Something to talk about.

[ashbros]

I Just Traveled 1000 miles in less than 18 hours to Look At..................... A real piece of sh_t.

I have taken hundreds of road trips in my life time looking for that diamond in the rough and kinda thought I had a little bit better judgement. All I got out of my last road trip was something to talk about.

:? :? What is it with these guys and the prices they put on their cars. I know everyone to some degree thinks their car is the One, their baby, the best thing that ever happened to them, but there are limits. I even understand that one may list the price of their car just a little above market value so they have a little room to barter, but this car was way off base.

The asking price for the car was 25,000.00, it was a 7500 - 10,000 dollar car.

I am not going to call out the car or seller, because I just saw it sold to some unfortunate buyer on ebay. I really feel sorry for that guy. Never the less when that bad boy shows up at his house I know he is going to be ticked off. Really ticked off.

However, if the car does show back up on RJ I will send a Red flag up immediately.

The only thing I could say about the car was the body was solid for its age.

This car was a 4 linked backhalf car. The 4 link was less than a foot long from rear axel to front brace. It has welds on it the were an inch wide and ugly isn't the word.The steel used for the backhalf was 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 frame rails. Frame braces were welded to body panels.

The guy sent me pics, and the pics were not as good as quality as I needed to see. They were a little fuzzy and always seem to show just enough, but not enough, you know what I mean.

The conversations I had with the owner, well, he was a really nice guy, very cordial. The add was described in basic content, the pictures were taken in front of a nice house and all the pics were 20 footers or greater.

Overall, between the ad and the conversations with the owner this opportunity appeared to have all the ingredients of finding a possible canidate for my next project.

Looking back on the whole ordeal, I probably made a few mistakes in my own judgement to take that trip, but I was couriously drawn into wanting to see the car in person.

My boys and I laughed all the way home. They ribbed me about how I wasted their time going to look at a piece of Sh_t and how I will no longer be able to make such road trip decisions. and the best comment of all was "I thought you had better judgement than that, You must be getting too old for this." :oops:
Well I am done venting, just a long ride. I am talking more about how foolish I was to make the decission to take that trip, how I lost 200 bucks in fuel. LOL :D Its all my fault, I know this, but still wonder what are some of these guys thinking.

You can bet your hind end I will be a little ore cautious before I make my next road trip. I just hope the boys will ride along next time. LOL

[fla1976]

I think everyone has made that journey at least once. Makes you wonder though, what about those that buy sight unseen..

[Scorpion1110]

Ash-

Did you lose $200 in fuel or could you consider it $200 in insurance to protect you from buying a piece of junk long distance.

I would consider it $200 well spent.

Scorp

[ashbros]

:lol: LOL Scorpion1110

Yeah I read you loud and clear. I paid 200 bucks for a great time of bonding with my boys. I may never hear the end of it, but it was a good time.

If this trip taught me one thing, I will never buy sight unseen

[slowmotion]

When I was a kid my dad drove 400 miles to look at a "really nice pro stock style" car.
When the got there it was very rough. The floorboards were made from highway road signs. :roll:

He eventually just had a new car built after looking at a few of the gems.

[joeready]

YEP BEEN ON A FEW OF THEM MYSELF THE TRIP ON THE WAY HOME IS ALWAYS THE BEST LOL

[Tod74]

what about those that buy sight unseen..


I have a word for that.....moron

A carburator or a intake you buy sight unseen....a CAR ? No way.

JMO no offense to any of you intended


Consider it a vacation/ time with your boys

I would love to be able to spend 18 hours with my father.

[gungho]

Made a journey like that myself,long story short I spoke to the seller than bought a nova on e-bay,some call it winning....well I loaded up my father,and off we went,a real father and son moment,well we get four states over,and there it is.I almost threw up..I got out and looked inside,well actually through the car and it looked like the Flintstones mobile,there was only a trans tunnel,now I was told a hole the size of a Quarter,the part that upset me the most was,the was supposed to meet me there,I was right on time and he was nowhere to be found,talk about scumbag!!!? well we drove home and dad was shocked,that i got taken ,and then the guy had the balls to report me to e-bay for not paying!!! of course the phone no longer gets answered when I called,but I told e-bay what happened and could describe his house to a t and even knew the color of his cat...well that was my one and only online car purchase,now mind you I asked this guy a list of questions and he lied about everything,I guess he thought I was going to take it since I made the trip.well at least I didn't loose thousands like I see and hear about everyday.The problem is, the honest guys,you know who you are.,trust and believe people because we are honest,but unfortunately that is untrue,thanks for reading my boring complaint...

[bjuice]

Went with a Buddy of Mine to Dallas Texas about 4 years ago to buy a 10.5 mustang.....same deal a real POS when we got there... :shock:


But i was on the other end of a deal like this when a Guy called me ( let's just say 700 miles away)

I sent the Guy 30 plus pictures..close up...described the car to a tee,if anything i underdescribed the car if anything...he got here and we went out to the shop,,he walked around the car 3 or 4 times.. i ask him was the car desrcibed as i said it was ...he said Yes but he didn't like the older model Tranny in the car ????? (WHAT ?)...Now i been aorund this game for a long time and i cannot look under a car 5 inches off the ground and tell you whats inside a tranny...maybe if its a stock case or not but thats it....

Anyhow he said he was gonna get a hotel room for the Night and would call me in the morning...well he called me back that night and offered me MUCH less than the price we agreed upon...i ask him did i not describe the car good enough to him ..and he said..Yes...
So i "Laughed" out loud (actually) and told him to have a safe trip home...never heard nothing else from him.

I still have the same car and glad i Did not sell.It has turned out to be one of the funniest best all around cars i ever owned...one person can run it,easy to maintain, all motor should go 5.70's all day long...what more do ya want ?

Chris a member on here (RJ Forum) Bowtie454 ended up with the 406 small block i had in the car and it now sports a 565ci PAR bullet..
By the way Cris as been to my house several Times ( new and old house)

just wanted to share.

[dak697]

I think you have to take the long distance purchases with a grain of salt. I know that most people are pretty good at what they descibe, others find it a challenge. I think it is almost worth the price of a plane ticket or a couple of tanks of gas to see it in your own eyes.

[bigray]

i kinda had the same deal,but i was the seller,in the winter time i refurbish old kawasaki's like 900's and 1000;s anyway,i did one a few years back,front to back everything new except the motor.even sent the factory wheels off to Texas to get chromed..this kz was off the hook clean.but all i had in it was 2250.00 bucks.so up for sell it went.for 2500.00 a young kid from about 200 miles away bought it.when we met he could not believe i was selling this bike to him for 2300.00 bucks.i slapped him on the back and said be safe and have fun..and it kept me busy all winter rebuilding it....

[ashbros]

gungho & bjuice

Love the stories, I was LMAO the whole time i was reading.

These are truely the memoriors of our lives. We've taken the time out to share our stories on RJ, may I suggest you copy and paste your short story to a word document and print, start a scrape book of you own. One day hopefully long after we are gone someone in our lives may have the opportunity to take the time to read about our past and laugh their as_ off just as we did after our road trip adventures.

[race1155]

I SOLD A 69 FIREBIRD DRAG CAR FROM N.J. TO A GUY IN C.A. AND I TOOK PITCHERS OF EVERY SCRATCH ON THE DAME CAR I WAS A WRECK . I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO HAVE ANY SURPRISES WHEN HE GOT THE CAR.

[bjuice]

your right i have sold 4 or 5 by internet and all of them was stressful and my stuff was GOOD PIECE'S....tough road sellinng this stuff by internet.

Frankly there are just some looney Tunes out here.

[BEAST477]

My first sale on here was a fairly big ticket item in my book. A '66 Nova pro street. It had been on here awhile lots of interesting offers, then i lowered my price to cash no trades got a serious offer and we agreed and i would meet half way. Well after two weekends of bad weather and a couple other offers that i told him about he said don't sell he wants it. So i said i need some money to show me you're serious. He overnites me $5000 and finally two weeks later we meet and he was totally happy. Whew, talk about butterflies.

[bjuice]

Beast talking about stress..let me briefly as i can run you thru the highpoints of getting my 63 vette.

1- had 65 blown nova,chassis shop double railing car after bad ride down track where chassis was over powered.
2- was dis-pleased with chassis shop.
3- found other chassis shop took car to them.
4- this is where i met the 63 vette, that was about to be sent to Miami Fla
5- Made offer on vette got turndown..not enough money on the offer
6- advertised 65 nova on RJ ( i had 2 weeks to sell and come up with Money for vette) got a Buyer on line but Job had to be finshed in 2 weeks for buyer to pick up with my cash and before vette went South. :shock:
7- Buyer sent me a deposit
8- i was traveling out of town and was taking his calls on car up dates in return i had to call the chassis shop and keep the heat on them to get car done. hundreds of dollars spent on last minute drop shipment parts..etc...

9- Buyer made the 700 mile trip to get the car while it was still at chassis shop,so any questions could be ask about chassi etc.. ( you know how stressful this can be)
10- got the money after a day of courting (which is good) made it one day before Vette was to leave and purchased it and got it home..

fast forward 2 years...Vette is sold to man in Canada...

Are we crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :roll: :lol: :shock:

[lively]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

[fishmanjoe]

HEY GUYS!I started working on cars before there were PCs and internet.YOU KNOW ,me and my buddies would always take those trips in the fall after the tracks closed.Some of my best memorys were going and looking at some project cars and some pos.Then Ihad 2 sons and we still go on a couple of these trips looking for parts at some of the flea markets.When you can put your hand on the parts before you go into your pocket,you usually are safer.FISHMANJOE.

[BEAST477]

Beast talking about stress..let me briefly as i can run you thru the highpoints of getting my 63 vette.

1- had 65 blown nova,chassis shop double railing car after bad ride down track where chassis was over powered.
2- was dis-pleased with chassis shop.
3- found other chassis shop took car to them.
4- this is where i met the 63 vette, that was about to be sent to Miami Fla
5- Made offer on vette got turndown..not enough money on the offer
6- advertised 65 nova on RJ ( i had 2 weeks to sell and come up with Money for vette) got a Buyer on line but Job had to be finshed in 2 weeks for buyer to pick up with my cash and before vette went South. :shock:
7- Buyer sent me a deposit
8- i was traveling out of town and was taking his calls on car up dates in return i had to call the chassis shop and keep the heat on them to get car done. hundreds of dollars spent on last minute drop shipment parts..etc...

9- Buyer made the 700 mile trip to get the car while it was still at chassis shop,so any questions could be ask about chassi etc.. ( you know how stressful this can be)
10- got the money after a day of courting (which is good) made it one day before Vette was to leave and purchased it and got it home..

fast forward 2 years...Vette is sold to man in Canada...

Are we crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :roll: :lol: :shock:


A little crazy? Yes. It must be we have to stress a LITTLE to be able to enjoy our next venture. Because selling the '66 financed a nice golf cart that i picked up on the return trip and the build of the new "540" That now i'm stressing over till it gets down the track. Then it will be something else.LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:

[bjuice]

Beast talking about stress..let me briefly as i can run you thru the highpoints of getting my 63 vette.

1- had 65 blown nova,chassis shop double railing car after bad ride down track where chassis was over powered.
2- was dis-pleased with chassis shop.
3- found other chassis shop took car to them.
4- this is where i met the 63 vette, that was about to be sent to Miami Fla
5- Made offer on vette got turndown..not enough money on the offer
6- advertised 65 nova on RJ ( i had 2 weeks to sell and come up with Money for vette) got a Buyer on line but Job had to be finshed in 2 weeks for buyer to pick up with my cash and before vette went South. :shock:
7- Buyer sent me a deposit
8- i was traveling out of town and was taking his calls on car up dates in return i had to call the chassis shop and keep the heat on them to get car done. hundreds of dollars spent on last minute drop shipment parts..etc...

9- Buyer made the 700 mile trip to get the car while it was still at chassis shop,so any questions could be ask about chassi etc.. ( you know how stressful this can be)
10- got the money after a day of courting (which is good) made it one day before Vette was to leave and purchased it and got it home..

fast forward 2 years...Vette is sold to man in Canada...

Are we crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :roll: :lol: :shock:


A little crazy? Yes. It must be we have to stress a LITTLE to be able to enjoy our next venture. Because selling the '66 financed a nice golf cart that i picked up on the return trip and the build of the new "540" That now i'm stressing over till it gets down the track. Then it will be something else.LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:

lmao...good one..i like the last part... :D

[TheYellaBrick]

It's the journey :D :D not the destination :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
The short bus leaves in 18 minutes for a field trip !! LOAD UP !!!

[ashbros]

Ok,

You all know about the 1000 mile trip in 18 hours, Well heres one for you.

Just went and looked at a nice lil pro streeter 20 minutes from my house. It isn't listed on the internet, it is one of those "word of mouths deals" you always hear about, after its too late.

The boys and I were reluctant to even go to look at this car. We did not really want to go at all after our last venture. Matter a fact, I think the comments I heard when we were loading up in the car kinda went something like this, "What kind of POS we going to look at now? I bet this is worse than the last? Dad, Your gonna have to quit draggin me out on these wild goose chases, Quit trying to find the car you want, just build it yourself. Your just too damb picky.

After comments like that, from the ones you love, all you can do is sit back, drive, feel the pressure building with every mile and pray that when you get to your destination, the car sitting in the garage, at least, has 4 tires, a battery and a windshield.

Well guys, I got lucky and pulled this one out my As_. Just so happends, It is one of the nicest cars I have seen in a few years. Proved a point to them young whipper snappers, The ol man has still got a few runs left in him.

Since then, I have been strutting around nose up and chest fully expanded. I have proven to my boys that you can't keep an ol man down. Determination has once again raised my level of respect around the shop.

Ain't that something!!! Needless to say, we could not beleive we found such a nice car in our back yard.

I informed the owner of the car that I would be making him an offer in the next few days. We'll just have to see if it all works out.

Guys, all I can say is; Keep making those trips with your sons, daughters, fathers, grandfathers or your best friend. Memories like these, truely are priceless :D and the happen to be some of the best shop talk you'll ever hear.

[BEAST477]

Is it going to be a stressful ride? :shock: :) :)

[bigray]

YEp,YEP,same deal,heard or a 97 chevy Ex cab,chopped,tubbed,suiside doors,(sorry cant spell that word)new inside,all that good stuff,Boyd wheels.went to look at it,and well.tires wore out,been keyed down driver side,doors would barely latch.and had a bad stumble,he was asking 12500.00 i told him way to rough for me.well 1 day later he called and said O.k come get it 7000.00 i said deal,One new fuel filter,fixed the stumble,where it had been keyed.just layed in some tribal flame art work.all the doors needed were new latches.it turned out to be a good deal after all..So dont be afraid to go look.you never know what it may look like..

[cepx111]

YEp,YEP,same deal,heard or a 97 chevy Ex cab,chopped,tubbed,suiside doors,(sorry cant spell that word)new inside,all that good stuff,Boyd wheels.went to look at it,and well.tires wore out,been keyed down driver side,doors would barely latch.and had a bad stumble,he was asking 12500.00 i told him way to rough for me.well 1 day later he called and said O.k come get it 7000.00 i said deal,One new fuel filter,fixed the stumble,where it had been keyed.just layed in some tribal flame art work.all the doors needed were new latches.it turned out to be a good deal after all..So dont be afraid to go look.you never know what it may look like..
You were close - *suicide*

I really enjoyed reading this post, it brought back lots of memories, good and bad.
Thankfully most every deal I've ever made were "good deals"
I want to add one more thing - I want to thank Racingjunk
Without this website most of us wouldn't have been able to make these deals - personally most if not all of my mine would have never happened.
Just wanted to throw that out there
Later> Cp

[ashbros]

CP

So Simple, is your response, but yet so true.
You hit the nail on the head right there buddy.

RJ has most definately made a lot of my own dreams come true and brought me in touch with many race fans who care about the racing industry. In a way its kind of like an extended family. Many members on RJ have an amazing amount of racing knowledge & experience and do not mind sharing their knowledge with others.

Time to remove my hat.
Thanks,
RJ

[dgordner]

My so and I Drove all the way to Alabama from Pa. to look at a 68 Chevelle that the guy said was really nice. Pictures looked good from a distance. Drove around the car at the Military base and headed directly back to Pa. Recently (3 weeks ago) drove to western Ohio from Pa. to look at a 70 Javelin. Pictures looked really good. Came home without it. Fun with my son!!!

[bjuice]

same here guys..i been around since April 2003..met a lot of people, bought and sold many parts etc.....Seen many people come and go on the forum..even those who leave come back,they may try to hide and sneak in but i can see them...lol...
seriously many newbie's that come in here stompin and snorting about different things trying to get us regulars to side with them before both sides are heard....then they accuse us of being a little tight Clickish group because we ask hard questions seraching for the truth..but you know something.. they are Right !..we are a tight clickish group....LMAO 8) ..we got a good group of guys here..serioulsy probably the best day to day core contributing members i have seen since i been on here...

My hats off to all you guys for making the forum what it is and puttin up with Me as your Mod... :wink:

[blownalky3]

I have to say there are a lot of great people on here, and many who will help whatever way they can. I have also been around since 2003, but I am a newbie to the forum section. Some people are certainly stompin and snortin, but if they have conviction they are right and are upset because the opening questions are one sided and not directed to both sides, they might just have a point. The questioning should always be to both until one or the other moves the scales in their favor with solid proof. And then those who were doing the asking, should acknowledge those who proved their cases, thats the only fair thing to do. At one time or another we were ALL NEWBIES. Not all new people are bad, and for every carl1970 or Dick Gaylord there are 50 great ones. Every night I look on this site because I enjoy hunting for the parts I need and this site is a great place to buy and sell. Thanks to this forum, I will certainly do my homework before I purchase anything and I will also better document and photograph anything I might decide to sell. I have gotten a lot of good advice here the last three weeks, and have taken responsability to be a better RJ member by acting on that advice, filling out my profile and giving all the info related to me as a person to help others hopefully build trust. That's all a newbie can do.

[blownalky3]

Thank you for letting me know. I was trying to be delicate and correct. I see exactly what you are saying and can understand your stances 99.9% of the time. I believe I am still a little touchy with my situation. I go so far out of my way to be a stand up guy because I was raised that way, but being a newbie, I can understand that I have to prove myself to this forum and it's longtime members. What I dont understand is how people question a situation (not singling out, just some in general), ask for answers, get those answers, and then never acknowledge the case was proven and move on to the next interesting thread. If you have ever been accused, then you know how I feel about having the question remain in some peoples eyes with no acknowledgement. Being a Mod, you know the guy has even changed his names multiple times in the last three weeks to hide, deleted all his profile info and along the way admitted every single thing I said and more. That has to tell people something. I just hope you who can look at IP addresses, know who he becomes and expose his new names to save the other members from this experience.