Damaged Beyond Repair P89

[detox]

Thanks for the input.

The gun was purchased from a private party. I shot 50 rounds of Winchester 115 Grams FMJ through it before buying. When I got home I went to clean it. I could not remove the slide. I did not want to force it so I took it in to get serviced. The shop I took it to call and said they did not want to force off and they then said Ruger would take care of it. It was shipped to them on September 24th Next Day Delivery. After many inquires to the shop and to Ruger, I was forwarded this letter from the shop today.

For some reason I feel I have been screwed. Possibly more than once on this deal.

detox

 

[gatorhugger]

Threads like this makes my teeth grind.
You do understand what USED means right? As opposed to new?

You buy a used gun from God knows where, that had some issues immediately, then join the forum to post a complaint against Ruger and state that you think Ruger as a company cannot be trusted?

Is this for real? I guess every USED p89 in existence, every one ever made, should work forever, damned the circumstance, and if they
do not then Ruger is to blame.

 

[detox]

gatorhugger-

It was not my intention to get your teeth grinding. I was hoping to get some insight on this gun and the company that manufactured it. Possibly trying to decide if I am going to buy another Ruger or not. I thought this forum might be useful in my decision for my next purchase.

detox

 

[Wild Bill '67]

detox,

If your finances permit, I would suggest taking up Ruger's offer on either the new P95 or SR9.

Unfortunately the letter from Ruger did not indicate what portion of the grip frame or specific parts was damaged beyond repair. However, I would suspect that this damage was not the result of normal use and abuse over time. Ruger firearms are renown for their strength and durability. It is unlikely that anyone could shoot a P89 enough to cause that type of damage. Perhaps the pistol was subjected to some trauma or misuse that the previous owner did not know of or did not disclose to you.

I have an old Smith and Wesson "1917" revolver that is still perfectly in time and goes boom whenever I pull the trigger. Even this old gun will outlast me if not mistreated. Sjnce the P89 is a much newer handgun and designed so robustly, the problem you describe does not appear to be some type of factory defect but rather some unknown damage inflicted upon it.

I would not let this frustrating situation deter you from purchasing a Ruger firearm. They are still regarded as one of the best buys out there.

 

[blume357]

To be honest, I have to question the folks at Ruger a little bit... twice I've had the slide on my P95 lock so that it would not come off and would not go back on right either.... with the help of folks on this forum I figured it out.... but it takes some doing.

Personally, I'd probably just have them send the pistol back to me...

In fact once you get it back ship it to me and I'll see if I can fix it, if not I'll ship it back for free. (just like with Ruger, we can do that with out an FFL because there is no transfer)

then again, I can't imagine the folks at Ruger don't know all the secrets on this much better than me.

 

[wixedmords]

It would be nice if we had the information on what Ruger found wrong with the pistol Detox.

If you have no warranty with the pistol, an as-is sale, it is going to be hard going back on the seller unless it is something blatantly obvious. But, if blatantly obvious, you would have caught the issue. It is important to take the firearm apart at the time of sale.

You may not find out what is wrong with the pistol without shipping it back. But, you may be able to talk to Ruger and pay them for looking at the pistol without paying for the shipping back to you to find out what is wrong with the pistol.

Blumes offer is an awful nice offer. With the information Ruger has about the pistol you can make a better decision.

I know you are angry, but anger at Ruger is a bit displaced imo, and you may not have any recourse on the seller without the missing information.

But, you need that missing information to make a decision.

 

[Specs]

I wonder what the original cost was. If it was under $200.00, then any of the offers Ruger made would be a decent escape route. The OP would get a new gun for a few dollars over retail. I would take them up on the repair (lowest cost) since getting a virtually new P89 would be great. After all, he is already on the hook for $65.00 plus his original shipping cost back to Ruger (if any), plus the original price of the gun. If he has it returned, he has an expensive paper weight.
The math says original purchase price plus $148.00 approx additional plus any previous shipping gets a new (almost ) P89 vs. original purchase price plus $65.00 plus original shipping price (if any) for a useless pile of scrap metal.

 

[revhigh]

The math says original purchase price plus $148.00 approx additional plus any previous shipping gets a new (almost ) P89 vs. original purchase price plus $65.00 plus original shipping price (if any) for a useless pile of scrap metal.

Great point Specs ... that's the answer for sure. For $148 (+$65), you'd get back a properly working P89, and for about $60 more, you could get a P95, if you liked that gun better.

Just to clarify, though, with your math ... it wouldn't be original purchase price +$148 + shipping to Ruger, it would be OPP + $213 + original shipping cost to Ruger. The $65 has to be paid whether it's in return shipping for the paperweight, OR that $65 is part of the $213 for repairs.

OR, you could just blow it off completely, have Ruger destroy it, send you a letter stating that, not pay the $65 at all, and start over.

Unfortunate either way. I hope detox got the 89 for a good price.

I'm not sure whether I'd rather have a $500+ used P89, or start over with another gun, be it another Ruger or some other brand ....

REV

 

[batmann]

IMHO, Ruger is being more than fair. You bought a used gun and had trouble taking it apart AFTER you shot it. The Gun shop shop had trouble, so you sent it back to Ruger in the hopes they could fix it and they couldn't, BUT offered you a new one at what is a dicount price and you are upset?
You should be venting on the person that sold you the thing in the first place UNLESS it was something you did and was hoping Ruger would fix it for you for free.

 

[Specs]

"Just to clarify, though, with your math ... it wouldn't be original purchase price +$148 + shipping to Ruger, it would be OPP + $213 + original shipping cost to Ruger. The $65 has to be paid whether it's in return shipping for the paperweight, OR that $65 is part of the $213 for repairs."

Yep, that is what I was trying to say. I am assuming that the OPP+$65.00 + original shipping, if any, are already gone, so for $148.00 or so he gets a "new" P89. A decent recovery from a lousy situation. I'm darned if I would pay $65.00 more to get a piece of junk back, and also darned if I would just toss my original purchase price to save $65.00.

 

[GaryA]

Caveat Emptor. I would chalk the original purchase up to experience, take the offered P95, an outstanding and very durable pistol and a great bargain, and not look back. YMMV.

 

[revhigh]

I'd also want to know from Ruger exactly what 'damaged beyond repair' means, expecially since it shot great at the range. How badly 'damaged beyond repair' could it have been ?

REV

 

[Mike J]

I think I'd be on the phone to Ruger customer service asking questions.

 

[detox]

I'm going to the shop today to discuss it with them. The big problem is cash. I need to ask my wife but, I am leaning towards buying the P95PR15 and see if they would ship the P89 back with it.

Thank you all for the input both negative and positive!

Enjoy your weekend,

detox

 

[wixedmords]

If in the case of you really "kinda know" what happened to the pistol and was hoping that Ruger could just "do a couple of quick things" to fix the firearm, I think Ruger is being more than fair. Think of yourself of getting out of the repair expense you have already incurred and they are letting you use that as a down payment. Then the deal doesn't look so bad. Along the lines of what Specs said above.

I also understand if you are really looking for a P89 and not a P95. That would be a reasonable angle on the whole scenario.

If one of my P94's crapped the bed, I wouldn't really be happy with a SR40 as a replacement (future scenario). I understand the theory of "its not the same".

Still a lot is dependent on what is now wrong with the P89 and if you have a sense of when it happened. You already said it fired fine, so the truth in that statement won't get you far with the seller. But, you should expect to get a little more mileage from a sale than a few rounds squeezed off.

Remember, a little sugar may go a long way in this one.

 

[GaryA]

If it were me, I think I would also make a mental note to always disassemble, clean, and lube it before firing and, in fact, would ask the seller to allow me to disassemble it for inspection prior to purchase. Not saying I wouldn't have done what you did, but I would try to ensure I did not make that mistake a second time. It matters little that the pistol fires OK if you cannot disassemble it. One might wonder just how long it would continue to fire OK.

 

[Mike J]

detox I don't know what happened in this situation but I am sorry it came out like this for you.

 

[Specs]

Thinking about this, I wonder if the local shop ruined the gun while trying to remove the slide, or perhaps removed the slide and then reassembled incorrectly ?

 

[P94/GP100]

Detox, unfortuately, what you're in the process of discovering is that a component of a used gun's price (and usability/reliability) is the amount of time, effort, analysis, diagnosis, and repair (and cleaning/lubing) that a resale dealer puts into a used gun prior to offering it for resale. Such is also an indicator as to what constitutes a good gunstore...

A reputable dealer in my area that I use and trust (and have had correspondingly excellent results with) has his gunsmith son go through each and every used/consignment gun, submit it to an ultrasonic cleaning, and only then makes it available for resale. Yep, his prices are towards the high end of Blue Book value-but they're still reasonable, and his efforts are well worth it. His used stock is of high quality, and rotates quickly.

Ruger is making you an excellent offer regarding replacement. I'd suggest that you take them up on it.

Some end users can screw up an anvil. Your gun as it is is not an accurate reflection of the intrinsic quality of a properly maintained and used Ruger firearm. Ruger isn't perfect, but they do stand behind their products when they're at fault. In this case, without casting aspersions on anyone, they are politely informing you that what you have has significantly deviated from what it was when it left their manufacture and control.

Best, Jon

 

[tech4064]

How would that have destroyed the gun unless he used a 4# hammer on it? It's not a sarcastic question.

The Forum timed out on me. The question was aimed at, no pun intended, tech4064

Cholo, sorry I couldn't get back sooner. I got sidetracked with other things.
Actually, this is sort of what I suspected might have happened, that someone who wasn't familiar with Ruger's take down process might have gotten frustrated and attempted to force the slide off.


However, the OP has since stated that this was not the case or at least, that he did not do this.