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Old 05-24-2013, 10:39 PM
satyr satyr is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 326
Hey Roy, I know how you feel. But one time, I was fueling up the 190d at a pump in the suburbs of chicago and an an "interesting" character, reeking of cologne and with big clunky jewelry on, approached me and asked "how much you want for that mercedes?" I looked down at the car, and looked back and said "Sorry, it's not for sale." He seemed put-out. "What do you mean? Everything has a price." I responded with "Not this one. Not right now." He even got a little huffy "What, you don't think I'm good for it or something? I got money, and I can pay cash." I told him "Sorry, this one's not for sale. You might check online or ebay and see what turns up." He walked off mumbling something about "Stupid blah blah blah." I thought it was hilarious. BUT the point to this post is to tell the story about a guy in San Antonio.

Before we moved up here, we had to sell the wife's 1989 Honda Civic. There was a big open parking lot where people put cars with for sale signs in the windows. So, I typed up a nice description of all the major work that had been done on it (timing belt, water pump, brakes, battery, tires, tranny fluid and filter, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, etc. all in the last year or two.) And it only had 100K on the clock, and was in great shape. We looked up the blue book value, checked pricing for similar cars online and at local lots and decided on a price (I think we listed it for $1750 firm- an excellent price, but we didn't want to deal with tire kickers for very long. We got lots of calls, and most wanted to haggle. I said "we're firm on that price" before even going out to test drive it with people. Some asked "hey can I write you a check for it?" Answer "No." Tire kicker: "How about I give you $500 now, and the other $1000 over the next 2 months. Answer "No." Tire kicker "aw cmon man, what if I trade you $500 and my beanie baby collection, and give you the other $500 next month. Answer "No."

But the guy that took the cake said on the phone he wanted to "buy the car." We ask if he's sure, and he says "You can cancel all the other appointments you have because I just want to check it over briefly and buy it." So we actually DID cancel one appointment because this guy had actually called first, but told the girl who called that we would call her back if this guy didn't buy the car. So, we go meet the guy, and he shows up with a 3-ring binder and a book that says "how to make money dealing cars" or something like that- not kidding. He looks it over, takes notes. He checks the ac, he checks the heat, he tries the wipers, and all the light bulbs, he crawls around under it, he has us pop the trunk- he rolls around in there. He stares blankly at the purring motor and flips the pages in his book. He stares into the tailpipe. He flips around in his book some more. Then he starts asking absurd questions. Tire kicker: "How much rust has it got?" Answer: "None, as you can see. We're here in south central Texas and the car has never seen salt." Tire kicker: "You SAY that you put new tires on it, but these have some wear." Answer: "Here's a penny, go check for yourself. They have less than 10K on them, and we told you that you're getting receipts for all service done." He looks at the penny, and hands it back to me. I show him the tread depth. This goes on for 2 hours. He took it for a test drive, and then insisted we drive it while he sits and listens for noises, and another hour ticks by. Finally, I take him back to his car and say "Well. If you have the $1750 we can sign the title for you and call it a night." His response "Uh." Flips the pages in his book... "I'll give you $850 for it." I about tore his ****** head off. "What?!" I TOLD YOU we were firm on that price!" You have just wasted 3 hours of my time, and you're going to low ball me. His response was "OK, OK, uh... I'll give you $900." As we walked back to my car, I said "It's 1750 or no deal." His response "OK, I'll call you tomorrow then." I told him not to bother. The next day, we met with the college girl who absolutley loved the car, even my (then girlfriend's) peace decal on the back windshield, and couldn't stop hopping up and down over how much she liked the car. Her parents and older brother drove over to meet us, cash in hand. My girlfriend rode in the car and we drove back to her college dorm in a short convoy. As we drove off the girl was literally hugging the Civic and taking pictures of it with her phone. As we pulled up in our driveway at home, my girlfriend's cell phone rang, it was notebook boy, who said he was calling to offer $1000. She told him we had sold it to someone for $1750, he asked why we ddn't call him. He then offered $1850 for the car. We told him the car was sold. He offered $1875. We told him the car was sold and she was hanging up. He kept talking and she hung up on him.

So- I think Roy's method would have been helpful in that situation, and would have put the tire kickers off. Everyone wants a "good deal" but wasting people's time is not acceptable.
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