Hey Bob,
If I may offer my 2 cents. . . I vote in complete agreement with Allen. Make a
low offer. Maybe you'll get lucky, but the worst that can happen is he tells
you to go to H***. So what if he does. Someone is going to buy the car. Ignore
what he is asking, and offer what you feel it is worth to you. Good Luck!
Jim
Florrie & Allen Bachelder wrote:
> Bob -
>
> Well, I guess a lot of us have been there and done that. I drove 400 miles
> on one occasion and 700 on another - to examine "rust-free" Magnettes
> which didn't even approach "rust-free". (As somebody on the list
> suggested, the "rust" was "free" - you pay only for the car!)
>
> But... now that you know the car is nothing LIKE what it was advertised to
> be, let me ask you about the one thing you didn't discuss in much detail -
> just how was the body? While I'd hate to give the owner much satisfaction
> for his misrepresentation, if this is a really solid rust-free body, it's
> worth $1500 - at least here in the rust belt. And if that's all he's
> asking for it, you could probably get it for far less. But you'd do it
> with your eyes open. A couple of weekends and about $3-400 and you'd have
> brakes. A new interior for a GT would raise hell with a thousand-dollar
> bill - but we're only up to $2900 so far. So put a rebuilt engine in
> it(along with what sounds like a badly-needed new clutch!) - your total
> investment creeps up to $4-5000 - depending on what you can do yourself
> (and, from a guy who rebuilt his first engine at age 49, let me tell you -
> it's more than you think!). You could put another $3-500 into the front
> suspension. But hey, what kind of a car can you buy for under six grand?
>
> I know - this is a bit of devil's advocacy. But if the body on that car is
> really good, it's still worth considering. It's when you start rust
> repair, that multiple thousand-dollar bills start going up in smoke. In
> all honesty, if I just came home from the journey you describe, I wouldn't
> want to give the owner any satisfaction either. But if the body is really
> good, I'd be tempted to confront the owner with all the bad stuff you
> discovered and then really low-ball the guy: offer like $800. A really
> good bodyshell alone has got to be worth $3000 anyway (try building one!).
> You might steel the dumb thing. There's no rocket science here; there's
> nothing, I repeat - NOTHING - broke on an MG that 'ain't' worth fixing.
> Don't give up just quite yet.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Allen
>
> >From: BOB HILL <oldcars@newt.vallnet.com>
> >
> >Well just got back from the 6 hour journey to look at the MGB GT. The
> >owner obviously described the car the way he WISHED it looked - not the
> >way it really was. I spent a lot of time ont he phone asking him
> >detailing questions about the car and even mentioned that I had just
> >gotten back from a rabbit chase last weekend becasue the guy
> >misrepresented the car.
> >
> >The owner told me that the only problem with the interior was a crack
> >onthe dash about the glove box - what B doesn't have that? Anyway, the
> >interior was a mess. Cheap seat covers over foam!! The carpet was
> >pitiful and the panel were "so-so". He said the car ran great but when I
> >test drove it, I was wondering if I woudl make it back to his place! THe
> >clutch had to be completely released in order to move the car adn as I was
> >driving down the road, the brakes nearly failed and when I went to check
> >the emergency brake, it didn't work.
> >
> >He had told me over the phone tha tthe paint was a "not so good" job but
> >in actually, it and the new tires were the only good points of the car.
> >Needless to say, he still owns the car!
> >
> >I am so tired of going to look at cars beased on a description over the
> >phone just to drive for hours and see a pile of cr*p! Sorry but I jsut
> >had to get that off my chest.
> >
> >Bob
> >
> >79 MGB
> >77 Midget
> >MGB GT - hopefully one day !!!!!
> >
>
> mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-m-gmg-mg-mg
>
> Allen Bachelder
> '73 B - "done"
> '76 B - daily driver
> '73 GT - awaiting front wings
> '65 B shell - awaiting paint
> '67 GT - awaiting everthing
> '57 ZB - parts car or resto-candidate? - awaiting decision
> '49 YT - in "progress"
>
> mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg-mg
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