December 2023 by Chris N.
I bought a 1974 VW Karmann Ghia that Dan represented as “turnkey.” He said I’d have no problem driving it from Texas to Massachusetts if I wanted. Upon delivery, the car did not pass MA inspection. Turns out, wiring for the back-up lights was missing. The lower ball joints were installed incorrectly resulting in a dangerous front end issue. The ball joints could have pulled out. The upper boots were ripped so I replaced them too, basically redoing the front end to get an inspection sticker.. The steering box needed replacement too. The horn was shorting out and would sound sometimes when turning the wheel. The dash wiring is a mess and needs to be fixed. No dash light, indicator lights etc, tough driving at night. Additionally, the motor has a skip and after a compression check, I found two cylinders are low. One head is leaking. I’ll have to redo the heads next for about $2,000 to make it run correctly. I also fixed a vacuum leak that kept the car from idling and accelerating correctly. Dan refuses to help in any way. He won’t even pay for the parts needed to pass inspection. He claims the car would pass a Texas inspection but I doubt that’s true since he never tried. He’s made no attempt whatsoever to rectify the situation. Bottom line- Don’t take Dan’s word at face value. In my opinion, he’s more of a hobbyist than a real car dealer. A good mechanic would have caught these issues. Or maybe his mechanic did and chose not to fix them. I hope not because the front end was very dangerous. My advise is to buy elsewhere, or at least have an independent, qualified mechanic check out any car you are serious about purchasing here. I’m not mad at Dan, I just couldn’t be more disappointed in him.
