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uncommonvw
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2004
Posts: 230
Location: Jordan, ON Canada
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 Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:08 pm Post subject: |
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I am in the same boat.
There are two Vanagons within 2 hours of me that look like parts rigs. They both require engine overhauls.
One is advertised for $1500 and the other $1000. Too much to spend on a parts machine IMO. Is an offer of $500 a lowball? That's twice what a scrapyard will pay. |
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Terry Kay
Banned
Joined: June 22, 2003
Posts: 13331
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject: |
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Hell no.
They'll get whatever traffic will bear.
But, let me tell you this.
It's the guy that takes a nap on stuff lie this that doesn't catch the big fish.
Some nut case will wander in there, see a pot a gold cause he's dreaming, and actually pay what they are asking.
PT Barnim was right--there is a fool born every minute.
If the vehicles are not running, or run bad & have had a hard life ( and that should be obvious ) offer them what your gut feeling is.
All they can say is no--
If you wanna pay 5, offer 4 and see what happens.
You might be suprised.
And again--this all depends on where you reside---
If it's West of the Rockies--you might have more trouble's buying at the right price.
_________________
T.K. |
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RicoS
Samba Member
Joined: December 02, 2006
Posts: 583
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| Terry Kay wrote: |
This shows two things;
(A) you were just screwing around when you published it for sale
(B) You have a bone headed mentality.
And I know a guy just like ths.
His motto is;
"I'll let it rot into the ground before I sell it for that"
And guess what--he's got a bunch of rotten vehicles that have turned into dust, and ain't worth a salvage price.
Smart thinking. |
Jesus Christ, TK, we're in worse shape than even YOU can imagine. I think the New Age hucksters have conned a lot of guys into believing that they can trust a seller; win-win and all that kinda bullshit.
Some words of wisdom regarding consumption:
1/ NEVER trust a Lebanese jeweler to take your wife's engagement ring into the back room to be "reset".
2/ Read "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture" so you realize how the jive-ass marketing pricks have made a full-time career of yentzing the shnooks.
3/ And, above all else, to some degree or another, 99.999% of all sellers are liars.
An anecdote that seems pertinent:
A few years ago, I thought I had found the Holy Grail of Volvodom when I saw a flathood 242 with 17Kmi. (yes, 17,000) advertised for sale in our Rust Belt burg. The seller was asking $4700 for it which was a good price as long as it was "pristine" (his word, not mine). I stuffed a 1/4 inch of hundreds in my pocket and ran over to cut a deal.
Well, the car was pretty nice, but, of course, not "pristine". It couldn't be tested because it would not start and even then, it still couldn't be driven because the brakes were frozen up solid from sitting in the garage for a dozen years.
Also, the seams at the bottom of the quarter panel behind the rear wheels which always rust, were starting to bubble.
None of this stuff gave me pause, but I calculated what it would cost to make the car "pristine" (shop cost, NOT my free labor cost) and I figured the most I would go was $1800.
Cutting a deal takes patience if nothing else, so I shot the shit with the seller for a while. He told me that a used Volvo specialty dealer who I knew had been by to see the car, but they had not come to terms. He also told me that this car was the first thing his daughter bought whenever she graduated from college, but she didn't get to use it much because, in a fit of jealous rage, her boyfriend had murdered her.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Tell the guy who had cherished this remembrance of his murdered daughter for a dozen years that it wasn't worth what he thought. So, with all the mercy that I could muster, I didn't make an offer, I just told him we were too far apart to consummate a deal.
He called me later in the week with an offer of $3700, but I still could not bring myself to counter.
In the end, he sold it to the dealer for $1300, the dealer fluffed-and-buffed it and flipped it for $7200.
The lesson here is that shame has nothing to do with cutting a deal.
Richie |
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Terry Kay
Banned
Joined: June 22, 2003
Posts: 13331
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:06 am Post subject: |
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One more rule you left outa the "Caveat Emptor" listing Richie;
(5) If you ask a specific qustion about a specific area of interest on a vehicle, such as;
(And for the criminally insane here we'll stay here in Vanagonland )
"Whens the last time the heads were resealed".
"Whens the last time the clutch was done"
"What oil change ritual was the engine on"
"When was the last time the coolant was dumped & new dropped in the system"
If you get a " I DON'T KNOW, or I'M NOT SURE--here is one lying, rotten piece of defication your dealing with.
He know's damn well that nothing was ever done to the Van and he's looking for a fool to unload it on.
Then I ask the purveyer of BS--
What part of your ass are you pulling the price for this thing from?
Your right on the money with the thought that the seller is nothing but a big liar 99.9% of the time, and wants his toilet to have new home other than sitting in his driveway.
For a guy to walk in there with a thought of purchasing any ride, and think he know's what a fair price is, is a fool at best--or wearing a really dark shade of rose those colored glasses.
So, with this in mind the first rule should be--
Hoorify the hell outa the buyer right from the get go--and maybe he'll figure out that you just might know what your talking about and he better unload his shit box before it has 6 or 8 birthdays sitting in his yard.
_________________
T.K. |
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RCB
Samba Member
Joined: September 05, 2005
Posts: 4143
Location: San Francisco-Bay Area
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 11:13 am Post subject: |
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Atta-boy TK, if ya cant dazzle em with yer brilliance ;stun em with yer bull-shit. 
Had one seller tell me that cardboard over a huge rusted out floor board that had steel wool crammed in it, would last a few years. 
Once I get that Nigerian money Im gonna be gettin Ill buy me one of those GW Westys  |
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