Just one word of advice from my own experience. Never buy a car sight
unseen! I don't care how good it looks in pictures or what the owner tells
you about the car. Verify it all with your own eyes or someone who you know
and trust. Remember the one rule when buying anything "Caveat Emptor".
So if you are planning to shell out some serious money on an old car, do all
the up front checking and looking at photos, but invest in that plane ticket
as the last step. You won't regret it and it will be cheaper in the long
run.
My own experience was to put a down payment down sight unseen. I still made
the plane trip, but the car was not as advertised. So I had three options;
1) complete the transaction, but I had lost my bargaining power 2) walk away
and lose my deposit 3) kick the shit out of the owner for misleading me. I
chose option number 1 and it cost me another $10K to put the car right. I am
very satisfied with the car now, but option 3 would have felt better at the
time!
Best of luck,
Phil Roettjer
67 +4
67 MGB
53 Lotus 6
1980 Porsche 928 (car has 36K mikes and is for sale. And I do have
documentation on the mileage and would expect anyone interested to look at
the car)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lannis [SMTP:ottoflick@netzero.net]
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 9:59 PM
> To: morgans@autox.team.net
> Subject: Selling a Morgan....
>
> Ken -
>
> If it'll help, I can share my experience from a couple years ago when I
> bought my 4/4.
>
> The seller of the 4/4 that I bought didn't have time to fool with selling
> it
> himself, so he gave it to an experienced friend who dealt with Morgans all
> the time (in this case, John Sheally).
>
> When I went looking for a Morgan, I wrote to half-a-dozen people that I
> knew
> (via Morgan rally and race visits and research) and asked if they knew of
> a
> car for sale per my description, and the one that was with Sheally just
> happened to be the right one.
>
> So as a seller, you may want to get in touch with someone (maybe Cantab,
> or
> someone who deals with them a lot) who can help you sell it.
>
> The problem of how to deal with a long-distance bargain is always a touchy
> one. I've found that the only sure way to do it is via mutual references,
> or by getting someone you know who's near the car to look it over for you.
> You and the buyer will have to work something like this out, because
> buying
> a car sight unseen from a person you've never seen or heard of is a recipe
> for disaster. Most people won't do it.
>
> Hemmings is always good; I look through it every month just to keep up
> with
> what the asking prices are. Sometimes I see cars that just HAVE to be a
> good deal.....
>
> The Morgan club newsletters are good too. Usually the guys in there are
> well-known club members, and maybe someone you know can vouch for them.
>
> Or the buyer can get someone on this list to check for them. There's all
> kinds of weird personalities here (present company included), but, as far
> as
> I can tell, everyone's honest and helpful.
>
> There's two ways of setting a price for anything. One is for you as the
> seller to set the price as "What It's Worth To You". The other is "What
> it
> Will Sell For". That's a thin line to walk; if you set the price too
> low,
> someone will snap it up tomorrow and you'll be out some money. If you set
> it too high, you'll "poison" it and will have to take it off the market
> until people forget about it and you can advertise again. Look over the
> asking prices for those 37 cars, compare the descriptions to yours, make
> the
> necessary adjustments for the way you describe things as opposed to the
> way
> most other people do, and start there.
>
> Good Luck!
>
> Lannis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Balzer <Kbalzer@BizEvents.com>
> To: morgans@autox.team.net <morgans@autox.team.net>
> Date: Friday, September 22, 2000 10:33 AM
>
>
> >Hello everyone,
> >
> >Sadly, the time has come for me to sell my 1965 4/4 (B1066). I have had
> it
> >for about 12 years and had planned on giving it to my daughter as a
> collage
> >graduation present (she's 14 now). But pressing, unexpected home repair
> >projects have changed my plans.
> >
> >I was wondering what would be the best way to market it. I have looked at
> >hemmings.com's site & found about 37 for sale there. Is that the most
> >visible way to get to folks looking to buy? Has anyone bought or sold on
> >ebay? (ebay seems so un-British!) If so, what's your feedback.
> >
> >And what about long-distance inquiries (I'm in the Pittsburgh, PA area).
> >What do you do to make both the buyer and seller feel comfortable if they
> >are many miles apart?
> >
> >And my other problem is coming up with the asking price. I was thinking
> that
> >I should look at the hemmings listings & price my car based on what
> >comparables there were asking. Any thoughts on how to fairly price your
> car
> >for sale? And I'm not in a rush to sell, thanks to home equity loans!!!
> >
> >You can see my car at http://www.pittsburghasmp.org/morgan
> >
> >Thanks in advance for you advise.
> >
> >Ken Balzer
> >webtech@bizevents.com
> >412-381-3111
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