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

This tread has been great!

I find guys so frustrating to deal with most of the time, I try to sell as little as possible Some must think harassing sellers is a way to pass the time, of which they must have plenty. I've gotten this cynical based on the number of tire kickers and picture collectors.

My friend has the best sales approach:

First question he asks when the potential buyer shows up - Did you bring any money? If the buyers says, no he doesn't even show him the car. He'll then tell him that him that the best way to buy a car is to have some money in your pocket for a downpayment. If you're not prepared to buy a car, don't have the money or need your wife's approval you shouldn't show up at someone's door.

Pretty good advice I think.

 

I've been buying and selling cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles etc. since I was 15 years old, dealt with all kinds and situations. A lot of this stuff comes with the territory, and I hope to profit on the stuff I buy so I guess I just take the good with the bad. But ya'll are killing me with the $100 stuff, like others have said SCRAP IT and hope they don't find these BS broke retards in the trunk at the salvage yard.

 

On the other side, I was working on an O/T car I thought of buying. The owner told me it was worth 40k because he saw one go for that on e-gay. This is a rusting, smoken, needs every thing pony car. The guy has no money, talent or place to fix it up. Good luck fellow.

 

Had a 63 chevy C10 6ft fleetside for sale once.

One guy called from NY asking if he can drive the truck home when the ad said no motor or trans...

But the 2nd guy takes the cake... Have a guy call saying he will be over in 15 minutes to look at the truck. He gets here takes one lap around it and goes "There is too much body work for me, Im busy building a car for barret jackson." , we just had to tell the guy to leave. Since first off it had the most perfect bed you could probably find and it only needed a passenger side fender and some minor body work. And second if you think you can build a car for barret jackson but can't do body work there is something wrong.

 

Here's a good one...my brother had just sold his 76 Volare Roadrunner and was missin it pretty bad. Whilst out joyriding, my OTHER brother and I see this "choice" 56 Pontiac wagon parked out in front of this guys house with a $3000 sticker. We head back home and tell my brother about this sweet deal. So I show him where its at and we knock on the door. No one is home. So we wait it out for around 2 hours. The guy gets home and we never show we AREN'T interested. We know his price and are prepared to give it. But we stand around and B.S. about life and things and a few hours later, buy the car for $1000. The guy said the price didn't matter, he just wanted to sell it to buy one of those Playstation 2's and some games to see what it was all about! The PS2 had just came out. Go figure.

 

hahaha...indeed.

 

I know a jackass like that, flips a lot of 'rartrods'. He'll hit the 'buy it now' on Ebay then start negotiating a price - I guess these people figure it's not worth trying to relist on Ebay and try and get back the fees, etc. He's a sorry prick, and I wish more people would tell him to go fuck himself when he pulls that shit.

Worst I ever had selling was the guy that drove two hours to check out a 46 Chevy truck I had for sale. They dicked around my shop for nearly three hours before I finally got fed up and asked if they wanted the truck or not.

His reply was "oh no, I don't want to buy it, I just couldn't remember what a 46 looked like."

 

First question he asks when the potential buyer shows up - Did you bring any money? If the buyers says, no he doesn't even show him the car. He'll then tell him that him that the best way to buy a car is to have some money in your pocket for a downpayment. If you're not prepared to buy a car, don't have the money or need your wife's approval you shouldn't show up at someone's door.

Pretty good advice I think.


that's some good advice about bringing the cash with you as a buyer, but some poor advice sending potential buyers packing who don't hava e a wad of cash on them right on the spot.

the last car I bought I came out on a sunday afternoon. prolly had 20 bucks on me. drove it. BS'ed for a while, struck a deal and came back the next day after work with $5200.00 and drove it away. if he had not even shown it to me the first time I came out there would be no way I'd have come back.

 

I know what ya mean. I usually get something like :
"You have so and so for sale ?"
"Yeah......."
"What's the least you'll take ??"
To which I usually reply :
"What's the most you'll pay ??"


I find that usually weeds out the idiots real quick. If there at least close to my asking, at least I'll know if there real.

Todd

 

ehh. thats people now a days. head up thier ass.

 

I have , (had) the same problem .... when a guy sees my ads ... then starts his talk what he thinks its wourth... I stop him and ask him! how much do you want to pay?.... He tells me .... and I calmly say thats enough for the deposit .. to hold for one week .and I tell him if I don't have the money in 1 week the money is forfieted... well usally he on the same page as me or hes gone...

 

This is kind of the reverse buyer/seller situation. 46mopar and I went to go check out a '34 ford pickup project a few weeks ago. It was pretty solid for PA but the old timer and the previous owners had done some questionable work on it... ugly chop, MII front end, weird boxing job on the frame. So I offer him 1500, he says no effin' way. I offer 1800 and he reluctantly agreed. I give him a $500 deposit, take the doors and grille with me, and tell him we'll be back next week with the trailer. He tells me the ford 9 inch under the bench goes with it. When we went back to pick it up I asked about the rear end and he launches into a tirade about how we can just unload the damn thing right then and there, blah, blah. Turns out he was sore because some other guys came by that week and apparently offered him significantly more than I had but he couldn't accept because I had given him a deposit and took the doors! I told him to keep the rear...

 

heres what happens out here....
I place an ad in the local paper with my number
I get a call, "I'm calling about the Ford truck in the paper".... I get a woody
Then they ask "Do you still have it?" ... bigger woody
Then they say "I'm with Dandy Dime, we'd like to list your ....... "FUCK!"


no more woody

 

same thing happens in the classifieds here, i've posted some model a bodies and stuff and guys send you a pm asking if you'll take a 1/3 the asking price and ask to hold it for 6 month while they figure out a way to get it home. or say yes i'll take it the check is on the way and never hear from them again. recently i posted a couple rebuilt flatheads for a friend guy say he'll take one the checks in the mail and asks us to bring it to the turlock swap with us. no check and never heard from the guy again kinda pisses you off.
the whole buy/sell thing comes down to respect if you can't make a serious offer and back it up with cash you're just wasting everyones time and showing what a dumbass you are. lowballing is fine if the guy says make an offer but don't disrespect the guy by offer pennies on the dollar when the item is already a good price.

 

I forgot about this one until just now:
I advertise a slightly ragged but running late '70s Olds Nova knockoff (Omega? Something like that) for about $400.
A guy comes to look at it, gets all excited, says he'll have to ask his wife. I go back in the house happy because I think it's sold. Three days go by, I hear nothing. Another guy comes and buys the car.
A WEEK later the first guy calls, "coming to get his car." He is pissed at me because I sold it! Keep in mind, he never called me back, never said for sure he would take it, and for damn sure never gave me a penny of a down payment.
On the flip side, I've had people show up, look at a car for 20 minutes, pay me full in cash with minimum haggling, and leave with the car. That was always on cars that were at least a few grand. Seems like the higher the price on the car, the less hassles.

 

i just sold my first thing on ebay last nite. i sold my original engine out of my 1928 chevy.

i had a guy send me a message asking me if the engine, which i listed as PARTS ONLY came with the title to my car. this is even after i made sure to list on the site "engine does not come with title, title stays with car"

i dont think the guy even read my listing, he just wanted the title for the car as well. Idiot.

 

I got a buddy who drives a beat up 72 (?) mustang convertible. 6 with a 3 speed. if he parked it at the junk yard by the main gate people would think it was a new arrival.

he's a bit high strung and he's all pissed off telling me this story about a guy who asks him if he would like to sell the car. they go back and forth and my buddy refuses to name a price and keeps telling him to make an offer.

so the guy says $1500.00. my buddy reacts like he just called his mom a bitch. he's telling me this story and reliving his anger all over again. he blows up and tells the guy fuck you.

I didn't say a word but what I'm thinking is why didn't you just tell him what you would sell it for rather than go through all this drama?? I figure the car might be worth 5 - 6 grand to a nut who has been searching for a six cylinder/ 3 speed mustang vert, but under the same circumstances i would have offered even less.

 

My son recently advertised some wheels for sale on ebay. They were used (and the ad stated that they were used) American Torque Thrust II's, 2 -6x14's, 2-10x15's. Very nice condition with low mile Michelins. A guy from Massachusetts called and bought them apart from Ebay for $650, plus shipping. My son spent 8 hours polishing the wheels so they would show well. He photographed the wheels and tires and placed the pics in the ad. I think he had 4 or 5 photos posted. After the guy that bought the wheels got them, he called my son about how they were defective and utterly destroyed with curb rash. That is B.S. cause I was very familiar with them as they had been stored at my house. He said that he was going to get an estimate on 2 new wheels and he expected my son to pay for them. The guy claims he has a rod shop and the wheels were to go on a $65,000 truck he was building. That's right, used wheels on a$65,000 build! I can't stand these assholes like this. They make a deal, then want to change the terms after the deal is done. And this dick wants my son to buy two new wheels to replace the"defective" used wheels !!!!!! No wonder the term "masshole" was coined.

 

Yes, the jerks are out there. I told one guy years ago after he was complaining about rust and mileage to go to a dealer and buy a new one as they have plenty what he semed he ws looking for! I also told him that they would not negotaite their price down to a low price that he had in mind.

 

Yeah some people just don't get it. I've driven 2 hours one way just to look at projects. Some I've picked up some I didn't. The ones I did, I knew what I was looking at and for how much. I usually paid close to the asking price. If you go looking at something over 30 years old, they need to expect to turn a wrench. The ones I didn't buy, I usually had a good conversation with the owner and told him what I thought the best points on the car were. We would chat for a couple hours, I would hop back in my truck and ride into the sunset. Some of those guys actually have called if they were passing through to see if I had the coffee on.

Point is: Don't burn bridges, cause you never know when you'll be back that way again.

 

To those who are tired of the old out downs regarding a cars condition,Just remind the prospect that 'i'f they want a better car ,they are shopping in the wrong market'.
I advertised a car last week for $5500. A car which ,when new was worth $170,000 ,but it's tired ,it needs paint and tires but mechanically it's OK. So what happens? I get reminded it needs paint blah blah ,they can buy better else where etc .so I just remind them of the above and tell them to stop wasting my time. The eventual buyer recognized a good car when he saw it and paid full whack .
Don't waste time listening to crap and don't bullshit buyers either.In fact I just tell prospects to look it over and let me know if they want it. I can sleep better knowing they bought a shit pile with their eyes open .

 

I have to throw this one in. I list a C-6 transmission for sale in a local classified advertisement. It was listed with it's condition and it's flaws and a very reasonable price for a good C-6 core. I listed that it fit a small block ford, it had come out from behind a 351W. A jerk actually called at 10:30 at night to inform me that Ford never made a C-6 that would bolt to a smallblock windsor family engine. I believe my exact words were, Call me back when you have looked at your clock and done your research! and I hung up on him. He never called back.LOL.

 

Had guys call:

"Yeah, I'm calling about the car you have advertised? You still got it?"

I tell 'em, "no, it's sold."

At which time they start asking me questions like "what color was it etc., etc."

Dude, it's sold, what difference does it make!

 

I hate selling cars. This is just part of the reason.

 

Ouch ! That's some depreciation ! What kind of car was it ? Sorry to thread jack, just curious......

Todd

 

i sold an OT show truck not long ago and i listed all the crap that that was included in the truck and like most deals a lot of us do i was losing money anyway , i cant tell you how many fucks wanted to give me shit about blue book value , the wife heard so much rediculas crap on the phone she could tell by the sound of their voice when she answered the phone most of the time she would just hang up ..

 

I'm about to help my son sell his car. Boy, am I looking forward to it.

 

funny how this thread took off... I just wanted to complain a bit ... i didn't think anyone would even reply. I wish I had taped the conversation that started this whole thing.

the tone of his voice when I told him the tags were up in 2004. there was a pause, then he says you want $100.00 for this? then his rant started. about DMV and the tags. it was like he knew it all and I was some joker. he felt the only way a person could dispose of a truck like this was to pay full DMV fees and penalties and pay the junkyard to haul it off. what a dork.

just weird. especially the part about junk yards won't take cars without current registration. they take them right off the street around here. pick-n-pull is full of them that still have the parking ticket on the window.

gonna update the ad tonight (craigslist) and give it another try. wish me luck.

 

Over the years I have bought and sold a few cars.(I'm 65 ) What pisses me off more than anything is to get into a conversation with a guy that tells you he wants it for himself or his son to keep and enjoy and should I ever want it back or if he ever decided to sell it, I would have first chance to purchase it back. So you reduce the price so him or his son can enjoy and someday if he sells it he would call you with first chance. 2 weeks later someone tells you about a guy they saw driving your old car and it wasn't the guy you sold it to. You call the A$$ Hole and he says the guy made him an offer he couldn't refuse. That will never happen to me again. If I sell something that is my price. Period. No more
bull crap for me! The world is full of hustlers. Seller beware ,LOL Thanks, BOBBY FORD

 

I've hooked up the trailer and driven 6 hours to pick up a car and it not been what the seller described.... that pisses me off more... but I've been pushing the '34 out in front of the shop everyday for the last week. A bunch of tire kickers... a few "I'll be back before you close with the cash"... and a bunch of people that want to talk down the car... I'm nice because it's my place of business, but one of these times I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind...