I was going to sell my '55 F100 when I found and bought my F1. A slow-talkin' dipstick showed up, wanted to look it over...starts saying he wants to "make a rod out of it". I didn't understand...it has 9" butt, 350/350, very dependable driver. He said, "I wanna put red rims, whitewalls, an slam it wit' bags..." I laughed. Kept my F100. Whew! That coulda been close... no F100? Whew!
OT vehicle, a motorcycle. Kid paid for it, original agreement was that once he paid me for it we would go together to the Secretary of State and transfer title to him. The day he paid for it was a Saturday, he wanted it then and there. He was a squirrel, I know he would ride it without transferring ownership, crash it and then I would be involved in the mess. I had a friend that was involved in a similar situation as the vehicle seller. Well, he knew the deal, started giving me a bunch of bull, I took the money, about 750 in 1978 dollars and tossed it back at him, telling him to get screwed. The look on his face, standing with the money slowly dropping to the floor, priceless. He was stunned, then picked it up and agreed that he would wait until Monday to pick it up. And yep, he crashed it twice, once into a car in a parking lot within the first month.
sold my 1949 Chevrolet 4 door Bomb to a guy who said he was buying it for his 17 year old son because "he has a Mustang which is way too fast" the kid was there and didn't seem interested in it at all. I reluctantly took the money because I needed it but i was hoping to get a person who appreciated the car a bit more.... like a Mexican guy. they love the bombs and would have done it justice with any improvements they did. sold my 62 Caddy to another numb nut kid... only this time without pops backing him... sold for $2000.00 and saw it again in the auto trader for $800.00 parked on the side of a house with weeds growing up around it. sold a 66 Nova back around 1990. all original 2 door, original paint and around 80 K on it. nice car!! found out later the dude was buying it for his daughter to drive to school in San Francisco. probably all fucked up or stolen by now. I can't sell my 61 dodge ever. I know some ass-hat would paint the wheels red and shoot it flat black with skullz and lower it down to the bump stops, then I'd have to kill him.
I sold a '51 car with extensive documentation going back to '52 on it... and the buyer claimed the VINs didnt match.... I explained to him that he needed to go by "engine number" as they didnt have "VINs" back then...many angry phone calls with him ...... well somehow he got plates on it eventually.... dont know what the hell he was thinking. From now on i'm not giving away my phone number and not letting anyone come to my house. When I sell something I never want to see it OR the buyer again. I'll never sell to anyone who seems even a bit sketchy, I simply cant be bothered.
I had a pretty hot mustang I set up to drag race but I put plates on it just to drive around town. It was a hot little stroker motor to fast for the street and not easy to drive. But I got in a bind and needed money pretty fast so I sold it to the first guy who came along but he was obviously clueless about cars. The next day after I sold it he called and asked where to put the oil in at. I knew I would never see it again. And I haven't. He blew it up in only two weeks.
When I left Kodiak in 86 I had a lot of cars - I sold most - one was a nearly new Eddie Bauer Bronco. Had less than 2500 miles on it, and the wife of another chopper pilot wanted it badly. I hadn't been gone a month when I found out she went four-wheeling in it and crashed it off some bridge into a good sized river...she was OK - Bronco was not. dj
I have refused a few, mostly because they were not well versed in what particular modifications mean, or how they can affect a car. Kids looking to buy a drag car to drive back-and-forth to school. Others wanting a car that can lay rocker or frame, and think that dragging rocker or frame is cool.
I won't sell, donate, or lend to family any more after somebody who supposedly used to be a pro mechanic knew about a slow leak in the radiator and blew the head gasket after letting it run out of water.
You sell a car for a setteled/ agreed on price it is the new owners to do as they please, we are just care takers and they are just machines. If the new owner trashes, crashes and all around f%&ks up the car, it will still be a good projec t for the next generation to get and bring back to life and the cycle goes on. If you want to sell a car, set your lowest price be prepared to take it and stop worrying about it and get on with the next one!!!! Again they are just machines we can build more, quit worring about the buyers, take their money and get busy on the new ride!!!!
I saw a 51 Ford woodie at a good price a bunch of years back. I told him I had the money and was driving there (3 hours). He said a kid was test driving it right now and call him back in 20. So I call him back and he said he was waiting for the kids dad to come with the money. Would have been the kids first car. I told him the kid should buy a Mustang and he should sell his pride and joy to someone who would cherish it...no go. I even offered him $500 more...no go. I'm sure that poor woodie is lying somewhere dented and rusty. What a shame.
Just a couple of weeks ago a guy came to look at my van for sale. We drove around and he tells me how much it is going to take to fix this and that. I decide this is not for him, so I start making things up about the van and problems I have had with it. We get back and I thank him for coming, obviously the van is in no shape to sell, see ya. He just stood there and said ok. He called me and wanted to talk about it. Told him I was really busy getting the van ready for a trip.
3 deal-breakers for me- first, the self-proclaimed wheeler-dealer with the lowball price and the whole bag of nits to pick. Next is the guy who's "going to make a rat rod out of it". Now I've put together and driven some beaters, and there's nothing wrong with building something out of scraps and making something out of it- but purposely tearing up and making a nice car look like schidt because you think it's cool is just dumb. Last is the brainwashed twit that starts with "I'm gonna put a Chebbie in it, so-and-so said they were cheaper and you could get parts in Pig's Knuckle"- you're outahere...
By the looks of it, I did the right thing. Sometimes its a machine and money talks, but not this time. I have faith it will be sold to the right person and as said, whatever they do with it after they win me over is up to them. I'll be able to rest easy
When I was a kid, My dad had a '69 Torino Fastback w/ 390 console shift (nicknamed Big Red) that we had gotten from my Grandmother. Dad wanted a truck, as mom was driving a wagon and we needed a truck for home stuff. Us kids loved the car because it was a hot-rod & loud (what did we know, I was 9, my brother 6) He advertised the Torino for sale and some yahoo dirtbag came to look at it. (It was a small town, he was the town a$$) showed up with full asking price. We begged dad not to sell it but dad took the offer. 2 weeks later we see Big Red being drug behind the local wrecker, the whole Right side completely mauled, tire bent, and windshield shattered. Stupid a$$hole smashed it into an embankment while drunk. On that day I learned something about cars you value. Cherish them, and when you sell them The first interaction with the buyer is actually an interview.
Massachusetts has a much better title / registrations system-- I sell a car, I keep the plate, I sign the title over to the buyer. If the buyer wants to drive the car he has to pay a sales tax, insure and register it to get a plate (or transfer a plate from one of his own cars) and a new title is issued in his name. Any state that allows a buyer to drive off with a current plate on the car is f*cked up.
I agree some people dont understand the concrete waranty policy 'once your off my concrete your out of waranty' This applys to 'sold as is ' what you see is what you get . S ome times you need to wait for the right person for both yours ,theirs ant the cars sake
You can also go down to the DMV and request a release of title/registration/ownership. At least in FL you can. I did this with a car and a trailer. Trailer is non-title here, registration only.
Not quite, at least in Massachusetts. If the vehicle fails to pass inspection within 7 days of purchase, and the cost to fix the defects exceed 10% of the purchase price, the buyer can void the sale -- this, notwithstanding any disclaimer of warranty. So "as is" doesn't work. However, this does not apply if the vehicle is not purchased for the immediate personal or family use of the buyer -- so I always put that in my bills of sale. (see MGL ch. 90 s. 7N)
Thank you. I wish more people would look out for others rather than leave it to chance. Lost a few friends in High School who shoulda been hobbled to VWs or Yugos for a while
A bad feeling about the deal is a bad feeling about the deal no matter what the reason behind it. In the mid 70's I sold a 62 Impala two door hardtop to a kid for 250.00 cash. A few days later he comes to my house with his dad and his dad is raising hell because the upper A arm bushings are pretty well worn and a shop hit them with a big quote to change them. The old man claimed I screwed the kid on the car. I made a deal with him that if he went and got the bushings I would change them. He did and I did in about an hours time but I couldn't believe that the guy expected a guarantee on a 250.00 beater. Do what you feel is right and sell the car to someone you believe will treat the car the way you want it treated. That way you will at least feel you did the right thing for the car. On the other side of the coin, there is a little channeled Model A roadster in this area that was for sale a while back and I gave really serious thought to buying it but backed off as I knew that the first thing I would do is make a number of changes to it including stripping off a well known mural paint job. I've never liked the paint job on the otherwise pretty cool little car but don't want a bunch of guys giving me a ration of crap because I stripped it off either. It works both ways.
after they pay for it, its theirs i have no attachment. they can burn it for all i care. but then again i have a penis so im not to emotional.
It's nice when you're not pressed to sell and can be a bit picky. I've not turned down cash in hand, but I've weeded out several buyers contacting me about my OT Fairlane project I'm selling.
Yep... I just denied a few buyers on my '55. I may have lost out on a grand or two... but at least it went to a guy who is not going to fuck it up. Sam
im a 24 year old machinist with tattoos and was told by a guy that i looked like i was trouble lookin to steal his 30s pontiac even after i pulled my cash out he wouldnt even show me the car!