PSA: That "like new" laptop I bought on eBay had a broken fan I didn't catch for 3 weeks.

I got a used Dell Latitude off eBay for $350 back in December. It ran quiet for the first week, then started making this grinding noise whenever I opened Chrome. I finally took the back cover off and found the fan blade was cracked. I swapped it out with a $12 replacement from Amazon, and now it runs smooth again. Has anyone else had a seller hide minor damage like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

james_bell29d ago

Ugh that sucks, I hate when sellers hide stuff like that.

gavin22828d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy got totally burned on a used car last year. Seller said it had just had a full tune-up and was perfect. He drove it home and the check engine light came on the next morning. Turns out the timing belt was all cracked and about to snap. Cost him like 800 bucks to fix it. When he called the seller the guy just said "oh I forgot to mention that." People really do hide all the important stuff on purpose sometimes.

gavin22828d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah that "oh I forgot to mention that" line is always a red flag. Total bummer for your buddy, @james_bell, timing belt failure is no joke. Hope the car has been okay since that repair.