Re: E-bay 400 Hardtop

Posted by 55PackardGuy On 2011/3/23 16:58:57

Green,

If you've expressed interest in his "buy-it-now" price and have shown your willingness to to deal fairly with him, I think It's his move, now. Time for you to clam up and let him stew about how badly he wants to sell.

I have mentioned before how mystifying it has been to me that sellers rely on that reassurance that with "just-a-little-finishing-work-you-can-drive-it- away." The statement naturally leads one to the question: "If it's so cheap and easy to to get running, why isn't it already done?" l think proabably because the seller has had experience in how a ittle work and expense can turn into a lot. And he knows way more about this car than he's letting on.

Most often, the seller's reply to such a simple question is, 'I just don't have time," or some such excuse. SO, you don't have time to put a few hours and some parts money into a car in order to add $1000 or more to your asking price, and probably make a quicker sale to boot?

Sometimes, it may truly be an impossible situation for the seller--no capabilities, no workspace, no enthusiasm for the work, no discretionary cash, etc. But I think more often than not, the real reason is "no faith in the car panning out."

This is just a speculation about a probable scenario that could play out when a seller offers an almost-but-not-quite running car. yet Individual cases may differ greatly and you could find a real deal.a

But it's just plain horse-tradin' sense that the faults of a car are not dwelt upon sellers. Hence, I'm in favor of doing a couple of hours of work on an "almost-running" car like that and find out a lot more about whether I'd walk or not. It doesn't take too long to pull the plugs and lube the cylinders, change the oil, pull a wheel and drum, yank on the exhaust system, drain the tank and blow out the lines... the usual. And you can always bring a spare battery with you.