Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

mark156

Akangl, unless I missed a post which could have happened since I've been away for awhile...... are you still in Alaska? Nice looking place you have there!

Lot's of things have been going on in my life so I've been busy...... think'n of changing a few cars out soon.

Mark156

28firefighter

Nice to see you back, Mark. Hope all is well! Been cruising the country in your RV?

akangl

Akangl, unless I missed a post which could have happened since I've been away for awhile...... are you still in Alaska? Nice looking place you have there!

Good to see you back on here Mark!

For now we are still in Alaska, hopefully we have all that sorted out by spring. I hate the uncertainty. I prefer the other view from the house.....taken from our front porch:

roadburner

We cruised through our BMW dealer's lot last nigh to check out the new X1s. My wife saw one in Valencia Orange and immediately said, "That's my next car." So... that means we'll probably pick up an off-lease CPO X1 in 2-3 years. At that point we'll probably pass the E90 down to my son and sell the '04 X3 after 10 years of largely trouble-free service...

stickguy

I loved the X1 we sat in. But, at least for now, way too small for us (the RDX is borderline at best already).

for me, it would be fantastic. Other than not being able to afford it of course!

stickguy

still trying to unload the van (not as much interest as I expected. Figures.) So I lowered the price, and put it on cars.com too.

so today, I get this email (follow-up t an earlier "is it available, I got a few questions" one).

This has to be a scam, right? I know that the old cash my check and give change scam is still out there, as are the bogus cashiers checks. But what is the angle with paypal?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

here Thanks for your time. I don't have the chance to come and view it
because am currently out of town for now due to my wedding
preparation,i am buying this for my uncle,and can you by any chance
send close up photos? as it will help in my decision since i will be
buying sight unseen.Payment will be made via PayPal only as PayPal is
my only payment option i can access here(if you don't have a PayPal
account yet, it pretty easy to set up and it very secured. All you
have to do is to log on to www.paypal.com) it can"t take you less than
3 mins to do that. Since I'm requesting this transaction to be done
via PayPal, all the charges is on me and i have a specialized mover
that will come pick it up once payment clears. I hope we can make the
purchase as fast as possible?
is the email:

corvette

I would ignore it and wait for a cash buyer. Paypal has fairly generous chargeback policies (compared to your taking a cashier's check), and they could be using someone's stolen Paypal account.

nyccarguy

Don't bite. It's most definitely some sort of scam. "I'm buying for my uncle..." puuuuuuulease!

jayrider

Paypal is super secure as long as you only give out the email that you use to buy or sell. Create a new one that has no connection to your other accounts. Buyers don't pay to use the service, but on ebay, the seller is charged a small fee. If I were going to send you money, then you would give me your paypal email. I would send the amount and you would receive notice of a payment. The money would be transferred directly to your bank account which you give to paypal. The buyer never has access. You wait until the amount has cleared and you have access to it. Then you can arrange to turn over the truck. I think you can have a check sent to you as well but it takes more time. Check out the website and call them to make sure you are protected. Why someone would send you a large sum of money and rely on you to do the right thing sounds a bit shakey but you never know. Didn't think of stolen or bogus paypal accounts but as long as you have the truck the only issue would be identity fraud. Have the transporter bring the cash when they pick up the van.

stickguy

I'm siding with Bradd here. Even on the off chance it is legit (and it has that smell to it of month old broccoli in the back of the fridge...) it is going to be way more hassle than it is worth.

stickguy

son at school finally got around to putzing with his car today. of course, being a college student, early in the day was out of the question. Finally got a housemate with jumper cables to go out and it jumped fine. Started out to Walmart (since by now, Honda dealer service department was closed), and got a block or 2, lost power, and the car died. So on to plan B: call AAA and wait for a tow to the Honda dealer, where he will have to drop the keys and wait until Monday before they will be open again to even take a look at it.

He did say the cables were corroded (I cleaned them last time he was home), so it cold be that. Or the alternator died. But, beyond the scope of a college kid with no car knowledge or tools to DIY at this point. I would help, but he is 4 hours away!

jayrider

It can take 3-4 months to sell a car. Be patient --- you have it priced right -- it will sell.

isellhondas

I agree with you except on the 3-4 month part.

Dropping the price won't help. As I said before, you have it well priced. It's the right model and color.

I am really shocked that it hasn't sold already!

stickguy

dropped it from 14K to 13K. and paid to put it on cars.com too for more "ral" exposure. Had a couple of new bits, but the usual ("real interested, give me #, I want to com see, then you never hear back!). Plus the guy I posted about above.

but, we are not in a hurry. Mostly want to free up space in the driveway. eventually someone will spot it and be the "right" buyer, because I think it shows nice. Just have to find that person, and get them out to look at it!

isellhondas

Don't waste your time with the strokes, flakes and scam artists.

When you get a real buyer, you'll know it.

Let a week go by without advertsiing it and then try it again.

If the same people keep seeing it over and over, people may think something is wrong with it.

A busy street corner with a For Sale sign can work well too.

rayainsw

Plugging a long section of the text into google produced this -

OK - the link keeps breaking - I entered this into google = one result:

'"because am currently out of town for now due to my wedding preparation,i am buying"

https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Sending-and-receiving-money/Advice-about-sel- - -ling-a-car-recieving-payment-via-paypal/td-p/273176/page/2?profile.language=en-- - g- b

stickguy

link kind of broke up, but I assume it was proving there was a know scam going on? (oh, reread and googled, and got to the page). as I figured, not worth my time responding.

I am also too lazy and busy (quite a combination!) to deal with convoluted schemes. Just show up with real money, and take the car away, or leave me alone!

between work blowing up, my kid and his dead car 4 hours away, and being short a bathroom (we had the main hall bath ripped out Tuesday, so that is a work in progress), just having had the front big windows replaced (why not, they were here anyway!) and having had to make a flying trip to swap new cars, I need a drink not more to think about.

jayrider

Just to waste time -- ran a search on the wedding plan buyer. Definitely a scam -- it appears on Craigslist and other sites pretty much word for word. My dual action power drink of choice is a cup of coffee with a nice shot of Irish in it.

mark156

Thanks akangl and 28firefighter for the nice 'welcome back'. There were over 1,300 posts to read to catch up and I just couldn't do it. LOL!

And yes, we are currently on a motorhome trip stopping in Beaver, UT, tonight. Then to Las Vegas for a week starting tomorrow to make a donation to the casino gods.

I'm looking forward to replacing the '07 Honda CR-V with a 2013. Thinking I want the metallic white they offer now, could be different choices for the 2013 model.

Hope everybody is on this thread is doing well. I still see a lot of familiar names still hanging around. I've never met any of you guys/gals and you seem like family! :P

Mark156

fezo

Hey, I already offered you $6K for it. I'll do the same for Mark's (welcome back!) 07 CRV.....

isellhondas

6000.00? That's too cheap!

I'll do 6200.00 IF he delivers it!

mark156

I always heard the most expensive Honda is your first... .so, I'll take $30,000 even and call it a day. It only has 62,000 driven miles which was just on Sunday's but pulled behind the RV Monday-Saturday! Only 118,000 on the chassis when including towing miles! A cream puff. :P

Mark156

mark156

In June, I stopped at the Newell Motorcoach factory in North Miami, OK, to check out the new custom made Newell coaches. Interesting, but it didn't hit the 'love' button. The pneumatic air doors had me concerned if there was ever a failure. Also, I didn't like the bi-fold cargo doors, I couldn't get them to work right which is a major error in a coach in that price range.

There was not a screen door offered when the entrance door was opened for fresh air when camping. The 600 hp Cummins was something that caught my eye.

The Foretravel coaches in Nacogdoches, TX, will be my next pursuit as they offer the 650 hp Cummins. The HI-45 Quad chassis seems to be nice and I will have to check them out in person. :surprise:

Mark156

corvette

I love the metallic white on my Altima. Looks like there are a lot of nice color choices on the new CR-V. Navy metallic, dark red metallic, coffee brown, and "Mountain Air Metallic," which looks interesting. I wish they would offer a beige interior (instead of grey) with the navy and dark red colors.

steine13

Learned Friends:

After five long, dry years, with the '03 Sienna and the '07 Vibe 5sp that I both bought new, I finally broke down and bought a used car again. So maybe I can stay in the club?

I get the best cars, it seems, if I just sit streamside and take pot luck of whatever bobs in the water as it flows by. This gem is a 1995 Camry from one of our professors; a one-owner car with 124k on the clock. Not coddled but maintained and clean on the inside. The MI elements have not been all that kind to the exterior, and being white doesn't exactly help.

OTOH, everything works, the AC is ice cold, and it's quieter at speed than the Vibe. Most cars are. The price was a very reasonable $1,500, at least in today's market. It would have been half that even six years ago, but the way used cars have shot up... anything that runs right is worth something today.

Considering I bike to work and the missus and I usually share the Vibe, its main function is to let the Sienna sit in a barn during salt season so it'll last another decade... not buying another minivan, thank you. The picture below shows it from the "good" side; you can't see the rust on the rear wheel wells. I even have the fuel filler door; it's in the trunk :P . Looks very classy like that.

EDIT: having picture trouble; trying it both ways;
link

tjc78

Those generation Camrys run forever. I think the styling still looks good even today. You are right, running, driving and everything operational 1500 is about the price of admission.

stever

Can't you guys do something about the salt up here? Going on two years and my rides already look worse than they did in a decade in Alaska. The mob must run the salt mines and payoff or threaten the pols.

/rant. Anyone looking for an end of the month, end of the model year buy?

tjc78

The only thing you can do is oil the underside and wash it constantly during the winter. (not an easy task I'm sure) I hate salt. Living in NJ we don't have harsh winters, but at the first sign of snow they salt till the roads are white.

fezo

Nice car. Nice deal. I'm looking around a bit since I have two daughters in cars with over 200K on them. Heck the older daughter;s Accord has 259K on it. Just drove it the other day. I can finally say no it doesn't drive like new but it's still plenty nice.

qbrozen

Iinteresting. As some of you may remember, I sold my FILs car to an overseas buyer using PayPal. I was very nervous the whole time, but it all worked out fine in the end.

However, I do see this scam seems rampant in this case. The big red flag is: why wouldn't you just pay and then come get it when you are back in town? What is the shipper going to do with it while you are away?

But, heck, i would write back with the very generous offer that, for the small non refundable deposit of $200, you will be happy to hold the car until their schedule clears up and they come see the car.

tjc78

You can't sell anything on Craig's without at least one scam Email. I tried to sell an old Android phone on CL and gave up with the BS. Threw it on EBay and still netted more cash after the fees.

stickguy

I'm used to the scam/flakes by now and just delete those.

Did talk to a guy a few minutes ago that wants to come see it tomorrow. So things are looking up!

corvette

Nice deal. It seems like every one of those I see has a broken door handle, which is a surprisingly visible lapse in Toyota's QC.

Sandman6472

Had two of that generation, a '93 and a '95...both great cars with minimal problems. Always liked Toyota products but back in '06, just liked the Civic better than the Rolla. But when I'm in the market again for myself, will definitely check out the Toyota offerings. Seems we've come full circle with the foreign brands...have or have had products from Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota & Nissan and besides my '03 Sentra where they couldn't fix it properly, have been quite pleased with each vehicle. Will be cutting the Mazda from the herd whenever the wife gives me the word, as it now has 110,899 on the clock. Thinking she'll cave around the holidays or sooner if the a/c cuts out again.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

andre1969

Anyone looking for an end of the month, end of the model year buy?

Well, there is a leftover 2012 Ram at a local Dodge dealer that keeps crossing my mind from time to time. But, considering the type of stuff I put my '85 Silverado through, maybe I'be better just stick with the old clunker! Over the weekend, a I cut up a tree that fell in my Grandmother's yard, and used my '85 to haul the pieces over my side and dump it over the edge into the woods...




I'm sure I would have scuffed up a new truck doing this, but if I added any new scratches or dents to my '85 Silverado, I'll be damned if I can tell! :P

mark156

One reason I've been away for a while is that my Uncle passed away early this summer. I'm the Executor. Anyway, he left his 2002 Chevy Impala to my Dad who is 91. Dad lost his driver's license after having two wrecks fairly close together that ultimately totaled out his '04 Grand Marquis (2 yrs ago).

He wants to keep the Impala just in case anyone comes by (relatives), they can use it to drive him somewhere. One thing I have to say about that 10 yr. old Impala, it has the C O L D E S T air conditioner of any car I've seen. I have some pretty good air conditioned cars but this unit will freeze you out fast!

The car has 80,000 miles and a few scuffs around the edges. No one has ever sat in the back seat. It's dark brown with beige clothe. A good 'extra' car as it's probably not worth much but runs good.

Mark156

steine13

I'll see your tree removal and raise you a bedroom remodel.
Got eight (8) windows coming Thursday, they need to be installed before it gets cold.

Nice to have an old sled for runs to the dump.
That's 80-year-old plaster in the trunk, and 70's cellulose insulation in bags inside the car. We shoulda kept renting...

I can make the picture show up in 'Preview' but not for the post...

stever

Impressive, but I gotta ask. Why not the van?

steine13

It's the wifey's. She uses it for her antiques business.
Shall I elaborate?

stever

lol, 'nuff said.

Did she tell you she'd follow you and you could leave the Camry at the dump?

A van will spoil you. Our Port Huron friend is house cleaning so we loaded up a treadmill, doctor's scale, power Toro snow shovel, a basket full of art books and three tables on last week's trip. Barely had to rearrange the tent, pads, cooler and lawn chairs to get it all to fit.

corvette

Sorry to hear about your uncle. I had a 2008 or 2009 Impala as a loaner when my former Pontiac G6 was in the shop. It rode extremely smoothly and the engine was adequately powerful and quiet, but I noticed several annoyances in a couple of days of driving: the running boards on that generation stick out from the bottom of the car and will soil your pants, the power outlets are hidden up under the dash, and the dual-zone manual climate control is infuriating because small movements of the temperature controls equate to large temperature differences. The first two, I could live with. The last one, if I owned one, I would try to swap out an HVAC control unit from a fleet model that has a single round temperature knob instead of the tiny dual levers.

fezo

I'm thinking of lowering my bid....

qbrozen

I didn't even know this existed.

stever

Gray market?

fezo

That's a new one no me. Why don't you buy it and see what's up? Heck, with your seal of approval I might give it to on of my kids.

stever

Can't handle the fumes in our household. Wiki says the diesel was European and Australian only.

fezo

Might be tough on current US diesel...

qbrozen

Well, I was about to send some questions to the seller, but then I read a little more. I didn't realize it is a non-turbo with just 66hp. That would be painfully slow with no solution possible.

stickguy

from some poking around, actually appears to have been a legit NA model. Just ultra rare, with no one that knows anything about them, or parts availability (for the diesel specific stuff).

bad memories of my 1975 Opel Manta. Fun car, but the only year (and last for German opels) for the FI engine. Parts, did not exist, and when you could find one, much pricier.

and int 1982, no one had a clue about FI!

fintail

Nope it's a normal. The tail end of the diesel movement made it through the mid 80s - I remember diesel Tempos, diesel Maximas, etc. Extremely rare.