Car shifting

Well, I'm putting my Poncho up for sale (again).

http://guelph.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...ontiac-Parisienne-Brougham-W0QQAdIdZ374088052

The body is solid but little bits of rust were creeping through the paint where the stainless trim rubs on it. It was like that when I got it, but driving it through this winter didn't help at all. I hate to part with it as I've grown quite attached to the old girl. I can't justify the amount of money needed to put it back to the way I would want it to be and if I did, I probably wouldn't want to drive it in the winter anymore. Since I definitely don't want to drive my wagon in the snow anymore I needed to make a change so she's on the market again. I've tried to sell it twice before and after a week of no suitable responses I've changed my mind. This time, to ensure I stay motivated to let her go, I've already got a replacement.

I picked up this last night for $925.

It was a Florida car that an elderly couple gave to their son in Texas. When he got transferred to Germany, he brought the car up to Canada and left it with his sister to sell for him. It's been well maintained, just not well cared for. The leather is in rough shape in the front seats and it's really filthy inside and out but there's nothing wrong with it that I can't fix or wouldn't mind paying to have fixed, given what I got the car for. The underbody has never been undercoated and looks like it just came out of the showroom. As you can see (underneath that white crap we were graced with this morning) with the Buick in the garage, space is getting a little limited around our charming little commode. The Mrs will be glad to get her parking spot back.

 

And I complained because it was 54 degrees here this morning!

 

Heck it's 80* here

 

Yeah, kind of shocking even for the great white north, I could not believe hearing on the news Ontario was to expect snow at this time of year..

Good luck with your sale, don't be gready if you want it gone fast... or is keeping it your hidden agenda?

Congrats on the new ride

 

Thanks FT. I think it's time for me to let it go, I just want to make sure that it goes to a good home rather than wind up cubed and shipped overseas to return as another crap box. The Mrs is none too pleased about having to park her car on the boulevard. We're not allowed to leave cars on the street overnight until after May 1st so I'm letting her chew up the lawn getting her car in and out for now. (I've neglected to mention to her that the city has a bylaw against us parking cars on the boulevard at any time. Hopefully she won't need to find that out).

I've already had an offer from a scrapper for $500 that I'm choosing to ignore. I've been chatting with a guy in New Brunswick with no money and no way to get it home, but he wanted to let me know how much he loved the car.

It actually snowed most of the day here. We had a bitter cold wind and a whole mess of the white stuff. It didn't really stay on the ground very well and, strangely, around 6:00 the sun came out, melted it all and it was really nice for about an hour. I've no idea what to expect tomorrow.

 

Good luck with the sale, wiz. I know how much that Poncho means to you so I am hoping you find the right buyer!
Frankly, I think 800 bucks is a very good price. That car will make someone a nice driver.

 

What's frustrating is we found the right buyer the first time we put it up for sale. We finally gave up trying to sell it and decided to keep it and the next day a guy emailed me who had another '81 the same year and even the same colour. He wanted to have a backup so that he wouldn't be without a car. I suppose that could very well mean that he wanted to park her in his field and pick parts to keep his other car running, but he was very passionate about finding an '81. I haven't been able to reach him since then.

 

I've had a lengthy list of lowballers looking to buy the car dirt cheap without even looking at it. I've ignored them all. I had a pretty interested buyer show up the other night. It was a 25 year old kid who has a history of speeding tickets. He said he hasn't driven in two years as he can't find anyone to insure him (not sure of the legality of how he drove himself to my place). He's made the decision to reinvent himself a little bit and decided to buy a car for comfort instead of speed this time. We spent about an hour and a half going over the car and all of her flaws. He was really impressed with the car and loved everything about it. He's emailed me several times and I should hear back from him today or tomorrow. So far, it's looking like he may not be able to buy it as the insurance company wants a buttload of money to put him back on the road, but he still has hope that he'll be able to find a way.

I posted a second copy of the ad in the classic cars section this morning to see if I can attract more attention.

http://guelph.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...ontiac-Parisienne-Brougham-W0QQAdIdZ375277351

 

Thats a good sales ad, I also think your price is more than fair.

 

+1 Good luck Wiz!

 

That is a very nice car for very little money. Am I missing something?

 

I live in a very...upwardly mobile area. Cars like mine are viewed as junk/beaters by the snobs and Eco-nuts alike. I've tried to sell the car twice before at $1400 without luck. I'm trying to avoid letting it go to a scrapper so I'm offering a better price and being choosy about who gets it.

As luck would have it, a really nice kid and his parents were standing in my driveway when I came home from a trip today. They had driven 60 miles after having traced my place from the postal code in the ad. That would put them in my neighbourhood but they would have had to drive around hunting for the car from there. They were from a rural area, rather than my snobby neck of the woods, and really valued the car as much as you or I would. They had cash in hand and had rushed there to avoid risking being beaten to it. By their appearance and mannerisms I expected one of them to be named Billy Joe or Jim Bob and they were every bit as personable and nice as names like that can suggest. . The kid was very excited to have found the car, having lost his beloved '77 Caprice to an accident, and offered me $700 before I had even opened the doors or fired up the engine. He was exactly the type of buyer I was hoping for, short of someone looking to do a full restoration, so I accepted the offer and I agreed to deliver the car to their place in the morning even as far away as they are.

 

Sounds like 2 very happy buyers and a happy seller. I am glad it worked out for everyone.

 

That's a great story and it pleases me that that family got the car they wanted!

 

Nice story and great ending. We live in a Billy Joe or Jim Bob sort of location here in NW Florida. Not that this is a bad thing. Mostly very nice friendly Billy Bobs.
But I'd sure hate to sell our 55 wagon or any other old cars to most of them. I can just picture the 55 Chevy becoming a mud buggy, deer huntin wagon, or maybe a demo derby car at the local circle track. Dad burned I'd hate that thar if it happened!