Insane, crazy, or thrillseekers

Honestly...do any of us really expect to buy a car for less than a 1000 bux and expect it to make it from San Diego to Chicago or Milwaukee to Miami or you get the idea...I am selling a 63 studie for 650...that's right 650 and am getting bombarded with pms and phonecalls (it's also posted on craigslist for 750) from people who want to know can I drive it to work everyday, will it make it to Chicago or wherever...do you really expect something to be reliable enough to make a trip like that...it's funny there are guys who build 150,000 cars that are over engineered to the max and they are trailered everywhere and then there a few guys who expect to hit the jalopy jackpot and drive a 650 car coast to coast...I could have sold this thing three times to some surfers from o.b. (ocean beach) and i.b. (imperial beach) but they wanted to see if it would be reliable enough to drive a) home b)to work everyday or c)to their bro's house in Mendocino (that's way the hell up the coast past Frisco)...am I stupid to say no or should I say yeah drive it there and when you go careening off the PCH into the salty Pacific they can pull you and the car out of the drink and bury you in it...

 

Tell them it's guaranteed 5 feet,or 5 seconds,
which ever comes first.

Some people can break a Crow Bar in a sand box.

 

THe funny thing about these old cars is that if there's nothing seriously wrong, someone who knew what they were doing could prolly spend an afternoon checking and replacing things and take-off in a long trip in it without problems. But anyone who'd seriously ask that question about a car that old and that inexpensive prolly wouldn't make it...

 

"Jalopy Jackpot"

You should trademark that phrase.

And you should make sure whoever buys it signs a nice long receipt/bill of sale that states it's being sold as-is and recommends they have it inspected by a professional mechanic before driving it.

People are stupidly unrealistic when buying and afterwards, when reality sinks in, you are 100% at fault for being a bad guy and tricking them.

 

When I am selling something the buyer is welcome to look it over all he wants, start it if it runs, drive it if it will drive, whatever it takes for them to feel comfortable with the deal but... once the deal is struck it has that good old Oklahoma guarantee. "If it breaks in half, you own both pieces."

The best answer to will it drive wherever would be... Well, I wouldn't but for $650 you can do whatever you think is best.

GV

 

If they are really pussies, they can sue you over the implied warranty - If you are selling a car, it should work as a car because cars start, run and drive, just like the Judge's Lexus does..

 

Two grand is a good bit more than the $650 your asking, but for $2,000, a set of new WalMart tires and a full Instant Oil Change of all the fluids, I bought my '62 Suburban sight unseen from a fellow HAMBer, flew to Joplin and drove it back 1,000 to NE of Atlanta with my 10 year old son.

I'd be one of those guys that call you about the car...
-Brad

 

i feel your pain, if you sat down and explained all the items that might fail could fail are gonna fail or not fail, by then the buyer is still figuring away to make you give them the thing ,after all it doesnt sound like a good deal if so much can go wrong with it, you cannot win either way,i have advertised cars with no engines, and peopel show up to buy it and they will just have a buddy follow them home, ? i know they are not listening when i tell read the ad !! no motor!! they just are hoping for the american dream get something fabulous for next to nothing and blame someone else for their lack of sense

 

So will it make it to minnesota?..No really, will it?..lol

 

I have done it in a 57 chevy sedan delivery - califonia to toronto. And it was a $1200 car with a 283 and a powerglide in it. Went over it, and did a few repairs and away I went.

I did blow the engine in kansas somewhere, bought a $200 mid 80's camaro and swapped the 305 into it, and drove the rest of the way home. The motel owner was pretty impressed at the engine swap in one night - and I even didn't make a mess.

I also wouldn't do it again. I sold that POS as soon as I got home.

 

I bought a '52 Kaiser out of Hopkin's Junk Yard in Caldwell, Idaho for $450 bucks took it to my buddies shop, new plug, points, fuel, oil and so on!!
Cut the top off and drover it to Paso from Reno, NV one year (got video). Heck when I was a kid those were our daily drivers, nobody had a new or newer car not even my folks. Fun Days!!

 

Looks like plenty of room, Hmmmm maybe Ill buy it just to get buried in.

 

sounds like a few of you hit the "Jalopy Jackpot" (sunday nights on Fox right after the Simpsons starting in the fall)...but don't forget what you got for $650 when you were a kid is alot different than today...since I started this thread I have received two more local calls from wave shredders...luckily they didn't know where Ramona was...(lucky for them) so they blew it off...the other interesting/annoying thing is I have spent more time selling this thing than the last 5 cars I have sold combined...of course 4 out of the 5 didn't have a drivetrain but that didn't stop a majority of those who called to ask it was an automatic or stick and what kind of mileage did it get (alternative fuel source I told them it runs on what you do...converse, nike, birkenstocks you surf nazi...you get the idea)...

 

tail light garantee, it's garantee'd until i cant see the tail lights

 

it's easy to do if you respect the car - drive it anywhere and fix what breaks! I've done 3 of these 1000+ drives on my own and they are so much fun! (really!). You get to see places no-one else sees doing these trips

I was on the other end once - sold my reliable daily driver 56 F100 to a guy who called an hour later to say he was sitting in a puddle of oil "and metal bits" on the freeway.

He was "only doing 90mph" he told me.

 

I drove a 69 Chevy truck I paid $503 from NC to El Paso, 1,800 miles. Later I drove a 77 Ford F-350 I paid $1000 for (old U-haul truck) from Reading PA to Raliegh NC to El Paso towing a trailer with another car and loaded up with stuff. Alternator went out during the trip and I replaced it, which wasn't a big deal to me. That one was about 2,500 miles.

I would say this depends on who you get the car from (how honest they are) and how well you are prepared to fix anything that breaks on the side of the road or in the Autozone parking lot.

I would not do it in that car because if something broke you would not be able to get the part easily like a 70s era Ford/Chevy truck.

PS: It's a cool car, will it make it to El Paso?????

 

I love that wagon. I'd own it if it didn't cost twice the purchase price to get it here.

 

yah, but your wagon is so gay that even at $650.00 it better be able to drive somewhere as a redeeming factor.
just s**** it if people bother you so much... the crusher doesnt ask questions... whats the point of whining to everyone about...everyone else? jeez

 

Just tell them your offering a tail light warranty. Once you can't see the tail lights there out of warranty. lol

 

The callers are probably Stude club members who are sure it will make it.
They've planned the route home and know where every member lives with used parts in the garage, mechanics who will work on Studes, and parts stores who sell Stude parts thanks to a club roster and handbook with all that info between their covers.

Stude folk are organized!
And they are insane, crazy thrillseekers, and they love it!

 

does plan 9 involve using a crusher...I crush nothing and gay is in the eye of the beholder and I haven't seen you yet so I will politely hold back judgement...didn't think I was whining but rather commenting on how since it is only 650 I am not going to compromise my morals and let some ***hole drive off into the sunset and over a cliff with his 10 year old son, wife or mutt by his side

 

Just tell 'em, "sure it will make it there if you drop $1500 or so on a hauling outfit to bring it to you." I'd also say that you don't know if it's that good, that it's 44 years old and old cars can have problems no one will know about until it breaks on you.

Or you could just say "if you have to ask that about a car like this, you're obviously not a car guy; might I suggest you pick up the cl***ified and look in the import section?"

I get people with goofy questions like that too. When you ask them if they're out of their mind you get "I was just joking, relaxe dude!"

I've driven a $500 beater over 30,000 miles in three years. But I've also put an entire new brake system on it, new fuel lines, new tank and sender, and so on. Plus it only had 57,000 miles when I got it and was a hell of a lot newer than that Stude. You might get 1500 miles out of that car without a problem, and you might get the 1500 miles that it has some problem every 100 or so. I don't think it would scare me, but I wouldn't attempt a long trip without an ***load of spare parts and a tool kit along for the ride.

 

Your sense of fairness is commendable, but not everyone makes smart decisions in life, not much you can do about that.

Your answer to "Will this car make it to...there?" should be: "I think so."

BTW, here is a quick ratio for sellers to keep in mind:

For 100 people that call about a car, 10 will show up, and 1 will buy.

In my 'sperience.

 

Anything you say can and will be used against you when it doesn't make it to...there.

There is no shortage of stupid people. Just try not to be the one standing there when it's time for them to blame someone.

 

this thread is the defanition of whining.. $650 or not, thats what selling entails... i dont give a **** if its $10.00, answering questions is part of the territory, stupid ones included. not sure what you are trying to achieve with this thread. im glad youre holding back judgement, its very self righteous of you!
now if you only had as much sense as you do morals??

 

I had a car for sale I had paid $500 for and it sat in my yard for almost 2 years before I did anything with it. A guy called from Florida, Im in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Anyway, he wanted to know if the car would make the drive, I said I wouldn't try it. Next thing you know I'm picking him up from the airport, I was more nervous than he was. He jumped in the car and off he went, called me the next afternoon from his house and said he had no problems and thanked me for picking him up. He didnt bother to check the oil, coolant, anything. Go figure.

 

Phat: A personal opinion is not a statement of fact or warranty (contract law). Perhaps you were just speaking realistically. I was banking on the idea that people this dumb would have a hard time even finding their way back to him!

 

what is the definition of defanition...please defane it for me...err define it for me...man somebody woke up on the wrong side of the crusher...apparently the purpose of this thread was to irritate you...if you don't like this or other threads that you perceive as whining just avoid them...now if only you had as many morals as you have sense

 

Here's one for you that I just remembered that happened about 6 years ago:

I had a Fiat Brava once that I got out of junkjard for $150 for a guy. The car had no wheels and had thrown a rod.

He showed up in a rusted out 84 Honda Accord that he bought in an auction for $150. He had driven from Reading PA to Californa, towed another car with the Honda to Phoenix to store there and then came to El Paso. He had another engine with him and a set of wheels when he arrived.

He swapped the engine in my driveway in two days and had it running and then drove the car back to New York (I gave him $200 for the Honda thinking I'd race it at the local dirt track but I took it to Mexico and sold it for $275). Along the way he stopped somewhere and picked up an inventory of motorcycle parts and crammed them all in the Fiat.

Later, the car was traded to a guy in Florida and now it's in Atlanta - driven to both. I think no one has done much to it mechanically since the engine swap.

Since he did this we have become freinds and he does this all the time (Right now he's on his way from Washington state to Detroit to a car show in a Lancia "rescued" from a junkyard).

Like the Stude guy said, he knows everybody along the route and where to get parts. I think there is a big group of people out there that do this for thrills and adventure.

 

This is an excellent quote. I agree completely. I don't mind people asking me if a car is roadworthy or if it will make a long trip home, that's the best time to weed out the people who will make life miserable later. I hate the people who buy it and come back later after they broke something expensive to tell me that they think they got screwed.