance or set aside will be made on account of any incorrectness, imperfection, defect or damage. Any descriptions or representations are for identification purposes only and are not to be construed as a warranty of any type. It is the responsibility of the buyer to have thoroughly inspected the vehicle, and to have satisfied himself or herself as to the condition and value and to bid based upon that judgement solely. The seller shall and will make every reasonable effort to disclose any known defects associated with this vehicle at the buyer's request prior to the close of sale. Seller assumes no responsibility for any repairs regardless of any oral statements about the vehicle.

The seller is a dealer, FWIW.

Am I screwed here or is there something that can be done?

Clamp Clamp!

CXImran — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 06:37:51 -0800

Help me find a motorized clamp/press I'm working on a project for one of my College courses, and I need to find a place that sells motorized clamps so I can squeeze and unsqueeze a tube.

Essentially, I want the clamp to pinch the tube for a quarter of a second and then release, and then pinch again, and then release.

It would be preferable if I could adjust the speed at which the clamp "pinches" manually, but if not, I can probably wire a solution.

It also doesn't have to be a clamp, it could be some kind of press, I just need something that will pinch.

If that fails, is there anything out there that vibrates every .25 seconds or so, so I can just attach a clamp to something and have it vibrate?

Sorry for the long winded question! Thanks in advance!

Should I Motorize My Bike?

hughbot — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 07:38:13 -0800

I'm much too nerdy to get a real motorcycle, but I was thinking about somehow slapping a motor onto my bicycle. Has anyone had any experience with motorizing bicycles? Any recommendations?

Car Repair?

Hackworth — Mon, 08 Dec 2003 19:50:56 -0800

Ok mefi gear heads, riddle me this: how can you tell if a timing belt has been replaced? Earlier this year I bought myself a used car, a 1997 toyota celica to be exact. I got it from a guy who took very good care of it, but didn't know squat about car repairs, he just made sure it got its regular service intervals, etc. Problem is, when I got the car it had about 71k miles on it, and I asked if it had gotten a new timing belt at its 60k servicing, and he didn't know.

Now, the car runs great and I have no complaints about it, but I wonder about that timing belt. Is there anyway to check if it's been replaced by examining it? Well, any cost efficient way? I am assuming that letting it go until its next scheduled replacement is probably not a good idea, would it be worth it to pay someone to check for me?