terry2 - [email protected] - Terry Gonzales

[=Petri Nut*1=]

To whom it may concern,

I'm writing this letter as a heads up and warning to anyone who may be tempted to do business with Terry Gonzalas.

On December 9th, 2008 a good friend of mine gave me a tip on a vehicle that I might be interested in which was located in California.

I called the number of Terry Gonzalas and was told by him that he was the middle man for a car that was in the mountains of California.
I told him I lived in Denmark and so he emailed me numerous photos and described the vehicle and all that came with it, doors, engine lid, bumpers, etc.
Terry was extremely communicative and eager for the sale, calling me many times to complete the transaction.

Terry promised and assured me that if I purchased the vehicle, he would guarantee that it would be rolling, have a title, and be delivered to the shipping company in LA within two weeks.

As soon as the payment was made in late December, Terry disappeared. He stopped returning my calls, wouldn't confirm that he got the money, made no attempt to let me know in any way of what the status was on the car.
Finally he sent me one brief email letting me know he received the money. Despite numerous calls and emails, he didn't respond again until January 6th saying he had been in Mexico and was sorry it was delayed. In the next several weeks I called at least 50 times and emailed Terry at least 50 times in an attempt to get a hold of him.

He never responded once to my emails, and the couple of times he answered the phone, he sheepishly gave me a lame excuse and quickly got off the phone.

For the next couple of months, we exhausted every resource, confusingly questioned the people at the Samba who had recommended and vouched for him and did everything we knew to get him to get in touch with us.

I finally informed him he needed to return my money or deliver it as promised. I also told him I was flying to California from Denmark in February and was coming to his house and get the car, or file charges against him with the police.

Terry dropped the car off at the shipping company on March 2, 2009 and said, "I hope you like it."
It wasn't rolling, had no title, was missing the bumpers and was delivered several months after he had promised and was missing several things he guaranteed.

We were so frustrated by the time, money and effort spent in getting a vehicle that was not what he promised, we posted it on ebay just to get rid of it.

While it was on Ebay, two people contacted us and said they recognized the car as one that had been in a fire, which again, Terry must have known about but never told us about when describing the vehicle.

I understand he was the middle man, but his extreme involvement, contact and high pressure sales before the transaction, only to disappear immediately upon receiving payment. Along with false promises of making sure the car was rolling and had a title causes us to severely question his integrity.

When asked for a partial refund for the missing bumpers, lack of title and reneging on getting the car rolling, Terry never responded.

We will never do business with him again and are posting this as a lesson to whoever may be tempted to do business with him in the future.


Moderator notes:
Also has used:
mybus2012 - [email protected]
t2nut - [email protected]

[campingbox]

Sorry to hear about your problems with Terry. I remeber buying some parts from him about ten years ago, but haven't had any recent dealings.

Here is a link to his another feedback thread
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151858

[67westyuk]

Word of warning.....

Do not do business with this A1 c**t!! I first spoke to Terry Gonzales back in October. Did a deal for a westy at the begining of October, paid him what he was asking as the deal was to include an engine and delivey to the port. He seemed like a nice genuine guy, rang me regulary and after I had paid him, told me he had dropped it at the port. Didn't think anymore about it until it got to January and couldn't work out why it was taking so long. Spoke to my shipping company to find out what was happening only to be told that it never arrived there even though Terry had told me he had dropped it off.
As you can imagine the alarm bells started to ring and I then tried to get hold of Terry. It took 2 days to track him down only for him to tell me it was still at his yard!!! He said he had been too busy....wtf! After that I know he was a liar but as he was holding all the cards I had to go along and be nice. About a week later it was delivered to the port minus the engine as included in the deal and no TITLE!! So it was left at the port with no paper work and there it sat. More calls and months past with promises of a title (this is when I could actually get hold of him). Eventually I had to give up and spend more money on obtaining a title and it has finally left the port 8 months after I bought it!!!!
So do not do business with this pr*ck as you could be heading for trouble, this guy owes me alot of money.
And Terry if your reading this.......looking forward to meeting you.

[ctfolley]

I am writing this as yet a third warning about Terry. I purchased a Westy in May on ebay, it took forever to get the van with him not returning my calls and taking off to Mexico for extended periods of time. I finally had to threaten legal action to get the van which was supposed to have 500 miles on a rebuild. Well that motor blew up last week with about 1000 additional on it. I could go on and on about all the problems I've run into with this van but it's been a major hastle. I wish it wasn't too late to write a poor review for this a-hole on e-bay.

[slugbugblue]

i just got done dealing with terry an im real happy with him an how he worked with me i would do more deals with him thanks bruce

[EverettB]

I just got a part I paid for in December, 2008. 8 months.

Everything was as pictured and described and I am happy with what I bought.

I had a lot of trouble getting a hold of him once I paid. No replies to multiple emails and phone calls. I admit I did not press him that much as he came recommended by another VW guy - 4 or 5 emails and 3 phone calls total over the 8 month period.

I do appreciate the fact that he had a friend meet me in Phoenix with the part as I preferred not to have it shipped.

Overall, I doubt I would buy again unless it was in person due to the time involved.
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[ctfolley]

I am trying to get Terry to reply to my email. The long and short of it is the the Syncro I bought with "500 miles on a rebuilt Wasserboxer" now has a blown motor less than 1,000 miles later because the motor was rebuilt very poorly if at all.

Hopefully Terry will contact me and redeem himself, I will keep the community posted.

[Green Beret]

POSITIVE TRANSACTION!

I recently made a significantly LARGE purchase from Terry. Im restoring my 64 Deluxe Bus and trying to find original parts. Terry has some really hard to find parts such as rear and middle seat kick panels, og splash pans, og pedal pans, og shift rods, og coat hooks, og dome light lenses, and the list goes on.

Terry delivered my parts to the local VW Shop where I was getting my bus serviced the next day that I initiated contact with him for FREE. This saved me a lot of money on shipping. Also, his prices were pretty good compared to some others on the Samba.

Only recommendation that I have is to specify exactly what condition parts that you are looking for. Terry has them all. If you can, purchase them in person.

Overall, great transaction and I would purchase from him again. He is very easy to get ahold of via email and phone, however you have to catch him while he is in the U.S....he frequents Mexico occasionally and I had to purchase what I could before he left town.

[ratlookvw]

I just purchase an original empi horn push and parts from terry. I sent him payment last week, the part was in my postbox by my return from a vw show on sunday. he shipped the part right out, and I had not read any of this feedback till now. thank you terry for mailing my parts right out and the overall condition was better than I expected. hope things work out for all the rest of you! ratlookvw
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[partspeddler1]

like those before me he called multiple times to make the deal and get his deposit.

after that he sold the truck we had made a deal on to someone else.

Dishonest

[Richard Roth]

It took longer than I would have liked to receive the item I purchased, but he kept in contact with me and sent the item as soon as he could.
He kept his word and was honest about his difficulties getting home to mail the item.
I would definitely buy from him again.
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[phokus]

I recently bought a 1978 Westfalia from Terry. I had read the feedback prior to going out to see the bus, but since I was planning on taking delivery myself, I went ahead. He is a friendly guy and we talked with him quite a while when we went to see the bus. The bus was just as described and was exactly what my wife and I were looking for.

We decided not to drive it the 6 hours (or 8 hours bus time ) back home, and instead opted for delivery the following week. We gave him a down payment, agreed on the delivery date then went on our way. The vehicle was delivered on the agreed day and we paid the balance.

All in all, the transaction was very positive. He kept in contact with us and worked with us to get the bus to us so we could go on an already planned camping trip in it.

The only negative, which was entirely out of his control, was dealing with the AZ MVD to get the bus registered.

[NavyGeneral]

terry2 purchased an item from me. Prompt payment and nice communication made for a very nice experience. ThanksVeryMuch Terry-Appreciated.

[Garyvw]

I have been doing business with Terry for a long time and have no issue with him or our international transactions.
He may not do things as quick as I would but if patient he will do what he says and even go out of his way.

[merz356]

I have done Business with Terry for many Years... he is a Stand Up guy, he maybe a little slow, but he will never rip you off. Would For Sure Do Business with him again.... you never know what this man will Unearth.... good guy to know


Mark

[seacal trading]

Just bought a Van from Terry. Good transaction as always from start to finish. I've bought more than 30 cars and countless parts from him for last 20 years and never had any problems with him. Because he travels all over the states and Mexico for hunting parts and cars, sometimes I had a difficult time to get a hold of him but he always got back to me and took care of me at the end. I got burned by many people in the past but never with Terry.

[V60W]

i would like to thank Terry for being a good honest seller. I noticed a camper for sale online. terry gave me a call and he told me about the bus. he was very honest of the current condition of the bus. he did say it was complete and had some rust issues. I told him I would come out and view the bus. I had plans to go see the bus on a Friday after work but terry stated he had to run out to san diego and would not be back till late. so he suggested we meet on Saturday. on Saturday morning Terry sent me a text asking me if I was still interested and that he would be available if I wanted to go see the bus.. the deal was made on Sunday and I was not able to take the bus home that day so he offered to hold it till I was able to pick it up. yesterday Wednesday I picked up the bus and he was there. helped me load it up and everything.

I know not all transactions always go smoothly, but I can not complain on how our deal went. he was honest and very helpful. has many parts for sale as well. I already have had other friends show up and buy parts from him.

if the opportunity comes again where he has something I want to buy I would do business with him again.. thanks Terry.

[evargas163]

It was a pleasure doing business with Terry. He is very knowledgeable, honest and helpful. He helped me locate the correct part for my Bus. I will stay in touch with him and will be the first person that I will call if I need more parts for my bus.

Thanks,
Manny

[52split]

Bought a clip from Terry who went out of his way to meet me late after work. Been buying from him for over a year now and never had a problem with any transaction. Spend thousands of dollars with him, however made my vehicles worth a lot more. I have purchased many items that are getting harder to find. I will continue to buy from Terry and would recommend him to friends.

[Miklo]

Terry replied to a WTB ad I posted looking for Bay Jalousie windows.

I put a price range I had in mind and he was able to meet it.

He supplied a couple good pictures and they were exactly what I was after.

I met Terry in person and the windows were even better than expected.

I am satisfied with my purchase. He was completely honest and everything went very smoothly.

Cool dude. I would not hesitate to to business with him again. Recommended!
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