Anyone still "Hold" a car on someones word anymore??

Cash only. I don't hold a car for anyone...unless a decent (and non-refundable) deposit is in my hands; and then only for a set and mutually agreed-to amount of time. In writing, naturally.

If they are in front of me and ask "What's your lowest dollar?", I say "Do you have the cash ON YOU?", and then if the answer is "yes", then I say "Start showing me one-hundred dollar bills and I'll tell you when to stop!". If their answer is "no", then I send them down the road. If they ask the "what's your bottom dollar?" question on the phone, I say "The asking price."

I've been jacked around by folks that "looked" trustworthy, plus the time-wasters and tire-kickers. My time is valuable to me. Conversely, I've left money on things before where I left a deposit, then something happened where I couldn't go through on a deal. Lesson learned, **** happens, right?

Maybe, my faith in human nature has soured over the years, I don't know.

 

I had made up my mind 6 hours before seeing it when i left home to go get it. I rented a one way uhaul trailer so i was not towing an empty trailer one way. I have wanted a 1947 chevy truck for at least 5 years to buying this one. There was no way i was driving that far for to come home without the truck.

 

I was able to acquire my roadster from out of state because a gentleman here was kind enough to hold it for me on my word, even though he had been contacted by others willing to buy right away and even though I was a complete stranger . If it weren't for his kindness, trust and generosity, I would never have had the opportunity to own it.

The least I could do was live up to my end of the bargain and show up when I said I would with the amount in hand that I agreed to pay.

 

Up until recently I would hold a car if someone gave their word that they wanted it.....I held a stock 32 roadster for over four months for a guy....he flew into England and came and viewed the car and made me promise not to sell it to anybody else....no worries, I like to be honest with people and did indeed stand by my word"I turned down full price cash transfer offers from Canada, the USA! And an Englishman......I then get the call, would I take less than we agreed?.....I did not answer......I got in touch with the next guy on the list" who had to have it", and again got the guy trying to chip me on the already agreed price.

The two gentlemen from North America both contacted me and sent pictures of gennie roadsters they subsequently bought .

I vowed that from now on, it's first come first served......

 

Your goods although not perishable should be treated as such meaning waiting to buy always will end up that the deal spoils or sours the seller

current monetary times call for action buying now cuz folks are sellin or sellin cuz times are tough.. if you do not have the money don't buy, promise to buy or even be shoppin ... sellin do not lower prices below what ya can afford to loose .. no matter how the buyer begs

i have had guys try to loball me on swapmeet items ... swear it the last 5 bucks they have ... i cave and sell and then they walk accross the aisle and buy coffee and a sandwich for 7 bucks ...why was I supposed to drop my price from ten to five so they could eat ??? fokkers

 

In God we trust, all others pay cash and God must provide 2 forms of photo identification!

I have an easy payment plan, one payment for the full amount!

 

A non refundable cash deposit only! I have had guys give me 3K deposit to hold a vehicle for 2 weeks and default so CASH only!

 

I don't do a "deposit" If they ask, I tell them I will keep it off the market for a certain amount of time for a certain amount of money, which they can apply to the purchase price during that period. No misunderstandings on refunding a deposit. WTF is the point of a deposit if it's refundable?
Also I never ****er over the phone. If some one wants to negotiate, we do it face to face where the vehicle sits.

 

True story, I had a guy show up on taxi.... You better believe we were going to close the the deal..... Like Oldsmell said.... FIRST COME with $$$$ FIRST SERVE....

 

I have been on both sides, I had a fellow hold a car for me for two weeks, I paid in full, the day I said I would. I held a car for a guy for a month, didn't hear from him, sold it to the next guy who showed with cash, the guy I was holding it for showed up 6 weeks later with the cash, I laughed at him.

 

My Dad is in his eighties and always taught that a "handshake is a contract". I abided by what he taught for years, and I expected the same from others. The country has changed. Few people follow this code of ethics anymore. I don't hold anything for anyone. Been screwed too many times.

 

For a time I will, but when the calander strikes the day after promised money and it has not arrived then its For Sale Again. Rod

 

I did that a couple of weeks ago for a guy on here. Guy was supposed to send a deposit I put sale pending in my ad, put a couple of others in line. I pm'd him the evening of the day he said he would be sending the money out. He read it that evening but it took him until the next morning before he had balls enough to tell me he was flaking on the deal. Guess who joined my IGNORE list so I remember never to deal with him again. In the meantime the other guys found something else.

 

I have sold a lot of cars locally and my rule is that unless they are in my driveway or are really close then they are not coming at all. A lot of people who say "I will be there Monday at 5" generally don't show. This is a big problem in the Midwest and I never really had this issue when I lived in NV or CA.

Also, unless a decent amount of money is put down for a car I don't hold it for anyone. It will be there if it isn't sold.. If I accept a deposit I also make them sign a contract with the amount they deposited and how long I agreed to hold the vehicle, otherwise their deposit is forefeit. If they don't like it then they can walk on... if they are serious about purchasing the vehicle they won't worry about it. I may give some leeway if they are a couple days late...

Finally, to answer your question about trades... maybe their trade offers are ****, they don't understand what things are worth, or maybe your counteroffers are unreasonable or absurd. You seem, from your previous posts, to not be a very shady person/dealer and a pretty straight shooter so I would kind of lean away from the last one...

From my experiences trades don't really work unless someone is getting screwed, even for a straight trade... I was fortunate enough to have been taught from my Dad that there is a kind of car kharma.. I have always been straight with people and don't add my emotions into a sale/trade. I also tell them what is wrong with the vehicle straight up. Long story short, I don't trade unless it is worth it to me in the long run to do so...

like my MG Midget straight trade for my '59 Apache pickup basketcase.



for this:

 

I called a guy last weekend in St.Louis after seeing one bad photo of his car, struck a deal on the phone and he held it for me for a couple days. Now one of the issues was me driving 5 hrs to his place and setting up a time that the seller knew he'd be around. Thankfully he was willing to hold it for 2 days, the car was better than described and he got a handful of cash instead of PayPal, western union ****. Not everyone is out to cheat ya, but there are ***holes everywhere! By the way the car is a 1930 auburn 8-95 sport sedan.

 

Had it both ways--sold a nice part to a guy for alot of $$--he didn't want to take it with him-(tried to get me to install it in his car)-still in my attic after 3 yrs-haven't heard from him since. Bought a 40 from a guy but could not go get it for a month--he was a good guy and held it but I felt better sending him a $2K deposit to solidify the deal--went and got it at the time frame we agreed upon. Have had others call and want to buy something and lowball me over the phone and say they are enroute--they never show--but I never expect they will anyway.

 

NO!

Pat

 

x2!

 

How many that say no have asked someone to hold a item for them?

 

doing it right now for a club member. so in a way i know him, but he gave me a small deposit and i havent seen the rest in three months. and i sold it less to him than anyone else naturally.

 

ive done it . havent been burned yet .

 

only a numbnut would ask a stranger to hold something on thier word. same with the people making offers on the phone when they haven't even seen the car... numbnuts.

 

What happens is the potential buyer sees the car of this dreams and then realizes that his wallet isn't big enough to make his dream come true. We live in a different world today.

 

Money talks , ******** walks

 

It's a two way street.

And then there are the sellers that can never set a time to see the car, but want you to send a deposit.

Apparently they don't want to even show the car unless they already have cash in hand.

Some guy selling a car I was interested in, about two hours from me, said he wouldn't hold the car till I got there, but oh yeah he wasn't going to be available that day, or the next, or the the next and wasn't sure when he would be.

Hello....?

He emailed me weeks later to see if I was still interested in the car. No.

Maybe I should have sent a deposit for the privilege of waiting for him to get ready to actually sell the car.

uhhh, no thanks.

 

Thats how I got my 50, went and looked at it, the guy told me he would be out of town for 3 days and will not accept anything for it until he calls me when he gets home and see if I want it. Pretty unheard of nowadays

 

Bird in the hand is better than the bird in the bush !!!!!

 

Bought my Fairlane and my Bronco with a handshake and a promise to return with cash.
Bought my car trailer by phone and he held it.

 

I've been burned too many times by people like that. If they want me to hold it...that requires a non-refundable deposit and I only hold it a certain amount of time. After time is up....its up for sale again and I keep the deposit. I put it in writing when I take the deposit so there is no misunderstanding.