Hot Rods Fair or foul? Seller backs out on 56 Chevy wagon deal

Just wasn’t meant to be. Lot of non- stand up people in the world. I never consider a deal done until it’s done. Buying/ selling can be a frustrating experience. Bet a better car comes along. Good luck.

 

Thanks for naming and shaming. Never heard of the dealer, but it's stuck in the cranium now as a place to avoid. I may not be in the market for his wares, but I do talk to people and if that name comes up, it will be my pleasure to toss it in the mud.
Most of us are 'experienced' with bad hombres, buying and selling. All you can do is move on and share your experience as a lesson to others.

 

A better one is just around the corner! Good luck.

 

While it's not typical particularly in the Midwest it can happen most anywhere in this day & age, it would be interesting if a Hamb Des Moines local could feel it out for you to get to the roots of his B.S.& maybe even rub his nose in it a bit.

 

Deucendude, same thing happened to a friend of mine. We drove from Long Island to Philadelphia to purchase a '34 roadster and when we got to the location, the owner was nowhere to be found. When we finally located him he told my friend that he sold the car late last night. My friend talked to the owner at 8:00 pm to let him know we were coming to Philly the next day and he said absolutely nothing about another buyer. You just need to chalk it up to some people being shady.

 

Happened to me on an early Vette.
Drove the car, told the guy I would take it, and went to the bank.
Got back with the check and he calls his wife to bring him the ***le from home.
We were at his work, where the car was.
She shows up with another guy who says he just bought the car from the wife!
I was pissed and got into a heated argument with all of them.
The other guy must have paid more, and she had signed the ***le.
Maybe that was Divine Intervention, just took me a while to get over it.

 

Tough deal, get over it, there will be another one. Some poor business on the seller's part, but family pressure could be real. Be a big boy and move along!

 

Well, honking my own horn but I had an older OT barn car I agreed to sell to a fellow when another guy called and offered my almost twice as much. I said no, I'd made a deal but gave him the new owner's contact. He ultimately bought some parts of the car for more than I'd sold the car, but a deal's a deal. in my eyes.

 

Apparently the seller wasn’t living by the old adage “ you never know when you may need to drink from the same well twice “.

 

The seller is not a man of his word , simply put he is a bald faced liar.

Keep looking you will probably find a better car fot the same price or less.
HRP

 

Move on, sorry the guy backed out on you. I have had it happen to me. These days a guy's word and a handshake isn't what is was... especially now days with the internet ...it's just easier to hide behind the keyboard like this clown did.. refund the deposit and send a message. who knows if what he said was true or not.. But they made a lot 55-57 Chevy wagon.. I'm sure there something even better waiting for you down the road..

 

Not quite the same league, but this happens to me all the time on FB marketplace. Agree that I’ll take it on the agreed upon price. Then find out they sold it to someone else. Happened to my daughter. She was halfway to pick up a horse she had bought, only to get a call from the owner saying they sold it to another person. It’s an epidemic.

 

Have you these,
56 wagon listed here on the hamb. HRP

 

I agree with the posts about maybe the car isnt as represented. May have saved you some heartache. Too bad people have to be that way. My brother was looking for an OT Mustang in 2010. It was in WA. Since I lived in OR at the time, he asked me to go look at it. They had agreed on a price. Then I get a call from brother, don’t bother, the buyer got a higher offer. #€*¥ him. I wanted to go anyhow and punch the guy in the nose. But that would have had two outcomes, me in jail or in hospital. My wife, daughter and I did go to WA, but stopped short at Kirkland to visit my great aunts and see the sights.

Sorry, that is all I have to offer. Seems there is a reason why we have cops and lawyers.

 

I've had the same thing happen, but the seller actually called me and said he got a higher offer, and did I want to match it? I told him a deal was a deal, and that was total BS for him to get another offer and not just tell the person it was already sold. He didn't care and I was just thankful he gave me my deposit back. Likely I wouldn't have been happy dealing with anyone of such low morals anyway.

 

got a link to this wagon for sale ad?

 

Did you give him bad feedback like he deserves ???

 

https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/kennard-chevy-210-station-wagon/v4v64otLWgkmXRMdNujEdU

 

My older brother and I were illustrators for 40 plus years. My brother wanted to retire, he was 8 years older than me so we shut our business down. I still wanted to do something, so I got a job selling Lexus cars. I did it for 13 years and I was very successful at it. I sold new and used cars. I was nice to everyone and never cheated anyone. I saw quite a few things done by salespeople that I would never do. I also saw quite a few things done by buyers that also were not very nice. Unfortunately, lots of people in this world care more about money than doing what is right. You may have dodged a bullet in not getting that car. If he did something like that, who knows what the real condition of the car is.

 

I was just telling somebody that this why I don't make long trips on just another person's word anymore. I could never understand why my dad didn't want to go more than about 2 hours away to look at a car. After the 2nd or 3rd time going to look at a "really solid" car that ended up having softball size rust holes, I finally started to understand.

 

If you believe those personal info sites that come up when you search someones name, Scott Bickel has used several aliases and is being sued by at least one person.

 

Hello,

Before we bought and fixed up the second 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with the 327, we had driven to almost 100 miles to San Diego to buy a 1946 Ford Woody that had an SBC and 3 speed. It was yellow and the wood looked ok, but there were some things that would need to be changed.
Not the same one, but, similar in looks... Since this woody is in San Diego, it could be the same one, all of these years later…

We thought that since we lived at the beach, the long coastal trips would be very cool in a woody wagon. The surfboards were getting smaller and it would fit inside of the woody for a lock/key security. We went to several car shows and plenty of hot rod gatherings to see if there were any available. Our money was saved and put aside for such a purchase. The OC area had its share of woody wagons, but the cost was relatively high compared to driving a bit to get a similar build to start our own changes.

How far? Hour and half to San Diego, 45 minutes to Pomona, 40 minutes to Santa Monica, were the main locations of advertised woody wagons. There were a couple advertised in Santa Cruz, CA, but that was a little too far, just to check it out. We could have waited until our next Northern California road trip for more photo shoots, but the time was now, so that was out. As 20 somethings, money was burning in our pockets and we had to get something.

So, down the I-5 in So Cal for a road trip to San Diego, to buy a cool looking yellow 46 Ford woody with a 283 and chrome wheels. It already had a three speed manual and a 283 SBC hooked up. The body was very nice, the doors shut well, the wood was refinished, but needed some work, and overall, it looked pretty good. The price was in the ball park of other 46 Woody Wagons we saw during the past month. So, with head nodding, we made an offer to buy it. The seller was a well known hot rod/old car dealer. He told us to come on down to San Diego for the sale.

We had the money in our bank account and we brought a couple of hundred in cash for a deposit if necessary. We looked over the woody and both agreed that it would be our next vehicle. The seller was happy to sell it. Then the paper work and discussion started. During the paperwork, the seller asked if we were going to pay cash. No… a personal check verified by our bank (letterhead) that had branches in San Diego and all over So Cal.

Jnaki

The seller said that we were “out of city people” and the check could not be verified locally…Wrong. Yes, we were “out of city” people from Laguna Beach, but a bank branch was in San Diego and other cities. It was a Saturday and banks were not open on the weekends back then. So, he asked if we could cash our personal check and come back with the money. We looked at him like he was from Mars. Didn’t he know that we were at least 1.5 hours away from home with all banks closed on a Saturday? A 4 hour trip back and forth just to cash a check?

So, my next step was to call my friend, Lee Bright from San Diego to vouch for us. The seller knew Lee from the automotive/hot rod circles in San Diego and past exchanges. Lee was talking to him for several minutes and then told me that it was a no sale. Why? Despite past San Diego friendships and hot rod sales/builds, that became a “no longer a friend” situation, (a loud voice could be heard on the San Diego phone) the seller would not budge...“He was an as%^%@#.” So, Lee apologized and said that place is off his contacts.

By this time, my wife was fed up with the antics of the seller. She said it was not worth our time and effort. We thanked Lee on the phone and walked out. The 46 woody was still for sale several months later at the same price. Within a month, we found another red/orange 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery located 30 minutes away from us that had a 327 SBC including A/C that pleased my wife to no end. The price was less than the 46 woody from San Diego. Game, Set, Match… Plus, happy wife and all of the stuff that goes along with it.

So ended our 1946 Ford Woody escapade and on to the “local” red 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery in our own “OC” neck of the woods. But, we found out that the sedan delivery was a project and would take months of work to get it safe and sound for both of us to drive daily. Long distance photo road trips were out of the question until repairs were done.

It was a nice looking hot rod and my wife instantly liked the power with the A/C blasting on our “around the block” test drive. It handled OK, on those industrial roads, but we told ourselves it was the road and not the car. (It ended up being the sedan delivery front end problems…brakes, alignment, balance, rims, tires and shocks...) It took many months of work to get the driving ability in place for a reliable daily driver. Thousands of miles later, it proved to be one of the most reliable hot rods we had owned.
A perfect solid, secure hot rod for two 20 something folks, after all of the repairs. Compared to my old flathead 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, this 327 powered version far outcl***ed the old teenage version. Our So Cal photo shoot locations were very plesant to arrive in comfort. It certainly made our day(s)…YRMV

Note:

The original “FIND” was not a find, due to a greedy owner. So, our true “find” was a keeper.

So, for you, something better will come up that will be unexpected and better than that first Chevy wagon. Just be patient and keep a good eye on searches. Even if it is across the country, if you really want it, fly out and drive it home for a nice vacation road trip...

 

I can’t find this car in the cl***ifieds. I looked

 

Found it

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1956-chevy-210-station-wagon.1290058/

 

My guess too, but figured I would post anyway.

 

At my ripe old age, I've been on all sides of deals. Bought a collectible muscle car on which the seller kept his word even though a higher offer came in between our verbal and me handing him the cash. Awesome person. I was in the process of buying a house with a signed agreement, the seller tried to back out of. Deal went through after my agent threatened a lawsuit. Much smaller deal, I lost out on a verbal deal on a vertical mill sold before I could get there.
It sounds trite to say "everything happens for a reason" but when my business partner reneged on his verbal to only sell to me - even though we had a written (but unsigned deal) on his desk - I thought it was a huge betrayal. Everyone in my life said EHFAR and in my mind I said "yeah right" every single time. 20 years on, running my own company, I can say I'm glad he showed his true colors and I didn't pay him what I was willing to pay. Much better off without all that.
I hope that is just as true in this case. Cheers.