Am I doing the right thing?

[TigerNSX]

Hello,

I have a quick question.
I am selling my other car. I advertised it for $18K.

Several folks are interested in the car.

One of them is coming to Boston from Philadelphia to take a look at the car tomorrow (Friday), and if he thinks that the car is as described, he will pay $17.5K. However, he has not made any kind of deposit. It was a gentleman's agreement.

Today, a guy who lives 5 minutes from me has called, and he wants to buy the car right now (Thursday) at my asking price $18K.

I told him the situation that a guy is coming from Philadelphia, and I could not do anything until he takes a look at the car first on Friday. If the sales falls through, I will, then, sell him the car for $17.5K. The guy keeps insisting that I should sell the car to him since he is willing to pay $18K.

Am I doing the right thing? I do not want to break the gentleman's agreement for $500 even if it's still a lot of money.

 

[lemansnsx]

I must be missing something - can't you just call the guy who is travelling down on Friday? You should not break your gentleman's agreement but you are well within your rights to make sure that he is coming and let him know you have a local buyer.

 

[dawggpie]

If the guy from Philadelphia isn't already on his way up I don't see why you can't sell it to the other guy if he's willing to pay more. I don't think you're shafting him. As a seller obviously you're inclined to go with the higher bidder. I would let the guy from Philadelphia know that you have an offer at 18k and if he wants to match it you'll hold the car for him since you spoke to him first. On the other hand if he is already on his way up it puts you in a bit of s sticky situation... your call.

 

[T Bolen]

I think you are doing the right thing by honoring your word. It is approiate to call the first guy and let him know of the local interest to help him along in case he is a time waster. That way, when he does show up tomorrow he knows that the 17.5 price is firm.
Too many people today fail to do what you are doing - they would take the extra money and run. Kudos for being a man of your word.

 

[TigerNSX]

I truly appreciate all of your comments and thoughts.

I will call the guy in Philadelphia to confirm if he will be making the trip for sure tomorrow.

I would like the extra $500, but I have already "told" the guy in Philadelphia that I will be willing to let the car go for $17.5K. I just feel bad to tell him that there is a bidding war now.

I think you are doing the right thing by honoring your word. It is approiate to call the first guy and let him know of the local interest to help him along in case he is a time waster. That way, when he does show up tomorrow he knows that the 17.5 price is firm.
Too many people today fail to do what you are doing - they would take the extra money and run. Kudos for being a man of your word.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[DocL]

You can take a deposit from the second guy with him knowing that if the car does sell to the first person that you will give him back his deposit. This way you know that you definitely have the car sold. Even though you are giving the first person resonable consideration, unless he left a deposit you have no assurance that he is indeed coming up and taking the car home. I'd call the first person and let him know that you have taken a deposit on the car just in case he decides to not buy it. You will get an answer from him right away finding out if he is serious or not.

There is no reason to feel bad btw. As long as you are being honest and not trying to scam someone, or take a deposit with no plans on returning it, you are just doing good business. This happens all the time with delaers. Someone calls to say they want to buy a car on the lot, but someone else in the meantime comes in and lays cash on the table. The deal is done!

Good luck.

 

[NeSX]

Is it just me or does $18k seem a little low for an NSX?

 

[LeftLane]

I am selling my other car. I advertised it for $18K.

I think the key word here is "other".

BTW, I would do as advised...tell the guy coming from Philly that you have a local buyer, and give him right of first refusal, but make sure he's not wasting your time. The 2nd guy gives a refundable deposit, and you know the car will sell to one of them, right? $500, while a chunk of change, is no big deal to know that the car will be sold and you can stop trying to market it to others.

Good luck!

 

[MF-DIF]

Your doing the right thing. Just keep both parties informed of everything that is going on. Keep everyone in the loop so that there is an understanding in case something happens. Be careful though if the guy from Philly says he needs more time. Sales can get cold quick. If he needs more time there is a chance he may back out. And by that time the local guy might have lost intrest or found someone else to buy from. Then you have no one to sell the car.

 

[gheba_nsx]

I like DocL advice about the deposit! This is good beacaue there is no way you will remain with the car unsold after Friday...

BTW what car is that?

 

[TigerNSX]

I did not hear anything from the guy in Philadelphia all day yesterday. I finally called him last night to confirm, and he told me he would not buy the car anymore.

I was very patient to him, answered all questions, took 50+ pictures, and etc., yet he could not even spend 1 minute calling me to let me know that he would not buy the car right when he found out. I cannot believe how inconsiderate some people can be.

I, then, contacted the other interested buyer, and he now wanted the car for $17.5K instead of $18K. We agreed on the price, and he made a deposit.

Thanks for your advice.

BTW what car is that?

It's a 97 BMW M3 w/ 60K miles.

 

[dawggpie]

Glad it worked out pretty well for you in the end.
You all are to nice
I'm experiancing the whole privately selling a car thing first hand right now and people are definitely shady! I think it's in your best interest to make whatever decision suits you best because you're nieve if you think they give a damn about you. Sorry, I'm a little biased hehe. I've shown my car to 3 people now that said they were very serious and would buy the car and they all backed out.

 

[gheba_nsx]

I did not hear anything from the guy in Philadelphia all day yesterday. I finally called him last night to confirm, and he told me he would not buy the car anymore.

If you did not call him, he would have probably never tried to contact you...

Why did the second guy come down to 17.5k then? He was so determinated to pay 18k for it when he told you to drop the first buyer for him...

 

[JPS Europa]

I was in this same situation a few years ago. I did what DocL said. The traveling party never showed up and I sold the car to the local.
Tiger, wish I had known about the M3 two months ago. My Brother in Law just bought one. He was looking for a 97-99.
Maybe you should have kept that one as a track rat.

 

[DocL]

I did not hear anything from the guy in Philadelphia all day yesterday. I finally called him last night to confirm, and he told me he would not buy the car anymore.
...I cannot believe how inconsiderate some people can be.

He was the typical tire kicker. The next time you go to sell a car take a deposit right away and always have a back-up buyer ready to take the car. You got lucky that the second interested person took the car because it saved you the time and money of advertising it again.

So, now that you some change in your pocket are you going to add any goodies to your NSX?

 

[TigerNSX]

Tiger, wish I had known about the M3 two months ago. My Brother in Law just bought one. He was looking for a 97-99.
Maybe you should have kept that one as a track rat.

This M3 is really immaculate and pristine. In fact, I would say that it is cleaner than my NSX with 40k miles. Both M3 and NSX became garage queens, and it did not make sense to have that situation. I had to let one of them go, and I just could not imagine letting the NSX go.

I tried both M3 and NSX at the track. In fact, the M3 was much easier to drive at my skill level. However, I had more fun driving the NSX at the track!

 

[JPS Europa]

If it was that clean he wouild have bought it for sure. Oh well...

 

[TigerNSX]

I tend to be very gullible and trust people easily. In the ideal world, I believe that this is how everyone should be. I am not much of a sales person, but I have learned a lot through this experience. It is just sad for me to know how inconsiderate some people can be.

So, now that you some change in your pocket are you going to add any goodies to your NSX?

Yes!!

 

[NeSX]

I think I am going topick up another E36 M3 as a second car in the next year or so. They are great values.