jerks who call on your cars you have for sale....

Don't be surprised - there's phony everything out there now - money orders, bank drafts, certified cheques, cash - if I was selling something local that the guy was going to take with him immediately, I'd arrange to transfer the funds at a bank as well - with witnesses and the means to determine falsified documents or cash, it's the safest place to do it. There are lots of crafty crooks out there . . .

Steve

 

I wonder why so many people improperly use the word "sale" in a sentence like that instead of the proper word "sell"?
eg; "Will you sell this car for $300?"

I used to wonder why phonics wasn't a more popular way of spelling.
I have come to realize it requires proper and uniform enunciation to work.

 

Like I said, Groucho is a friggin PIMP

 

I know someone from Texas who does the same thing.
She's well educated but can't use that word right to save her own life.

Try putting on a strong Texas/Southern strong accent and say the word "sell" Sounds like "sale" doesn't it?

 

Not a sell story really, my Bro-in-law and I are the car folks in the family. he comes across amazing deals all the time, basic transportation type stuff but it keeps him in extra money.. He sold a PU a couple of months back to fella and just before Christmas it blew.. I had a 92 Olds that both kids drove through college years (a lesson they hated, having to park next to kids with lexus, et al.), both "customized" the car pretty well. It ran great, was dented ALL over and I actually drove it for awhile before wife insisted I get rid of it. Well, I give car to Pat (fella above) to drive due to his PU blowing. Some may had heard we had some weather around here last week. They found Pat in a tree the next morning, he spent 9 hours blacked out about 20 feet up (we are calling him "Rocky the flying squirrel" now), all he has left is that dang Olds I gave him.. which was untouched parked next to his demolished trailor..

 

It's amazing the improper use of everything. Some of the shit I read's like one long sentence that never stops, pauses, or even makes sense for that matter. Now we join our regular program already in progress

 

I know exactly what you mean long pointless run-on sentences with no punctuation drive me up the wall.......


Todd

 

True story about how some of these schemes can backfire.

Years ago, me and my buddies looked like teenage dirtbags, because quite frankly we were. But anyway one of us had just received a very large insurance settlement due to a leg full of rods and screws.

For about a year my buddy had lusted after a 71 chevelle SS that had been for sale at a repair shop. It's his friggin dream car, and built by the shop owner as his personal ride, really done nice. So he gets his money and asks for a ride, we're going to buy the chevelle.

We get there and are looking at the car and this grump comes flying out of the shop looking pissed and asking what we want. My friend asks a simple question and the dude comes unglued about how we're just looking to go tear that car up and we could never afford it. I was fairly offended he didn't realize my car would stomp that chevelle if I wanted to "tear it up", but that's another discussion

About this point my friend is waving 10K cash around (leading edge of the 80s muscle boom prices) and hollering that right up until he opened his mouth that car was sold, fuck him.

I literally thought the seller was gonna kiss our boots as we got back in my car and left. That chevelle sat there til the shop closed a few months later. One can only guess the guy really needed money to sell his personal ride. But he fucked himself by being an ass.

You just never know who your buyer is.

Here's a good tip if you're craigslisting....."Don't waste our time with lowball offers, a family member already has dibs on that"

 

k mark wal mark....
Ya my wife has some hillbilly in her .. Fucking drives me nuts when she tells someone we finally bought a harley davison ? Ha ha love her dearly though.
Dave

 

I promise, no more OT sales stories after this one. But it's my fave.

Anyway I'm 18 or 19 and working my ass off. And have my eye on a few years old Z28 on a used car lot. Looked at it after hours a few times and determined it to be the best of the cars I was considering. Between my long hair and my baby face the car lot goons don't wanna let me drive it cause "kids just wanna drag this car up and down the highway". (again the car I drove in would stomp it) So I call my dad that night and ask him to meet me there at lunch cause I know they'll let him drive it.

When I get to the car lot there's ole dad in a 3 piece suit, they know him, he'd bought 2 cars there. They got the Z28 opened up and the same sales goons are swarming. I walk up, dad introduces me as his son. Then asks me if I still wanna drive this car "yes" Then asks me if I still had the full price saved up "yes" (thought it was an odd bargaining technique but the ole man had a weird gleam in his eye). He turns to the goons and says the car looks nice, but it really doesn't matter because his son knows well enough for himself.

Dad steps over to me and tells the sales goons to look hard because it's what a man who works hard for his money looks like. He turned to me and said he didn't know how much I liked that car, but he'd never spend his own money anywhere that treated him like that. But I was old enough to decide where I spent mine. It was a nice car, but we turned and walked out of there taller than we walked in.

It seemed like a small and funny moment at the time, but in hindsight was the ole man at his finest, handing a lesson to all of us. I sure miss him.

 

That is a good one for Valentimes day. Reminds me of my brother-in-law.

 

This is a great thread-

I had a guy buy a fairly rare T-Bird off of me. I was asking $2500, but he wanted it with the understanding that all the parts I'd accumulated to restore it were to go separately. I ended up selling it for $1500 I think, because I needed it gone and he seemed to want to fix it up. Over the next few months, he buys about $500 worth of parts I had accumulated off me. Suddenly, I see it on Craigslist for what I was originally asking, with some of the parts I'd sold him installed. About a week after that, I see it drive by me in traffic while I was on my way home for lunch. 10 Months later I stumbled upon what was left of it in a nearby junkyard. There was no doubt it was my old car. I wonder what all happened between me selling it to someone that wanted to restore it (and spend the money on the extra parts,) to when I saw it before it's final demise...people never cease to amaze me.

 

I've started my own collection of Craigslist.org car ad doozies...I check my local ads everyday. I'll post them up sometime.

 

I was selling a 63 Ranchero years ago. (before I started keeping everything)..
Anyway, a guy calls up and comes over. He wants the Ranchero, pays a $100 deposit, and says he will be back the next weekend with his trailer and the balance ($400).

So that day passes, and so do more. I call him, and he says he'll be bringing me money the next day. (He did not say how much)..

So I see an envelope taped to the door. Hmm....
I open it and theres a CHECK from him for $15.00

This $5.00-10.00 check shit went on for about 4 weeks. I called him and said I have all your checks here. Come tomorrow or Fuck off.

He did. And he paid and took the car. He spied the 61 2dr wagon I had, and asked how much. I told him I didn't want to sell it.

2 weeks pass, and I get a letter from LA County about derelict cars in the yard. About a week after that, I get a call from him..
"do you want to sell the wagon?"
"NO"
"Don't you have to get rid of it?"
"NOPE" and "FUCK YOU"

Fuckin shit sack called the county on me to MAKE me sell him the car..
Watch out who you make deals with and where you do it!!

And for you Craigslist guys..I love the "I just want to buy your $4000 car to fix up for my 85 year old dad that just had bypass surgery but got cancer while he was there, but see it in your heart to sell it to me for $200.." I'd love to kick those guys right square in the sack, if they have it any more!

 

I had an OT bike for sale years back, and it was nothing special, but an aquaintance of mine wanted it really bad for my asking price of $500. I had trouble finding the title so I told him to wait until I found it. He went on and on about how he didn't care and didn't need the title because he just wanted the motor for a kart project. So I took the money and he took the bike. A week later I get a call from the police saying I have to pick up an abandoned bike that's in my name and asked me all kind of questions about why the bike was left in the middle of the road with no plates on it, laying on it's side, not even on the stand. I explained what happened, and they were nice enough to give me an opportunity to come pick it up before it was impounded and I didn't have to pay a dime. Loaded it up in the truck and took it home. I didn't have the guy's number who bought the thing, so I called a common friend of our's and told him what happened. He called the guy and told him I was all pissed off and had to pay towing fee's and impound fees and everything (why he told him that, I'll never know) but the guy wrote me a letter telling me he was so sorry (he didn't want to tell me in person because he thought I'd kick his arse) and he didn't want the bike after all, but I could keep the $500. Hmmm, couple weeks later I found the title and resold the bike for another $500. Not bad, but it could have been an expensive lesson!

 

Great story!

 

Here's one,
I have had many many cars over the years, none of them were very special. I never had a problem selling any of them. My technique is to drive the poor hulks right down into the ground and then drag it down to mongo myself... so if you love your car but have to sell it anyway... don't sell it to me.

 

I love this tread. I don' t know if I've been lucky or what, but I've rarely had a bad experience buying or selling old cars and associated stuff. I bought a 64 Ranchero when I lived in Oregon, it ran, badly, and was really a pos. I bought it for a couple hundred dollars, parked it at my house for six months, offered it for sale for $600 and the 1st guy that looked bought it. No jerks, no no shows nothing. Then I had an old Airstream that I bought really cheap and offered for sale in Hemmings. A guy calls who is passing through town, wants to look at it and offers me more than I'm asking!

Naturally those are the best experiences I've had, and, truth is, I am a better buyer and keeper than seller - but, people have been good to me.

Thanks for the great stories on this thread!

 

Wow ! Can't say I've ever had that happen to me. I usually get guys that call and ask how much I want. When I tell them a price higher than what's advertised they always say " but the ad only says____"
Well, then why the fuck did 'ya ask if the price is right in front of you !!!???!!!

 

if you want it gone......QUICK.......fordification.com great people.

 

I was selling a 68 Impala one time, and this redneck mullet guy rolls up in a newer Dodge p/u with a cummins (not a cheap truck).

He walks up and has a look at the Impala, which I'm in the middle of cleaning up to sell, and says "I'll save you the trouble of cleaning it up, I'll give you $800 for it as it sits". I say to the guy, "yeah, you're way off on the price, it's got a good-running 327 4 bbl, I could get 800 bucks for the motor itself, but thanks anyway". Then he says "fine, I'll give you a grand", and I respond "Yea, you're still out in left field". He says "man, I see these things all the time for less money, and I say "look dude, if you can find a better car for less money then by all means buy it. Either way, I'm not taking less than 2 grand, so unless you've got 2 grand to spend you're wasting both of our time".

He tries to dicker with me some more, and tells me it's for his kid who gets good grades and is a good kid blah, blah, blah, and I say "dude, I'm not selling the car for less than 2 grand".

About that time some black kid who has been kinda listening on the sidelines walks up and says "2 grand?", and I say "yep, 2 grand", and he busts out his wallet and counts out 20 Ben Franklins and puts it in my hand. So I hand him the key and say "Sold. The title is in the office. Go in there and wait for me and I'll get it for you in a second." About this time the Mullet guy freaks out on me. "We were in the middle of a negotiation God dammit!!! You can't just sell it out from under me!!" And I turn to him and say "WE weren't in the middle of shit, YOU were in the middle of an unsuccessful attempt at talking me into selling the car for half price, and it didn't work".

Then he says "you better reverse that deal or there's gonna be trouble". I put my stuff down and walk right up to him and get about 6 inches from his face and say "well quit running your mouth and bring it then".

He backs off and walks abou 10 feet away and calls me a "nigger lover". Nice huh? I swear, some people wear their stupidity like a badge of honor.

Then he says "You're fucked, I'm calling 911". I laugh at the dude and say "whatever". He's going on and on about how I've broken the law and they're going to take our dealer's license.

Here's the kicker, the cops show up and the dude's got an outstanding warrant for an unpaid ticket so they arrested him!!! Haha!!!! I laughed for days about that one.

 

LMAO

 

Both sides of the coin.
My son and I drove 7 hours, with cash in hand, to buy a car that we could "drive home" according to the seller. Great pictures and description in multiple emails. We get there, and it won't start. Brake pedal goes to the floor. I look under it and see the stance is cause the springs are cut and it's sitting on the frame. Seller says "I forgot that I took the driveshaft out, and I can't find it". My son (16) is crushed. His dream car is a POS and we have a long drive home. Then the seller gets pissed when we don't buy the car. ???

Sold my daughters Celica Convertible to a guy that looked at it 3 times. Had a Carfax run on it. Took it to a shop to be checked out. Told him exactly what it needed and the shop estimate to fix it (electric top motor) and let him talk me down another grand, from the grand I had discounted for the top motor replacement. Week later he calls me up and says a shop gave him a quote for 300 worth of front end work and he wants me to send him a check? WTF?
He was serious. I told him to bring it back and I would refund his money, cause I sold it too cheap and I had another buyer. Never heard from him again.

I honestly belive both of these people thought their actions were perfectly normal.

 

all the cars I sell get the 30-30 gaurantee.

30 feet or 30 seconds.. after that it's yours

 

Kinda like the tail lights/curb guarantee. When the tail lights roll over the curb it's your's.

 

I drove 600 miles to pickup a vehicle I bought on ebay from a dealer. It did need some brake work and wheel bearings when I got it home but otherwise was in spectacular condition and rust free. One thing I thought funny was it had no emergency brake,,the handle was missing and the dealer says "why? you need one?" That item is compulsory in my neck of the woods..Whenever I buy a used vehicle there is only ME to blame for unexpected issues.

 

I once drove 12 hrs one way to buy (not look at) a vintage car only to find the car was a pile and the seller was less than honest about it. So I drove back home with an empty trailer, that's the chance you take. But on the flip side, I hate selling cars period. No matter what you ask for it, or how nice it is, or how many pages of maintenance you have, the buyer always wants to beat you down over it. I'm always fair on the price and always willing to deal, but I have a breaking point. I once sold a nice fiberglass shell of my late model F250 and in the CL ad I clearly stated the condition and the price. I also said that I didn't want to hear how cheap your buddy got his, or how short the buyer was on money right now and that I would just as soon cut it in half with a chainsaw as drop the price one dollar. See it, buy it, period. So two days later I get a call, the guy sent his wife to my work to check it out and the next day he bought it, full price. I was so shocked I gave him $50 back just for being a decent guy!

 

Long time ago I sell my 1968 GTO for $1000 to a kid down the street. Overall average condition, including the tires which had at least 50% tread left.

Kid gives me $700 and says he will give me the other $300 at the end of the week (I sorta know him, so I agree)

He calls me the next day and says the "tire shop" said he needs new tires (which they talked him into buying) so he is NOT paying me the final $300!

WTF!!!!!!! (he never paid me)

 

you want real comedians? post on fucking Craigslist.... and put your damn phone number on it. i won't put my number on CL ads anymore because i ALWAYS get this one fuckup who wants me to drive the car/truck whatever over to him (for some reason HE can't leave home... ankle bracelet, probably) and says he's got cash in hand (and can't even call a taxi?)... then he starts insulting me, the car, everybody i know, etc.... a fucking troll.

i got a Falcon i've been trying to sell for MONTHS and everybody from CL expects it to be a 99pointer ready to drive car, even though i CLEARLY explain that it needs brake lines, fuel lines, tires, etc.... people are basically idiots and go downhill from there.

 

Nothing like re-hashing a 4 year old thread! It does prove however that things never change...

Brian