Sometimes, it’s the little things that make you realize that you picked the right car–maybe the volume knob sits in the right place, maybe the seat reclines just the way you like, or maybe you just like the look of the interior stitching.
But what about the other side of that coin? What are some of the smallest, pettiest reasons that …
E30 M3, genuinely not as fun a street car as any 6 cylinder E30.
Yes, this was back when you could have gotten one for 4 figures, and yes I'm still kicking myself.
Generally my reasons for not buying a car arent a result of the vehicle at all. Its normally the seller lol.
I will say i wanted a newer zl1 camaro and as soon as i sat in it, the incredible lack of visibility was evident. I love the car overall and i think it looks fantastic, but once inside, it wasnt the same. It kept me from getting one.
It had a lifter tick.
Beautifully clean Cutlass wagon ('80?) with a 307 and dumbass 16 year old tries to be smart and doesn't fork over $700.
dumbass.
About fifteen years ago, I passed on a really nice used white Saturn SL2 because it didn't have cruise control. Everything else (including the price) was right.
I grew up as a huge Mustang fan, but I have since ruled out all new Fords because I can't stand the incredibly cheap sound of their turn signals. Total deal breaker.
I passed on a super-clean Tahitian Green CRX Si because I thought that the mileage was too high. It did have some miles but was immaculate and dealer maintained.
From what I heard, the person who did buy it totaled it.
Whenever I find a petty reason to pass on something, this goes through my head: "Not in that color."
surfshibby07 said:Generally my reasons for not buying a car arent a result of the vehicle at all. Its normally the seller lol.
I will say i wanted a newer zl1 camaro and as soon as i sat in it, the incredible lack of visibility was evident. I love the car overall and i think it looks fantastic, but once inside, it wasnt the same. It kept me from getting one.
This. About 8 years ago I passed on a pretty clean AP2 A2000 because the place selling it, they just gave me the feeling they were sheisters.
surfshibby07 said:Generally my reasons for not buying a car arent a result of the vehicle at all. Its normally the seller lol.
I will say i wanted a newer zl1 camaro and as soon as i sat in it, the incredible lack of visibility was evident. I love the car overall and i think it looks fantastic, but once inside, it wasnt the same. It kept me from getting one.
GM has had a major design problem when it comes to visibility for decades. I don't get it. I know some of the people that do their design work and they aren't mutants, they look like the average person.
There's not many cars I've gone to look at that I haven't actually bought, but generally I'm already there with a trailer and the price is cheap enough I can make my money back in parts...
There have been a couple that I decided not to go see in person at all because of the seller though.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:I grew up as a huge Mustang fan, but I have since ruled out all new Fords because I can't stand the incredibly cheap sound of their turn signals. Total deal breaker.
Oh, and don't even get me started on the door chime...
Seller is the biggest thing. I will make some pretty big ergonomic compromises. I dailied a ND miata and Im not a small guy, but the seller is what normally stops me from buying something
I can't say I've bought many cars so far in my life, but I can imagine how quickly a deal can sour solely based on the seller.
The stupid commercials...
I looked at several sub $1500 Delorean's and 60's Mustangs when I was 19-20 years old. Passed on all of them due to being "too much". now I'm kicking myself for not snagging a few.
As others have said, if I'm there looking at it, with money in my pocket, and trailer hitched to truck. It's the PO that sends me running.
"Ooh...it has a blue oval on the hood."
More than I wanted to spend. Multiple times. Have the money, car is right, but can't get the price I set in my head so I walk. Obviously this has gone really bad in the last year lol, I don't know if I'll ever buy another car again at this rate. It's not that I can't I just refuse to pay these prices even if it is "market".
1994 new in the country and 25 years old. Went to see a B2K (Calloway twin turbo) C4 Corvette. I think it was an 87 or 88 for around $25k. At the time I was still stupidly and proudly a three pedal only guy so didn't buy it as it was an auto. Still kicking myself today as even NA the L98 Vettes are much better cars with an auto than that dreadful Doug Nash 4+3. Later when I met my wife, my now father in law had an 85 C4 auto and that was the car that showed me that autos can actually be nicer, better, more performance oriented than a manual.
Close second was the following year when I could have got a really nice sorted driver quality 74 Pantera again for $25k.
Dumb ass twice over.
Motorcycle I had wanted for a long time. Guzzi V11 Sport.
It had the front end from a later bike and a few little things changed. Parts were V11 parts but from a couple year later model, there are subtle changes. Parts changed would indicate that it had been dropped.
Bike was for sale on the dealer website for months and not moving.
Went to see about it and the salesman was only able to stop smoking long enough to tell me "oh yeah, it's cherry, just got traded in the other day. Better jump on it fast I have people coming to look at it."
I told him "It's been dropped and you guy have been trying to sell it for months with no luck, if you hadn't lied from the minute you started talking, I'd consider it".
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:The stupid commercials...
2nd vote for this
Mazda said I needed Credit's approval to buy a new Mazdaspeed 3. I walked straight out of there, I don't need anyone's approval just to buy a car, especially some sales manager with a weird name.
Funny pinchvalve, that was a very similar reason why I didn't buy one. I walked in and they wouldn't let me test drive one without a signed contract and I told them something on the lines of why would I sign a contract on a car you won't even let me test drive.
Walked right out the door and bought a Volvo C30 from the dealer down the road.
I seldom walk but douchey sellers (be they private or dealer) top my list.
Case in point went to look at a pretty decent looking Sprite at a really good price. On the test drive I got on the brakes semi hard and it pulled, I asked the seller if he knew what it was and he immediately said it was my driving..................I walked.
Friend of a friend was selling a Nismo 350z fairly cheap. It had some tacky mods, but cheap forgives a lot of sins. We took it out on the test drive, 3->4 synchro is bad and grinds every time. I point it out and the owner goes "It's never done that to me, you must not know how to shift." At the price he was selling it at, I could have overlooked the synchros, but his comment pissed me off so much I walked.
About a decade ago a local Honda repair shop listed a B18 swapped civic hatch for way too cheap. I get down there and the owner comments that he's glad I'm not some teen that's gonna wreck the thing. We get in the car and he casually lights up a cigarette like it's no big deal. It was cheap enough that I could have overlooked the litany of issues it had, but that was enough of a red flag for me not to buy it.
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