What A Waste Of Time!

ivanogburn just remember when others tell their sad tales and you have another bad experience, you are learning Grasshopper. We all are. And as we learn we get just a little smarter and more cautious. Somewhere during all this, Karma will kick in and that right deal will come along.

At least that's the way I see it in my dreams!

 

Believe me that kind of thing has probably happened to just about all of us. It has happened to me more than once.

 

My Commuter project is a car that I spent more than two months chasing after I sent a deposit. Turns out he blew out the trans in his truck when he was going to pick up another car and deliver this one. Spent my money fixing the trans and then didn't have money to buy the other car and no reason to make the trip after that.

Instead he told me a tale of how he started the trip and was t-boned by a drunk driver and his 16 year-old son was killed in the accident. But, we had business and he was going to still deliver the car, which of course never happened.

In the end I was able to contact a couple of members in The Fairlane Club of America (of which I am a member) who were willing to be eyes on the ground for me. I chased down an address (after finding three fake ones), located the car, and had the good fortune of one of the gentleman to make a trip by to pick up the car while a couple of officers watched from the street.

I was stupid and let myself get suckered. I was also fortunate to belong to a community of enthusiasts willing to help out. As other have just mentioned, a "friends helping friends" directory might be a nice addition to the site.

My story overall had a happy ending with my car having a mix of lies vs. pleasant surprises as to the condition of the vehicle. It may not have been a steal of a deal, but it is a very solid project with minimal rust, and most of the pieces there and in good driver shape.

Based upon my experience, I say don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't be too busy to answer the call.

 

It's taken me oh, maybe 42 years of car-buying experience to learn...
I used to get blinded by the 'gotta have it's' and purchased many a vehicle that I should have left alone.

 

The worst part about my experience is that the guy was totally ignorant. Seemed very nice on the phone and that he was a straight shooter. He only turned that way after i started confronting him about the condition. the only thing he could say is "there's nothing wrong with that" and "looks like you drove all this way for nothing". It was priced according to his represented condition, not the ACTUAL condition.

I think it would be great if someone would be willing to check a car out before someone made the trek. I know i'd do it for someone, because I wouldn't want to get burned, and wouldn't want someone else to get burned either, even if that someone was a complete stranger.

 

I have learned to study pictures, ask for more pictures, and always think the worst. I do not believe a low mileage car is a good buy, I also do not discount a high mileage car. I believe honesty is the best practice when selling a car. So I always make my car sound worse than it is, that way when someone does come to look at it, it is better than they thought. I to have done the road trip to be surprised by how bad I was lied to. I have thought about starting an inspection service just for these issues. But, I have not moved forward on that thought. Maybe I should.............................

 

Until today I had a 1951 Airstream for sale. I absolutely refused to take a deposit from any one who had not seen it, or had a proxy do that on their behalf. I made it very clear in my ad on Craigslist, yet the number of folks from all over North America who were upset at that approach was astonishing. I realize it was a hassle for them but I refused to sell my trailer to someone who then turned out to be disappointed. I also, by the way, refused to take offers - the price was firm and if they wanted to play the offers game I made it also very clear that they could offer me a whole bunch more and we could then have fun working our way down to the number I had noted.

I can't tell you how frustrating it was. People demanding I take their deposit, people telling me when my price dropped to a level they could afford to please let them know, and the list goes on. I got pretty tired of it.

Today a person who has been after me for some time to purchase it, but who has not seen it and is unable to due to his being a front line fireman on the forest fires eating up the country, called and we came to an acceptable agreement. I cringe at selling something to someone who has not seen it but he's had a huge qty of pictures, I've explained every nick and scratch and nut and bolt and screw with pictures of those as well, and he was still wanting it. I tried everything I could to encourage him to have someone, anyone, come take a look, but he has been looking for so many years for this model and vintage that he is willing to take his chances.

Egads, I hate being on the selling end of a deal where there has been no prior viewing, but so be it. I just don't ever want to be accused of selling someone something that they then are unhappy with because they feel it was misrepresented. I would prefer to be the guy who sold 81X his car - considerate of the buyer, does what ever he can to make sure it is what he says it is, tries to make the buying experience better than one would anticipate.

On the other hand, like many of you and I guess the reason I'm so insistent on the above is that I too have had numerous misadventures when buying long distance. Fortunately in only a couple of situations have I really been taken advantage of - usually it has been the sellers speaking versus my listening skills, or terminology or what they consider to be good or bad that I take the other way.

I'd still do it, I'd do as others have suggested and do everything I could to have someone go look at it and that includes the option of phoning a local car appraiser and paying them to go do an appraisal which I'd want done anyway. With the cost of fuel what it is today this can be a good way to get it done.

 

Swanny,

It's always good to get as many pictures and answers to questions as you can, but at the end of the day, someone who is willing to lie about their car to make the sale initially isn't going to come clean later. They just deepen the lies.

I ran into that looking at a '68 GT Cougar a few years back. It was a 2 hour drive to check it out. I explained that I didn't want to have to deal with rust beyond surface rust - no rot. I was promised that there was no rot and the interior was near perfect.

When I got there, the quarters were flapping in the breeze. I decided to look a little closer since I had already made the drive. The hood was rotted and the front frames had holes. When I opened the doors the smell of mouse urine was so overpowering that I couldn't get in the car, and I have been in some stinky old cars.

When I asked the guy why he lied about the condition he told me I was being picky and if I was looking for a show car I wasn't going to find it at the price he was selling it for.

Huh? A show car? This car was worth 50 cents over scrap value, but I think he saw it through his rose-colored glasses and then took a little license with his description as well.

Either way, it was a waste of my time and my money even after asking all the right questions.

 

I bought both my cars far away from me, my wifes 63 country sedan was is mississippi a 6 hour drive one way. That one turned out to be exactly what the guy said it was and we drove it home. My 61 on the other hand turned out to be a great runner but rusted pretty bad. Had that one shipped to the house from the pictures i had seen it looked good but it was not. But now i just suck it up and drive it every day to work its a good twenty foot car. but i have had more good luck with buying things off line and far away than bad. When you roll the dice some times it turns out great and others you lose. But dont let it stop you from looking.

 

The inspection services can be a great help, but there are also risks with that solution.

I was really interested in a 1970 GTO in upstate NY. The car looked a little rough in the few photos, but I was very concerned about true condition so I searched for an inspector/ appraiser and hired a fellow to look at the car.

The inspector called me from the seller's house to give me his findings. He told me about the extent of the engine compartment damage (due to a small fire that the seller had described) and went on to tell me how much structural rot he had found. He told me the car was not worth much more than scrap value and was basically a rust bucket.

Based on his findings, I did not buy the car.

About a week later, I noticed that the ad was gone. I called the seller, curious to see if he had actually sold the car or if he had given up and taken it off the market. I was thinking he might entertain a lower offer if he still had the car.

He told me the car had been sold.

You guessed it; the inspector bought it himself after telling me how rotten it was!

 

Everyone's had great stories and better suggestions, but there are a few "red flags" I now look for (These are for Sellers who don't want to out and out lie, but still avoid the truth):

1. When the Seller refuses to or "can't" send any or additional requested pictures, and the pictures they do provide or either at strange angles or dated years earlier!

2. When the Seller states that they have no idea if the car will even attempt to start and they refuse to try. Or the worn out statement, "it just needs a new battery and it should start". Really? So who would miss out on a sale or lower their price just because they would not spend $50 on a cheap battery?:confused:

3. Folks that are selling the car for a friend, relative, etc., that does not own a computer. And they know nothing about the car and the owner is unreachable!

Like many here, I have sold and bought cars for most of my 55 years of age, and I always practice brutal honesty first, even if it did make may car sound worse and scared off a few buyers. I would much rather deal with someone who is pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

 

Krash

You are so right...and this probably would be an issue, for most of us, with having someone we don't really know inspect a car for us.

Even if the good Samaritan told us the car stunk - would we truly believe him, if we had already caught "car lust"!

 

About 1975 I had bought I think was a 65 merc wagon that needed a new rad and afew other things,so it wasnt driveable.So I needed another car just to get the first going and I seen an add in the paper for a 1962 Pontiac Safari Wagon 75 bucks. Wow I got all the same answers everything is good just needs room in his driveway so the wagon has to go.I take my mechanical buddy Mike with me and its dark but the car is a straight no option wagon 283 2speed power glide oil was dark but not bad tranny fluid burnt smell but for 75 bucks it fired right up. the upolstry was rough but I only wanted this car to get the other car going so what the hell we shook hands I gave him 75 bucks signed the papers and we are off.I pulled out of the driveway and directly down a hill .the brakes where manual and you had to pump them about 3 times to get pressure but that was nothing.All of a sudden BABANG BABANG BUBANG what the hell then its gone.I pull over dont see anything hanging so we figure Mike will follow me to his house if we make it.As soon as I started out again BABANG BABANG BABANG then it would shift into a different gear and be fine.It was missing some teeth in the rear end so once it got off that gear it was fine other than the brakes.The next day I am heading down a back road(you couldnt drive main roads just too loud)and I have all the parts for my Merc wagon and I am about 3 blocks away and I pull up to a stop sign so you have yo start pumping way before the stop sign and here comes a cop its a 4 way stop so he waves for me to go so BABANG BABANG BABANG . He had his lights on before I got through the intrsection.He tore the plates off my car When I complained he told me he would walk around my car and give me a ticket for every mechanical problem .He gave me 250 fine towed my car away after I got my parts out and that was the last time I saw that car. maybe I should have saved it but in 75 wagons were litterally every where cheap

 

I wonder if the cop is still driving that wagon?