jerks who call on your cars you have for sale....

the truck I'm selling is OT, but selling cars and dealing with fools isn't.

71 ford truck. no motor, trans .. and the rear is from a 49 F-1 just so it will roll. lots of parts or a person could even build it if they wanted. all I want is $100.00.

so this guy calls and without a picture or any questions says he wants to come and get it. then he asks why doesn't it run.

uh.. no motor or trans...... says it right in the ad. he asks about the tags.. which were up in 2004.

then he starts his rant...

you want $100.00 for this? he goes on and on about how much it will cost to get it registered and that you have to have current registration before the wrecking yard will take it and it will cost $3,000.00 and on and on and on

dude was angry with me for selling an old truck for $100.00. I just don't get it. I finally just hung up on him.

if I call on a car and it is less than expected I just say thank you and goodbye. people are weird.

 

Yep, and don't get me started on the guys that set up a time to meet and then never show.

 

What an asshole, he just wanted to get it and scrap it. It's not a traditional hot rod, but a cool old American vehicle none the less.

 

And I bet if it were his, it would suddenly be worth more than your $100.00 asking price. Seriously, what do expect ??? It's a truck for $100.00 !!! My personal pet peeve is when someone asks me how much I want.....uh....I always put a price in my ads. Are they hoping I'll forget and say a dollar ???

Todd

 

Crack is whack!!

 

I have a running OT ford truck up for sale, and people want to bicker about the high miles and rust. its a beater truck. says so in the ad. hauls brush just fine, won't get stolen.

Its like the guys who got crabs from a $5 hooker. He went back and complained, so she says "what did you expect for $5? Lobster?"

 

I think he wanted to get it running and drive it. he asked me what's wrong with it, why doesn't it run? he didn't read the ad at all.

if this were a 72 Chevy truck in the same shape I'd keep it and put it back together. it's a fixable truck for 100 bucks.

as for the tags... I bought a 58 bug some years ago. tags were like 4 - 5 years out. here in California if you tell them you are a car collector and you are going to restore the vehicle they will wave the back fees. you need to push the issue and most likely no one at the DMV has ever heard of this rule but it's real. I registered that bug and paid no extra fees

 

Back in 91 I had a 69 Olds F-85 (base model Cutlass 2-door with a post), it had a blown 350 Olds engine in it and it was sitting on the street with the tags about to expire the next day. I had it listed in the paper for $100.00...just come get it. Some guy called, came over and same thing...he seemed almost pissed that it did not run, opened the hood, slammed it back down, asked where the headlights were (complete set of T-3s I took of it previously) and started to bitch more about the engine. I think he was just trying to get me to lower the already low price. I did not budge, he finally hauled the car off (yes, he even broght a tow truck...so he knew the deal) and I had my $100 bucks.

 

If it were a '72 Chev truck in the same condition it would be a $1,500-$2,000 truck. Well, here anyway. Those things bring big coin 'round these parts.

Todd

 

I learned a long time ago to price stuff high enough to weed out the yahoos.. had a '62 Belair advertised in the Old Car Trader some years ago.. and got this call.

Imagine latin/mexican/cuban accent here..

"hey man, i'm calling about the chebby you have for sale.."

Me..Ok, what can I tell you about it?

"Does it run?"

No, says plainly in the ad no engine or trans.

"No engine? How the hell am I gonna get it to Miami man, use a chain or something??"

I think I hung up at this point.. I was laughing too hard to talk anymore.

Brian

 

Never heard of a vehicle having to have a current registration to haul it to the wrecking yard. Valid title yes but tags???
I got about the same thing 20 years ago with a 55 Chev Belair 2 dr post.
No engine, no trans, Olds rear, no interior and a big hole in the hood where someone had put a big old tear drop scoop in the late 60's. 350.00 and it had a clear title in my name and the mouthbreathers who showed up found about 500 ways to knock it. A couple actually expected to be able to drive it home.
Some complained because it didn't have "the original interior" some said it wasn't a Bel Air even though the correct holes were for the trim.
If I had it now I could advertise it on Ebay as an old gasser style 55 and have people fighting over it.

 

I get these calls too. They are usually scumbags who want it for $50 or free so they can come pick it up and take it to the scrap dealer, where a full size pickup with no motor or trans gets you about $200, and if the cab and bed is filled with scrap steel, better than $300. The scrap dealers around here don't take them with engines, but they do without, so your truck with no motor is attractive to these guys.

And if I have a nice car for sale, I almost always get a call from some douche who will try to mine me for $500 so they can put it on not one, not two, but 21 websites (that you never heard of) and offer finacing so it's guaranteed to sell. Guy usually has a pronounced New York accent. Fuhgeddaboudit.

-KK

 

I completely agree..
Ive had 2 O/T vehicles for sale for a few months..I have gotten plenty of interested buyers..one even came down and drove one of them than decided he didnt want a performance car with the gas prices as they are..yeah after burning 10 bucks of gas out of mine. than the other ones who ask.."are ya gonna be around this weekend"? im going to come out on saturday to look at it..than they never show up..I guess it just comes with the territory

 

Reminds of a time I had my 58 Ford out in front of my house. Times were tough then and though it ran, I pretty much just shuffled it about to avoid parking enforcement. One day there's a note on it from a very enthusiastic buyer, so I thought what the hell, I was moving and the move would be definaely asier without it. Any way the guy comes out and immediately starts picking it apart and immediately launches into the "it's gonna' cost this, and that's broken, it's more of a project than he thought, DMV back fees, etc", all while his pet bird is sitting on his shoulder and shitting down his front. Anyway he finally comes up with his offer; "All I'm willing to spend is the amount it's going to cost to tow it". The car was far from what he he was spewing. I told him to fuck himself and he eventually went away. Years later, I'm at a buddy's place and he says he's waiting for a guy to come look at his car and low and behold it's the same jackass with the same schtick trying to swindle another free car. Some people are incapable of getting it.

 

I don't get it. Even if I say plainly in the ad that it's a PARTS CAR, I still get people calling and asking dumb questions.

I bought a 71 Lincoln Continental (the cool 2-door one like in the French Connection) for the 460/C6 that was in it. Pulled the motor and trans, and wanted to sell the rest for parts. Listed it in the paper and on craigslist for $100.

This car was arrow straight, no rust, 1 repaint. Interior needed some help, but it was all there. The clock in the dash even worked!

You wouldn't believe the number of calls I got from supposed "collectors" who just wanted me to lower the price down even more, like they expected me to give them the car! I was only asking 100 bucks! They would open the hood and say "Where's the engine?" And I would tell them that I pulled it out for one of my projects. Then, even after I told them that the engine was probably going in my truck, they would say "So, does the engine come with it?"

Sometimes I think I list stuff for sale too low. Maybe if I asked a crazy price, I could weed out the goofballs?

Nick

 

Real simple...they dont want to pay what you ask, they dont need the car

 

I have a couple of cars for sale now and I am dealing with this every day, I'm almost to the point where I'm just going to roll the cars into the woods and forget about them. I have a Riviera that runs and drives comes with an extra rebuilt motor and a spare tranny with a bunch of other parts and all of the weatherstrip, I have ads out stating this and that I have well over $6500 invested not including the price of the car and I have people emailing me asking if I will take $1000 without even coming down to look at it and I have people setting up times to come look at the cars but never show up.

 

I have told many people to screw. A guy won my 51 Ford on ebay a few yrs back, said nothing about a title but I had a NY reg (NYs version of a title) Its not like Im in Missouri, the 5 boroughs of NYC are like 10 minutes from me so its not that rare for cars to intermingle.

He comes up, throws a FIT and wont take it. Then says hes going on vacation, wont give a deposit, and that Im going to bring it down to HIM when I get a NJ title. Me, deliver it. HAHAHAHA.

He played it cool like a hardass but while he was inside his friend said that my car was 1000x nicer than anything he owned and he really wanted it.

I wrote him an email that night saying it was nice to meet him, and as soon as I got the paperwork straightened out Id let him know and have a nice vacation.

Then contacted the 2nd buyer, sent a MO out for a lil over $7k that night, and as soon as it cleared (and the original buyer returned from vacation wondering what the status was) informed him that the second bidder sent the money, car is on its way to SoCal already, hes a fat sonofabitch and have a nice life...without my car...he missed out on a deal playing his cards wrong. Be a prick, get very little in return.

 

i scrap cars without titles all the time ya just tell them it aint been registered in years. and lots of fuckos wanna call and get pictures when they live ten minutes away, just cowboy up and come look in person pics arnt any good

 

This thread is funny

 

I had a guy drive 6 hours from Vermont to pick up an O/T car. Dude shows up and backs the trailer right up to the car, gets out and says, "How much will you take?" I was very clear in my ad and over the phone that it was $1250 FIRM. I looked at him like he was joking, and said "It's a damn shame you just drove all the way out her for nothin' then." That's when we both here a hissing sound. He'd backed right over a nail in my driveway. I patched the hole, filled it with air and ended up taking $100 less for the car. I fugure he was going to have to get a new tire anyway and the nail WAS in my driveway. But still.

 

this thread had reminded me of a guy who came to look at my 62 Cadillac Sedan Deville. this was around 1990 before prices on these caddys took off.

1 owner, original paint with some flaws, but it ran great. I drove that car all over the place. ice cold air, all the power stuff worked except the autotronic eye was a bit iffy. nice chrome and the most beautiful black leather interior I had ever seen in a car this old. perfect trunk with original spare. if you painted it and detailed the motor you could enter it in a councourse.

this ass comes out and starts putting it down. the last thing he said before I told him to leave was it would be a good parts car...

4 door Devilles in that condition are going for 7500 or more these days. painted I wouldn't take less than 10,000. and this guy felt it was a parts car.

I still see him all the time. he's one of those guys who sells flea market junk at the swap meets.

 

Here's a way to cut the bullshit and get on with your life. You put the ad in the paper and list the price. you get a call asking about the price. Tell them the price is in the ad. If they say they can't ermember the price tell them $100 more than you had it listed. Suddenly, they REMEMBER the price you had in the paper. Now this is where it gets good. If they come out and look the car over and ask the price (which you have in the paper and probably have on a for sale sign in the window) again tell them $100 over the posted amount. And once again you'll get "the sign says XXXXX". Any crap and you walk in the house telling them you have better things to do. All but one time the "buyer" has been at the door in less than 5 minutes saying he really wants the car and he'll give the origonal asking price. The time it didn't work the next guy to pull in the yard had the cash and no B.S.
Now, if you want to take the time to dicker with the buyer it's up to you but adding a $100 everytime he finds some fault with the car will sure separate the tire kickers from the buyers. If your desperate to sell these assholes can smell it and wait you out.

Frank

 

When you're selling something that cheap, don't run an ad at all. Just sit it in your front yard with a sign showing the price. They pop almost immediately. Run an ad and you get every idiot in the world. I had a '57 Caddy Fleetwood advertised for $500 back around 1986 or so, and you wouldn't believe how many idiots argued with me about the rear quarters. They'd say "how are the rear quarters?" and I'd say "They are heavy-gauge stainless steel on Fleetwoods, so they are mint" and they would then argue and argue and tell me what an idiot I was. I finally just started saying "Come over and look at it. If I'm wrong, you can HAVE the car." Not one of those wipes showed up. Six months later someone knocked on my door, heard a rumor that I had a '57 Cadillac in my garage, and bought it for the $500 no haggling.
(Incidentally, the lower half of the rear quarter on '57 Fleetwoods only is heavy-gauge stainless steel. Feel free to win bar bets with that piece of trivia!)

 

I've been selling cars for ages and you run into these assholes all the time.

The fastest answer to a guy trying to talk down a $100 car is to tell them that scrap is $xxx a ton this week and this thing weighs at least 3000 lbs, if you don't want it I'll just junk it myself.

I ran my friend's late RWD Monte Carlo on eBay cheap to dump it, and I had more idiots who wanted to come and try to drive it home. It has a bad brake line or gas line or something, he's told me both and I don't have time to try to figure it out, but I said that right in the auction. Thats why it the open was $200. That plus in running it now three times, three assholes have been high bidder and refused to buy it. The frame's rotted where all of those rot out, and guys have been bidding from thousands of miles away.. which I don't get, because those are still easy to find everywhere.

But people are just damned goofy..we had a guy come with a rented U-haul truck and trailer to buy a '39 Pontiac 4dr that runs.. he spent like an hour trying to find something wrong with it, actually admitted it was better than he thought.. and went home with the U-haul empty. I had a guy wanting to know if a '56 GMC Napco 4x4 was ready to drive and safe enough to haul his grandkids around in. I told him no, it doesn't have any seatbelts in it to keep them safe. At that point no one had even tried to bid it over $1500, and those things in good shape are like $10,000 asking in Hemmings. Even when cars are priced cheap, they find something to knock. We have a '55 Chrysler New Yorker with a Hemi.. it's been parked a few years and needs paint pretty bad, but it really doesn't need a lot to be a driver. I had one prick trying to tell me it was just a parts car. The junkyards around here are full of rotty parts cars that haven't run in 30 years, buy one there if thats what you want.

And there's the west coast guy when I had the '50 Ford woodie for sale. The car was a rough POS, but complete from the cowl back. He spent two years emailing me harassing me on ebay every time I listed the damned car telling me it was junk and I should part it out - finally offering me $100 for the third seat less than week after another one in the same shape sold for almost $500. I must have literally told him to f--- off 25 times. He even bugged the guy who finally did buy the car off me for $1600.

The worst one has to be a guy my buddy knows who found a 30-31 AA Ford truck for free, just come get it.. and he dragged his feet picking it up so the guy who had it cut it to pieces with a sawzall and scrapped it. It had nice doors and a halfway decent cab on it, I guess it was like mine and fairly well complete. The guy who found it wanted to swap it to my friend for something else.. but would not tell him where it was to get it... I mean, my friend could have gone and gotten it and still would have given this guy another car for it just for finding it. WTF?


What it all comes down to is I completely understand why guys who own junkyards are cantankerous old bastards. When I'm that age I will be too, after dealing with all the BS people lay on you when they look at your cars for sale.

 

Back in the 80's I had a 66 Fairlane HT for sale, solid body, decent interior, 289/C4,.. I think I was asking $650.00 for it, running and driving,... a guy comes over to look at it,... checks out everything, starts to talk it down,... finally says, I'll give you $300.00,( don't remember exactly, but it was less than half of what I was asking) like he was doing me a favor or something.

I looked at him and said, "Let me think about it" I went into the house and stayed there, no intention of going out again, I thought the moron would get the message,..... He just stood there looking at and leaning on the car, about 45 min later there's a knock on the door,... and He said "Well?" I just laughed at him and closed the door.

While I was in the house I got another call on the car and the guy said he would be there in 10 minutes,... theres another knock on my door and this other guy starts looking at the car,.. I look across the street and the first guy gets out of a car and comes back over,... and says "Well?",..... I look at him and said "are you a idiot or something?" The second guy offers me $50.00 less than I was asking,... the first guy then says I'll give you the $650.00 !

I told the first guy, you had your chance,... and I sold it to the second guy,... ( The second guy was kind of amazed ) The first guy gets all crazy and says hes going to call the cops (which he did,... went to the pay phone a couple blocks away),... cops get there and he goes on with his story,..... they said "is that it?" he says "yeah what cha' gunn'a do about it !",.... they told him nothing and don't bother them again,..... I asked the cops if they could tell him to leave because he had been parked there for almost two hours
so they told him to leave or they would wright him for loitering !

This had to be the weirdest thing that ever happened to me selling a car.

 

When I run into someone that stupid, I try to get as far away from them as possible just in case it is catching.

Cars around hear bring $250 to $300 scrap.

 

I always liked the suspended tweekers who want you to leave it in your name if they give you an extra $20.

 

Not so much about jerks calling, more on the line of idiots buying. I had an early 80's 650 motorcycle I bought for $100. Toyed with it for a while, got it running but needed to pump a bunch of money into it because it was missing the master cylinders so NO BRAKES. On top of that the previous owner lost the title. No biggy I listed it in the local paper for $100. Got a call that day and a guy asked if I'd take a check, not a chance I want cash. He said what time the next morning, I said 8:00. I get a knock on the door at 6:30. Two brothers in their 30's with no shoes or shirts, only shorts and 5 twenties. I got the bike out and they said they'd be back in an hour because they needed safety glasses to ride it home. No shirt, shoes, helmet, title, brakes, plates, and cracked rotten tires, but safety glasses are important?. I gave them a pair of safety glasses, and a box of parts. Both hopped on and took off down the road never to be heard from again. Best sale I'd ever made.

 

What pisses me off is when they call and start haggling and low ballin you, when they haven't even seen the damn thing yet.