UPDATED: Bad Experience with Mariano, Liberty Hill, Texas

[dao]

I was referred to a CL ad for a M1008 for sale in Liberty Hill, Tx so it peaked my interest. I called the number in the ad and Mariano answered. I told him I was interested in the truck, so we set up an appointment for 10:30 am today. He asked that I call before arrival. It's takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes to drive there from San Antonio. At the house, I got ready earlier than expected so I texted and asked if 10am would work instead. I received no response, but wasn't worried because it was early on Sunday...probably still sleeping. During the drive up, I called Mariano several times, but no answer. I slowed up and finally got up there around 10 past 10..still a little early. I went up to the gate, which was locked from the inside via padlock. I thought that was odd. I looked through the gate and saw the back of the truck a distance away. I walked around out front for a few minutes passing time looking at what trucks I could see. Finally, while glancing at the truck, unexpectedly I saw some white smoke coming from the dual exhausts. I could faintly here the engine trying to start. I could not get a good view of the cab because it was parked on the other side of a newer Chevy truck. Anyway, this went on for quite awhile. I don't know about everyone else, but when I go to look at a car or truck that I want to test drive and possibly buy, the last thing I want is to find that someone has started and warmed up the engine. That is a shady practice. Why, I ask was someone trying to start the truck and why were my calls and texts being ignored? I grabbed my phone out of the car and noticed I had received a message. It said, "Can I call you later?" What the ****? I tried calling but still no answer. I texted that I was at the gate and that I could see someone attempting to start the truck. All I could see was white smoke repeatedly coming from the exhaust and hear the engine trying to start. I finally texted back that I was heading back to San Antonio and would post the incident to Steel Soldiers. This was after 10:30...after my appointment. On my ride back, I received the following text response: " I wasn't ignoring your calls, apologize for this misunderstanding. I left my cell phone in the see container because I was trying to see what was going on with the truck. It was working great. Sorry if that is the way you feel."

So, why even after 10:30 was the gate not opened?
Why was someone repeatedly trying to start the truck?
Why did I get a call asking if they can call me later when it was time for our appointment?

I can tell you this. I drove four and half hours today for nothing. All I got was to see someone repeatedly trying to start the truck unsuccessfully.
Now, while writing this, I received another couple of texts about the truck having the wrong fuel in it due to a woman who used it for half a day...picture of fuel in jar added.

I try not to judge, but this was a bad experience all around. Mariano may be the greatest person on the planet but everyone knows that prospective buyers want to see a vehicle with a cold engine, especially a diesel. Why did multiple calls between 9am to 10:40 go unanswered?

I'm done.

 

[Bighorn]

Wow.
Sorry to hear that.
You know, could be bad glow plugs.
The idea it wouldnt start due to "wrong" fuel.. I dunno.
If she put gasoline in it you would have heard a loud rukus and not just seen smoke.
What could she have put in there?
Sounds like dude doesn't understand the truck and possibly has another issue.
Agree about warming up being shady.
I never do that when I sell a vehicle because I want the new owner to see it start cold.
Yea, I would pass on this one.
Wouldn't blame any website for it though.
You just got unlucky.
Next deal might be better.
Then again, dude may not understand what is wrong and it could just be a bad glow plug or eight and you could have a diamond in the rough for a little work.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Doesn't sound like anything more than an "oops" to me. Things happen. Nasty to have to drive 4+ hours for nothing, but I don't see "shady practices" here.

If it had been me, I wouldn't have continued when I didn't get an answer back. If I'm going to drive 2+ hours to look at something, I want the appointment airtight.

 

[Ilikemtb999]

I’ve sold my last 3 vehicles by meeting up with someone to show it to them. No way to have the engine cold in that instance and nobody called me shady.

 

[98G]

I’ve sold my last 3 vehicles by meeting up with someone to show it to them. No way to have the engine cold in that instance and nobody called me shady.

Yes, but in your case there's not the remotest expectation of a cold engine.

 

[Bighorn]

I’ve sold my last 3 vehicles by meeting up with someone to show it to them. No way to have the engine cold in that instance and nobody called me shady.

Let's look at the totality of the circumstances presented by Dao;
Was told by seller to drive 4 hours to see truck.
Drives 4 hours to find a locked gate at the arranged meeting time.
Sees the seller trying, unsuccessfully, repeatedly, to start the truck behind the locked gate.
Is told;" Call you later" when informed the seller he has arrived.
That is shady.
At least let him look at the truck after the drive.
So what if it doesn't start?
I have bought plenty of basket case vehicles and motorcycles, some with the engine in boxes on the passenger seat.
The seller should have opened the gate and let Dao at least look at the truck after having made the drive.
I would have been ticked off too.

 

[ODFever]

dao - I completely understand your frustrations. If I were in your shoes I'd be miffed as well.
I see a couple gifts in this. You lost only 5 hours give or take, and the fuel to make the trip. No money changed hands. You walked away free and clear with knowledge that you didn't have prior to this experience.

 

[M813rc]

Okay, I feel a need to step in here. Sounds like a bad experience, Dao, I would be frustrated too.

But -I know Mariano personally, and I can assure you he is an honest individual, not shady by any means. I bought a military truck from him a while back, and later had a problem with it. He insisted on fixing it, even though I did not feel that repair was his responsibility, and told him so. His response was "You bought it from me, I want you to be happy with it".

In my opinion, as regards trying to start the truck, unless you previously specified and agreed that you wanted to start the truck on a cold engine, I see nothing shady there.

I can't comment on what happened yesterday as regards your appointment, other than to say I would not consider that typical behaviour. Communications issue/misunderstanding? He is from Spain, his English isn't great, so...

One last point - was the truck advertised through Militarytrucks.com?
I ask, because if you are talking about the white M1008 (M1028?), I've looked at that truck recently, but understand it to belong to Mariano, and not to the company. If your beef is with him, and not Militarytrucks.com, then they should be removed from the thread. While he is an employee there, if this was a private transaction outside of company time, they shouldn't be involved in accusations of wrongdoing.
If it was advertised through the company, then you need to call Jason and talk to him about what happened. Jason takes his company reputation seriously.

Cheers

PS - as an afterthought, go ahead and call Jason anyway, talk to him about what happened.

 

[Drock]

I don't think you were wrong, but personally I would have handled it a little more calmly & forgivingly. (1st) I would have simply showed up (ON TIME) like you originally agreed to, and not made 50 calls & texts before you even got there. (2nd) The gate was probably locked because it was Sunday and they were closed to walk in customers. (3rd) And sense I drove 2 hrs I would have called them when I got there, and at least waited 30 minutes or more before storming off...... I have clients pick up from my house all the time from 2hrs away. I tell them I can't have my phone near me when I'm welding, also I won't know they've arrived because my shop is behind my garage and could they please text me 30 minutes before they get here so I know to keep an eye out for them. I have NEVER had a customer pick up the day and time they agree to! Even the "RUSH" orders! So in my experience the customers have always bin the unreliable ones.

 

[militarytrucks.com]

dao,

I am going to make a statement. militarytrucks.com is no way involved in your personal business dealings with Mariano. The business you had with him does NOT have anything to do with "militarytrucks.com" or Auction Plus.

He rents shop space from Auction Plus. His transactions are his personal business.

The Craigslist add does NOT mention "militarytrucks.com"
https://austin.craigslist.org/cto/d/1986-chevrolet-cucv-m1008/6326576235.html

So I ask that you edit this post and remove militarytrucks.com and any reference of militarytrucks.com from this post.

Jason Starace

 

[Barrman]

Thanks for posting that Rory. I was mentally composing how to put down the same basic thing you did when I saw that you had done it.

Only good experiences with them for me. I am also 2 hours away if you figure in traffic.

 

[dao]

If Mariano does not work for the site originally mentioned in my subject line, then I certainly apologize for naming the company in the subject line. There have been numerous times where I have viewed ads on CL that were supposedly from individuals then after receiving the address and arriving there, I found them to be dealerships. I hope you can understand that when I see a vehicle behind a gate and the name of a company plastered on the fence I put two and two together.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Let's look at the totality of the circumstances presented by Dao;
Was told by seller to drive 4 hours to see truck.
Drives 4 hours to find a locked gate at the arranged meeting time.
Sees the seller trying, unsuccessfully, repeatedly, to start the truck behind the locked gate.
Is told;" Call you later" when informed the seller he has arrived.
That is shady.
At least let him look at the truck after the drive.
So what if it doesn't start?
I have bought plenty of basket case vehicles and motorcycles, some with the engine in boxes on the passenger seat.
The seller should have opened the gate and let Dao at least look at the truck after having made the drive.
I would have been ticked off too.

..I would have been more than 'ticked off' after an arrangement and drive to view like that. " care to contribute to my (wasted time and) fuel costs?"!

 

[militarytrucks.com]

dao,

Thank You for editing your post.

 

[dao]

Not a problem at all. My family has owned two businesses and I certainly don't want to be guilty of damaging a company's reputation. I hope you can understand my confusion based on what I saw.

Let me relate one experience I had earlier this year. In July, I was on the search for a car for my youngest son. We found what looked like a nice GTI on CL. We called the guy up and he wanted to meet us, saying that it was really hard to find his house in the new neighborhood he was in. He said he would drive to the intersection of the main road near by and meet us when we arrived. I went along with it. My son and I looked at the car and it was in great shape inside and out...and it drove fine as well. Since I still had a couple of other cars to look at, we put off buying that one. After looking at the other cars, we decided to look at the GTI again. I called the guy up, said we wanted to meet him at his house this time and I insisted we wanted the car to be totally cold this time. He agreed. We drove from San Antonio to Austin and got there about 15 minutes early...I guess I have a lead foot. When we arrived, we noticed the house really wasn't hard to find. We had called on the way to let him know we were on track. He said he was there and would be waiting. There was no car in the driveway so we rang the doorbell. No answer. While walking back to the car, he drives up in the GTI. Some GTI's have hard start issues and it's not a cheap fix by any means hence why we asked to see it cold before purchasing. I brought the money with me. I asked why he was driving it when he promised it would be bone cold. He faltered for second and then said he had only gone down to the corner store. Needless to say, we didn't buy the car.

On the occasion with Mariano, I will admit I did not request the truck be completely cold, because for diesels, it's fairly well understood...an unwritten rule so to speak. With the good feedback you've received on this thread, I have no doubt you run a reputable business and that you have no control over someone that rents a space there. In all fairness, it might have been a misunderstanding and Mariano may be a great guy, but I also did not come away with a warm and fuzzy.

- - - - - -
Oh, and for the record, I didn't call 50 times. I don't know why people have to exaggerate when posting.

 

[militarytrucks.com]

doa,

I can attest that Mariano was in no way trying to scam you or anyone else. Mariano is a very honest man with a lot of integrity.

He told me on Saturday that he had someone interested in the truck CUCV he had for sale, and he was going to come to the shop on Sunday morning to clean the truck.

A little back story.
The woman initially purchased/used drove it all the way to Dallas on Monday 9-25-17 and said she wanted to return the truck because its top speed is only 55 mph. She was going to drive it Lansing Michigan and didn't feel safe that the truck would not keep up with traffic. She was ignorant and didn't do her research about CUCVs.
Mariano drove to Dallas with his trailer to take the truck back, and he returned the woman's money. He was in no way obligated to do so. She signed a contract agreeing to the terms of the sale. (Mariano also has the clean blue title in his name because he would not sign over and send her the title until one of her payments cleared the bank)

When the truck arrived on Wednesday it started and drove off the trailer with no problems. The woman and her companion were chain smokers, and the truck reeked of weed and tobacco smoke. And the windows were hazy with smoke residue.
Mariano wanted the truck to be clean and presentable. Where the truck was parked there is no electricity, or access to running water.

On Sunday morning I received a call from Mariano at 9.37am. The truck would crank but not fire. I can suspect that he was not answering phone calls because he was on the phone with me as I was trying to help him diagnose the problem (glow plug controller & relay, glow plug resistance, fuel solenoid, lift pump fuel pressure, IP output, air in fuel, fuel filter, return line restriction)

It turned out that the woman had filled the truck with contaminated diesel or possibly Bio Diesel. Mariano had to completely drain the fuel tank, flush the fuel lines and replace the fuel filter.


I am sorry you had a negative experience with Mariano. He tries very hard to do a good job, and sell a good product. He goes out of his way to make things right for his customers.

If you have any questions please feel free to call me.

 

[dao]

Jason,
Thanks for the solid explanation for the bad experience. I just wish he had answered my calls/texts, or atleast explained or come to open the gate at the time we set up for the appointment. The day before I came, he had requested I call on my way up and I did. When he finally texted me within a few minutes of our appointment time, instead of explaining the dilemna, he just asked if he could call me later. Since he knew the truck wasn't starting atleast an hour prior to our appointment, I wish he had explained what was happening. I would have atleast had the chance to look the truck over. Without that simple explanation, the trip to/from San Antonio was wasted and a sale didn't happen. We all make mistakes I guess.

 

[Tinwoodsman]

For what it is worth. Calls and texts go thru and are visable to the called party. If he was on the phone with Militarytrucks.com, he could have called or text after he got off his call. That is just common sense and the caller was worth that effort.

 

[rustystud]

Not a problem at all. My family has owned two businesses and I certainly don't want to be guilty of damaging a company's reputation. I hope you can understand my confusion based on what I saw.

Let me relate one experience I had earlier this year. In July, I was on the search for a car for my youngest son. We found what looked like a nice GTI on CL. We called the guy up and he wanted to meet us, saying that it was really hard to find his house in the new neighborhood he was in. He said he would drive to the intersection of the main road near by and meet us when we arrived. I went along with it. My son and I looked at the car and it was in great shape inside and out...and it drove fine as well. Since I still had a couple of other cars to look at, we put off buying that one. After looking at the other cars, we decided to look at the GTI again. I called the guy up, said we wanted to meet him at his house this time and I insisted we wanted the car to be totally cold this time. He agreed. We drove from San Antonio to Austin and got there about 15 minutes early...I guess I have a lead foot. When we arrived, we noticed the house really wasn't hard to find. We had called on the way to let him know we were on track. He said he was there and would be waiting. There was no car in the driveway so we rang the doorbell. No answer. While walking back to the car, he drives up in the GTI. Some GTI's have hard start issues and it's not a cheap fix by any means hence why we asked to see it cold before purchasing. I brought the money with me. I asked why he was driving it when he promised it would be bone cold. He faltered for second and then said he had only gone down to the corner store. Needless to say, we didn't buy the car.

On the occasion with Mariano, I will admit I did not request the truck be completely cold, because for diesels, it's fairly well understood...an unwritten rule so to speak. With the good feedback you've received on this thread, I have no doubt you run a reputable business and that you have no control over someone that rents a space there. In all fairness, it might have been a misunderstanding and Mariano may be a great guy, but I also did not come away with a warm and fuzzy.

- - - - - -
Oh, and for the record, I didn't call 50 times. I don't know why people have to exaggerate when posting.

I will just say this. I will never have anyone who answers an add I place on "Craigslist" come to my house ever again. I will meet with them but not at my home. I have had extremely bad people come to my home in the past and will never put my family at risk again (thankfully I have a "concealed weapons permit" and do carry) . If that means I don't sell my item, so be it. In todays world it is just being prudent not "sketchy" to meet up at a "neutral" place.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

For what it is worth. Calls and texts go thru and are visable to the called party.

Text messages are not always instantaneous. I have seen them delayed by minute, hours, and days, in rare cases, especially when texting from one carrier to another, for example, Sprint to Verizon.

I will just say this. I will never have anyone who answers an add I place on "Craigslist" come to my house ever again. I will meet with them but not at my home. I have had extremely bad people come to my home in the past and will never put my family at risk again.

Agreed. Public places like shopping center parking lots are a good choice, and I see more and more people doing exactly this.