How to approach a dying old lady about her car?

NEVER name a price first - You'll either pay way too much or piss them off.

 

Man..its never easy, rehearse some sort of speech that is polite and to the point and knock on the door..I've bought 1500.00 59 Cadillacs after listening to long stories about dead husbands/wives and I've been yelled off of property and told never to come back..I went and bought one old lady a new TV set and got busy tearing down the garage that was falling in on the car, a 60 Bonneville hardtop...real tricky about how much to pay, just play it by ear....

 

yeah i gotta convince her that its a piece of junk then when its sold and she gets her mulla she'll appreciate it.

 

Ive got a similar situation going on right now, but ive got an "insider", my fiances uncle is in his final days, cancer, he has a 65 (i know not HAMB friendly) Malibu SS, in peices, id like to get it for the future misses as a project car, im hoping to get the nerve to ask about it soon.....

 

Sit down for coffee with her in her kitchen. Bring your mom. Bring pastries. Or have your mom invite her over. After the second cup is poured and the ladies have caught up, start you line of persuasion: Tell her, "by the way, that you remember seeing the little(color) car in her garage. Was it a Barracuda? Did she like the car? You always had a soft spot for (Barracudas). Is it still there? Would she mind if you had a look at it today? Oh, you'd be happy to carefully set aside some of the stuff that's in there with it - you even have some spare storage boxes. Hey - here's a thought - does she think she might like to sell it to you?"

Bring the car figuratively back to life over that cup of coffee. Get her to feel how you wish somebody would literally bring it back to life, without using those exact words, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.

Don't be fervent and grasping. Just be wistful, and hopeful. If you can fake that kind of sincerity, you've got it made.

 

You don't sound very serious about buying this car.

Nut up and ask her what it will take. If it is too high for you, oh well.

It takes money to make money.

 

This is the funniest thing I've ever read on the internet. I'm crying. The 3 Stooges are laughing in their graves.

 

I am serious about it.

 

Hey, we're all dying... Someone who has been diagnosed with this typically lives about 15 years after the diagnosis. She may outlive you... Dunno how long ago she got the bad news. Offer her a fair amount of money. You want to sleep at night, right?

Kevin

 

you sound serious about screwing an old dying lady, and then turning around and screwing the eventual buyer of the car. the fact that you are only interested in the deal to profit big isn't gonna help get you much good advice. your posts on this topic don't exactly make you sound deserving of either the advice, or the car.

 

She may not want to sell it. There is a lady just south of town here she had a 32 roadster for 50years or more, everyone in town asked about it and tryed to give her gobs of money for it but she wouldn't take it, finaly a guy i know when down there and asked if he could buy her a new car, she agreed and he went and bought some used jap car and the lady gave him the car.

 

So tell me is everybody who likes cars of a different breed than you like an idiot ,or will that just be the one who buys this car from you.

 

I think he meant the idea of it maybe being one of the hot collector cars now that someone with more money than brains will come along and be paying him an assload of money for what he might get from this lady as "just an old Plymouth" ...

I like people with more money than brains. They're handy to sell things to. I just wish more of them liked old rusty cars.

 

My point exactly. Anybody who is willing to pay millions of dollars for a car just because it is the "it " car to have is an idiot.

 

No, not at all I like all kinds of cars.

 

You dont get it at all!! Lets think about it now. The lady really isnt getting screwed because im going to give her a chunk of the money that she didnt have before and who ever I sell it to obviously knows what they are buying so there is nobody thats getting screwed in this deal.

 

Seen how much a Dart swinger with 340 is worth these days? One man ugly beige car is another mans 60-70's Highly collectible Muscle car.

 

i can tell you that i dont think 60 is nearly as old as i used to think it was .

 

why bother .you know shes going to fix it up one day.!

 

Who knows the lady might not be old at all. She might be in her early twenties. It's all the smoking that she does that makes her look real old.

 

fine, if you really want to "help" the lady, then broker the sale for her and keep a modest 10-20% percent profit for your efforts. no need to devise some scheme unless your main interest is to profit BIG off this lady's poor health.

 

or Ill just charge her a "finders fee".

 

This topic contains 3 main subjects...
Buy - Dying old lady's Car - Selling for big profit

This actually leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I know it does to you aswell otherwise you wouldn't have started this topic.
But it would be 'more pleasant to read' (read: "you'll get more sympathy") if the subjects were;
Buy - Dying old lady's Car - Fix and Drive

my 2 cts.

How much is 'not much'?
On page 3 you're asking how much money to offer for something you've never seen up close yet. The problem here is you're only thinking 'profit-money', instead of thinking with your heart about just owning the car.

You know what, just offer her 4 grand for that old heap in her garage... and just hope it doesn't turn out to be a 4dr '70 Valiant?

Good luck anyway.

 

Im not going to fix and drive something im not really into. Im not trying to get rich off this old lady, I see it as a way to help her out and myself out at the same time. And who nows you might be right it might turn out to be a 4dr '70 Valiant.

 

I will keep everyone posted about the old lady and her mystery car. Ill approach her this week if I see her. But i'll do it with a heart.

And maybe the mystery cake I'm going to bake her with the springed boxing glove.

$$$$Cha-Ching$$$$ Just kidding guys...dont get your panties in a twist.

 

How well do "YOU" know this woman! Have YOU been friendly with her through the years? That would help.

I would tell her, you might know i like cars a lot. I can't remember what kind of car you have in your garage. Would you mind if I take a look at it? You will then know what it is, take some photos.

This will answer all your questions, either you will want to buy it or will have no more interest in it. The car turns out to be the one you hoped it would be, tell her if you ever want to sell it please let me know first. Either it would go to a family member or if the family knew about your offer to buy it, you would have first shot.

 

She use to bring us fruit from her trees but that was years ago. She seemed like a really nice lady. Thats why Im not going to screw her over.

 

If you know it is a 70 and she keeps telling you it is a 69 with a wink, take the hint and walk away. There isn't enough toothpaste.

 

If she has a lot of junk in the garage offer to clean it out for her. That way you'll get a good look at the car as you are cleaning the garage out and also building a friendship with her. When it comes down to the car being last in there ask her about it then.

My friend cleaned out a garage of an old lady whose late husband was an auto mechanic. He had all kinds of obscure auto parts (3 cyl Saab crank, rods, and pistons for example). He also picked up a couple Wonderbar Radios, I don't think they worked. She basically said whatever you want take whatever you don't want throw away.

 

I'm really hoping at some point the dying old lady pulls out a tazer to protect her ride