Technical Deal breakers - What makes you stop a purchase?

Many here have shut down a deal, I'm sure. Selling or buying, there's been a few things I keep an eye out for. Major rust! Not everyone is a metal whisperer. Bought some rusty ones to part out. 4 doors used to be on the list. No longer. Flakes? Yes, they're out there.*****py, new paint jobs hide little but make me run! Share your thoughts, please.

 

No****le

 

The missus

 

I always look for a reason NOT to buy a car, be it new or an old project car. I recently bought 2 OT cars, walked around, looked inside and bought them both.

The same logic goes to older car shopping. If something is beyond my skills or would take years to fix, I pass it up.

 

For the most part, I buy unique cars. They must be complete with garnish moldings, trim, etc. Replacing 1 or 2 pieces of trim might not be a deal breaker, if they are not too hard to find.

There is also a point where there is just too much rust.

 

The person selling the car.
I am known as a flipper in anything if I can make a buck, cars, parts and everything else. I will buy from drunks needing money and brought some nice project cars cheap at the bar. but if you are known as a thief, nope I don't care how cheap or if you legally own it, I have a reputation to keep up. I refuse to buy anything from known thieves in the area.

Another 2 I tend to stay away from is very religious people and people stuck on politics. we are talking about your car and you start throwing that stuff out, I normally walk away. I didn't come to get preached, I came to buy your junk.

I brought a junker a few years ago and the guy has 2 more I would love to buy sitting in his yard now that I could use parts off of for a current project but I refuse to go back over there ever again because I am not going to get preached again from him.

 

No****le, obviously lying about the car, too much rust, too many parts missing. Also I NEVER buy a car, or do business with a company that has "Honest" in it's name. Sorry Honest Charlie!

 

Years ago I flew from NYC to Milwaukee to buy a 32' five window coupe that was listed on the internet. There were plenty of photos that I studied over and over. The car looked great, so I got a bag of money and bought a oneway ticket and was going to drive it home after several conversations with the seller. He picked me up at the airport and off we went to his house. When we pulled up to his garage, it was sitting out front. Before I got out of the car I learned not to trust photographs ever. It looked great till you saw it in person. It got uncomfortable real quick with the seller after he begged me to take it for a dive (which only made me want to jump out due to how bad it handled). I thought I was going to have to walk back to the airport. My point is only a fool should buy a car without physically looking, driving and kicking the tires.

 

The guy that sells it to some one else,
- even though you had arranged a viewing time, multiple phone calls, drove for several hours and he allows someone else to view it earlier.
or
- because someone else offered more $ even though he had accepted your price.

in both instances, they did me a favour as the one that I did buy was better for me ,than either of them.

 

Some ones signature on here was - “ don’t believe anything that you hear - and only half of what you see ! “

 

A Model A where the engine number doesn't match the****le and no way to verify the number under the body. Or even worse the "ID" number is stamped on the frame in front of the cowl that the seller states is correct because it has "Henry" stars before and after the number sequence. Run Forest, run.

 

No****le, and rust. I can repair anything mechanical wrong with cars, trucks and bikes, but I can’t repair any kind of rust. Anthony and Jeff (Guthriesmith) and all the other metal wizards amaze me with their metal repair skills. I had auto body in high school, but they only taught us to slap hod and sand for eternity on stuff.

 

No****le , Rotted , Bondo bucket , Hacked , Incomplete , Older than 1951…

 

When a seller says look at the pictures for rust etc issues and has about 3 pics of a pretty expensive car or truck. Or better yet a hundred pictures all around the car and inside but no engine pics or no under body pictures. Then they expect you to put down a deposit. Also selling a vehicle with no****le or a****le jumper. Who wants to more less purchase a vehicle sight unseen?

 

I never respond to any ad that says "I know what I have".

 

If the person doesn't take Paypal...... or if they make communicating with them overly difficult. And if they do take Paypal, make sure its to them and not their wife or some other relative because they don't have a Paypal account.

 

Or "just testing the waters"

 

Not so much STOPPING A PURCHASE on this story, but more of STOPPING A SALE on my part.

There was a guy that was hot to trot for a 51 Chevy that I was selling for a widow. I told the guy on the phone, before he came over, that the price was firm, and was not negotiable. I told him DO NOT waste your time or mine, if you want to pay the price I have the car listed for, then go get the cash, and come with a trailer. I emphasized I WOULD NOT TAKE LESS! Well he showed up with his father and they looked the car over, we went for a test drive, and then he proceeded to tell me everything that the car needed, like I didn't know what it needed? I had just spent 5 or 6 weeks in, under and around the car getting it road worthy to sell. I had gone through the brakes and the fuel system, new fuel tank, freshly rebuilt carb, and on and on. He then started asking what would I realistically take for the car. I told him "I gave you the price on the phone before you drove over here to look at the car, told you that the price was firm, and the price has now just gone up by $500 for wasting my time. If you don't want the car, please leave. I have things to do." Then he asked if he could buy the front clip off of another car I had sitting in the pasture. I told him this wasn't a salvage yard, that I would sell the entire car, and asked him to leave again. He mumbled something unintelligible and drove away.

 

In the day and age of online sites :
Crappy old pictures
One word responses
Avoiding questions ( rust , runs ,****le etc) and saying “ come see it “

Abandoned projects that are in 987654332 pieces and they state “ all here except for some trim ( yeah that trim is gonna cost 10,000 grand and take 5 years to find.

anything in fresh primer or flat black tattle can has me questioning everything

anything that’s been cliped or subframed , chassis swaps etc .


No****le or ownership

 

No****le, or a "jumped"****le ( holder of****le never had it transferred into his name). One is obvious, the other can become a*****-show in a hurry.

 

I think you just meant Anthony. I am pretty much a hack at this stuff when it comes to metal repair. The only reason I even do any of it is that I can’t afford the real nice stuff or someone to make the junk ones nice. I do think I can do fiberglass stuff...but that honestly doesn’t come in too handy with any of what I like or can afford either.

Seems about the only things that I won’t consider are cars that I think are overpriced for the condition. Otherwise, I drag home way too much junk.

 

No****le, and no shop space for it.

 

I always think twice when the price is too cheap.

 

@gimpyshotrods has the shop space thing figured out. Looking at it like a business. Junk accumulated prevents the space from producing money. Unless that junk is paying rent!
I also listen for ''careful'' wording. Had a guy tell me when asked about a '67 console being correct for my '66 Olds. He said "this will fit your car''. Nope, not what I asked.

 

An ahole buyer or seller, not someone who is a little hard to get along with but an ahole. I know what I have or it’s worth what I am willing to pay for it types.

 

As for so-called "jumped****les", keep in mind that there are some states, like Alabama that will not****le antique cars so the****le that came with a car from out of state will not get transferred to him. I have 2 cars with****les from other states that my state will not****le to me. I tried but they said they can't do it. If I sold one, it will come with the****le with the previous owner's name on it, not mine. Only a vehicle registration paper is available.

 

You guys did a fantastic job on Silas’s C-10. I can’t even fathom how to begin metal repair.

 

Here is a little know fact that I have had to explain to sellers:

In California, the seller must pay a $1,000 fine and spend one year in jail when they have been caught****le jumping.

And yes, I have seen people get arrested and prosecuted for it.

Granted, if they behave, they only serve 3-4 months of that sentence.

 

as a seller I miss the good old days where "title jumping" wasn't a big deal. I had a bunch of 60's cars in the 80's I never registered. buyers didn't seem to care. not really to make money but just to have cool old cars to drive. worked well until I bought my 61 dodge only to find out no one but me thought that was a cool car. still have it 34 years later.

I had one where the registration expired and I put a different month sticker on the plate so as not to get pulled over. the buyers all knew and didn't seem to care, things were much different back then. you could actually walk into the DMV and be out in less than 2 hours.

 

I get in and out of the DMV in under 30-minutes.

Title jumping is a well-known way of stealing cars.

Maybe back-in-the-day stealing cars was not a big deal, but insurance companies sure are sick of it, and so am I.