[flash]

saturday i blew up to redondo each to help dan look at a car - he had been looking for a midnight blue hardtop as long as i can remember, and there was one there, albeit with a lot more mileage than he wanted - however, the interior was extremely clean, with new front seat upholstery, and some nice 18s on it

the guy showed up on time, and the car had been freshly detailed to within an inch of its life - he was ready to sell

he went about giving us the standard "too many cars" story, and of course told us how well it was maintained and how excellent and thorough his mechanic was, and how much money he had spent on the car (bought for $12k and put $5k into it) - he further told us about all the porsches he owned, including 3 968s - that sent a chill down my spine right off

he showed us his last invoice, which included suspiciously even and high compression numbers of 195 straight across

i came armed with my normal gear (compression gauge, stehescope, flashlight, latex gloves, rags, yada yada) - i was prepared to really take a look at this car

i asked the guy if it was all right to start wiggling and jiggling things and check out the car - he said "ok"

so i went through it - it was what you would expect from a 120k car that had been detailed -

either the struts or the bearings were worn and showed play

the paint had a LOT of really bad spot repairs that looked like somebody dabbed the pain on with a paper towel - it also had what looked like a pretty decent front respray

there was power steering fluid all over the underside of the car, though the owner said it "didn't leak a drop" - clearly either he or his mechanic needs glasses - i couldn't tell if there was an oil leak, as it was too coated under there

there was also oil puddled in the valve cover, which seemed odd to me for a car that must have had a valve job recently in order to get those compression numbers on that mileage - either there was huge and incredibly even carbon build up on an original head, or the valves had been done, and the thing leaked - either way, a sign of bad work

the castor blocks were cracked but intact

the guy had a clutch installed, and it was the correct plate

we fired it up and it sounded good - oil pressure was very good

all of this was expected to me, and no big shock

dan took it for a drive, and while it seemed a bit soft, ran well - he then came back and asked the guy if i could drive it - it was starting to sprinkle at this point, and i didn't want to waste anybody's time - dan was not ready to cut a check on this car, and so i told the guy i didn't need to do it

the guy was asking $14.1k for the car, and said he wouldn't sell it for $12k, but that the car was going to sell this week - i thought the car was at most worth $13k, assuming it passed a full PPI

everything seemed pretty normal up to that point

then dan gets this scathing email from the guy, bitching and moaning about how he wasted his time, that i was a prick bringing my tools, and that he brought his freshly detailed car out in the rain for nothing - he was pissed that i doubted his mechanic by inspecting the car like that - he said he would never again let somebody drive the car (like anybody is going to buy a used car without driving it first) he further threatened to spread the word about us to his mechanic, his local pca chapter, yada yada

dan then responds to him, basically saying "huh?" - the guy fires back with a backhanded apology, yet still taking shots at both he and i - dan and i are just stunned - anybody who knows dan would be nothing short of shocked that anybody would come away with this kind of impression

the guy knew about forums, knew we were from there, and must have known how much we all talk to each other - i can't imagine what would make him think i would not relay my experience about this

my conclusion is that this guy has no clue what he is doing, got himself in over his head, and needs to bail out - obviously the pressure of needing to sell the car has gotten frustrating, but this was no way to gain friends who otherwise might have helped him in the sale - nor was it a good way to instill any sense of confidence in the car, as the inspection was quite counter to the representation, and there was no "warm fuzzy" feeling from the owner - this is a car i would run away from at a price anywhere over 9k, as there is just no telling what else the mechanic didn't do right, the owner didn't know about, or anybody was hiding

here is the ad for the car:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p...;standard=false

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[rhudeboye]

That is a nice detail job..

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[968Syncro]

It reminds me of an old saying, something like when you buy a used car, you have to buy the seller also, not just the car. When you ask a woman to marry, you are "buying" the mother-in-law as well. When you consider a job, you have to interview the company in addition to them interviewing you.

I've had sellers tell me they would not allow a PPI. I've had sellers tell me that they would never sell the car to me unless I could prove to them my worthiness of owning such a fine example, even if I paid full price; their number one priority was to make sure only a rightful owner would be granted the permission of taking care of their car. He seems to blame you for his own actions (allowing you to see it on a rainy day); one of the serious problems in our society, no ownership of one's own actions/decisions.

Nice job flash and Dan! $13K sounds like it might be in the ballpark. But as in your note, his attitude lowered the market value by $4K.

Roland

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[ds968]

In retrospect, it was obviously a wise decision not to buy it. So Bob, who has a billion things on his plate takes the time to drive up and help me identify what I would clearly miss otherwise, did it in a way that was not in the least bit intrusive.. and the seller flies off the handle because I did not buy the car on the spot, or/and asserts that I was not entitled to reconsider my goals, after having seen his car. Wow. Take a reality pill buddy ! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif[/img]

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[PorscheDude]

I sell to whoever has the cash. What the buyer does with it is up to him.

Dan, give the guy a call next month and offer $8200.

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[Scott Collins]

Patrick: $8,200 - [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Dan,

I'll bet money that this feller calls you withing a month with an offer to "let you have it" for a sum considerably less than his asking price. Good on Bob to be so thorough. Charlatans, beware! Flash is just around the corner. You can run, but you can't hide, especially after he tunes the newly installed SC kit and steps on the loud pedal.

Similar thing happened to me when I was looking for my first Porsche. I saw it, drove it, made a reasonable offer, was rejected. I walked away, shrugged my shoulders, and that was that. It had some oil leaks and other problems that would become my problems and I factored them into my offer. And I was nowhere near as thorough as Bob. (Who would be?) By the time he called me back, weeks later, feeling foolish that he let a good offer get away, I had already found a better one with less mileage, and threw down the cash. I remember actually feeling bad for the fool... Turned out much, much better for me. Hope that same happens for you. Let us know.

-Scott

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[flash]

i feel a sort of responsibility to the 968 community to protect members from stepping into something blind if i can - it was just as important to me to check the car out, as it is to let people know about the owner - whatever somebody decides to do with the information i provide is entirely up to them, but at least they have more information

for the record, it's not like the car was a piece of junk - it really was a very typical example of a 120k car that had been polished up, and had only had situationally required maintenance done to it, and no real history kept

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[968Oz]

The story reminds me of when I was hunting for my 928. I flew 800km to look at 4 cars in Sydney, one of which was at a used car yard. I called the salesman and told him at what time I could make it. It was after their normal hours but he said he just lived around the corner and he didn't mind being there. When I got there I had to wait for him to finish with another guy, so he was not just waiting for me. As soon as I saw the car I realised it was not for me. The colour was very different in the metal than on a computer screen (a common issue) and was a horrible browny gold, and the interior was worn and tarted up tastelessly. I thanked him for his time and moved on. Next day I get a call from the owner of the car yard asking me why I didn't want the car. I told him and he hung up. Five minutes later he calls back again and starts abusing me for wasting their time and saying how dare I not buy a car because I don't like the colour. I told him its a buyers market and I'm not going to buy a car I don't even like the look of when I know if I wait long enough the right car will come along. He continued to swear at me till I hung up.
On the other hand I met a few great guys who love their cars and enjoyed showing me their babies.

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[Fox944]

I never understand these types of sellers. There are situations where a potential buyer would change his mind after sleeping on it and make an offer a few days later. No chance of that now.

But there are idiots on both sides of the fence. I recently sold one of my cars. The first guy who came to look at it showed interest and we agreed on a price. He said he will sleep on it and get back to me in a couple days. I told him i have 3 more people coming to look at it tom. and if he wants the car, leave a refundable deposit so i could hold it for him and stall the other guys. He was reluctant to leave me a deposit. The next guy who came to look at the car agreed on the same price and did leave me a deposit. That same day i get a call back from the first person who looked at my car. I gave him the bad news (good news for me) and he went nuts on the phone and cursed me out because i did not hold the car for him. His exact words were "How the F*** could you show and sell the car to someone else knowing that i was interested and wanted to buy your car" I replied, "you should have left a deposit if you wanted the car, i told you i had 3 more people lined up". He then told me that i'm a piece of S*** with no morals who.....CLICK....end of that convo.

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[Lonestar968]

Wow.

And these were all like grown-ups and not like teenagers like right?! Sorry. I need more anger management counseling.

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[Scott Collins]

Fox,

Great story. That guy was "That Guy". I can hear Bugs Bunny saying, "What a maroon, what an imbezzle!" Can you hear it?

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[rxter]

"what a dope, what a maroon..." I can hear it Scott. Thanks for the laugh!

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