Serious Buyers?

[EuroBoutique]

Some good stories here, I do have a few to add but here's my overall take on selling cars. Serious buyers will want to see the car first, talk price second since this is how I negotiate. How can you negotiate on a car without seeing it - unless you really trust the seller and his reputation.

I've sold my share of cars and most of the time I just talk to them on the phone a bit. What I've seen is that after about 5-10 minutes on the phone you can pretty much tell where this guy/gal is coming from in terms of their budget, the cars they've owned or currently driving, etc.

Example, I sold my 2001 spa s2000 to a local lady. She was one city away, called me from a Craigslist ad and showed up in a 1971 Bug with her 2 year old in the front seat. I don't want to say she was a tomboy but she's the type of mom that you would expect to see at a Woodstock event....haha! I was asking $21k at the time and we never even talked price. You can tell by her expression on her face she LOVED the car in yellow. She just sat in the car and played with all the gadgets in the car while I tried to watch her son from running around. Eventually I asked her if she wanted to test drive it (usually people ask me first). Since the car is a 2 seater I told her I'll watch her kid while she takes the car for a spin. She quickly said yes and started up the car. Her son was busy climbing aboard my motorcycle and I knew this was going to be a sale. When she came back we talked price and she said her budget was really under $20k and seeing how honest and nice she was from the beginning, we agreed on $19.5k for the car. Truth of the matter is if the buyer is sincere then I'm willing to work with them a bit. Jerks and I will ask them to leave before even touching my car.


rick

 

[slamstrom]

The question is, what did you do when the person 'accidentally' showed up $500 short? Did you cave in to their plan? I would have taken 2 wheels off and said, 'That is fine. I will just give you $500 less car,' and see what they said.

I told him no sale for $500 less. The agreed upon sale price was $2500, original asking price was $3000 (KBB was $3100). Then all of a sudden, $500 magically appeared out of his other pocket. I will take your advice the next time that happens. However, I think I'll remove the doors, so he can at least drive away.:biggrin:

Serious buyers will want to see the car first, talk price second since this is how I negotiate. How can you negotiate on a car without seeing it - unless you really trust the seller and his reputation.

Truth of the matter is if the buyer is sincere then I'm willing to work with them a bit. Jerks and I will ask them to leave before even touching my car.

rick

I totally agreed.

 

[swerve2007]

for some strange reason, if you try to be nice, these days people take it as a sign of weakness. i guess my advice is not to be 'nice' unless you see you are dealing with a person that deserves it. even here on prime some people will try to 'force their advantage' after clearly knowing that they are getting a 'deal'. all it leads to is the seller showing them the door and the "buyer" to often spend more money elswhere.

 

[Meeyatch1]

Some good stories here, I do have a few to add but here's my overall take on selling cars. Serious buyers will want to see the car first, talk price second since this is how I negotiate. How can you negotiate on a car without seeing it - unless you really trust the seller and his reputation...

Most of the time you are probably right, but it also depends on the person. I have bought my last group of cars without ever seeing them. One was an Acura 3.5RL from Pennsylvania, an S2000 from Illinois, a BMW M3 from Texas, my NSX years ago from Illinois, and there have been a couple others. Usually I will go off of detailed pictures, service records, and my general feeling about the person selling me the car. So far, I have done well. People seem to respond well to the approach of being upfront, and offering a deposit over the phone if things sound up to par.

 

[tosugrad]

I have bought my last group of cars without ever seeing them.

I wouldn't spend $100 on a car without seeing it. Thats just me.

 

[slamstrom]

for some strange reason, if you try to be nice, these days people take it as a sign of weakness. i guess my advice is not to be 'nice' unless you see you are dealing with a person that deserves it. even here on prime some people will try to 'force their advantage' after clearly knowing that they are getting a 'deal'. all it leads to is the seller showing them the door and the "buyer" to often spend more money elswhere.

Which brings me to my favorite phrase, "No good deeds go unpunished."

 

[GreyHoundSteve]

Funny stuff here. The kid who bought my Supra showed up $1,000 short after driving over 500 miles to pick up the car with a friend of his. I told him where he could find an ATM because we had already agreed upon a price beforehand that was $2,000 off what i was already asking. He also magically produced the remaining cash from his other pocket.

I just kind of laughed. I was maybe 21 at the time but a deal has been and always will be ..... A DEAL imo.

 

[Meeyatch1]

I wouldn't spend $100 on a car without seeing it. Thats just me.

Probably a good thing I am not buying $100 cars. LOL!! :wink:

 

[Meeyatch1]

Funny stuff here. The kid who bought my Supra showed up $1,000 short after driving over 500 miles to pick up the car with a friend of his. I told him where he could find an ATM because we had already agreed upon a price beforehand that was $2,000 off what i was already asking. He also magically produced the remaining cash from his other pocket.

I just kind of laughed. I was maybe 21 at the time but a deal has been and always will be ..... A DEAL imo.

What would have been REALLY funny would be if you told him the price went up another $1,000 because of him trying to rip you off. HAHA!! :biggrin:

 

[cyberdog]

I think you misunderstand the situation they are describing.

The price of an NSX is usually negotiable.

They are talking about a situation where the seller and buyer have gone through negotiations, and presumably an inspection of the vehicle, and have agreed on a final price with a firm commitment to buy the car. The buyer shows up $500 short on the day of the exchange, thus trying to get another $500 off the price he already agreed to pay. (A price that is typically already lower than the original asking price).

I see what you're saying but what I am saying is that often people will set a minimum price for their NSX if they don't really want to get rid of it...so if you want it, that's the price you are going to get. But if something that would drastically change the price isn't disclosed and you show up to inspect and find it, there could be other aspects of the deal that are shady.

 

[brahtw8]

I see what you're saying but what I am saying is that often people wills et a minimum price for their NSX if they dont' really want to get rid of it...so if you want it, that's the price you are going to get. But if something that would drastically change the price isn't disclosed and you show up to inspect and find it, there could be other aspects fo the deal that are shady.

I don't disagree. I think those are different issues.

 

[cyberdog]

I don't disagree. I think those are different issues.

word

 

[MartinSD]

Greetings

Black Beauty (my 2003) is not for sale, but I have an engineer at work who has pestered me 3 times to sell it to him for $45K. I told him -- so you want me to take an $XXK loss on my car and sell it to you. I have a special just for you just today -- $80K take it or leave it. He will then sulk off mumbling. He insinuated one time that he would key my car if I didn't sell it to him -- I told him the police would not be able to protect him if BB got keyed. I also told him Porsche's can also get keyed -- he has a Boxster. He then said he was only kidding -- I told him I wasn't.

Martin

 

[nsxxxtc]

I I think a buyer and a seller can work the deal any way they can. I have asked 70K and got 60K I have asked 40K and got 30K. I have put 65K in another and couldn’t get 45. For sale NOW !!! I have a 97 Sp pearl yellow ctsc with HRE wheels, Lowered and have been low balled at 30 and wont sell it for that. That being said the car can be had at a great price and to tell you the truth if I liked the guy we could have worked it out. I had a purple twin turbo 96, I bought it for 55K and sold it 30 days later for 53K. The moral is it is not always about the money but it is always about the deal. It feels good to get a deal on a car. Any buyer is serious if has the cash!!
NSXXXTC