Am I the only one who thinks this isn't right?
 

Some of this is asking an opinion, some of this is venting, so please bear with me.

A friend and I have gone up to Berkeley twice over the past couple of weeks, carefully inspecting an '83 240D that my friend really wanted to buy. This is about a half hour one-way drive in the best of circumstances, and with traffic, the driving time was at least doubled.

The car checked out mechanically, and my friend was actually willing to give the seller the $$ last week to buy the car, but the seller said that he had to speak with his father first. At this time, the seller said that he would definitely sell the car to my friend, and that he could pick it up on the evening of the next Thursday (today).

So, my friend's mom got an E-mail from the seller this morning saying that he had spoken with his father, and that they decided not to sell the car, because "they could find another use for it within the family".

On the one hand, I can understand the seller's sentiment; from the beginning, he had said that he wished he could keep the car and whatnot. However, it seems to me that he should have spoken with his father about this before putting the car up for sale in the first place. I know that a verbal contract is as good as the paper it's written on, but it still doesn't seem like the honorable thing to do by any stretch of the imagination, especially since the seller knew how badly my friend wanted this car and that he was already buying things in preparation for receiving the car, since he had been promised the car.

Okay, done venting...again, I know that the seller has the right to do what he did, but it just doesn't seem right to me. Am I weird for thinking this?

No, not wierd at all. They shouldn't have posted the thing for sale. Wierd on their part!:rolleyes:

no,they shouldnt have renegged(sp.?) on the deal....but your friend should have sense enough not to buy something from someone who has to ask his parents if he can sell it first....your friend should have went straight to the kids father,and said " im interested in buying this car,will you sell it for xxxx amount of dollars?" never trust someone to sell you something that they dont completely own,at least not before youve actually talked to who owns it,cuts down on instances like this one:)

According to the seller, the car was completely in his name, and (at least as of last week) he just wanted to let his father know as a courtesy. His father wasn't around, and the seller was in his mid 20's.

I agree that working ou ta deal with someone who doesn't have the actual authoritiy to sell the car is not a good idea; just, we were under the impression that this seller did have that authority. Actually, I still think that he can sell it on his own; he just chose not to.

This is an important life lesson to learn. Any time a transaction involves the words "I have to check with", you must assume that it will not happen. Sorry to year that you guys learned it the hard way.

well,in that case....i would have either A. whipped his ass....or B. demanded that he reimburse me for every cent that it had cost me to come and look at the car....if he had told me the car was in his name,and then turned around and said mommy and daddy dont want him to sell it, i would have been irate....id have probably kicked a dent right in the side of the car,and then said i would be happy to pay for it,but i have to check with my mommy before i can....im sorry,***** like that pisses me off....i could understand if he was up front about it,and said he "needed to check with his parents first"...but the fact he led you to beleive the car was in his name and then turned around and backed out,after you had driven up to see the car twice....thats just piss poor judgement,in my opinion...and everyone even remotely close to him would have known what i thought before i left

:eek:
So how are you at Costco when they dare to ask to see your receipt on the way out the door?;)

lol...rick if you had just changed costco to Wal-Mart....theres a greeter there that likes to give me hell every time i come out....asking for my receipt so he can just glance at it and hit it with a highlighter pen....then i would have to dig through whatever bags i have just to find the receipt....i have since made it a habit to walk out the door,receipt in hand...and when they ask for it,i just wad it up,and throw it at them and keep right on walking...if someone could tell me the purpose of this,i would like to know...if its anything other than them checking to see what you have in the bags matches what you have on the receipt,to make sure you havent stolen anything...thats insulting to me,and at the least deserves a receipt thrown at them

Kinda wierd. The Wal-Mart we go to never asks to see receipts. They just stand there and tell ya to have a nice day.
Like I need to be told:rolleyes: ;)

It is also very likely that ANOTHER buyer has offered more money so instead of telling you that, he told you it's no longer for sale;)

Although annoying, you can't sell something that isn't yours (you could but...). Thats the key.

Now if your friend had put a deposit down, then things get sticky. But the fact is still that the seller is not owner on paper.

But yes, I'd be ticked. This happened to a friend of mine too.

Shaun

Lyndon Johnson's friend Billy Sol Estes sold lots of stuff he didn't have.

This just boils down to principles. I loathe such characters running around town claiming they have all authority and discretion to act on somethine when they are very much in doubt on whether they are going to act at all.

In this matter, he should have rightfully make a decision after consulting anyone else in his family tree who cares for such a decision. Then he wouldn't have wasted everyone's time - including creating this thread and responses thereto.

Forewarned, this is a bad habit which this young bloke is going to carry with him for the rest of his life unless he snaps out of this indecisiveness soon.