Am I crazy? I am selling my 52 Ford to fund my new build and have had a bunch of people call, email, etc. I setup a time this morning for a guy to come by and look at the car. We chatted a bit, went for a drive looked things over and the guy was interested. He said he wanted to leave me a deposit, so he could get the rest of the funds together..... I just didn't get a good vibe at all from the guy, seemed careless and like he would thrash the car, drive it into the ground, etc. I told him that I have some other people coming by and to call me. I know Im selling and money talks, but I have a couple coming by to see it and I think they would be a better fit. I know I shouldn't be choosy, and could probably wind up holding the bag, but with all the effort I have put into this car, I want it to go to a good home. I dont take myself too seriously and know what's REALLY important in my life, but I guess I'll see. I know there are a ton of variables, but can sellers be choosers? (Im not crunched to sell, but would like to make room in the garage.) So, anyone ever deny a buyer? Or is it money talks, bullshit walks, first come first serve, etc?
If you have the luxury of choosing who it's going to go to, that's awesome. I like your attitude. Unfortunately, I think a lot of stuff gets sold out of sheer necessity, and those seller's simply take the money and run....
Sometimes it's hard to separate emotion from business. On the other hand, if you can't stand to see someone trash you stuff you sold it too cheap.
I sold a VW GTI (I know, probably falling on deaf ears) in to which I poured years of blood and sweat (and money), I really loved that car and made the mistake of deciding to sell it for something more "practical". It broke my heart to sell it. I sold it to a kid and found out it was abused for the next 3 months and then totaled. Just added insult to injury. I definitely think it's normal to think of a car you spent so much time and effort on more like a pet than a piece of steel. You want to know it will live on in happiness for many years to come. BTW, if I didn't already have a '54 Customline I would totally buy yours!
You made the right decision - i had the same issue with my old ride. A kid and by kid i mean like 17 wanted to buy it sponsored by mommy and daddy haha- age normally isnt a factor but just the vibe he sent and explaining of what he wanted to do to it and stuff didnt sit right with me. It would kill me if i saw it sitting on the side of the road by someone who cant appreciate the hard labor to make it what it was. Since you arent ina crunch to sell wait until the right buyer comes along - itll be worth it
Most the time when I'm ready to sell I contact friends first, and it usually sells before having to advertise. I usually sell for a little less to know it's going to a friend, but at least when I see it again it's not a POS that hurts my eyes.
Back in the middle 70's, I bought a '46 Ford PU from the second owner, and he said he wouldn't sell it to me if I was going to hot rod it. I bought it, didn't rod it, and put it back to more original than he had it. But, if I had wanted to hotrod it, I would have.
Years ago, when I quit street racing, I had a Vette I was selling. The car was designed to make me money on a Saturday night. A girl wanted to buy the car but I told her the cam was too big (solid roller), the heads were too big (Airflow Research) and the gears were too low (4:88's). I warned her she couldn't drive to a beach on a Sunday afternoon, it was a race car. She still wanted to buy the car anyway so I told her no.
Yea I put in an ad once no dealer inquiries please. Anyway this guy calls, I asked if he was a car dealer and he says no I am not. I say OK he gives me his name and tells me where he is comming from. So we make an appointment and I tell him again that I am not interested in selling to a dealer. Well I call a friend from the town this guy says he's coming from and he says sure I know him he own's the used car lot such n such. He shows up with a truck n tow bar the truck clearly says used car lot such n such on the door. It was a magnetic sign I don't know why he didn't peal it off. I let him look at the car, he offers me less than half of the asking but he also says he really wants the car. I'm a little miffed at his offer as well as the fact that he lied to me about not being a dealer. Anyway long story short I shoot him an offer between half of what i asked and the asking. He says OK will you take a check I say sure and he backs in to hook up and I say I'll have to see the check before you hook up. He says oh I forgot. Gets his business checking binder out and scrawls out a check. I grin and say are you sure you are not a dealer. He says well I didn't think that would matter. Wrong. As he was leaving he says he'll make sure I never sell another thing in this town again. I sold it that afternoon to another fella who offered me full price and had green backs. I gave it to him for the counter offer that I had made to the dealer. That was in '04 the guys wife is still driving the car.
I have refused to sell when I got the feeling that I would have to deal, post-sale, with the buyer on an endless list of nitpicks and questions.
I've got an OT cutlass i've been trying to sell for a few weeks now. Its a rare old car as they didn't put out many 5-speed manuals in the '73-77 years. So I get 3 or 4 calls a day from low rider and 24" inch wheel crowd wanting to know what my low offer is. I have had to turn away hand fulls of cash just because I don't want this car butchered in the way I know it will end up.
I have denied many times both at work and on my own stuff. If you smell some trouble coming sooner or later after the deal is done it's better not to do at all. There are better buyers for everything when the price is right.
I have. I will haggle with a guy no problem, but when you throw a ridiculous low-ball offer at me, we're done.
Does this go for pinstriping customers too? Because I have a little black book of address's with there names and emails I black list lol. If it's something that's my fault, like late shipping or an item is busted that you can't really black list someone for, you send something free, and even something a little extra, but the ones that are a$$hole$ for no reason get to be the new addition to the black book. As for cars, I get denied constantly. There's always a nephew or something that says they are going to want the car. And then you see it in the scrap yard, or sitting in the same place for the next five years and no one came for her. Depressing. 1shot
Yep, I had one like that who i knew would haunt me - wanted to beat me to death on price, asked me to measure how much the doors protruded from the cowl to three decimal points and wanted me to give him the equivalent of new car warranty - on an original 1933 Ford.... Then there was the guy who wanted to buy a super rare coupe I have and whack the roof off to make a convertible. I seem to luck out with my buyers though and have made long term friends with many of them.
In '91 I was selling my first car, a silver blue '64 Impala convertible. I had brought it to WA state from ND, and parking it outside year round as my daily driver was taking it's toll on the car. It was in decent shape with a newly rebuilt 250hp 327, powerglide, and carb. Interior was worn, paint was worn, small crease on the driver's qtr. I was asking $4500. All the low rider guys turned out, and my heart sank because my attitude was I was just the car's caretaker. Problem was all the lowrider guys kept lowballing me (some really bad) so it was easy to say no. On the suggestion of a friend, I then had the car professionally appraised. Appraisal came in at $6700. So I relisted it for that. One of the next guy to show up was hardworkin' family guy about 10 years older than myself. He and his wife had dated in a green '64 ragtop in HS. His wife actually wanted another one. I knew he was the guy to get the car. We agreed on $6200 and he asked if he could come back in two days with money. He explained to me when he paid for & picked up the car that he sold his baseball card collection that he had had since he was kid. His wife didn't know he was on his way home with it. I saw the car a few times after that over the new few years. Good to his word, he did a frame-on restoration of it, and it was beautiful. If I'm not mistaken, I saw it again on a local TV show 3-4 years ago and it still looked great. I have no regrets and don't even dream about getting it back cuz I know it went to the right guy. Sidenote: I remember one of the lowrider guys called me back after I relisted the car for more money. He chewed me out and called me an asshole for not selling him the car at his original offer, but instead raising the price. HA!
Your not crazy. Sold a nice car under the agreement that it would be a good original car for the buyer and his wife to do shows. Lowered my price, to help them buy it. They drove it 1 month decided they wanted a streetrod. Air/350/etc. Like what you like. 2-3 months later, sold it to another guy at profit, even used my pictures. This guy flipped it again, at a profit, to an older gentleman that was a restorer. I did ask the first buyer, how's the car. He says I loved it but my wife and I wanted something with air..etc. You know I wasn't mad, the guy was honest with me, they thought they wanted a original car but had never driven one. So within 6-8 months the car had been bought and sold 3 times. Finally landing I believe in a good place. What did I learn. Get your asking price and forget about it if you can.
This reason right here is why I won't sell one of my flatheads to an overseas hamber even though he did seem like a nice guy (not a great offer and wanted the engine stripped, miced and reassembled and then delivered to shipping 13hrs round trip away all for the asking price.) I'll probably never sell the thing, but atleast I know I won't have a pissed off buyer cursing my name across forums because he bought something that was built to suit ME and not HIM.
Back in 69 I had my hands on a GT500 my aunt was selling, she told me anything I got over a grand I could keep. Put an ad in the paper and a guy with his 16 year old son shows up. The kids eyes light up at the sight of the car, the dad was the spitting image of my pop who died two years earlier. I told the dad before I sell this to you I want to take you for a ride. Got on 280 freeway and lit them up through all four gears sideways getting on the freeway. When we got back I told him I would sell it to him but I just wanted him to see just what he was putting in the hands of his sixteen year old. Told him if it was me I would go get you a VW for him to start and then move on up. The kid was pissed, the dad thanked me for the ride as he was not aware of the power of these cars. As he was leaving I heard him tell his son " lets go look at volkswagens". I may have saved a kid that day.
Your car,you can sell it to who you want to but once its gone no telling whats next for it.Wouldn"t take no deposit from a guy that says hes going to try to get the funds together, If he didn"t have the cash he shouldn"t have answered the ad anyway.Nine times out of 10 if you deal with that kind of bullshit you end up turning down good,legit buyers then the guy comes up with some lame ass excuse he doesn"t want it.Have turned down one guy,we discussed price and details over the phone,he drove 250 miles with a trailer,got here,started the bullshit nit-picking and lowball offers.Well after about 30 minutes of that crap I just flat told him it wasn"t for sale to him at all and called the buyer I had as a backup and sold the car to him.It just has turned into a pain in the ass dealing with selling anything these days.
Can I get an amen! No amount of money is worth having to explain basic mechanics to someone who just wanted to jump on the bandwagon / latest fad of driving an old car. F-that.
Your right to choose. It's your car to do with it what you will, which includes selling it to whom you deem the "right" guy. Life is all about choices. You are in the drivers seat on this one. Just keep in mind, once the car leaves your driveway, the new owner will do whatever he chooses to do with it..regardless of what he told you.
SlmLrd-If you can afford to choose you are not crazy.When I'm selling something just for the moneyit doesn't bother me at all, but if I have to sell something I have built,created, or restored, the sale some time ends up more like an adoption process.
Maybe once when a young woman wanted to buy some shitbox truck I had.I do have a conscience. But other than that,if the buyer shows dead presidents,the vehicle is his/hers to do whatever they want. It's only a machine.......
A local guy had a real 1960's Model A that was never updated and when the buyer said he was going to update it and put in an LS-1 he refused the buyer and made sure it went to a "good home"
The guy either has the money of he doesn't. Your first instinct is usually the correct decision, in this case don't sell it to him. Remember that sales can come back to haunt you and a buyer can still flake out anytime even after the sale. Sell to somebody that you are comfortable dealing with.
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