opinions wanted please

[wareal]

Several weeks ago I saw a car in Atlanta advertised by an independent dealer for $10,995. I talked to the dealer about the car and saw many pictures on their website. I didn't think the car was worth that much so I decided to wait. The day before yesterday the dealer emailed me with a reduced price of $8500, so I emailed him back expressing interest. Yesterday I made an offer of $7000 that was refused, the seller sticking to his original price of $8500 as his lowest number because there was "strong interest" at $8500 which, IMHO, translates to nobody made a full price offer. I thought about it over night and decided that I'd pony up because the car was one of the two colors I wanted and it had A/C (a requirement of my wife). The seller called me, I asked if he was selling the car for $8500, he said he was, I agreed to $8500. I asked for right of refusal once I inspected the car. We also agreed to a PPI and a $500 deposit. I asked him to Fed Ex me two signed buyers orders (one for me and one for him) He said he had to check with his partner, but he would call me back. So he calls back and according to his partner "a kid from NOLA had a PPI done on the car today." He wanted to wait until Monday to confirm our deal. I asked if they had agreed on price. He said no, and he wasn't sure if the kid had financing! I told him several times that I was paying cash. I told him what he was telling me made no sense. We agreed on price, his price, we should have a deal. He rationalized that he didn't want the kid to lose his PPI fees. I smelled a rat, got pissed, and told him I was out. He told me he was selling the car for $8500 (I asked for a reason) and he asked me for a deposit, without hesitation, I agreed.

Who is the moron here? Me for getting steamed? Or him for trying to play both ends against the middle? If it's me, I can take it...LOL.

[esty]

you were out snookered

[Koblenz]

Cleanse the wound and move on. Plenty of 02s and non-snookering sellers out there.

[Chamonix72]

Sounds like he's a shyster who tried to get you to raise your price and bid against yourself with a phantom "kid from NOLA". I'd find an owner selling his or her car and deal with that person.

[wareal]

Cleanse the wound and move on. Plenty of 02s and non-snookering sellers out there.

I disagree. There is plenty of junk out there. Plenty of 74-76 2002's. Not many what I would call a clean driver between $7k and $12k There are more cars over $15000 than under. I don't want a garage queen. I've run into many more furtive sellers than straight shooters. Several sellers don't even know what they have.

[Mike Self]

you've withdrawn from the deal, right? That's what I would do...see if the "kid from NOLA" really exists, or whether the seller is trying to give you buck fever and have you up your bid.

As has been pointed out, there are plenty of 2002s out there (88,000 were imported), and this is one you have't even seen in person...The story you tell makes me highly suspicious of the seller...

Two things you need when you're hunting for a specific make/model/color of car: patience, and the ability to convince the seller that he needs to sell it worse than you need to buy it.

Took me 2 years (in 1978!) to find a nice non-metallic paint, sunroof 02 with A/C--admittedly before the internet--but I found it less than a mile from my house. More recently it took me 6 months on the internet to find a two year old Nissan Frontier V6 4x4 with a six speed. But I found one--at a dealership and dickered down the price over a two week period.

So be patient and walk rapidly away from anyone who tries to snooker you...and that's what this sounds like. Let us know if he calls you back in a week or two to let you know the other deal fell through, and are you still interested...

cheers

mike

[BrentF]

For the kid to have gotten a PPI means that the kid and the seller had a binding agreement, subject only to the PPI. You were slower on the trigger than the kid. The seller is simply conducting himself appropriately, irrespective of your arguments about the kid's ability to finance or even what price the kid may have paid vis a vis your offer.

[Guest Anonymous]

you've withdrawn from the deal, right?

No. The dealer refused to sell it to me.

That's what I would do...see if the "kid from NOLA" really exists, or whether the seller is trying to give you buck fever and have you up your bid.

After doing some research, I actually have legal recourse. I am now a consumer advocate! I'm seeking remedy and relief. I agreed to his advertised price. As I read the law, it's illegal for a seller to refuse to sell at an advertised price. There were no disclaimers. He asked me for a credit card deposit.

As has been pointed out, there are plenty of 2002s out there (88,000 were imported), and this is one you have't even seen in person...The story you tell makes me highly suspicious of the seller...

Motor vehicle dealer Boards don't look kindly on law breakers.

Two things you need when you're hunting for a specific make/model/color of car: patience, and the ability to convince the seller that he needs to sell it worse than you need to buy it.

Patience I understand. However, time is my most precious commodity.

Took me 2 years (in 1978!) to find a nice non-metallic paint, sunroof 02 with A/C--admittedly before the internet--but I found it less than a mile from my house. More recently it took me 6 months on the internet to find a two year old Nissan Frontier V6 4x4 with a six speed. But I found one--at a dealership and dickered down the price over a two week period.

So be patient and walk rapidly away from anyone who tries to snooker you...and that's what this sounds like. Let us know if he calls you back in a week or two to let you know the other deal fell through, and are you still interested...

I'm seeking relief from the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board, The State Atty. General, a local TV host who is a Consumer Advocate for starters.

cheers

mike

Cheers indeed

[wareal]

you've withdrawn from the deal, right? That's what I would do...see if the "kid from NOLA" really exists, or whether the seller is trying to give you buck fever and have you up your bid.

As has been pointed out, there are plenty of 2002s out there (88,000 were imported), and this is one you have't even seen in person...The story you tell makes me highly suspicious of the seller...

Two things you need when you're hunting for a specific make/model/color of car: patience, and the ability to convince the seller that he needs to sell it worse than you need to buy it.

Took me 2 years (in 1978!) to find a nice non-metallic paint, sunroof 02 with A/C--admittedly before the internet--but I found it less than a mile from my house. More recently it took me 6 months on the internet to find a two year old Nissan Frontier V6 4x4 with a six speed. But I found one--at a dealership and dickered down the price over a two week period.

So be patient and walk rapidly away from anyone who tries to snooker you...and that's what this sounds like. Let us know if he calls you back in a week or two to let you know the other deal fell through, and are you still interested...

cheers

mike

[Koblenz]

Cleanse the wound and move on. Plenty of 02s and non-snookering sellers out there.

I disagree. There is plenty of junk out there. Plenty of 74-76 2002's. Not many what I would call a clean driver between $7k and $12k There are more cars over $15000 than under. I don't want a garage queen. I've run into many more furtive sellers than straight shooters. Several sellers don't even know what they have.

I guess I'm fortunate.

[thehackmechanic]

Having bought and sold many cars, my personal opinions are:

--If someone (buyer or seller) wants to be a shit, there's little you really can do about it.

--I used to take small, say $100, deposits from buyers to hold cars, explaining that they're non-refundable (that's the purpose of the deposit -- when the seller gets it, the car is SOLD, tells any callers it's sold, and pulls the ad off Craigslist), then had them change their mind and get hot and bothered because I said the deposit wasn't refundable. In the end, I always refunded it. Because of this, I very rarely take deposits anymore, but this creates a situation where someone can say "I want it," time can go by without closure, you sell it to someone else who shows up with real money, and the original party gets pissed.

--I still operate in a fashion, both as a buyer and as a seller, where I take people at their word until I have reason to do otherwise.

--Dealing with people face-to-face is more likely to produce a look-em-in-the-eye-and-trust-em relationship than doing it remotely.

--Be absolutely steely-eyed about what the car is worth to you. Some guys are pros at the whole shill bidding thing, making you think someone else is about to buy the car. Maybe they are, but maybe they ain't. Remember that very few of us have the experience where, upon buying a car, we think "man I totally lucked out this thing is in much better shape than I thought." The opposite is almost always true, particularly if you're buying a car you haven't driven. Think about how you'll feel when you find this out if you up your offer by thousands of dollars.

--In your case, whether the guy is telling the truth or not about "the kid from NOLA" isn't germane. The car is either available or it isn't. The sale will either go through at your price or it won't. If you haven't burned the bridge with the guy, you can call him back in a week and find out if the car is still available.

--Until you pay the money and the back of the title is signed over to you, a deal isn't done, and can fall through at any moment for any reason.

--If this happens, you have very little recourse. Even if you have a piece of paper that says "I am putting down a deposit for this car and will buy it pending the favorable outcome of a PPI," hiring a lawyer is rarely cost-effective, and even if it was, is very unlikely to dislodge the car from its new owner if the guys sells it to someone else.

Good luck!