LESSON LEARNED

#1

Negotiated on a '87 325i yesterday. Shook hands on it. Arranged to pay and pick up the car today. SOB called me while I ways in route WITH TOW TRUCK to say he just sold the car and wished me well. I was speechless. Ain’t that some scunt.
The CFO had grudgingly agreed to the release the princely sum of $250 for the car and a measley $65 for the tow.
Now she is royally pissed at the guy.
And I will henceforth be walking with a wad of cash to all future negotiations.

#2

Yep, sucks that you had to learn that the hard way.

Cash talks. For cheap cars, show up with a pocket full of cash and be ready to take delivery immediately.

#3

Bummer Dexter. That’s just wrong.

#4

You’re lucky. At least he called first. :unsure:

#5

I guess I’m ol skool, but when you shake on a deal the deal is done regardless of it someone offers you twice the cash. This is true in my Internet dealings as well. If I post something for sale the first one to reply and say they want the part gets it regardless of the next guy saying what is your Paypal I will pay today. Sure it has burned me a couple times, but I feel that is the fair way.

#6

ddavidv wrote:

Yes this is true. I called a guy and told him I would be at his house in 3 hours to pay for a car, M Coupe. After sitting in LA traffic for 3 hours on a 70 mile drive, I arrived at his door step. His wife answers the door only to tell me the car was sold and that her husband was not home! I insisted she call him so I could have a word. He just says sorry, someone arrived before me, with cash and bought the car. Needless to say I was not happy.

#7

Dexter I can see your frustration, I used to have the same view as you. I am now a Frustrated seller and can see both sides.

Im an trying to sell my 88’ 325is parts car for 800 bucks with a ton of extra parts. I have had at least ten people say they are coming NOW, Tonight or Tomorrow with the money, but no one has ever showed up.

My rule now on cheap cars, I dont care what you tell me, the first person here with the money wins.

BTW the car is still for sale, good for parts or a Lemons racer, to much rust for a SPECE30

#8

Peakracer.com wrote:

[quote]Dexter I can see your frustration, I used to have the same view as you. I am now a Frustrated seller and can see both sides.

Im an trying to sell my 88’ 325is parts car for 800 bucks with a ton of extra parts. I have had at least ten people say they are coming NOW, Tonight or Tomorrow with the money, but no one has ever showed up.

My rule now on cheap cars, I dont care what you tell me, the first person here with the money wins.

BTW the car is still for sale, good for parts or a Lemons racer, to much rust for a SPECE30[/quote]

But I was on my way to get it when he called! :laugh: And it wasn’t to confirm if I was on the way, but to simply say that it was sold. I would have very much preferred a dialog such as "Hey there is a guy here who is offering me X$. If you can match it the car is still yours"
Now that I can live with.

#9

a very unfortunate situation, and i’ve been on the same receiving end as you more than once. i also sell (and buy) quite a bit of stuff - cars, computers, etc - using craigslist and other such media and have learned that one simple rule applies: first come, first serve. a verbal or email statement of “i’ll take it and will be there in an hour” is all well and good but far more often than not they don’t show, and if someone else arrives on my doorstep in 30 min they get the item without a trace of guilt. naturally i do my best to communicate a sale to all other parties that expressed interest but as long as you lay out the “first come first serve” rule up front there’s rarely an issue.

the one exception is that for big ticket items like cars i’ll accept a small non-refundable deposit (like 5%) via paypal to hold the item for 48 hours or some reasonable period of time. but after that it’s back in play.

#10

JT are you going to CMP? We have to talk B)

#11

yes i’ll be at cmp, as long as you’re not gonna be talking with your fists :slight_smile:

#12

Nah. :laugh: :laugh: I want to see what you did with your car. My build is agonisingly slow.

#13

sure thing, but i didn’t build 95% of it, i bought it this way. cage, powertrain, suspension - none of that is my handiwork, all i’ve done is superficial stuff - mount seats, add some electrical doodads, etc.