PT Goat
10-23-2006, 04:59 PM
I just had a long-distance car buying experience so unbelieveable that I had to post (and vent). No, it doesn't involve a fake hemi, a bogus cashier's check, or a Romanian scammer. And thankfully it doesn't involve anyone on this forum.
I posted an ad on another forum looking for a pretty specific car and got several responses, one of which was quite promising. In fact it sounded perfect. But the important thing here is that the potential seller contacted me - I did not seek him out, he emailed me about his car based on my ad.
After many emails, pics, faxed documentation and a few phone calls, I decided to fly 6 states away to see the car, and I cashed in 50,000 FF miles for the flights. I also rented a car, booked a hotel, etc, and invested 2 days of my life. I should also mention that the owner told me that he needed to get $X out of the car, which was what he had invested. Based on the knowledge that I had, the price sounded like top $, but not way out of line. I was so confident in our potential deal that I arranged for a shipper to transport the car back to the northeast this coming weekend, and I put the car on my antique insurance policy.
I get to the guys house, he opens the garage door, and I knew instantly that I had to have it. Trying not to let my emotions get ahold of me, I spent a good 2hrs crawling all over and under the car, and the owner even let me take a test drive alone, and he even told me to make sure that I got on it a time or to.
Long story short, I get back from my ride and I tell the owner I'm not there to BS, and I'd like to buy his car for the asking price. I extend my hand for the obligatory shake, but he hesitates. He tells me he needs to think about it, and we spent an akward hour just standing around. He then suggested that I leave and give him some time, which I did. I didn't hear from him for a few hours so I called, and instead of asking for more $ (than his asking price, mind you), he tells me that he was thinking about keeping the car! Apparently when he saw me driving away in it, he felt emotional. Come on! Don't forget - THIS GUY CONTACTED ME!! Not to mention the time and expense I had invested in the deal...
So he asks me again for more time, and I say fine what I can I do. He calls a few hours later just as I'm getting into bed to get a little sleep before my 6am flight home, and tells me the car is not for sale. I wasn't kind, naturally, but I tried not to burn any bridges, because frankly, I still want the car. Before we hung up, I even offered another $1500 over the asking price (which I regret doing, an emotional response I guess) if he'd just let it go. Without even thinking, he said no. So two flights and two awful hours in security later I'm home and I'm both pissed and heartbroken.
So that's my story - what would you do (keeping in mind how bad I want the car)?
I posted an ad on another forum looking for a pretty specific car and got several responses, one of which was quite promising. In fact it sounded perfect. But the important thing here is that the potential seller contacted me - I did not seek him out, he emailed me about his car based on my ad.
After many emails, pics, faxed documentation and a few phone calls, I decided to fly 6 states away to see the car, and I cashed in 50,000 FF miles for the flights. I also rented a car, booked a hotel, etc, and invested 2 days of my life. I should also mention that the owner told me that he needed to get $X out of the car, which was what he had invested. Based on the knowledge that I had, the price sounded like top $, but not way out of line. I was so confident in our potential deal that I arranged for a shipper to transport the car back to the northeast this coming weekend, and I put the car on my antique insurance policy.
I get to the guys house, he opens the garage door, and I knew instantly that I had to have it. Trying not to let my emotions get ahold of me, I spent a good 2hrs crawling all over and under the car, and the owner even let me take a test drive alone, and he even told me to make sure that I got on it a time or to.
Long story short, I get back from my ride and I tell the owner I'm not there to BS, and I'd like to buy his car for the asking price. I extend my hand for the obligatory shake, but he hesitates. He tells me he needs to think about it, and we spent an akward hour just standing around. He then suggested that I leave and give him some time, which I did. I didn't hear from him for a few hours so I called, and instead of asking for more $ (than his asking price, mind you), he tells me that he was thinking about keeping the car! Apparently when he saw me driving away in it, he felt emotional. Come on! Don't forget - THIS GUY CONTACTED ME!! Not to mention the time and expense I had invested in the deal...
So he asks me again for more time, and I say fine what I can I do. He calls a few hours later just as I'm getting into bed to get a little sleep before my 6am flight home, and tells me the car is not for sale. I wasn't kind, naturally, but I tried not to burn any bridges, because frankly, I still want the car. Before we hung up, I even offered another $1500 over the asking price (which I regret doing, an emotional response I guess) if he'd just let it go. Without even thinking, he said no. So two flights and two awful hours in security later I'm home and I'm both pissed and heartbroken.
So that's my story - what would you do (keeping in mind how bad I want the car)?