1989porsche928

Hi, one time I was going to sell my car before I realized I would just end up buying another 928 if I did (history repeats itself). Anyways I live in NY and some guy from NJ wanted me to drive the car down to him so he could look at it. Does that not seem odd to you? Are all NJ car buyers like that?

yardpro

its NJ.... home of snookie and the center of the universe.... what do you expect?

Mrmerlin

when your desperate you will do anything ,
that said how did you find this buyer CL perhaps?
If you want another 928 maybe a newer version,
then its not a bad time to start looking ,

but its also not a good time to be selling if you have one thats sorted out.

Most new buyers dont really understand the fact of buying a car they can drive,
in place of, " hey look what I got for 500.00 bux"
then go on to spend 6K fixing up the turd.... Ahh I mean project.

When they could have bypassed this whole mess and paid 7K for a sorted out car that they could drive today.

I dont think taking the car anyplace other than maybe a a local to you parking lot for a meet is a good idea.

Worth Every Penny

NJ being the most densely populated state, many tend to be a bit aggressive in living the 'take what you can get' paradigm. Even driving ... aggressive lane changes with no blinker is a daily experience. You get used to it after awhile. It helps to have a car with the power and poise of the 928.

That being said, there's still a bunch who are considerate. I actually flew out to Chicago one-way to look over the 928 I eventually bought. The owner picked me up at the terminal and we drove to a parking lot. It took about an hour to go over the car, we made the transaction and I drove her back to Jersey. As soon as I crossed the border on Rt 80 someone cut me off. Ah, home sweet home.

Wisconsin

I would feel the buyer out. Why cant he make it to NY.
Did he total his car and cant get there?
Does he work silly hours?

I also would really try to gauge his interest. Is he wasting your time and gas $$? Ask him to split the gas with you. Tell him its not about the $$ but this shows his sincere interest in the car. You can offer to refund when he buys.

Finally can he buy? Ask him how he is paying. Does he plan on buying it on site? Will you need to find a way home? I would bring a friend as well if possible.

I have asked someone to bring a car to me when I was in my 20s but at the time my car was just stolen and I didn't have transportation.

davek9

+ 928, think about it, you have a car and you do not know who you are going to see and or what they have in their pocket.

Tread very carefully taking your car into an unknown situation.

Wisconsin Joe

Meet in the parking lot of the local cop shop.

Really.

If they are up to no good, they'll run away.
If they are on the 'up & up', they'll take it as a good indicator that you are too.

SteveG

It's not limited to NJ, but it does seem to be an east coast or dick- attitude, pretty rare. I had that happen a few years ago, when I was a seller. I just said "No"

When I was a buyer we did agree to meet someone half way.

If someone asked me now I wouldn't even reply.

There could be a dedicated thread on "buyer/seller attitude" anecdotes. Independent car lots are the worst. OTH, I bought from one in Little Falls, NJ and they were upfront, just businessmen. OTH, I walked into one in Mt. Sinai, Long Island to look at a Cayman and I will not deal with that particular salesman ever. Probably had something to do with it being a Porsche.

hb253

yardpro

Must be a Yankee thing... I would never dream of asking a seller to drive to me.
When I wAs looking for my 928 I drove 6 hours to Maryland

yardpro

Must be a Yankee thing... I would never dream of asking a seller to drive to me. When I wAs looking for my 928 I drove 6 hours to Maryland to look at one. 7 hours to sc to look at another, 2 hours to look at a third and flew to Florida to look and buy mine.... Never once did I ask for anyone to bring it to me

yardpro

Oops hit send too soon..

Went 6 hrs one way for one, 14 hrs round trip for another , 4 hrs round trip for. Third and flew to Florida to look at and buy mine..
It never crossed my mind to ask the seller to meet me half way

gcthree

They're all over!
I sold my F355 Berlinetta almost 2 years ago. A guy from a suburb of Buffalo kept me on the phone for a cumulative 4 hours over 3 calls to exhaustively discuss it. He THEN sent me a 26 page document that I was supposed to fill out covering all the stuff we'd discussed on the phone. I kid you not. He could not understand why I balked at filling it out. He then called Foreign cars Italia in Greensboro to arrange to have my car picked up for a PPI...without telling me. Never seen anything like it. And, oh, it was a 20,000 mile car that was easily a 9 out of 10.

dr bob

FWIW, wacky situations happen everywhere. I sold a 356 coupe several decades ago, one that was stored at my garage/workshop maybe 20 mins from where I was living. So I asked the potential buyers to meet me there on a Saturday morning at 9am. Not a fixed-price sale, mind you, and most had tried to grab the car with absurdly low offers on the phone. Saturday at 9am, it almost came to a fistfight among the visitors, arguing over "who had called first" and therefore "who should be able to buy the car first. So I decided to take private one-chance written bids from each, rather than risk an open auction. Each got to size up the competition, I did it quickly to eliminate collusion, and sold the car safely.

So I won't go to someone's own private turf to show the car, definitely never meet a buyer or seller alone for a cash transaction, etc. Private transactions are almost always concluded at the DMV and/or the bank.

Mark R.

Bottom line, if he isn't willing to come to you, he's not serious about buying.
Even if he has to borrow a car, take public transportation, or whatever...
Worst case, he has other ulterior motives for wanting to lure you there.