most ridiculous NSX selling/buying story?

fastaussie

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I don't think any of you can top this guy/story, but i'd love to hear if you've had some good/bad/stupid sellers or buyers for your NSX's also. And I hope you enjoy this little saga as much as my friends and I did:

I’ve had my ’96 NSX for sale for a bit now. It’s a very clean, stock 5-speed targa. I’ve already had two younger guys try to purchase the car previously, only to find out they weren’t necessarily as pre-approved as they thought they were. Or maybe they didn’t fully understand the terminology of the phrase pre-approved? Regardless, another bloke came by recently to check out my car. This fella, let’s just name him “dumbarse” for the purposes of this story, and also to not reveal his true identity, was older than the previous almost 30-somethings. I’m guessing late 40’s? Dumbarse was also for a time in the late ‘90s the sales manager for an Acura dealership here in southern California. In fact, he had leased a ’99 NSX-T for two years himself personally. He mentioned at that time Acura couldn’t give the cars away and you could have one in those days for $10,000 or more below sticker. So dumbarse was and is quite familiar with an NSX, and decided it was time for him to have another. This guy obviously knew a fair bit about an NSX, one of his major concerns being, did the radio antenna go up and down freely all on its own?

Much like the two previous lads he quite loved my car. It checked out in all the appropriate cosmetic, mechanical and maintenance areas and we agreed on a set price, which was actually the listed price of my car. No worries. He assured me finances were not a problem. He did however want his mate’s dealership to purchase the car from me for some unknown reason. I told him I didn’t really care who bought it, when the money cleared in my bank he could have the car.

So a day or two later dumbarse informs me that he’s decided he can’t pay what we agreed upon for the car, and offers me a few grand less. I politely declined his offer, and the next day he said alright, and went back to the original price. Sure, no worries.

A day or so later as i'm giving the dumbarse bank information, has asks me to please not sell the car to anyone else, and also to not drive it anymore. Fair enough, but I did let him know it was still my car and if I felt like driving it to the store or up the street I was likely to do so. But I obviously wasn’t going to drive it to Canada or somewhere 1000’s of miles away, and that once the cheque was en route to my bank the car would be safe and sound in my garage and no longer driven.

The next thing dumbarse asks me is if I could detail, wash and wax the car for him. Not a big deal, but I let Mr. dumbarse know that I fully intended to do so before he picked up the NSX anyways. Excellent, we’re all on the same page here. Then he asks me if I could also “fill up the tank all the way” for him. I had to have a bit of a laugh at this one and explain that however much is in the tank is what he’ll get to drive away with, and that he’d have to handle that one on his own. At this time I also made a vow to myself to make sure the car would be damn near on empty when Mr. dumbarse came to get it.

He also informs me he’s quite concerned with the car having rust on the undercarriage. I let him know this isn’t an issue as I’ve seen the car on a few lifts. But, just for his peace of mind, I had it put on a lift and took several detailed pictures of the rust-free underside for him.

I now have to head out of town for about a week and down to the Caribbean for a family wedding (I know, poor me). Mr. DA begs me not to sell the car to anyone else while I’m gone. I explain to him that it would be rather difficult for me to do so considering the geographical challenges, and also that we have a gentleman’s agreement, and it’s no problem, we’ll finish the transaction when I get back.

Fast forwarding a week, the Arse of Dumbness is very eager to purchase my car, who wouldn’t be, we all love NSX’s right? So he has arranged for me to meet him at his mate’s dealership on a Saturday around lunch time to sign bill of sales, paperwork, transfers, etc. I actually flew back a day early and caught the bloody 7am flight to help this poor fella out. I informed him I’d drive to the OC directly from the airport in my truck to sign all the paperwork, and we set up a time of 12:30p. It’s about an hour’s drive to where this dealership is from LAX, at least. Where I live is about 45 minutes the other direction. Those of you who live in SoCal can attest that the shortest drive can sometimes take an astonishing amount of time. Mr. dumbarse then seems to become quite perturbed that I won’t be bringing the NSX to this signing. I politely explain that I don’t leave my NSX in an LAX car park whenever I fly out of L.A. He then says that he thought I was gonna land at LAX, drive 45 minutes north to my house, and then almost 2 hours back south to his mate’s dealership. I asked him how he thought I was gonna do all that and meet him an hour after landing, but he didn’t seem to have an answer. Then Mr. dumbarse explains to me that he was expecting me to leave the NSX with him at this time. Yes my friends, leave the car with him. 2 solid days before his mate’s dealership could even mail the cheque to my bank. A solid week or more before that cheque could even clear. Then the dumbarse mentions that I could probably get a taxi ride home for about $100!

And at that moment is when I very impolitely told Mr. dumbarse that he needed to F**K OFF…
 
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I'm always amazed at the shenanigans that people try to pull. I've never had a similar experience. Do you think that he was trying to pull a long con on you?
 
VERY entertaining and engaging write-up :smile: Thanks for taking the time and I was doggone-near howling at the audacity of some people there at the conclusion!

The "right" buyer will find you, no doubt.
 
he seemed legit about purchasing the car, but he was definitely trying to pull something on the state of CA I believe. he was trying to buy the car through his mate's dealership to save some money somewhere, somehow? he also complained about the amount of taxes he'd have to pay on the car. I suggested maybe he should buy a cheaper car, as we all have to pay taxes on our vehicles when we buy them. I told the fella he wasn't taking possession of the car until the cheque cleared in my bank. this did seem a foreign concept to him. he did make the comment that I should be more trusting of him... :smile:
 
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Fun read! If only we could introduce your buyer to one of two sellers I crossed paths with during my hunt. Both raised their prices after I accepted their asking offers, one by 5%, the other by $12k (32% lol). Takes all kinds! But that really raised my awareness about how these can be very important cars that are hard to let go and worth holding onto.
 
well you made the right choice. something was fishy you should have smelled it sooner.

I pray he wasnt a nsx prime member if he wasnt then you must have had you number in your ad so non memebers could see.

remember guys, never leave your cell number they can PM you if not a member then they need to join. never mention your leaving town and were your car will be, never leave you e-mail address so they can spam/hack you join if you not a member then PM they can pm you, and never use your full name in your ads gives you some protection.

ALSO NEVER NEVER WIRE MONEY EVER..... no matter how perfect the sale is going etc. NEVER wire money if they want a deposit to hold the car tell them to F-off if the car sells when you get there then its not the car for you
 
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Fun read! If only we could introduce your buyer to one of two sellers I crossed paths with during my hunt. Both raised their prices after I accepted their asking offers, one by 5%, the other by $12k (32% lol). Takes all kinds!

wow, raised the price $12 grand after you made a deal?! impressively ballsy...
 
I hate people like that, its like bums that try to get coins at the red light, tell them you dont have any money, well can i get a cig then, I dont have any cigs, can I get anything from you NOPE.
 
well you made the right choice. something was fishy you should have smelled it sooner.

he wasn't going to scam me out of my car, it was his personal requests (fill up the tank all the way, deliver the car to him and take a taxi home) that were completely absurd...

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Fun read! If only we could introduce your buyer to one of two sellers I crossed paths with during my hunt.

I know what you mean. like when your mate has a nutjob girlfriend clinically out of her mind, and then a girl you know is seeing a bi-polar psychotic bloke, if only you could put the two crazies together and see which one killed the other first... :biggrin:
 
LOL! I just participated in an NSX buying/selling story that could very much compete with this one for total absurdity. :)
 
and the biggest moron of all time award goes to....

Both raised their prices after I accepted their asking offers, one by 5%, the other by $12k (32% lol).

im glad you passed on both these cars and got an awesome one with due patience.

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pls share :)

LOL! I just participated in an NSX buying/selling story that could very much compete with this one for total absurdity. :)
 
I've bought & sold over 20 vehicles in my time, and sadly I've found that anyone who outright asks for a "gentleman's agreement" is typically the kind of buyer you should avoid at all costs!
 
im glad you passed on both these cars and got an awesome one with due patience.

Thank you! Not half as glad as me, I'm still in the honeymoon phase with mine. It's still a thrill to even just walk up to it.

Having rust on the undercarriage concern amused me, especially if he'd really known they were mostly aluminum.

Back onto the subject of ridiculous selling/buying, one of the sellers I mentioned above intentionally got his GPW undersides completely "rustproofed." The beautiful suspension arms were partly covered in goopy black, like they were dipped in chocolate. So glad that one "slipped away..."
 
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