Dramatic tales of used car shopping adventures in Flint town .....

So as I'd posted, we're looking for a new used beater for my wife's work car. Today was a gorgeous day out, so I started making calls after mass. Here are four of the more dramatic experiences I had dealing with these people:

Call 1: "The burnout"
(Blase was in stitches on this one because I called with speakerphone on.)

Me - I'm calling on the bonneville you posted on craigslist. Do you still have the car?
[pause] Uh, yeeea.
Ok, great, what can you tell me about the car?
[pause] uhhhh, I sold it.

Call 2 was actually incomming: "The indecent proposal"
Him: Hey I missed a call from this number awhile back
me: I was probably calling on a car you have for sale. I'm looking for a 3800 motor'd car that seats 6
him: Oh. Well my buddy has a taurus that's real clean bro
me: Thanks but I'm not looking for a taurus.
him: Oh yea, well I also got a camaro that's real real clean bro
me: You must have missed the part where I need a car that seats 6 people
him: FINE THEN! Why don't you just suck my _ _ _ _ then! [CLICK]

I'm very tempted to call from a different phone tomorrow and get direcitons to go see that taurus.

Call #3: "Only one little thing wrong"
me: I'm calling on the lesabre
oh great, what would you like to know.
I'd like to know what's wrong with it.
him - Oh man, it's a sweet car, it runs great, the interior is like mint, and there's almost no rust on the body.
me - ok, so what's wrong with it?
Well, only one little thing. The only thing that's wrong with it is that you can't test drive it yet because the engine cradle rusted out and broke, and it's hanging down - but you could have me weld it back in there for $100 more and be good to go, and probably even double your money on the car! I can get to it on wednesday, but if you really want the car I could try to get it done before that.
Me- that's ok, I think I'll pass.

Really? The whole friggin engine cradle rusted OUT till it BROKE and is hanging down? THAT is the "one little thing?" The scary part is that this dude IS gonna weld a bandaid in there and some sucker IS going to be driving that hooptie around by next weekend.

Call #4: "Seller, seller, pants on fire"
ME: I'm calling on the grand prix. Does it have a bench seat?
Dude, what are you talking about. This is a grand prix.
I know. Some had a bench seat. Does yours?
I'm not sure what you're even talking about.
ME: Some shifted into gear with the lever next to the steering wheel, and the armrest folded up so that a 3rd person can sit up front. Others - with bucket seats - have a console and the shifter is on the floor. Does your car have the bench seat with the flip up armrest and the shifter by the steering wheel?

him: Oh ok. yea it has that. I got the bench seat.

So we actually postpone dinner to drive acrossed town to go look at this "clean" car, and he was in the driveway when we got there and met us at the car.

As we walked up he goes, "well, whattya think?"

By this point in the days adventures, I'd had my fill of retards and a-holes for the day, so when I saw the console and bucket seats, I couldn't help but to be honest with him.

I calmly replied with a simdge of dissatisfaction, "What do I think?" I think that I specifically F'n asked you if it had a bench seat and then described EXACTLY what I needed to a painful level of detail that even a child would understand, and you lied about what you had to get me here. I think the car you listed as clean has rust on every panel, it's missing about 10% of it's paint, and your friggin wheels don't even match. Honestly? I think you lied, I think you wasted my time, and I think you're a dick. Good luck finding a sucker, cuz I aint it."

I don't think he liked my answer, but I didn't care. If he didn't want to know what I thought about his LIE, he shouldn't have asked.

I get that most used car sellers will sometimes offer a cartain level of embellishment here and there - repair history, highway vs regular mileage, etc - but I just couldn't believe the balls that some of these people have - as to flat out LIE about something as obvious as bucket/bench seats just to get me there - or to become violent when I didn't want their taurus or camaro. As if I'm never going to notice that one of our kids doesn't fit in the car.

Anyway, lots of other people/calls went real well - but I couldn't help but to share those four since each one got filed under "you gotta be friggin kidding me" and all happened in the same afternoon.

Take care,
John the 3800 hunter

Artist are so picky!Goes both ways John>I have some pretty bad memories from when I was
selling my 93 Regal with a 3.1.People would call from 100 miles away and ask if I would pick
them up and take them back home if they didnt buy.One asked if I wouldnt mind stopping at the store for groceries.
By far the best one was this guy who said he had cash and could he leave his old car with no
title in my driveway.He said I could have the titleless car but I had to park it where no cops
could see it and to leave the windows down because he said it had a bad odor and a stained
back seat.I think the kind of clientale is directly related to the type and age of the car being
sold.
Buyer Beware and Seller Stay Armed
Jim Gordon

So did you buy the camaro?

you can weld john,. we seen that,..

Nick

Haha, No I didn't buy the camaro.

You are right too Jim. I've had some seriously shady people try to offer me some crazy stuff too.

Nick, You are right, but my experience with welding up the weakest link in a rotted subframe is that within minutes/miles, the next weak point breaks, and so forth, and it's just not worth the time or safety risks. I'll pass.

Good story! I do feel you pain and wish you luck on your search. Hope you find a Bonny, those are my favorite.

I got a quick stupidity story for you. Give you a laugh. When I worked as a service writer about 15 years ago, I had an older lady drop off a light blue Chevy Celebrity sedan for an a/c estimate. The car had something like 60K miles on it, was clean, low options, but the a/c compressor was shot. Sling everywhere. No-brainer.

I gave her the estimate over the phone, and she proceeded to scream about what a rip-off it was, how it could not possibly cost that much to fix, and how she was on a fixed income and how dare I take advantage of an old woman. She then told me to not touch her come, that she was getting a ride and would be there right away to go to a "real" shop.

Fine. I backed the car out of the bay and parked it beside the shop.

30-mins later here she comes. She gets out of a car, comes flying in the store, and wants her keys. I try to at least hand her the estimate, and she flys off the handle again, and walks out with her keys.

About two minutes pass...

Here she comes again... "YOUR BROKE MY CAR! I'M CALLING THE POLICE!! IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT WHEN I CAME IN HERE!! WHERE IS YOUR PHONE!!

I take a breath and ask her to explain what the issue is. She says "MY STEERING WHEEL IS BROKEN AND YOU DID IT AND I'M CALLING THE POLICE !!!".

Steering wheel? Say what?

I ask her to please show me the issue, and she turns and stamps outside, and I follow, not knowing what to think.

I open the door and look at the blue plastic generic Chevy steering wheel...othyer than being plain, it looks fine. I look at her, standing there fuming, and ask what the issue is? She says "WELL JUST LOOK AT IT!! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DRIVE IT LIKE THAT??? IT'S BROKEN!!"

I look back in the car, and realize the issue. Whenever I get out of a car, I always tilt up the steering column...I'm a big guy. I lean in and pull the lever and lower the steering wheel back down. I turn back to her and say "Maam you have a tilt steering column, it's designed to raise up like that to make getting in and out easier...."

She looks at me, and actually says "Well it's never done that before, and I'm going to show my son, and if he says it's broken I will be calling your owner."

She gets in the Chevy and leaves...

Phew.... Never a dull moment...

-Mike

Flasheroo wrote:

Artist are so picky!

TOO FUNNY MAN!

I love morons I am new here are you in Flint , MI? if so and you dont mind a little road trip I saw this on CL here in Indiana http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/cto/2396600278.html

Yea, I'm in Flint. I'm actually rolling through Indiana and Illinois tomorrow on my way to Racine. I appreciate the link and the heads up, but that's more than we're comfortable parting with at this time.

Heres one to check out on your way to WI http://southbend.craigslist.org/cto/2397475994.html

bcreasy wrote:

Heres one to check out on your way to WI http://southbend.craigslist.org/cto/2397475994.html

Guarantee thats just a Caprice clone job.

Cadet57 wrote:

bcreasy wrote:

Heres one to check out on your way to WI http://southbend.craigslist.org/cto/2397475994.html

Guarantee thats just a Caprice clone job.

And a bad one at that!!! They got the color totally wrong......

John lmk if you want me to look around down here. I could be convinced to deliver it Flint in August....

I ran into the same issues looking for my last car. Dealers lied; individuals lied...everybody lied. "Clean" cars were covered in rust. "Perfect interior" cars were full of rips and carpet stains. "Runs great" cars squeaked, squealed and clattered. The only person who didn't lie was the previous owner of the 94 Caprice Wagon I picked up. It really was clean (Nevada car so no rust), it really did have a near perfect interior and it really did run great. It did have a couple of very minor issues that he clearly stated and showed me. Honest folks are out there, but they seem to be few and far between when it comes to car shopping. Good luck--I know you will find something great if you stick with it.

You really should buy a car on ebay. Those guys are as honest as the day is long.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

You really should buy a car on ebay. Those guys are as honest as the day is long.

Everything on the internet is true............