Selling an oddball car

Sure is.

The 904 is a very nice transmission. Can be built to take some serious abuse. It's the smaller brother to the 727. The 904 has less rotating weight so it is less of a HP parasite.

Wouldn't you know I ask about selling my Sapporo,and someone mentions BAT. Now there is one on the site in CA,and it is getting killed by those guys over there. The one on the site is in better shape paintwise than mine,but my car is more desirable being the Technica. I bet I will never be able to sell this thing. Well I did drive it the other day,and it is still a nice fun little car.

I wouldn't worry about the guys who are always posting comments on BAT, they don't like anything. The important thing is the site gets a lot of exposure, and there are people who go there all the time just to see what kind of weird and wonderful stuff shows up.

Funny enough, there's another Sapporo for sale on bring a trailer right now..

Wow I mentioned the Sapporo hate on BAT a few days ago,and I just went back,and it is even worse!! Although I did see one guy post he would love to find an 83 Technica. Maybe I will find a buyer? Help me write up a witty ad for this cool little car. How do I get it submitted to BAT? Would they even think about taking on another lame car like this?

Just wrote this up for CL:

For Sale:

1983 Plymouth Sapporo Technica coupe. Original California car that was shipped east this past June. All original Technica hardtop coupe equipped with 2.6 litre MCA-Jet 4 cylinder OHC engine, Automatic transmission, Technica package which includes two tone black and silver paint, three-toned black, grey,red interior, Semi-digital dashboard(speedo works intermittently), Talking lady warning chimes (yes the car really talks) , power windows, power mirrors, cruise control, delay wipers, AM/FM cassette stereo, A/C(needs charge), delay off interior lights, 4-wheel disk brakes that work excellently, remote trunk, and fuel door release, and more I am sure. Rear-wheel drive two door coupe with a near mint body. Paint needs help but not terrible, body has little to no rust aside from on the hood where the front lip is bent. Chassis is in superb condition, and the interior is nearly flawless. The only issue interior wise is the drivers side speaker grille is missing, as well as the passengers side sun visor. Other than that the interior is great.

Car is lowered about 2" all around and handles really well still. Not the quickest car, but not a slug either. The big 4-cylinder is pretty tourqey and super smooth with the balance shaft that Mitsubishi invented. Solid axle rear end with coil springs, and Mcpherson struts up front. Starts and runs great, but is sometimes a little temperamental when the engine is cold, but smooths out when warmed up. Recently replaced alternator, and fuel pump as well as rebuilding the carb. I wouldn't hesitate to drive this car anywhere. Wheels are black with red lip Rota RB's in 16" diameter wrapped in some really sticky rubber that is a bit undersized width wise for that stretched look that so many import tuners like. I didn't put these on the car,but I do like the look. Power steering pump, or box(likely pump) has a slight leak that leaves a drop or two of oil when parked, but nothing Exxon Valdez like.

Basically a well sorted unicorn of a car that was rescued from a CA salvage yard a few years back, and still wears the salvage yard paint pen markings like a bad tramp stamp tattoo. I thought about taking it off, but I sort of like it now. Own some cool old JDM unicorn goodness, and be different than everyone else. I like the car, but I realized I hardly used it at all this summer with my other old J-tin cars, so I am going to pass this oddity on to another loving owner. You never know when these will be cool again. Well let's face they were probably never all that cool, but it is definitely different. Sure gives you more street cred than driving a Prius if you ask me. Anyone can have one of those, but it takes a true connoisseur to own a Sapporo.

Please don't contact me with Nigerian scams or offers to please visit your super cool website. I don't care to deal with that noise. I just want to sell a bitchin old car for US currency here in America.

Think it will help me sell it?

Space needed after commas. It should be done like this, this, and this.

Please put a space before and after the parenthesis (like this example) as well.

Two spaces between the period and the new started sentence. Here is a sample. And another sample.

In reply to Mazdax605:

I can never keep up with the cool cars that you buy and sell. Didn't know about this one.

As for the ad--I'll second breaking it up into block paragraphs. Very noisy otherwise.

If it ends up on CL, is there a way to "tip off" BAT so it'll end up on their site? As previously mentioned, that is THE place for a car like this. Did I miss the pics of it?

jrw1621 wrote: Space needed after commas. It should be done like this, this, and this. Please put a space before and after the parenthesis (like this example) as well. Two spaces between the period and the new started sentence. Here is a sample. And another sample.

Sorry about that I will fix it ASAP. Big wall of text as well I see now. I thought I had that split up on the ad, but maybe not.

gamby wrote: In reply to Mazdax605: I can never keep up with the cool cars that you buy and sell. Didn't know about this one. As for the ad--I'll second breaking it up into block paragraphs. Very noisy otherwise. If it ends up on CL, is there a way to "tip off" BAT so it'll end up on their site? As previously mentioned, that is THE place for a car like this. Did I miss the pics of it?

Come on Chris try to keep up man!!

In reply to Mazdax605:

Sorry--found your pics link. Neat car, for sure. Hopefully someone with $3500 burning a hole in his pocket will feel the same way.

Doubtful,but I have to try.

How do I increase traffic to the car on CL? My guess there isn't anyone in MA or maybe anywhere that will type Plymouth Sapporo into the search window.

Add keywords? JDM Nostalga Old School AE86 240SX DRIFT that sort of thing. Think of the potential market and what they'd cross shop.

Re: Wall of text, keep it short and sweet. Mainly the 2nd paragraph.

"Not the quickest car, but not a slug either."

"Solid axle rear end with coil springs, and Mcpherson struts up front."

"that is a bit undersized width wise for that stretched look that so many import tuners like."

IMO that can be left out.

If the AC just needs to be charged, that's like what? $10-$20? gives em one less thing to talk you down on.

Then again, that's just me. It really is a cool car, though. Good luck!

Mazdax605 wrote: How do I increase traffic to the car on CL? My guess there isn't anyone in MA or maybe anywhere that will type Plymouth Sapporo into the search window.

http://bringatrailer.com/submissions/

I submitted an email to them Gamby. I doubt I will get anywhere,but it is worth a shot. Thanks for the link.

Chris

http://boston.craigslist.org/sob/cto/2706465142.html
I think your biggest holdback from BaT is that your pictures are not large enough. I think it would be wise to build an album on a free sight like www.photobucket.com or www.webshots.com and provide a link to the album within your CL listing.
If a picture is worth a thousand words then 20 pictures will say more than you could write in a novel.

Samples of my own done for previous car sales.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/152690475OkNbSU
http://rides.webshots.com/album/551815806ileqGx
The MR2 was sold via www.autotrader.com in 2004 to a buyer who flew in from St. Louis (to Ohio.) Back in 2004, CL was not huge.
240sx was sold via CL in 2007 to a buyer who drove from 2.5 hrs away.
To attract the distant buyer you will need the reassurance of quality photos or at least an abundance of photos.

Thanks for the help. I will be working on more pics this weekend if the weather co-operates with me. It has been raining for the last two days plus, and I haven't had a chance to get more pics. I plan on getting very detailed pics, and hopefully that will help. I love ads with lots of detail as well, and have bought cars from far away without ever setting eyes on them, but rather just through pics, and talking with the seller. Actually I bought this one from CA that same way.

The crappy thing is I have a friend that really wants the car,but he just got back to work after being unemployed for a few months,and isn't in financial shape at this point to buy the car. He actually wanted it before I bought it,and even offered to fly out, and drive it home for me. Maybe I should just by the van I want,and figure out how to house it, and the van somehow until spring or summer when he may be in position to buy the Sapporo. The thing is I would like to just keep it, but I only have garage space for three cars, and even that is a stretch. I am not selling my REPU, or RX-7.

How much would it cost you to pay for offsite storage weather that be a self store rental box or even a place that does indoor storage for boats and cars?
You could loose $500 in selling the car or spend $500 to store it for 5 months and still have the car to play with or sell in the good summer season. While the car is in storage your insurance payment will be near nothing.