People That Welch on Deals..

Had a guy make a 4 hour drive to come buy a car, only to try and haggle me down.

He drove all the way home without a car.

I hope he learned a valuable lesson that day but I  doubt it.

ShawnG said:

Had a guy make a 4 hour drive to come buy a car, only to try and haggle me down.

He drove all the way home without a car.

I hope he learned a valuable lesson that day but I  doubt it.

That's fine.  100% good with that.

John Welsh said:

Its a 5 letter last name that is commonly spelled/misspelled 4 different ways of Welsh, Walsh, Welch, and Welsch.  I will generally answer to all so, yeah, the title caught my attention.  But, no offense taken.  

No offense intended.  I don't appear to be able to alter the thread title, but if a passing moderator wants to change it to renege...

In reply to John Welsh :

Your situation was a bit different.  The buyer wanted to decide whether or not to buy after looking at the car in person and driving it.  He was flaky from the start and clearly had no intention of paying the asking price.

I had agreed to buy a car that was not drivable, with full understanding of what I was supposed to be receiving, the renumeration expected and a time and place appointed.  Everything was ironed out in advance.  Nothing changed.  I held up my end.  I was completely honest with the seller and kept him updated.  

Whan he contacted early this morning to verify I was coming. I confirmed that I would.  He knew I would be renting a trailer if possible.  I was already looking for one at 8:00 this morning.  I told him that I was coming regardless and I'd let him know if I secured a trailer, as he wanted to move it out of the shop and have it ready to load.

I wasn't looking at a car.  I was dropping off agreed upon payment and taking possession, no notary required.

Steve_Jones said:

In reply to John Welsh :

So he headed out assuming you'd do the $2500? I don't see where you said yes. That's dumb on his end. 

I think it's a stretch to assume that the would-be (should-have-been, IMO) buyer was expecting $2,500 since the seller never acknowledged that part of the conversation.

LionPride said:

John Welsh said:

Its a 5 letter last name that is commonly spelled/misspelled 4 different ways of Welsh, Walsh, Welch, and Welsch.  I will generally answer to all so, yeah, the title caught my attention.  But, no offense taken.  

No offense intended.  I don't appear to be able to alter the thread title, but if a passing moderator wants to change it to renege...

My pointing it out was totally an attempt at a joke...sorry for the derailment.

ClemSparks said:

Steve_Jones said:

In reply to John Welsh :

So he headed out assuming you'd do the $2500? I don't see where you said yes. That's dumb on his end. 

I think it's a stretch to assume that the would-be (should-have-been, IMO) buyer was expecting $2,500 since the seller never acknowledged that part of the conversation.

I'd bet he was expecting $2500 and would try and convince the seller he agreed, and try to guilt him into it, I've seen it many times. 

Well that is definitely frustrating.

It's clear you were serious and the seller acknowledged. Seller would have done better to remind you on the morning of your schedule appointment that "car will be sold to the first person who places cash in my hand". 

Sending a deposit includes a bit of risk but I think would go a long way to make a seller know you're serious, so they are more comfortable calling it "sold". Especially if it's on marketplace where the seller usually isn't totally anonymous.

LionPride, that really stinks to be in that position.  Other than having the guy take a deposit and having signed some sort of agreement, I'm not sure what you could've done differently. 

John, I probably would've responded to the guys $2500 offer that he should come out and look at it before making an offer and that other people are coming to look at it before him.  That way he knew there was a chance it'd be sold before he got there.  If he really wanted it he could've offered you a deposit...

Instead of renting a trailer where you live, do a search for  U-haul  in the location of the car. Buy car, rent trailer one way and done!   That way your only out gas money and time.

rustybugkiller said:

Instead of renting a trailer where you live, do a search for  U-haul  in the location of the car. Buy car, rent trailer one way and done!   That way your only out gas money and time.

But, if you are driving a couple hours away, price on a trailer goes from $45 for local up to $125 for 1-way. Plus, you're not guaranteed that the rental place will have it available when you get there.

I've been on all 15 sides of this scenario and there's never a good answer. I've had cars sold out from under me, some with a deposit. I've also backed out on a deal with someone who gave a deposit because he kept demanding more - promising in writing it didn't need anything, promising he would pass inspection next month without needing anything. Another guy who looked at tb car previously made me a cash offer with no stipulations so I gave the other guy his deposit back.

Ive also had people send me "is this available messages" on Facebook with limited or no dialogue. I sell the car or parts and they come out of nowhere to ask if I marked it sold because they were interested. 

I learned the hard way a while back that if you see something you want, go get the thing ASAP. Bring the money and either leave a sizeable deposit or just pay for it whole and get a bill of sale. Someone's "Word" means nothing anymore. Cash talks, BS walks, as they say. If you can, bring a trailer/tags and get it out of there right then and there. You might even get a better deal if you can move it fast. 

Had a situation about 5 years back where I drove to another state and had the money on me to buy the vehicle. Seller and I negotiated a price, shook on it, and when I offered a deposit, he said no. I took his word, and said I'd be back with a trailer the next day. He sold it to someone else on the way home. I should have paid for the thing and gotten the bill of sale then and there. 

On the other end of it, selling is a pain. Most people start out with lowball offers, and kick tires/make promises/etc if they show up. It's annoying, so I understand why people take the cash over someone's "Word". 

I think it's reasonable that if you tell someone a time to come look at the car (within the nezt 24-48 hours) that the car still be there if they arrive at the agreed time plus or minus 15 minutes, I am fine with doing that when selling and would expect the same when buying, beyond that it's the same as buying anything else.  If people aren't willing to do that, I will just move on to the next buyer or seller.

If I have a buyer committed to driving a long distance to get a vehicle, I will consider the sale as  pending and not let anyone else buy it until they either don't show on time or have shown up and not bought it. I hate to negotiate price with a buyer that has not seen the car and has very little info. If they are not capable of paying the asking price, they should look for another car. I almost always take a little bit less than I'm asking, but negotiating a price without seeing the car in person is asking for trouble unless it's a commitment to buy unseen.

Yep, I drove 2 hours to look at a motorcycle. Had the seller's address, agreed to a time, checked in at departure and along the way. I get to his house and there is no one home. I text and call...no reponse. I wait 30 minutes, nothing. I headed home, only to get a text 4 hours later: "you still interested?" Screw you dude. 

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

Man, I'm so glad you didn't buy that Focus SVT from me. I got it up in the air and the unibody where the subframe attaches was completely rotten. 

I drove 3 hours to buy a non-drivable car, without a way to get it home. I was 80% sure I was buying it before I left home. Talked him down by 1/3 after seeing it, to my idea of what it was worth. Agreed to the deal, shook hands, gave him all the cash money ($5k) and got a title signed not by him, but the previous owner. He had a buddy with a flatbed tow-truck who showed up to load it and get my address for delivery the next day...

I felt like a fool all the way home, no car, no money, even doubled back to scope things out more. But after driving the rig to church next morning, driver called me to say he'd be there soon. Showed up, dropped it where I wanted it and left. I got lucky, methinks.

A person I'm somehow connected to on FaceSpace (and is popular for being into 80s stuff I guess) posted how he sold a car out from under someone. Apparently he had a deal with one person at asking price but someone else offered more cash so he sold it to the higher bidder. He then goes on about how everything he sells is pretty much an auction and he'll absolutely break a deal if someone offers more money. The roasting from his followers was epic. He kept trying to defend himself but got roasted even harder. Eventually he deleted the post.

Screwing people over on a sale is a great way to guarantee your name gets around and people won't cut you any deals going forward. Or might even raise the price.

Once a potential buyer says they are headed my way, I consider it pending. I also confirm with the potential buyer that if I'm holding something for a decent amount of time, I'm gonna not budge on price, especially when there is a line. You drive two hours and offer me less than list price and I'm gonna turn you away.
 

The only time I instituted a bidding war was when I posted something I thought was worthless and had dozens of people clamoring to buy it. I didn't want to organize that many people, so I reposted at a higher price. One lady in particular complained. I told her I'd honor the previously listed price to her. She declined. I had no trouble selling it for 3x the original listing. 

9/10 I buy based on proximity. I know I have a better shot of making offers if I'm the first one there. The only time I drive distances is when a a vehicle has sat for awhile and I'll confirm with seller that nobody else is coming. Usually that works out. Usually.