I think I might know what you are thinking here. You really want a car bad, then you see a half ass car, so you want that car. Although you are bummed, take everyone's advice and keep looking, you gotta be patient. Can't tell you how many times I bought something when I was young and all excited, then saw a better deal on a much nicer car 2 days later I wished I had of been more patient for. Trust me, there are ALWAYS other cars that you would rather have if you buy impatiently. Figure out what you really want and be patient.
$3K sounds like a deal for a running '55 in good shape. That's a pretty dang good value for the extra $2K.
That aint as bad as this guy in our town. He had this condemned cheese factory he stored his crap in. He collection stuff for years. He had a early 30's truck cab, piles of old radios and all kinds of other stuff. He refused to get rid of any of it and the city tore the whole works down to rouble n nothing was saved.
It's HIS car; if he doesn't want to sell it to you, it's HIS choice, move on......... That said; I kept bugging the old man whom owned my Corolla for 9 YEARS! he finally called me one day and asked if I still wanted it.....
Oh yeah; here's some good deals for ya out here; '58 fourdoor chevy; $600 2 "64 Tbirds, $1,000 '57 ford 2dr wagon, $1,000 clean '65 FuryI, $600, will run and drive
mitch 36: I must take issue with your statement...if it was done in jest fine but still WHAT YOU ARE SUGGESTING IS APPALlING... what you have suggested amounts to theft and in it's basest form suggests that you know what is best done with someone else' property. Who on earth are you to tell anyone what they can and cannot sell or keep in their backyard? This kind of thinking is exactly the kind of thinking that is destroying the freedoms of America... and has made me move from certain towns in the area. The prevailing attitude of "If you have it and I want it, I'll take it... or if you do something and I don't understand it, I'm going to stop it and don't make me call in the law" is a bunch of junk and should not be tolerated...I do know what I would do if the guy that was bugging me for my car that I told him wasn't for sale all of a sudden showed up around town just after it was impounded.... While I believe T-rav understands that some people just will not let go of things no matter how bad they look to you... and is probably looking at other options it's fine to be fixated on a car and perhaps by not focusing on why you can't have that one you can learn amazing lessons from the owner and maybe even help put it back together... T-rav, I think you have the right idea... and honestly the prices in CA are not as high as might think they are, maybe more than what you want to spend but hey... that's sometimes how things go. Take a look through craigslist... all the areas in CA and AZ,NV... do a search in the general "for sale" section for anything you might be interested, in copy those "headers" throw it into EXCEL and search away until you narrow down your selections and find the right combination of what you want and where it is... you never know what you'll find and you may even find yourself pulling a 1 day turn around run to NV for the perfect car...(or bike) markanthony
Just know this: When you do finally find something else, buy it, and haul it home; guess who is gonna call the next day and say " Hey, you still want that '55?"
The best time to buy a car is when you find a motivated seller. Like was said before, if you want a project and he doesn't want to sell what he has to you, move on. You could have worse problems, an extra thousand aint easy to come up with. If you have a cool grand to spend on a project like you have just described, you should be able to find tons of stuff out there.
Amigo, I feel your pain, but I just don't think you're looking hard enough. I don't care where you are, a thousand bucks will buy a lot more to work with than what sounds like a thrashed basketcase 4-DOOR. Good luck, keep your eyes and ears wide open.
very well put. im not lookin to be an asshole cus im not. but i can be impaitent. so thanks for your reply