History How to cheat and avoid getting cheated! (Pre1965) The old timer's stories....

Pay on the Lot , we tote the note . The down payment is generally what the seller has invested in the car . The note payments are profit . When I worked at a dealership , any fluids I added , I always ask the customer if he wanted the remaining fluid in the container . He paid for it . I can remember the service manager having many full cans of fluids under his desk to sell at the flee market that customers paid for . The worst one I ever remember that was the final straw was , an older gentleman ( he was 60ish at the time , I was 18 ! ) came in . He bought a “ factory official “ car that had a rod knocking like a wood pecker ! The service manager told him , I don’t hear a thing , bring it back if it gets worse . When exiting the building you had to turn 180* around the rear of the building .i saw him exit and beat feet to catch him in the rear of the building. I ask him if he changed his own oil . He was a bit hot and answered “ YES , do you think I did this ! “ I explained to him, I’m goin to greatly help you . Take the car home , drain the oil in a pan , put the plug back in start it up . When it locks up , pour the oil back in and call the BASTARD , and tell him it locked up , fix it it’s under warranty ! An hour later him and his car are comin in on a hook . Him smiling like a pig eating shit ! I ask the Service Manager , why did you say you couldn’t help this man ? His answer ,” it’s under warranty now , later he pays for repairs ! “ Rotten Bastard is why I quit . I was a bit nuts at time in my life , if he would have said a smart azz word to me , I would have beat him like a rented mule !

 

Yes. That actually works! I've seen it done.

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Actually, that's really smart. Crooked but smart.

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Deathrowdave, I too have seen some shit! I never let it ever mess with an individual, if it was in my power! I have looked the other way, when someone stuck it in corporate America! I myself have always tried to be honest, as possible! I have at times ruined someone’s attempt to screw someone! As long as they were the type that could be screwed. I have, I will admit, I have silently set by, before and let a guy get screwed that deserved it! According to my way of thinking! Lol










Bones

 

Bought a bunch of stuff from a used car dealer's estate.

 

^^^^^ OH DAMN!!!!!

 

^^^^DANG!!!, a commercially made/available, speedometer mileage "adjuster".^^^^ I wonder what the powers that be would do today if someone tried to market that in this day and age? Pretty cool. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Nice! Color me impressed!

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I swear....most of you guys are showing about as much sophistication as a bunch of school boys who have found a way to peek into the girls restroom.

Ray

 

Hello,

In our early car buying days as teenagers, we saw plenty of cars we liked for future purchases. Back then we were looking at other cars to buy, so, my brother told me to bring an awl. A what???

Our mom had one in her sewing kit and we borrowed it for our car buying adventures. In this day and age, it would be useful to take out sewn-in tags or stitches. (we did use something like this to take off the Levi leather pocket tag and the other sewn in loops.)

I had no idea why we were taking the awl to see several cars. When we got to the advertised car, he told me as we were walking around the whole car to reach under the door and rear panel. He wanted me to find the weep holes as he called it. Poke the awl in the tiny holes to see what comes out. If it was rusty, we knew water was settling in the bottom door panel and rear body panel. If just dirt or leaves came out, then the holes were working and no rust should be down there.

He got that idea from our family friend (the mechanic) in Los Angeles who knew so much about cars in general.

Jnaki

When he bought his third car, the weep hole investigation was thoroughly completed and it was a good sign. I kept the Impala clean and rust free for the time I owned it, by cleaning the weep holes with an ice pick or small screwdriver. My brother’s idea using my mom’s awl was that it had a small hook or curve on the end. Every car we have looked at in our family car buying stages over the years, got the weep hole inspection. No unnecessary knocking on the door bottoms or body panels to see if there was rust, Bondo or not.

Thanks for the tip, J…

 

I have bought several cars off Ebay. Only 1 was less than what I expected 2 were way nicer.

 

Auction driver memories.
Standing near the row, sighting down the line. "Looked like the Atlantic ocean,
bondoed panels far as you could see."

 

Your mentioning eggs made me remember the use of " water glass ", or " sodium silicate " which is the correct name. Egg producers used to dip eggs in the water glass to seal them. It would dry and the eggs would keep in storage longer. If we had leaks in the radiator or cracks in the block, we would go to the pharmacy, buy some "water glass", dump it in the radiator of a warm running car and when it found a leak, it would harden and seal the leak. Sometimes the fix would last for weeks.

 

The used car dealer I worked for said the customers that would hose him were those whose occupations started with the letter P . (preachers, plasters,& paper hangers) Greg

 

I've heard that stuff is pretty dangerous too. It can also seal stuff you don't want like coolant passages and the like....

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The works pretty good IF you have straight water in the system and you are not trying to fix a leak between two dissimilar metals It sets up hard like glass any movement and the bond is broken. I know of a 8n ford tractor that had freeze cracks along the bottom of the water jackets that water glass stopped 40 years ago. Let it stop the leak and drain system and refill it needs air to work.

 

That makes sense. I'm always suspicious of any "bottle" fixes. I guess sometimes a repair is that easy.

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My boss used to say it was Preachers, Painters, and Plumbers.

 

speedshifter forgot Physicans.

 

As I read through the remarks I thought of an instance (late 60's) where a "friend" told about having an early 60's GMC? pickup that didn't run. He had a friend give him a push and he coasted into a used car dealers lot. Traded for another vehicle and the lot salesman didn't even check to see if the GMC ran. This was the same guy whose brother in law ran a Coors distributorship in Las Cruces and he worked there part time. He'd change dates on the kegs of beer and take the "out of date" kegs for his own use.

 

Perfect!

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I have greatly enjoyed reading this thread.

Did not really know if the "pre-65" in the thread title meant things that happened before 1965, or trying to purchase a pre-1965 vehicle today.

If era before 1965, I saw very little of this (rural central Missouri), other than ground pepper in the radiator, and the new car dealers taught us that. Pretty much necessary, as lots of folks didn't add the inhibitor to the antifreeze then available, and the corrosion bugs ate everything in the cooling system. Not saying this other stuff didn't happen, but I certainly never saw it.

I do remember a guy that established a used car dealership in the small town where I was attending high school, that only lasted about a week (the city fathers suggested to him he should take his wares elsewhere); but by and large, most folks were honest. We didn't even have a lock on the door (other than the screen door hook) before 1970.

The biggest examples would have been almost bald tires, a non-working headlight, worn wiper blades, etc.; but all of these were readily visible to an observant buyer. Often, if brought to the attention of the salesperson, they would correct the problem at no additional cost.

Jon.

 

I meant this thread to jog the memory of the stories told by the old-timers. I love this thread too. I'm a young guy and can't even imagine all the craziness that went on before Carfax and computers. I find it really fun to take that step back in time once in a while. I love remembering people and conversations long gone. I think it keeps us all young. Happy Easter.

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Come on....any more dealership tricks?

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well young guy coe jogging the memory and bullshit are two different things. and BS is what most of these story;s are.

 

Ok. I'm still amused. How about one from you?

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you still don’t “get it”........you are only asking for one half the story. The ‘dealers’ and the ‘public’ come from the same stock of humans. The fact that they have different occupations doesn’t mean the non-dealers are the ‘ethical’ people and the dealers are all ‘ethically challenged’. Every family has that uncle, brother/sister, cousin, etc. that is known for not being trustworthy.

So expand your horizons young Mr Coe, ask for stories about “how you or your family cheated merchants (not just car dealers).....you have much to learn....

 

The title of this thread was just edited. You are right!
I want those stories too! Please share anything that was done on either side. I know the dealership often unfairly played the bad guy.

I have a buddy who purchased a brand new mustang on Friday. Drag raced on Saturday. Returned it with "engine issues" on Monday. Of course he told the poor dealership that it just sat in the garage all weekend!

Thank you for making that often missed point.

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