Saturday, October 27, 2007

It's a used car........



He was working as the driver for Jim Belushi when the movie "Underdog" was doing filming in Providence RI in 2006. It was during that time the beginnings of what seemed to be a very good deal formed.



"The claim is false and frivolous. The exact claim for the same repairs to the same vehicle has already been adjudicated," stated Brian Wolf, Belushi's attorney.

While driving Jim Belushi last year, Ted Lewandowski mentioned that he had been looking to purchase a vehicle for his 78 year-old father Jan. Ted states that Belushi had suggested his 2001 Land Rover and directed Ted to the listing posted on the internet auction site eBay.

Steve VanderPyl, a private investigator for Lewandowski stated that Ted claimed that Belushi had told him that it was in perfect mechanical condition and Ted felt that his being a star would mean that he wouldn't lie. VanderPyl adds that Ted sent a check for $11,500 to srepresentatives in California and then flew to the West Coast to retrieve the vehicle.

The repair bill comes from the trip home when the Land Rover broke down in Arizona and needed a new fuel pump. VanderPyl states that the vehicle still requires a radiator, new water pump and other repairs totalling $5,000.

Now I did just a quick search online and I am only going to guess as I don't know what model 2001 Land Rover is involved. I did use the cheapest model listed though in my search. The price Ted paid for the then 5 year old, "used" car was on the low end of the re sale scale. I also searched for reviews posted on the reliability of that year Land Rover which is something most anyone looking to purchase a used car can and should do these days.

What I did find on one site quickly should have answered the question of it breaking down on the ride back to Rhode Island. The first four reviews I read stated much the same thing......maintenance and repairs are frequent and expensive, major repairs needed before it reaches 100K, unreliable and expensive to replace parts.

My guess is that Ted was swayed by the fact that he was purchasing a used car from a star, one that has a poor record for reliability and one that Belushi himself may have believed was in good repair at that time. If Ted had needed a car for his 78 year old father so badly, he could have easily taken a drive over to one of the largest used auto auctions in the Northeast, held weekly in Connecticut, instead of buying a star's former car in California.

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