AZ: Warning: guy selling trashed Carbon Fiber E36 coupe hood (2024)

Member

I responded to an ad on Phoenix Craigslist claiming they were selling a brand new E36 coupe VIS carbon fiber hood for $400.00. Not a spectacular deal, since they are going for $385.00 new on ebay. The strange part of his ad was that he said he had called VIS to find out what car it was for. It had a picture of a new hood, which turned out to not be the actual hood in his posession.

I emailed him and he replied that he still had it. I lost interest and didn't respond. His ad expired a week later and he sent another email saying he was "ready to deal." I replied to his email by pointing out the current prices being less and also mentioned the price of new aftermarket metal hoods, all with links. He said he was willing to come down to $250.00. Despite his ad being listed as in the North Phoenix area, it turned out he was 100 miles north in Prescott Valley.

This convinced me to drive the 100 miles each way, which I did without my own hood on the car, but I brought all the mounting hardware so I could bolt it on and go.

When I arrived, it was a used hood that had reached the end of it's useful life. It was dull and had faded to a yellow color. The carbon fiber was loose from the plastic frame underneath in the center of the hood. There were at least 9 small cracks at various places, and two were large enough to call fractures. The previous owner had removed the windshield washer nozzles and you could see the original color in those spots. I rested it in place on my car and the passenger side was sticking up into the air like it had lost it's shape. The threads for the screws showed wear as well. It also had a roundel glued to it. This thing was completely beyond repair. I assume it was from their first production because the CF only went halfway down the edges of the hood where it was adhered to the plastic frame below. The carbon fiber was single-sided: underside was not smooth. This also blatantly had no UV protection. (I believe that the current VIS product has improved significantly.)

The seller:
Gary Gates
Prescott Valley Auto Salvage
2751 N Industrial Way
Prescott Valley,AZ 86314

928-772-7783

garyrita@cableone.net

After I pointed out how trashed it was, he "lowered" his price to $175.00, despite the fact that we discussed that a new metal hood from Certfit costs $111.50. He rambled on about how he was going to try to make it fit a Corvette and some other silly things that made me assume he thought I knew nothing about cars or carbon fiber parts. In the end he admitted that someone had brought it to his salvage yard and told him it was left in the garage of a house they had bought. My guess is he paid $20.00 at most for this garbage.

Don't waste the trip! I want my four hours and gas money back from this asshat, but this is the "buyer beware" lesson that comes from the shadier people on craigslist.

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I should add that I'm also aggrivated that I was pulled over by a Police Officer while travelling at the same speed as a row of cars ahead of me. After "Licence Reg/Ins," the first thing the officer asked was "Where is your hood?" I got a speeding ticket for 85 in a 65mph, 500 feet before the speed signs for the change to 75mph, which were around the last turn and not in line of sight.

That is my own fault, but It still never would have happened without this asshat.