I was cruising down the road yesterday minding my own business when I spotted this cool old Buick Riviera for sale on the side of the road. The gigantic FOR SALE slathered across the windshield drew me in like some sort of gearhead bug light. The “No Dreamers” tag had me chuckling a little. It had me roaring after I looked the car over.
Long story short, the car is a total wreck. High school kids complete paper mache projects thicker than the sheetmetal on the rear quarters and floors in this car. Yes, it is a complete Riv and would make the perfect project for someone looking to do the full resto boogie but the “No Dreamers” tag is stuck in my head. This guy NEEDS dreamers. They’re the only ones crazy enough to buy this car! Someone with the “dream” of bringing this classic Buick back to former its greatness and tire shredding glory is his perfect customer. The “No Dreamers” thing rubbed me the wrong way.
Anywho, the point of that diatribe was to lead into the question of the day.
What’s the best way to sell an old car? Is it to do it like this guy and essentially scare off anyone that would normally have a passing interest? Is it to understate any issues to at least get people to look at the car? Perhaps the best technique is to be totally up front with every dent and ding, allowing the chips to fall where they may?
What say you? Tell us the best method for selling an old car (to dreamers and non-dreamers alike)
If “no dreamers”, then what was -his- excuse? He might be the dreamer now, thinking he’s gonna get what he wants for it.
Of course, the shopping public can waste up a lot of your time, and you get tired of it.
Craigslist or ebay is a good place to start when listing one for sale. These buying/selling shows of late have made the general public who are trying to get into an old car really hard to deal with. They call up wanting to negotiate price before getting details of the car or even knowing all that comes with it. They hit you at ½ of what you are asking then start mentioning flaws they can see in the ad as the reason why they want to pay ½ as if you have priced the car as a done car. Selling a car in todays market is a royal pain & almost not worth it.
Be honest in you description. There alot of sleeze bag sellers out there trying to scam you. Know what to look for when buying. I love it when people put ‘FIRM’ on there price.
I think being honest saves everyone a lot of time. I think you should put ads the way you would like people to put ads for their cars.
I dunno Brian, but it looks like that Rivvie is winking at you!!!
Be up front about it all. Id like to be treated that way even iff i didnt know anything about a car. At least you can say “I told you ” when the guy starts complaining.
I dont know. Depends on the car youre selling I guess. There are so many options why not explore them all. Ebay, craigslist, auctions, autotrader, there are countless ways to sell…I feel being up front and honest is the best way to go and price the slightly above what you realisticaly think you want to leave room for those that want to haggle and walk away feeling like they have won.
All in all, I feel it is the sellers that are the dreamers as every f**kmonkey with an old car thinks it is worth a fortune.
Best way to sell an old car…………………..Fill it up with fuel!
I recently thinned the herd a bit. It was a horrible experience.
After being totally upfront and truthful from start-to-finish, the idiot lying unreasonable Gomers I had to try and deal with was demoralizing to say the least and says nothing good for the future of our hobby/sport.
Next time, I’m going to take the standpoint of our politicians: I am going to mis-market and overprice everything, lie to everyone I meet, not show up or call to mis appointments and instead of “No Dreamers” I will place a “No Assholes” sign on each piece.
Attention lokey-loo, no money pussy whipped honey-doo lapdogs: Stay Away or I will sicc my dogs on you and your beat-down fugly family. Money talks, Bullshit better run.
The bigger question is……………….how much was the buick????
The first thing I look for is price. Is it in my ballpark or not? If it’s not close, I’ll just move on. It drive me nuts when an interesting car has a sale sign, but no hint of what they want.
I was gonna say that too! Slap a price on there if you wanna get people interested… Call that number? Too much hassle…
yeah,the whole car-selling thing can be a major pain—and it doesn’t help when the gomers clog up clist and the like with ads for their (and i’m not making this up) “1966 el camino ss 327(with factory 2bbl),all stock(with 80’s camaro wheels),mismatched interior pieces,three on the tree,and just generally beat to pooh…..only $3200!!!—i don’t bother putting my phone number in ads,just email,because no matter if you put in the hours you’re available,some dipweed will wind up calling at 2;45 in the morning—and when they do contact you,most of the conversation seems to ask the very information you already put in the ad!
don’t ask me, I never get enough money for my junk
“The price of the car is $1500…this isn’t a used car lot, and I want to see 15 hundred dollar bills in your hand before we discuss the cars condition and any deals we MIGHT make…”
This separates the wheat from the chaff IF you aren’t asking more than the car is worth…
the dreamers and dipwads usually make one smartass remark before they hit the road.
Such as…
(dipwad) “I can buy cars like this all day long for $500.”
(ME) “Not here you can’t.”
(dipwad2) ‘I”M BRINGING A MECHANIC TO LOOK AT IT, WE’LL SEE IF IT’S WORTH $1500…” ( loud, and trying to be intimidating…LOL)
(ME) “You can bring him, Jesus, the father son and holy ghost…if one of you isn’t waving 15 hundred dollar bills, I ain’t opening the door…and lower your f’ing voice, you’re in MY driveway…”
(dipwad3) “BBBut it needs a paint job…”
(Me) “You need to go down to the Chevy dealer and get one with a brand NEW paint job on it…but I suspect you’ll need more than $1500 to buy it…”
(D…err…the guy who bought it) “But I only want it for parts.”
(Me) “Can you buy the parts you need off it for $1500?”
(Buyer) “Uhhhh…no…”
(ME) “Whelllll…there you go.”
What. I said it, and it was just when I decided the question was to perplexing.
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