Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

breld said:

Alright, got a call back from BMW of Greenwich, stating the '04 330ci ZHP is once again available. So, should be at least a little excited, right?

I don't know - in the week since I expressed interest in the vehicle, it's been considered "sold" twice now, with both buyers backing out. If that's not a red flag, I don't know what is.

They also keep jacking around with the listed price - it was as low as $11,999 at one time, $12,999 when I found it, and now after at least two buyers backing out on it, it's apparently worth $14,999.

Here's the listing:

'04 ZHP

Steering wheel needs to be re-wrapped, apparently there's a small tear in the driver's seat (according to the salesperson), and seems to me, from one of the front end pictures, the front bumper has a larger than normal gap between it and the grill/fender. No accident per Carfax, but of course that means very little.

Still, if the condition was good (other than the steering wheel, which is easily addressed), and there are no mechanical issues, it may be tempting for a 57k mile example.

I would pay for a local PDI. The wheel wrap is no big deal and there is a vendor readily available. Completely agree with you that 2 buyer back outs is a red flag. Wonder if it has had the cooling system refresh done? 57k would be a little early for that but that might have put some people off.

At the right price, its a lot of car for the $$.

stickguy

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

breld

stickguy said:

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

Yup - I'm thinking of that since he kindly offered earlier before it was "sold."

iluvmysephia1

Oh, ID fraud is unfortunately huge. Hasn't happened to either my wife or I and obviously we hope it never does. It happened to our current landlord here in Moses Lake,WA, it was (and still lingers) a big 'ole mess. I recently checked into financing a '15 Kia Soul and because they obtain your SSI # we decided to put a freeze on our credit during the same period of time.

That way no one can get your information. The irritating thing is if you do try to get credit you have to "unfreeze" your credit temporarily. Which can be done, it's just a back and forth thing. It does cost around $15 to "freeze" your credit information, too.

Hope you get things straightened out, sandman. Sorry to hear this is happening to you, too.

nyccarguy

breld said:

stickguy said:

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

Yup - I'm thinking of that since he kindly offered earlier before it was "sold."

I would definitely take it for a spin on your behalf @breld. A couple of (minor) things jump out at me: I clicked on the link and it now says the price is $14,999. I see on the cafax that it was serviced at a Valvoline Instant Oil Change place. What's up with that?

Aside from my completely unprofessional and untrained opinion, I'd want a PPI done as well.

stickguy

after looking at the pictures, I like it. other than the nasty steering wheel of course. colors or great, and top goes down. I could live with that as a toy I think.

henryn

js06gv said:

Quick trip from Dallas to Houston and back for Mother's Day. Took daughter's Optima to maximize gas mileage. 492 miles on one tank with a little left to spare, about 460 of which was all highway. Real world calculation of 30.1 mpg against trip computer of 32.3. About tied with my old Santa Fe for most inaccurate trip computer. Must be a Korean car thing.

Regardless, not a 35 mpg car but isn't supposed to be with a 274 HP turbo and an est 31 hwy. At a consistent 75-80 on the highway, I'm very pleased with the result.

Somehow, I don't think of the Optima as a road car. I used to drive from Houston to Dallas and back, once a month, for several years. I was going to the First Saturday computer sale / swap meet up in Dallas. I had a 1993 3/4 ton Chevrolet custom van. Great road car (truck?). Lousy gas mileage, but I was making beaucoup money and didn't really care.

breld

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

stickguy said:

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

Yup - I'm thinking of that since he kindly offered earlier before it was "sold."

I would definitely take it for a spin on your behalf @breld. A couple of (minor) things jump out at me: I clicked on the link and it now says the price is $14,999. I see on the cafax that it was serviced at a Valvoline Instant Oil Change place. What's up with that?

Aside from my completely unprofessional and untrained opinion, I'd want a PPI done as well.

Well, if you're up for it, I'll take you up on it.

I've told the salesperson that I may have someone come by and take a look at it, and likely also have a mechanic's inspection performed.

The pricing is annoying - from zhpmafia.com, I saw that it was once listed at $11,999, then $12,999 and now $14,999? I mentioned that to the salesperson, but of course, he has no say on it. I just told him that if I want to proceed, I'll make an offer on it, pending the inspection. No sense in paying for the inspection if we can't agree on the overall price.

I'm thinking somewhere in the $11k's would be a good price, pending Bradd's expert opinion of course.

nyccarguy

breld said:

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

stickguy said:

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

Yup - I'm thinking of that since he kindly offered earlier before it was "sold."

I would definitely take it for a spin on your behalf @breld. A couple of (minor) things jump out at me: I clicked on the link and it now says the price is $14,999. I see on the cafax that it was serviced at a Valvoline Instant Oil Change place. What's up with that?

Aside from my completely unprofessional and untrained opinion, I'd want a PPI done as well.

Well, if you're up for it, I'll take you up on it.

I've told the salesperson that I may have someone come by and take a look at it, and likely also have a mechanic's inspection performed.

The pricing is annoying - from zhpmafia.com, I saw that it was once listed at $11,999, then $12,999 and now $14,999? I mentioned that to the salesperson, but of course, he has no say on it. I just told him that if I want to proceed, I'll make an offer on it, pending the inspection. No sense in paying for the inspection if we can't agree on the overall price.

I'm thinking somewhere in the $11k's would be a good price, pending Bradd's expert opinion of course.

let me check my schedule & I'll let you know. Tonight or tomorrow night.

js06gv

Somehow, I don't think of the Optima as a road car. I used to drive from Houston to Dallas and back, once a month, for several years. I was going to the First Saturday computer sale / swap meet up in Dallas. I had a 1993 3/4 ton Chevrolet custom van. Great road car (truck?). Lousy gas mileage, but I was making beaucoup money and didn't really care.



Other than some road noise from the crappy OEM tires, plenty comfortable for 3 adults and 2 dogs and a good substitute for my truck that would have achieved 19-20 mpg at best on the same trip.

stickguy

My 2015 sonata (non-turbo) is certainly a great road car.

js06gv

stickguy said:

My 2015 sonata (non-turbo) is certainly a great road car.

Agreed. As we read about all the time, there is still a whole lot of doubt out there about Korean cars in general that usually dates back to the late 80s and early 90s. In the meantime, guys like us will enjoy the lower costs associated with ownership but even that edge has been diminishing as more consumers catch on.

breld

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

stickguy said:

Send Bradd over to look at it. I'm sure he won't mind taking it for a spin!

Yup - I'm thinking of that since he kindly offered earlier before it was "sold."

I would definitely take it for a spin on your behalf @breld. A couple of (minor) things jump out at me: I clicked on the link and it now says the price is $14,999. I see on the cafax that it was serviced at a Valvoline Instant Oil Change place. What's up with that?

Aside from my completely unprofessional and untrained opinion, I'd want a PPI done as well.

Well, if you're up for it, I'll take you up on it.

I've told the salesperson that I may have someone come by and take a look at it, and likely also have a mechanic's inspection performed.

The pricing is annoying - from zhpmafia.com, I saw that it was once listed at $11,999, then $12,999 and now $14,999? I mentioned that to the salesperson, but of course, he has no say on it. I just told him that if I want to proceed, I'll make an offer on it, pending the inspection. No sense in paying for the inspection if we can't agree on the overall price.

I'm thinking somewhere in the $11k's would be a good price, pending Bradd's expert opinion of course.

let me check my schedule & I'll let you know. Tonight or tomorrow night.

Thanks Bradd - I did make a tentative offer earlier today, but haven't heard back from them. I figured it wasn't worth anyone's time or expense (including yours) if we couldn't agree on price.

I told him that I had a friend coming by to take a look at it either tonight or tomorrow night. The guy's name I'm working with is Justin Valentin.

If I happen to hear back crazy numbers from them on the sale price, I'll let you know (so as not to waste time).

Thanks!!!

stickguy

Somehow I don't think swinging by to drive that car could possible be considered a waste of time!

nyccarguy

Keep me updated on negotiations @breld. Looks like it is going to rain tonight, so looks like tomorrow might be the day. @kyfdx, @roadburner, & @au1994, can you guys let me know if there is anything else I should be looking for specific to the E46 (or ZHP) model?

breld

nyccarguy said:

Keep me updated on negotiations @breld. Looks like it is going to rain tonight, so looks like tomorrow might be the day. @kyfdx, @roadburner, & @au1994, can you guys let me know if there is anything else I should be looking for specific to the E46 (or ZHP) model?

Excellent - thank you so much.  I did just get off the phone with them, and they came back at $13,900 (I had offered $11,300), and he claims there may be an interested buyer tonight.  

Im supposed to catch up with him in the morning and I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again @nyccarguy!  

kyfdx

The later ones came with a leather wheel... don't know how much to replace, but I'd rather get a leather wheel (like mine), if possible, though a re-skin of the alcantara would be okay.

Bumper gaps upfront are pretty normal.. It's plastic meeting metal. Actually looks pretty good in the pictures, and really low miles... My '06 coupe will turn over 90K miles, tomorrow. The color combo is really nice.. the gray leather with the silver cube trim is neat. I think I'd put some black floor mats in it, though. We had the same color interior on our '08 X3.

Don't know what that one sold for, but 2005 models with automatic transmission and ZHP had a sticker price of $54K. (we leased a non-ZHP convertible in 2005).

What to look for?

On full acceleration in 2nd or 3rd gear, watch for an engine stumble around 4K RPMS. If it's 10 years old, it's probably already been done, but mine needed to have the ECU re-flashed to fix it. ($500). They actually had to remove it and send it to New Jersey for the re-flash (really.. no joke).

Otherwise it's the typical stuff.... uneven tire wear, etc.. Since it's at a BMW dealer, ask to see the service records. They won't print them out.. but, they should let you take a gander at them. If they won't, that would worry me...

stickguy

should be real easy to supply records, since they claim it was sold and serviced there.

corvette

breld said:

Steering wheel needs to be re-wrapped, apparently there's a small tear in the driver's seat (according to the salesperson), and seems to me, from one of the front end pictures, the front bumper has a larger than normal gap between it and the grill/fender. No accident per Carfax, but of course that means very little.

I can't see the gap between the grill and the bumper. In addition to the leather/alcantara part, the plastic on the steering wheel on the left side looks like the coating has come off (it looks white). I really like the blue exterior, blue top, and the non-wood interior accents. Looks like it may have summer tires. Two buyers who backed out is a red flag, though.

nyccarguy

@breld
I will call him and and tell him I'm a friend of yours who wants to come and take the car for a test drive and thorough look see;)

breld

Thanks for the feedback on the bumper - that makes me feel better about that. We know it needs a steering wheel re-wrap, which I believe is around $400-$500. If the tear in the driver's seat isn't too bad, that can probably wait.

If it passes the inspection by @nyccarguy and a PDI, now what's it worth? I offered KBB private party at $11,300; they came back with $13,900, which is a few hundred high over KBB retail. Somewhere in between in the $12k's, I would think.

Just figuring - if it hasn't sold, I'd want to be ready to make a firm offer if the thumbs up comes back from @nyccarguy.

stickguy

what is it going to cost to ship it out? $800-$1K? gotta add that in, unless you plan to fly out and road trip (but that still costs).

is this really something you can't find in Colorado?

au1994

kyfdx said:

The later ones came with a leather wheel... don't know how much to replace, but I'd rather get a leather wheel (like mine), if possible, though a re-skin of the alcantara would be okay.

Bumper gaps upfront are pretty normal.. It's plastic meeting metal. Actually looks pretty good in the pictures, and really low miles... My '06 coupe will turn over 90K miles, tomorrow. The color combo is really nice.. the gray leather with the silver cube trim is neat. I think I'd put some black floor mats in it, though. We had the same color interior on our '08 X3.

Don't know what that one sold for, but 2005 models with automatic transmission and ZHP had a sticker price of $54K. (we leased a non-ZHP convertible in 2005).

What to look for?

On full acceleration in 2nd or 3rd gear, watch for an engine stumble around 4K RPMS. If it's 10 years old, it's probably already been done, but mine needed to have the ECU re-flashed to fix it. ($500). They actually had to remove it and send it to New Jersey for the re-flash (really.. no joke).

Otherwise it's the typical stuff.... uneven tire wear, etc.. Since it's at a BMW dealer, ask to see the service records. They won't print them out.. but, they should let you take a gander at them. If they won't, that would worry me...

In addition to this, its worth asking about the cooling system to see if it has been replaced...water pump, expansion tank, the whole 9 yds. Other typical E46 maladies to look for would be window regulators...slow, have to go all the way down to go up...Control arm bushings can wear early. Other than this and what has been mentioned you are just looking for typical things on a 60k mile car. If its been properly maintained and it can be had for 11 and change its a steal.

@stick...a low mile ZHP 'vert is not a unicorn but its a close relative. I paid to have mine shipped from MD.

breld

@nyccarguy - as of this morning, the car is still available. Salesperson claims there is a "list" of people interested - this was also the reason for the increase in list price. I politely pointed out that nobody has actually bought it yet.

So, I told him to call me if it became unavailable, and if that happens, I'll quickly post here. Otherwise, I told him you may be coming by this evening to take a look and drive.

Thanks!

breld

stickguy said:

what is it going to cost to ship it out? $800-$1K? gotta add that in, unless you plan to fly out and road trip (but that still costs).

is this really something you can't find in Colorado?

Shipping may be more than that, particularly if I have it enclosed.

I'd certainly be thrilled to find one in Colorado and lay my own eyes, and more importantly, my mechanic's eyes, on it. ZHPs are hard enough to find, much less one with 57k miles. That mileage is the primary thing that has me interested and willing to buy out-of-state, in addition to the color being one of my favorites.

nyccarguy

breld said:

@nyccarguy - as of this morning, the car is still available. Salesperson claims there is a "list" of people interested - this was also the reason for the increase in list price. I politely pointed out that nobody has actually bought it yet. So, I told him to call me if it became unavailable, and if that happens, I'll quickly post here. Otherwise, I told him you may be coming by this evening to take a look and drive. Thanks!

Oh yeah right.  I'm sure he's got a laundry list of people interested.  I'll do one last check if the boards before I clock out at 5.  PM me your number so I can call you when I'm on my way home.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

@nyccarguy - as of this morning, the car is still available. Salesperson claims there is a "list" of people interested - this was also the reason for the increase in list price. I politely pointed out that nobody has actually bought it yet.

So, I told him to call me if it became unavailable, and if that happens, I'll quickly post here. Otherwise, I told him you may be coming by this evening to take a look and drive.

Thanks!

Oh yeah right.  I'm sure he's got a laundry list of people interested.  I'll do one last check if the boards before I clock out at 5.  PM me your number so I can call you when I'm on my way home.



That's one of the oldest tricks in the book- "Lots of folks are interested in this car." I'm sure that sometime, somewhere a sales guy once said that about a diesel Chevette.

fezo

I like that approach - especially when it's 88 degrees out and the pictures on the Internet show a temperature readout of 32 degrees. Snow works, too.

kyfdx

roadburner said:

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

@nyccarguy - as of this morning, the car is still available. Salesperson claims there is a "list" of people interested - this was also the reason for the increase in list price. I politely pointed out that nobody has actually bought it yet.

So, I told him to call me if it became unavailable, and if that happens, I'll quickly post here. Otherwise, I told him you may be coming by this evening to take a look and drive.

Thanks!

Oh yeah right.  I'm sure he's got a laundry list of people interested.  I'll do one last check if the boards before I clock out at 5.  PM me your number so I can call you when I'm on my way home.

That's one of the oldest tricks in the book- "Lots of folks are interested in this car." I'm sure that sometime, somewhere a sales guy once said that about a diesel Chevette.



I know a guy that races a diesel Chevette.

fezo

OK, punch my card - the second of the past few months. This time the Mazda 6 died for all practical purpose which knocked my plans up by two years. Will post pictures tomorrow as well as letting all mull over a third party extended warranty the covers what isn't the drivetrain . $1,200 or $20 a month. I'm leaning to cancel. Speak all....

stickguy

can't wait for details, and to hear what you haggled it down to.

28firefighter

Congrats, Fezo!

nyccarguy

I took a little detour on the way home tonight. Jumped off I-95 at exit 2 instead of exit 5. I took a detailed look and short test drive of a 2004 BMW E46 330Cic with ZHP Performance Package for @breld. A little background on the car. The salesman I dealt with (who has been there for 16 years) told me he took the car in on trade. The car was in fact bought, serviced, & traded at their facility. The car was ordered for this particular customer and is somewhat of a rare bird as far as ZHPs go with a 6-speed manual transmission (many of the drop tops were automatics) and no heated seats. 11 years and 57,000 miles later it was traded in on a brand new 435i Convertible with no options.

Walk Around -

the body appears to be in perfect shape. I wouldn't hesitate to give it a 10. It looked to me like there was never any paint work done. No dings, no stone chips. The paint is gorgeous. Flows perfectly with the blue top. I did notice the rear bumper hanging off a bit from its clip closest to the wheel well.

3 of the 4 wheels have curb rash on them. It is a fact of life on a car with 35 series tires here in CT. Speaking of tires, there are 3 different tires on the car. Fronts are bridgestones that IIRC were OEM, right rear was a Dunlop, & left rear was an Antares. Salesman told me the PO got a flat the at before he traded it in.

Interior - AC blows ice cold. Windows roll up & down without hesitation. Top retracts nicely and is fully automatic. Clean car, but showing some serious signs of wear. I'd rate the interior as a 6 - 6.5. Now I realize this is a used car, but for the money they are asking it could use some reconditioning.

The driver's side bolster is completely worn through. Drivers seat cushion shows color fading. Center arm rest shows color fading. Alcantara wheel need to be re-wrapped. The power button on the radio doesn't work (it is stuck on & the volume works). There is a 4" scratch on the right rear interior panel and the right rear armrest is shows color fading.

The drive. I don't think I've ever driven an E46 3 series, much less a ZHP model. I completely understand what all the hoopla is in the enthusiast community about these cars. This is what BMWs are supposed to drive like. Heavy, precise steering. A perfectly tuned, solid suspension that communicates to the driver what exactly is going on. The car pulls strong. All the way up to its redline. No hiccups or stumble. The clutch felt good and the shifter had no problem rowing through the gates.

I'm really glad I got to speak with @breld (absolutely the coolest part of the whole experience) at length about the car and my test drive. I sat in the parking lot and chatted with him for about 15 minutes and we were on the phone for my entire 15 minute rid home from the dealership.

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

I took a little detour on the way home tonight. Jumped off I-95 at exit 2 instead of exit 5. I took a detailed look and short test drive of a 2004 BMW E46 330Cic with ZHP Performance Package for @breld. A little background on the car. The salesman I dealt with (who has been there for 16 years) told me he took the car in on trade. The car was in fact bought, serviced, & traded at their facility. The car was ordered for this particular customer and is somewhat of a rare bird as far as ZHPs go with a 6-speed manual transmission (many of the drop tops were automatics) and no heated seats. 11 years and 57,000 miles later it was traded in on a brand new 435i Convertible with no options.

Walk Around -

the body appears to be in perfect shape. I wouldn't hesitate to give it a 10. It looked to me like there was never any paint work done. No dings, no stone chips. The paint is gorgeous. Flows perfectly with the blue top. I did notice the rear bumper hanging off a bit from its clip closest to the wheel well.

3 of the 4 wheels have curb rash on them. It is a fact of life on a car with 35 series tires here in CT. Speaking of tires, there are 3 different tires on the car. Fronts are bridgestones that IIRC were OEM, right rear was a Dunlop, & left rear was an Antares. Salesman told me the PO got a flat the at before he traded it in.

Interior - AC blows ice cold. Windows roll up & down without hesitation. Top retracts nicely and is fully automatic. Clean car, but showing some serious signs of wear. I'd rate the interior as a 6 - 6.5. Now I realize this is a used car, but for the money they are asking it could use some reconditioning.

The driver's side bolster is completely worn through. Drivers seat cushion shows color fading. Center arm rest shows color fading. Alcantara wheel need to be re-wrapped. The power button on the radio doesn't work (it is stuck on & the volume works). There is a 4" scratch on the right rear interior panel and the right rear armrest is shows color fading.

The drive. I don't think I've ever driven an E46 3 series, much less a ZHP model. I completely understand what all the hoopla is in the enthusiast community about these cars. This is what BMWs are supposed to drive like. Heavy, precise steering. A perfectly tuned, solid suspension that communicates to the driver what exactly is going on. The car pulls strong. All the way up to its redline. No hiccups or stumble. The clutch felt good and the shifter had no problem rowing through the gates.

I'm really glad I got to speak with @breld (absolutely the coolest part of the whole experience) at length about the car and my test drive. I sat in the parking lot and chatted with him for about 15 minutes and we were on the phone for my entire 15 minute rid home from the dealership.

Bradd ... good man, helping enable CCBA. Thanks for the write up on the ZHP. My sister has a ZHP sedan that her 17 year old son drives. 130K on the clock last I heard and it needed a couple thousand of work done not too long ago.

@breld and I have met for lunch once, and we plan to do so again next week, just to get caught up. I've also been lucky enough to meet @fezo as well, many years ago.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

Congrats, Fezo!

Ditto!

fezo

OK.. You guys will have opinions here. I a moment of weakness I bought the extended warranty - essentially covers the items that aren't drivetrain up to 100K or 7 years. Fully cancellable and I do believe I'm going to call up and do exactly that. I was hesitant at $1,200 and when it showed up as $20 per month my first thought was "that could be going to principal!"

Any thoughts? Likely to call in an hour.

Pictures to follow.

qbrozen

Really need to know the details on that warranty. I've studied a couple and determined they could never pay for themselves because there is usually a rather big deductible PLUS it only covers a certain percentage UP TO a certain cap.

fezo

This one doesn't have deductibles and includes a batch of things that I've not fully looked at. I'll call in an hour to cancel. That could pay off 5% of the loan of help pay down the solar loan. Four years down the road I should have no car payments an no electric payments. Thinking seriously about one of those Tesla house batteries. When the expected tab was $13K and the announcement was $3K that changed the equation.

kyfdx

fezo said:

This one doesn't have deductibles and includes a batch of things that I've not fully looked at. I'll call in an hour to cancel. That could pay off 5% of the loan of help pay down the solar loan. Four years down the road I should have no car payments an no electric payments. Thinking seriously about one of those Tesla house batteries. When the expected tab was $13K and the announcement was $3K that changed the equation.

If it's financed, they'll apply it to your balance... you won't get a check and you probably won't get a payment reduction.

That's all just bookkeeping.. you'll save the money, but you won't see it until later..

kyfdx

@nyccarguy Nice write-up!

So.. needs tires. That's $1000.

Sport seat bolsters.... you really have to make a concious decision to get over top of that bolster, or they all do that... Mine shows wear at 90K miles, but it's nowhere near worn through. If you just slide in, that's what you get. I'd guess a fix at an auto upholstery shop would be around $150-$200?

No heated seats in Connecticut? That makes me sad...

Sounds like a pretty nice car for it's age.

fezo

Cancelled it which will move the $1200 to

the back of the loan That's fine though it would benefit me more if they moved it to the front of the loan.

Having one of my my pictures aren't loading experiences. Will post later.

stever

My bud is driving back to AK from TX at the end of the month and is getting ready to list his truck on craigslist, hoping to have some potential buyers lined up when he gets there. He's written an ad that copies a lot of the build sheet. I think it's overkill and that he should cut it to around three succinct paragraphs with the essentials and let the buyers be surprised by some of the extras. His version is 2200 characters, mine is 600. Seems to me the most important thing is to max out the pics.

My theory is that if you oversell the truck in the ad, people will wonder what you are hiding.

What say ye?

abacomike

stever said:

My bud is driving back to AK from TX at the end of the month and is getting ready to list his truck on craigslist, hoping to have some potential buyers lined up when he gets there. He's written an ad that copies a lot of the build sheet. I think it's overkill and that he should cut it to around three succinct paragraphs with the essentials and let the buyers be surprised by some of the extras. His version is 2200 characters, mine is 600. Seems to me the most important thing is to max out the pics. My theory is that if you oversell the truck in the ad, people will wonder what you are hiding. What say ye?

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

stever

That's my thinking - lots of pics, especially ones showing the wear and tear issues, make me linger on an ad.

abacomike

stever said:

That's my thinking - lots of pics, especially ones showing the wear and tear issues, make me linger on an ad.

As far as what makes me linger on an ad or anything else has to do with not only pictures/photos, but also whether or not it holds my interest.

stever

I think the key here is the V8 (good), and the short bed and miles (not so good). Although the heated seats will be a selling point up north.

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

I think the key here is the V8 (good), and the short bed and miles (not so good). Although the heated seats will be a selling point up north.

My advice is to not exhaust the potential buyer with too much ad copy. Give them the essentials that every truck buyer wants to know (engine size, transmission, drivetrain, bed size, mileage), and a brief description of how it looks and runs. Once you have them on the phone, you can add all the other stuff. And PLENTY of good photos. I'd suggest putting a photo file on Photobucket or Dropbox with a link in the ad.

As for selling it, I like to remind people to consider what the potential buyer does in the first few minutes. Many people starting leaning YEA or NAY in the first 30 seconds.

He/She looks at the car, walks around quickly and then opens the driver's door. So--license plate hanging off? Trash in the bed? Fast food container on top of the filthy dashboard? Not a good first impression.

breld

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Nice write-up!

So.. needs tires. That's $1000.

Sport seat bolsters.... you really have to make a concious decision to get over top of that bolster, or they all do that... Mine shows wear at 90K miles, but it's nowhere near worn through. If you just slide in, that's what you get. I'd guess a fix at an auto upholstery shop would be around $150-$200?

No heated seats in Connecticut? That makes me sad...

Sounds like a pretty nice car for it's age.

Yup - much appreciation sent to @nyccarguy and yes, it was great to actually speak on the phone with him.

Having his eyes on the car gives me a much better picture of it. So we know this - the car needs a new steering wheel wrap, a repair on the driver's bolster, and likely new tires. The tires are in good shape, but having 3 different kinds of tires is a bit much, I'd say.

If those things were not issues, their offer of $13,900 is not all that bad - maybe a few hundred high. But with those issues, I'm thinking more along the lines of $12,000-$12,500. I have to give it some thought, and will likely call the dealer this afternoon to make an offer, and just leave it in their court.

fezo

Here we go -





Having issues. Will get the side later.

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Nice write-up!

So.. needs tires. That's $1000.

Sport seat bolsters.... you really have to make a concious decision to get over top of that bolster, or they all do that... Mine shows wear at 90K miles, but it's nowhere near worn through. If you just slide in, that's what you get. I'd guess a fix at an auto upholstery shop would be around $150-$200?

No heated seats in Connecticut? That makes me sad...

Sounds like a pretty nice car for it's age.

As a consumer, it is just bothers me that they seem to be asking top dollar for it, "as is." If any one of us traded a car with these issues: we'd get nickel & dimed to death. Oh, nobody wants a stick. No heated seats? This interior is in pretty rough shape. 3 different tires? You know convertible season is pretty much over, right?

@breld. It was my pleasure to help out a friend.