Fear & Loathing The Classic Car Dealer

A dealer has overhead and bills to pay that the individual may not.

Therefore, you hit the dealer at the right time of the year, you stand a better shot of getting that good deal because the dealer knows he's better off to take a lot less profit, or even a loss, and get his bills paid on time, than to do different.

I just had a deal fall through because the guy wants to trade his POS for something much better and mine was about equal. Found out after the fact he paid about the same for his. But obviously he can afford to wait around. I guess it's okay, I would rather have some cash, but I did have a swap for a nice Model A lined up - in fact was the whole reason I even agreed to check out what he was offering, otherwise if anything I was trading down.

 

Here's a wrench to throw in. Most Classic car dealers consign a good percentage of their cars. Individual Car Owners often dictate the asking price on these cars. The Car Owners think they can boost the sale price of a car because it's in a well seen market, plus the Car Owner pads the asking price to absorb the dealer's cut. So dealers get an image of being insane for their asking prices on a lot of cars when ultimately, the individual Car Owners are dictating the asking prices.
Also, I had my car appraised at one of these classic car places. I was very unimpressed with their knowledge. I purposely kept my lips sealed of the value of my car to see what their honest opinion was. They were totally gray and obviously "winging it", trying to ask me what my opinion was. Technically, it's not in their books.

 

I've seen where dealers will plant a car for sale in a random parking lot and show it as a private individual to a potential buyer.

 

Hence, my signature line....


And the worst part? Scott’s car budget is in similar shape to Florida’s mortgage environment. He simply doesn’t have the dough that would allow him to put his head down, get to work on improvements, and forget about this whole bad deal. Instead, he has to sit it out… and steam… and boil… and think. Is this old car shit really worth it? Isn’t this supposed to be fun?

 

Still plenty of sleaze flippers out there.

 

I would respectfully say that sometimes that is true, and sometimes not.

If you take your time and get a good deal from a dealer and look what you have in the car in 1 year total; a lot of times you will be better financially buying from the dealer.
Of course not always.

I think you just have to know what you are buying.

If you don't, you will a lot of times end up WAY better buying from a reputable dealer than from an individual.

I see it every day, where people buy a car from an individual and then bring it in the shop to get checked out.

The bill is HUGE to make it how they thought it would be.

They buy from a reputable dealer, and there are just a couple little things here and there they can do if they want.

Not always, but most the time I see this.

But again, not always.

There is the case where they buy from an individual who really took care of the car etc. But that is more rare than normal.

Okay, back to work!

 

Teddie? I would've enjoyed the story more if the villain's name was....hmmmmm......er.......uh, maybe something like Groucho

 

You are correct. You just have to be educated on what you are buying, be it cars, houses, snow mobiles, cell phones whatever. Just because someone sells something, it doesn't make them dishonest.

 

"Without prejudice"

[in best whiny Andy Rooney voice]

Ya ever wonder why, when you join a new website, all of a sudden your "spam" and other forms of unsolicited e-mail suddenly skyrocket in volume? It's because the site mines your personal data, and your e-mail account info, and sells it off to the highest bidder for god-knows-what usage! Bastards! ALL of 'em!

Is that true, every time, with every site?

Not hardly...but it DOES happen...whether or not you tick the box, or give your personal approval.

What's something worth? What the person standing in front of you at this very moment is prepared to pay...at this very moment. Under mutually agreed upon terms and conditions. No guns drawn, no knives pulled, no threat of physical harm...generally.

And the person buying said item is under NO OBLIGATION to keep it for any specific length of time. They ARE obligated to pay for it in full with legal tender, or meeting the agreed upon terms and conditions...and at that moment, the transaction is complete.

What happens with either party, after that, is not for either's concern. Buyer got what was agreed upon; seller paid what was agreed upon.

Legally binding. "Legally"...

Now, we venture into MORALS and ETHICS...which mean a dozen different things to 12 different people...

Horsetraders were tarred with a certain stick, back in the day. Used car charmers (or smarmers) can be/are now. Rocketship resellers will be too. Goes with the territory.

Wear white patent leather shoes and a white belt with your plaid golf slacks while workin' at a carlot and you get labelled. Wear a rainbow lapel pin and you get labelled. Wear dungarees, engineer's boots and a T-shirt with Luckies rolled up in the sleeve while drivin' your gow-job and you get labelled.

So?

Sadly, generalization generally serves little useful purpose. Most of us reside in the broad middle of the bell curve. A few saints on that one outer margin; a few sinners on the other outer margin. Keep you BS antennas turned on and tuned in. Ask educated, pertinent, required questions. LISTEN (the most overlooked part of any conversation!). PROCESS. DECIDE. OFFER (or not). PAY (or not). ENJOY! And enjoy the process...

IF you can't enjoy the process, then what the hell are you in the middle of it, for? There are OTHER alternatives...

 

LOWDOWN2..........well stated.

Ray

 

PT Barnum sumed it all up in his saying! I don't agree with it but it's the facts !

 

I hear you Lowdown.

but unfortunately, it is also falling upon deaf ears.

 

What I have never understood is the point of Ryan's premise about dealers that he expressed in the first place, then repeated further along the thread.

His contention, as I see it, is that "Classic Car Dealers" are irrelevant in the modern market place. He then goes on to disparage people engaged in that activity. He says, in effect, they shouldn't (be allowed) to exist.

If all that were true, in the majority of cases, the 'marketplace' would soon cause their extinction or at least a serious reduction in their numbers.

The 'marketplace' consists of millions of people, acting of their own free will and in their own best interests. Any business model that fails to attract enough prospects who subsequently decide that what is being offered is worth the price being asked, either the price goes down or the business folds it's tent or both.

In other words, if "Classic Car Dealers" really are dodo birds, they will disappear involuntarily. If they survive in significant numbers, one can only conclude they are NOT irrelevant to the marketplace. You can love 'em or hate 'em or not give a rat's axx, any one individuals opinion will not matter. Only a collective opinion will change anything.

Ray

 

Fair enough, and that's all I am doing as well. This thread has certainly 'stirred the pot' and has been stimulating, both to read and to comment upon.

Ray

 

you have every right to express your opinion, whether in the minority/majority, whether popular/unpopular.

where I find the greatest issue with this thread is two fold:

1. you have the bully pulpit

2. the sensationalism

and that is my opinion...it really has nothing to do with the topic, rather the presentation

 

For me personally, your loud protesting does worse things for your case than Ryan's posts have...

 

Geez.... Holy crap I love the shit out of that line.

wow , today is a good day. Obi-wan Ryan Kenobi


Thanks Ryan,


Jerome

 

I kind of agree, and as someone who will often spend themselves just about broke saving stuff from scrap I was kind of offended by it, as you can probably gather from my post earlier on in the thread. I'm certainly not getting rich doing this stuff. I had to scrap something last week to get a bunch of stuff out, and there's still more I'd like to get, but can't, until something else sells, because I've pretty well run out of things I can scrap. Well, I have things, just things that either shouldn't be scrapped, or that I can't replace for what I paid for them. The day of the $100 clunker is pretty well over.

But what I do know is if I didn't save some of these things, no one else would.

 

what's a pulpit?

 

like the sales tower at the local toyota dealer grouchy

 

Huh?

 

It means he thinks Ryan is at advantage when he posts a point of view.

 

Pulpit, like a speakers podium, only for a pastor or preacher man.

 

from Wikipedia for those younger folks....
A bully pulpit is a public office or other position of authority of sufficiently high rank that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter. The bully pulpit can bring issues to the forefront that were not initially in debate, due to the office's stature and publicity.
This term was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the White House as a "bully pulpit," by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt famously used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful" (a more common expression in his time than it is today).
Its meaning in this sense is only distantly related to the modern form of "bully", which means "harasser of the weak".

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Mr. Cochran,

You should close this post with your most recent post there


That is plain old fashioned King's English, plainly spoken. Nuff Said !

 

I have to agree with Will here...
when I was a used car dealer I was much better off buying wholesale from dealers who wanted repeat buyers than I was general public including sweet little old ladies. That's the truth.
Same now with my engine business. I can buy from my salvage dealer friend with confidence. General public? OMG-----they treat me bad to put it mildly.
But when I sell an engine, it will be clean, painted, tested, properly identified, and a video of it running is available to watch. It is still a used engine but I have added value and taken the guess work out of it.
But we are just beating a dead horse here.......
It's all been said already.

 

Podium...or Soapbox,is another way of saying it.

 

A seller is gonna do and say whatever he has to to make a buck! He lives for the dollar. Especially a Dealer. I've heard many lies and stories from guys who didn't know what they were talking about. "Original","One owner","Fully Restored","Extremely Rare",etc....
Private Party sellers have a tendancy to be more legit,especially if they are car guys. It only takes a few minutes to see what kind of guy you're dealing with.
This is why the old expression "Buyer Beware" is an important thing to remember.