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Buying a car from an idiot


Jim Oaks

Just some guy with a website
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Joined
Aug 2, 2000
Messages
15,086
Age
57
City
Nocona
State - Country
TX - USA
Other
2005 Jaguar XJ8
Vehicle Year
2021
Vehicle
Ford Ranger
Drive
4WD
Engine
2.3 EcoBoost
Transmission
Automatic
Total Lift
3.5-inches
Tire Size
295/70/17
My very first car was a 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix that I got in 1984. I loved that car. I spent $1,000 of my savings around 1987 to get it painted. The car was eventually hit and the insurance totalled it. I replaced it with a 1986 Grand Prix.

I've always missed and loved that car. The body style only ran from 1978-1980, so they're not that easy to find, and not a car that was desirable to car builders.

I found one for sale in Pittsburgh for $1,000 and went to look at it. Cash in hand. Excited to see it. It reminded me of the 1978 I had years ago.

I looked the car over and found a big hole in the floorboard under the drivers carpet. Looking underneath I would have to replace 1-2 feet of floor. The worse part was that the left rear frame end was rusted so bad the body mount was broke away from it. The car would need some serious sheet metal work around the wheel wells as well. The frame work is what worried me the most. Not sure if it could be fixed with the body on the frame. There was also issues like rust with pin holes on the hood, rust around the wheel wells, and a chrome grill that had been broke, glued back together, and painted flat black.

The seller was clueless. He told me the generator light was on and I told him it needed a new alternator. He didn't know what an alternator was. The brake pedal went to the floor and I told him it might need a new brake master cylinder. He was clueless.

All this guy knew was that he originally had the car listed for $1500 and had to lower it to $1,000. Nobody in PA that has looked at it will buy it because PA won't pass it due to the frame rust/crack. The guy knows nothing about cars, but won't go below $1,000 for it.

I hate people who sell cars and don't know anything about them.
 
Right. I see this a lot in my area. People are selling vehicles for more than what they are worth.
 
I'd just forget about that one Jim. I've condemned cars that were in a lot better shape. Basically told the owner "there is no way that car is close to legal inside your budget, and it's not leaving this shop on it's own until it is legal".
 
I love people who think Kelley Blue Book means anything in this economy.
 
I love people who think Kelley Blue Book means anything in this economy.

Dude, that isn't even close to book on that car. Kelly has no provisions for determining value in that poor a condition. Book value would probably be less than scrap.
 
My parents had a '82 with a 4.3 when I was little, I loved it. Some guy ran a stop sign and totalled it out in '87 the day before my brother was born. From the side it was actually hit it didn't look too bad, but the rest of the front end rolled to the other side. It was replaced by a Oldsmobile that as a 3 year old car nut I absoluted hated but it was all the parents could afford at the time... so they had to put up with the complaints from the back seat.
 
I'd just forget about that one Jim. I've condemned cars that were in a lot better shape. Basically told the owner "there is no way that car is close to legal inside your budget, and it's not leaving this shop on it's own until it is legal".

I had an '85 F150 with a cracked frame around the steering box...so it would only steer left. Had no exhaust past the manifolds, floor made of license plates, and would only shift out of park if you revved up the engine to 1500 rpm. Would that pass the Nazi inspections out there? :thefinger:
 
I had an '85 F150 with a cracked frame around the steering box...so it would only steer left. Had no exhaust past the manifolds, floor made of license plates, and would only shift out of park if you revved up the engine to 1500 rpm. Would that pass the Nazi inspections out there? :thefinger:

While I consider our inspections far from "Nazi" as a state inspector, I'd have to say that the answer is a resounding...


F**k NO.
 
Basically told the owner "there is no way that car is close to legal inside your budget, and it's not leaving this shop on it's own until it is legal".

I dunno about in the US...but legally....we can't do that in our dealership...unfortunately.
 
I dunno about in the US...but legally....we can't do that in our dealership...unfortunately.

It's specific to PA, and you basically have to have a car that is falling apart around itself and a danger to all occupants, everyone else in nearby proximity to it on the road, and proof that the owner has neither the funds nor the intention of fixing it.

The one car that I can readily think of that we were about to condemn at my first job belonged to the daughter of our one parts guy. 2.8 Camaro. Had a massive oil leak, hood latch was broken (so you couldn't fill the engine up again) driver's door was held closed by a bungee cord, needed a 5th tire to hold all the bald, etc.

We were about to condemn it when Craig ponied up and said "just get it good enough and I'll pay for it".

We can't actually repossess the car, we can just scrape it's safety sticker and make them either fix it to codes or have it taken away on a roll-back.
 
needed a 5th tire to hold all the bald

Heh heh heh... this really struck me as funny. Nice :icon_thumby:

No offense intended man... I am just VERY opposed to this safety inspection stuff. There is just too much potential for abuse......and it is just wrong that somebody can take your car away just because you have no choice but to drive junk. I grew up very poor and have driven a lot of stuff that had no business being on the road so it really strikes a nerve. :icon_cheers:
 
Generally speaking, most people will maintain their cars to decent condition on their own without someone holding their hand.
 
The thing is it is not the driver that gets hurt when a POS crashes it is the innocent bystander. Being sober for 4 yrs now I cringe when I think of how many lives I endangered in 30 yrs of driving drunk. I wont even get in a vehicle that is not road worthy all I do is look at the front tires if they are bald or worn on one side somthing is wrong.
 
location and need would determine the cars value....that guy looks to have neither.






my truck has been forced out of pa a few times, likely being so close to the border motivated the option over fines.


thing is theres nothing unsafe about it, well the times when the doors were off (but tube was on) one with a tiny enough mind might think it the right thing to do to call that unsafe...but its properly mirrored.. i was even bitched out about the rust...tried explaining to capt fawktard the rule cited must apply to the "frame structure/actual suspension component brackets etc" and not the cab and bed...but uh, nooooo...particular guy was an actual inspector for some time.

with the 5in lift on, and equipped with the d35 and 8.8 with reg brakes and big 35's and or 38's its one thing..

today with massive brakes and steering, all things being equal tire wise, its way better then an OEM ranger with 6 in lift and 35 or 38's.


i have more windshields busted on the road then offroad. nearly all from oem vehicles in front of me. hard to sell open wheel doom to me...besides the obvious. my tires do stick out far, and in the right conditions could be an issue, and in those same conditions a geo metro manages to rock crack my windshield as well....

so unsafe and safe are the same and not at the same time? pov?

potential/verge of mechanical failure causing loss of control is unsafe to me.

in a world that allows motorcycles to share the road with semitractors, tube doors dont qualify as something that can cause an issue.
 
The thing is it is not the driver that gets hurt when a POS crashes it is the innocent bystander. Being sober for 4 yrs now I cringe when I think of how many lives I endangered in 30 yrs of driving drunk. I wont even get in a vehicle that is not road worthy all I do is look at the front tires if they are bald or worn on one side somthing is wrong.

bad wear does not mean bad car...causal issue can be resolved and still be safe on ugly tires.:dunno:
 

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