How not to sell a car. WTH? Rant!!

[Triple Pickle]

I saw a ‘63 Chrysler 300 on marketplace located not too far away.
It’s partially covered with a tarp in the photos and looks pretty darn rough. But, seemed reasonably priced.
I messaged the guy, asked when would be a good time to check it out. He says “anytime”. So,I tell him I’ll be there at 3:30. He says Ok.
I get there at 3:25… I see the car outside, now completely covered with the ragged tarp, assorted blocks, rocks, lumber and outdoor patio furniture piled on and around it to keep the tarp from blowing off. The drivers side is 10” from a chain link fence and, a lifted Jeep is backed in so close to the front of the car that the spare tire hanging off the back is over the hood over the 300.
I knock on the door of the house. No answer. I pm him on FB. No response. I go to the car and see what it would take to dig it out and make any kind of inspection at all on it. The Jeep looks like it it hasn’t moved in years either and there’s another car in front of it!
Finally, I went back to my truck and left. About a block away the guy starts bombing my phone with PM’s.
(Below)

Dang folks, get a clue!

 

[Triple Pickle]

I mean, did he think that I was gonna wait on papaw to mosey up the road to uncover the car, help him do it, move the Jeep, and just start shelling out cash?
Well, guess what? I would have. Except, he wasn’t there when I told him I’d be there after he said “anytime”.
I had looked at the ad for 2 weeks before messaging him. I’d already decided I wanted the car. But my patience for dumb-asserdry isn’t much as I’ve gotten older. Just my rant! Lol

 

[MetalManiacAZ]

I know another FCBO member in AZ who has been dealing with these flaky sellers for a couple years. Finds a car he likes, messages, they send a some info, he tries to set up a time to view the car, then crickets. I miss the days when you had to call the local newspaper and pay to put in an ad. You had to be committed! Wishy-washy sellers are almost as bad as flaky buyers.

 

[65sporty]

When I sold my Son's Explorer, I had 2 different people message me on Facebook and agree on a time to meet, then never show up. Neither one would respond to messages after that either.

 

[garyh]

Nothing Good Comes Easy , Just Sayin

 

[SGT FURY]

It all boils down to if you wanted the car or not? If the 300 was not up to your expectations for the price? Then just walk away!
Press the easy button.

If you REALLY wanted car?
Wait for pops to get there.
Help pops remove tarp.
Wait for seller to get there.
Make the deal.
Go hook up car trailer to truck.
Bring chains to move other junk out of the way.
Bring floor Jack/air tank or extra wheels for flat tires.
Don’t forget drum puller for stuck brakes.
Load car and bring to pressure car wash.
Chase out Rats,mice,spiders,yellow jackets.
Vacuum out rodent chit (especially under BB mopar intake manifold)
Wash your dirty hands and be happy about the good deal you just got on Red 63 300!!!!
Only thing left have to get it past the wife………….

 

[Triple Pickle]

The guy had 5 hours to tell me all this before I showed up. Instead, I get “anytime” and “ok”
Nobody was home when I got there.
I messaged him. No response.
I was there when I said I’d be.
I waited. Nothing. I left.
Not till after I left did he become the great communicator!
If he would have been there, I’d have jumped through the hoops and a rollback would be involved.

 

[67newport]

a few years ago i had some message a seller for a 66 newport and asked for more pics of the car. the pics he sent was for Plymouth convertible. told him it was the wrong car he said it was a long week will get the pics of the newport. never did get them.

 

[Triple Pickle]

I figured I was dealing with a flakey seller when all I got was grunts and whistles for communication.
I know buyers are flakes too most times but, if you put a car on marketplace you should have it accessible for inspection. I should have taken a pic of the crap they had piled on it! The car was past the point of a tarp doing it any good and was probably holding in more moisture than it was keeping out.
Again, communication beforehand would have been a game changer.
I’ve bought many old cars in my time and had to deal with critters, crazy people, and I don’t know what all.
It’s impossible to make a deal when you’re standing on the side of the road taking to yourself!

 

[furious70]

Problem is he's got all the leverage, if you want the car.

 

[Triple Pickle]

Problem is he's got all the leverage, if you want the car.

In order for him to have leverage he has to have something that I couldn’t do without…A necessity. Old junk cars don’t fall into that category.
He’s the one that advertised it for sale. It’s no biggie, I was just going to get it to tinker with. A lot of times you’ll find that the best deals you ever made are the ones you walked away from!

 

[Big_John]

There's a lot of flaky sellers out there. I can't count how many times I've emailed or messaged part sellers and never heard back. Actually... 3 in just the past week.

Then there's the buyers. Chances are this guy's Dad said "When he comes, I'll go there, until then, I'm not bothering". Even giving stuff away on Facebook is crazy with people wanting, but not showing up or asking for us to bring it to them.

 

[furious70]

You must have wanted it a bit more than you're letting on given you posted this
Which is understandable, we're all in this hobby because we enjoy these cars and many of us get a thrill from the hunt of a bargain as well.

 

[rags]

last car i bought was done through facebook. we made a deal for the car but the owner said that he wanted to remove his hitch, trailer wiring and ski racks. he gets back to me and tells me that he can't get the items off but we had a deal so take the car as is. i told him that we had a deal but it didn't include the items. i would take the car, pull the items off and return them to him. great guy he was. family man. we treated each other right.

 

[Triple Pickle]

You must have wanted it a bit more than you're letting on given you posted this
Which is understandable, we're all in this hobby because we enjoy these cars and many of us get a thrill from the hunt of a bargain as well.

I didn’t want the car that bad, my rant is about the flakey seller. I’m loooking at an Oldsmobile tomorrow, any port in a storm! I gotta have something to tinker with or I’ll go crazy!

 

[GregG48203]

flaky sellers

And then there's the crooks:
Crooked Buyer:
(Ebay) They spam your ad with phony bids and then you're ghosted by the winning bidder(s), hoping that you will relist.
Crooked Seller:
Posting pictures of somebody's computer monitor featuring a vague description of an item and a price that seems unrealistic.

 

[amazinblue82]

diggin' the rant and the related commentary.

my view,

many of us are experienced at the hobby. many of us clearly seem to be decent, reasonable-minded people as well in -- that we treat people fairly/with basic respect and we expect TO BE treated the same.

No rant from me (although I TOO have stories too), but I have seen in 50+ years at the car game, from Pop's lap reading classifieds in the newspaper and going with him to buy stuff, to the grizzled old grandfather I am now.

I have seen "flakiness" in the hobby INCREASE over the years, today vs. my formative years. Pisses me off no end. And if I did it, I have to apologize .. that wasn't me.

While we more easily can connect with people/things, who most of the time we DONT know the people and they DONT know us, before a mutual interest in a transaction for some "thing" brought us together outta thin-air

Out of that ambiguity/lack of personal connection is risk and opportunity -- both of which can/have to be managed, hopefully, with respect and fair-dealing.

Behavior to the contrary (lying, boorishness, irresponsibility, etc), in the digital age we're in now, seems MORE prevalent than I recall over my lifetime.

As someone said already, maybe its BECAUSE I am older and less tolerant.. OR because things REALLY have changed? I think its more of the latter IMHO.

Through it all, its what I learned at Pop's knee about 100 years ago, that I hope to give/get until I have shuffled off this mortal coil.

hackneyed, old fashioned cliche? To some folks we encounter in the hobby, maybe.

Not to me. One of the few things even my millennial kids and I can agree on -- though not much else.

Just seems to me that simple concept is missing in this hobby now more often than I recall.

"Rant on brothers, rant on."

 

[Big_John]

diggin' the rant and the related commentary.

my view,

View attachment 604428

many of us are experienced at the hobby. many of us clearly seem to be decent, reasonable-minded people as well in -- that we treat people fairly/with basic respact and we expect TO BE treated the same.

No rant from me (although I TOO have stories too), but I have seen in 50 years at the car game, from Pop's lap reading classifieds in the newspaper and going with him to buy stull, to the grizzled old grandfather I am now.

I have seen "flakiness" in the hobby INCREASE over the years, today vs. my formative years. Pisses me off no end. And if I did it, I have to apologize .. that wasn't me.

While we more easily can connect with people/things, who most of the time we DONT know the people and they DONT know us, before a mutual interest in a transaction for some "thing" brought us together outta thin-air

Out of that ambiguity/lack of personal connection is risk and opportunity -- both of which can/have be managed, hopefully, with respect and fair-dealing.

Behavior to the contrary (lying, boorishness, irresponsibility, etc), in the digitial age we're in now, seems MORE prevalent than I recall over my lifetime.

As someone said already, maybe its BECAUSE I am old and less tolerant.. OR becaue things REALLY have changed?. I think its more of the latter IMHO.

Through it all, its what I learned at Pop's knee about 100 years ago, I hope to give/get until I have shuffled off this mortal coil

View attachment 604429

hackneyed cliche/ol fashioned? To some folks we encournter, maybe.

Not to me. One of the few things my millennial kids and I can agree on -- though not much else.

Just seems to me that simple concept is missing in this hobby now more often than I recall.

"Rant on brothers, rant on."

I think it's always been bad, but it's worse now.

You can blame it on a lot of things, access to social media, more greed, Barrett-Jackson, lack of trust, lack of morality... I think the big difference is we are now buying parts and cars from the other side of the country where before we did it all "face to face". Point being it's a tough world out there, both for honest buyers and honest sellers.

We've been lucky here. Compare us to other forums where there's a list of bad sellers, I can only think of one that ripped off people on FCBO.

 

[Triple Pickle]

I think that not only in this hobby but in every aspect of everyday life flakiness is rampant. So is apathy.
I get fed up with it because it’s such a time waster.
I understand that the sellers have to deal with it more than the buyers for sure. But, when you put something out there brace yourself, cause it’s coming.
I’m sure this guy had a million dumb questions including “what’s the bottom dollar” and a few no shows. He probably couldn’t believe I actually showed up on time, no drama, no BS.
He’s definitely not a flipper or in the hobby. Just some kid who’s trying to sell grandpas old car. I started to turn around when he messaged me but, I said no, i do this for fun. I’m not having fun right now. I don’t like being jerked around. So, it didn’t happen.
If he had been there though I’d been starting another thread on here tomorrow about a 63 300!

 

[Triple Pickle]

Going to look at this tomorrow.
Triple pickle 4 door sedan. I always get lucky with these! Dig the federally mandated 5mph bumpers they slapped on them in 73!