1985 4wd MT, 110 mi, Nanaimo BC

[snephi11]

Jread, I pm'd you already, but first come first serve...wish I could get it.

My exchange with seller.

Me: Hello! This is a nice color car! I was wondering if you could send more pictures of the cars interior and, well, as many as you feel like taking. The more the merrier!! Id like to see all the details! Do you know the history of the car well? Owners? Repairs? Maintenance? I'm very interested! Thanks!

Mrs. McNevin:We are the car owners, my husband is elderly and no longer able to drive, this is a 2nd car so we don't need it now.
It has had regular maintenance and mostly driven on the Sunshine Coast, in Gibsons where we lived previously.

We're sorry to see it go. I can refer you to the mechanic who has maintained it but only to a serious buyer.\
I am unable to get more photos just now, my son is away, the interior is in pretty good condition considering the age of the car.

I followed up again today, but no response yet. The car is still listed. I have 2 friends I'm lookin for, but they opted out.
http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Toyota/Terce ... rup=2_15_4

[snephi11]

Gibson looks like a great place for a car like this to live in secret.

[snephi11]

Sold

[Petros]

good ones do not last long. next time indicate you want to come and buy it, you have cash, rather than ask questions like a "looky-lou".

[jread]

Damn! Even if I had the cash now wouldn't have had time to even get to the island.

[dlb]

i wonder when that ad was placed. i don't see a date on the page so it may have been there for quite a while and snephi just happened to find it when it finally sold. who knows.

i wonder if they got the asking price. i think $2000 was too much. there is body damage on both sides of the rear end, mismatched steel wheels, and a missing rub strip. that's not a good start from just two photos.

[snephi11]

Well, Petros, I contacted the seller 10 hours after it was posted on behalf of a friend. I sat on it until they said they couldn't swing the cash, then I gave it to the carrion. I know the name of the game. I had my current T4 (no rust, no dents, perfect all original everything) purchased for me without my knowledge in Colorado while I was salmon fishing on the Alaskan Gulf. I didn't even need to know of the cars existence because I am so not looky-lou. I appreciate your general concern though.

Remember one thing when buying cars, esp T4's: Money talks, bullshit walks.

[Petros]

it was not meant as a criticism of you snephi11, I would presume everyone on this forum when they want to buy a T4wd will pursue it honestly and aggressively to get the car they want. It is just that sometimes you have to be careful about how you inquire about a car or the seller might not take you seriously. Looking at your inquiry, pretending you were a stranger, it kind of looked like you perhaps were not a serious buyer, nowhere in the ad did it say "I want to buy your car" or something similar, just a number of questions. I have bought and sold many cars over the years, I paid for my collage by buying non-runners, fixing and cleaning them up and reselling, making them more desirable so I gain myself a nice tax free profit (which paid better than any job I could have gotten than anyway). but I have seen a difference the way strangers respond to both poorly written ads, and to careless inquiries about cars for sale. Allow me to share with everyone here how to make good buys.

with a good buy, the seller will get lots of inquiries, usually very fast. Most will give it to the first serious inquiry they get, but when you might get 10 or 12 inquiries the first day the ad is up (I have before), than you do not want to waste time with people that do not have the money, want to trade something much less desirable, or for whatever reason just want to test drive cars and are not serious buyers (or for some reason think they can low ball you, even though you have ten other people wanting to come and out and look at it). I have been at both ends of this kind of transaction, what is important it to consider how you come across to the other person; they are a total stranger and you know nothing about their motivation other than what they put (or not put) in the ad, or in the case of responding to the ad, how the response is formulated. So I always try and be polite and respectful, ask a few questions, but also close with a statement saying you are ready to buy and have cash in hand, after you get a chance to look at it, test drive, etc.

I usually get very positive feed back, I recently had a guy hold a pair of skis I wanted to buy on Craig's list over a weekend since I could not come to see them until monday. I was the first inquiry, he had lots of other responses (they were a great buy), but trusted I was a serious buyer and kept them for me until I can buy them (I even gave him $5 extra for doing it, they were a great price and he did not have to hold them). He had no reason to hold them for me, but was nice enough to do it and I rewarded that kindness, even though I had not offered it over the email. Other times I had came to look at a car or other item, and the guy selling it was so pleased with our interaction he offered to lower the price without me even asking. Not only was did I treat the seller respectfully, but he was impressed with my own motivations and was happy to see what he was selling go to me rather than the many rude and disrespectful people that had responded to the ad.

Buying and selling is a bottom line business, but it is ultimately is about a relationship with another person, particularly with person to person casual sales such as off CL or at swap meets or garage sales (another place where I buy lots of tools and fun sports equipment really cheap). Most people are not professional sales persons, and are often uncomfortable making a larger sale with strangers, making it a positive experiance for them will ease their stress over it and make them comfortable selling you their car. When transactions are done with honestly and respect on both sides, than everyone is happy and things always go well. And sometimes even leads to new friendships and other benefitical relationships later. Many of the people I have sold cars to over the years, including many Terel4wd regularly send me friendly emails about what is happening with their cars many months and even years later, many have joined this forum at my suggestion. So by going away from a transaction with a positive results, the relationship may lead to benefits for years to come.

[snephi11]

kape