Wow...do I have a story to share with you guys, and this thread seems about the most appropriate place to do it.

Some background....I had a 77 Camaro LT that I got when I was a senior in high school...paid $500 and traded a little Honda Civic for it. GREAT car, and I drove the snot out of it. Well, as young kids often do, they want something newer and different. My Mom passed away in 91, and I didn't really have my head on straight, so I sold it that year for $1200.

Fast forward to 2005, and I came across the old girl once more. I should have known better than to ask, but I did, and bought it for $600. It was like one of those deals where you dump your high school sweetheart, wish you could have her back, and 14 years later you find her again...but she has been passed around by a band of wild Mexican Carneys for the entire time. Needless to say....she had put on a few pounds and had picked up some STD's. *shudder* Velvet diamond tuck and roll headliner...non-original dash...missing console...spray bombed motor that had everything removed (and we are talking sprayed over hoses, etc). The flywheel was cracked, so it sounded like it was going to throw a rod. And as excited as I was with the whole reunion, it was sooooo sad. Pathetic, really.

Fast forward to early 2006...come to find out that the ex's "motor" is being serviced by at least 1/2 dozen other mechanics....so the wife is out the door...along with my 89 Vette. I took custody of my 2 kids, and she took the Vette.....MORE than a fair trade in my book. So as we are going through all of the divorce crap, she is homeless, jobless, and just a work of art in general.....and she needs tires and wheels for the Vette. Having been married for 13 years, I was still too nice for my own good and traded the Camaro to a "buddy" of mine who put a new set on the car for her. Come to find out later that he was an acting "mechanic" for my ex as well, while she was living with him and his NOW ex-wife. Go figure. So the car is off to never-never land, and to be honest, I was really not all that tore up about it. I had bigger fish to fry, believe me.

Here's a few photos of what she looked like in 2005...the car, not the ex!









Sad, sad, sad! But through all of this, I met the love of my life, we were married in 2006, and it has been EVERYTHING that I could have ever hoped for!

So this weekend, I see an ad on Craigslist for a 77 Camaro. I'm thinking to myself "nawww....it couldn't be". Lo and behold!! So getting the point of this response, I sent the seller an email. Yes...a glutton for some serious punishment. (Hey, don't judge me....like YOU'VE never done THAT before! ) The ad listing had some vague thing that said 35,000-40,000. I'm like, "what is THAT??" So here's the conversation that took place........oh, and here's the ad, slightly revised by the seller. http://twinfalls.craigslist.org/cto/1550262803.html

Hi. Still waiting to hear what you are asking for the Camaro? And what is the 35,000-40,000? Surely not the mileage. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks!

Trevor

its about 100,000 oregunal miles and its $35,000 ta $40,000

$35,000???? Are you serious? I'm hoping that's a typo. And I can GUARANTEE you that it has more than 100,000 miles. Why are you asking so much for it? You see, I used to own that car....twice! I owned it when I was a senior in high school, back in 1989. And then I bought it back from a guy in 2005. So when I saw your ad, I was thinking of buying it once more...but you reaaaally need to clarify the asking price. I'm interested.....but again...the price needs to be ironed out.

why did you sell it to start out with? and how much did you sell it for? like i said. ABOUT 100,000 miles. learn to read a lil more carefully so you dont get your blood pumping to fast and faint. that wouldnt be good man, just giveing friendly advise. $35,000 is the minamum i want. it is a collecters item after all. what price where you thinking? if i may ask

Ok...for starters...I sold it the first time around because I was young and had just sort of grew tired of the car...I wanted something different. Bear in mind that I bought the car for $500.00 in 1988! I sold it for $1200 in 1990. When I bought it the second time around in 2005...I paid $600.00! It needed more work than what I had time for, so I sold it for $750.00. I have NO idea where you are getting the idea that it's even remotely worth that much. Maybe if YOU would read more...like say NADA values and such....you would see that low retail is $4345.00.....NOT $43,500.00!! LMAO!! It's a 77 Camaro LT for pete's sake...with a butchered interior...rust....in need of tires...and let's not forget the fact that it may or may not let you drive it, based on what you have described. Is it possessed or WHAT?!! Hahahaha!!!

I can assure you that I didn't get "all faint" when I saw it...I was merely asking for the price. I mean, you didn't put a dollar sign in the asking price...so when you are selling a $1500 car and simply put 35,000-45,000 in the description, a guy has no clue what you are referring to. And you say it's a collector's car?? What gives you that idea? Do you KNOW how many Camaros were made in 1977?? "Output set a record for the second-generation Camaro, with 218,853 coupes produced." There is nothing special about that car, I can assure you...other than the loose nut behind the wheel! I'm not sure what crack you smoked right before you listed that car on Craigslist...but I think I'd get a different supplier!! I'm still just blown away that you honestly....honestly will take no less than $35,000 bucks for it. It's not like you are even asking just slightly over the value of it....you are like so far out there that I have to wonder about your level of sanity.....like, I even sort of fear for people's well being and safety with you out there on the loose! Fully restored....I'm talking COMPLETE restoration and everything....you would be lucky to get $25k. And if you GOT that much, I'd be sure to buy a lottery ticket on that same day, because you'd be like the luckiest man on Earth. And I'm not even joking!

So.....more power to you....best of luck....live long and prosper! Maybe for your next auction you could sell some artifacts from your home planet....because that could get you like $50k!!


firstly. i know a guy that paid for a camaro just like mine, blown moter **** trany and a ****ed rearend. he paid $7,000 for it. how nuts is that? so dont judge me ***.

Well, I KNOW for a fact that the car resold after I sold it the second time, for $2500...and that was in the condition that you see it in the photos that I sent. It did have a broken flex-plate at the time, so it sounded like it had a rod going out of it. I would have been absolutely THRILLED to get $2500 for it when I sold it, but I had some financial issues at the time and I had to sell the car. Believe me, I am not judging you....heck, I don't even know you....I'm just saying that you will never sell the car for $35,000. I'm not trying to be a jerk...I just know what they are worth...and that ain't it. If you COULD sell it for that, great!!! I'm all for guys making money on stuff....but I am all for sellers being realistic too. If I had to put a price on the car...with all of the issues that you described...I would realistically be asking $1500-$2000. That's not me being mean, just honest. Here's are some current ads that show what I am talking about. There are a LOT of them...but I think you get the idea. .....and I found about 10 Craigslist examples for him....hoping to bring him back to planet Earth.

So I know this is probably an extremely long and perhaps inappropriate response to you, Mr. OP....but I know EXACTLY how you feel!! Sometimes things just aren't meant to be...and I think I've illustrated that here in more ways than one!

 

Sorry Dude, I just couldn't get through all that text.

Is this what you were trying to say?

 

You couldn't get through the.....the.......text? If you read it, you'd KNOW what I was trying to say! Sorry I don't have the Cliff Notes version for you. Just wanted to share a story that I thought might be relative, and got a little carried away there. Sorry to bore you.

 

Just WOW.

This guy doesn't have Barrett-Jacksonitis, his head just hurts.

I'm wondering why he even bothered to list it. Sometimes when I hear the phrase "lay off the pipe" I take it with a grain of salt, but this clown really does need to lay off the pipe. And maybe spend a little time learning how to spell. He will gain SO much more credibility in his CL ads.

 

Good post, but not the same as the OP. you asked questions up front, found out lots of fishy things and decided not to go see the car due to something you could not agree on.

Now if you would have spent a day of time and a load of money to go see the car, then found something the seller was lying about, then that is more similar to the OP.

 

I never said it was the same thing, Joe, just that I knew how he felt in regards to sellers not relaying what they have in an accurate manner I suppose. It's still the same with respect to the buyer/seller symbiosis...but admittedly not the EXACT same as the OP. Just wanted to share.

 

That was a pretty long post, but the spelling of the seller really is entertaining.

Deja: a friend reminded me yesterday, in short, not to argue with idiots. He was right. I'm thinking you wasted a lot of typing effort there with that guy.

 

Regardless of the length, that was a great story on just how delusional people can be when it comes to a car....


To the buyer it's a POS. To the seller it's perfection...

 

no problem deja, thanks for the comments and sharing your story. you did right by asking the critical questions up front.. I am just trying to make sure that buyers ask all the right questions up front and to get pics in order to avoid misunderstandings.. and do whatever to reduce the corvette fever... it has happended to me both ways.. I always say, there are buyers from hell and there are sellers from hell..
communication, knowing what your exact requirements are, knowing exactly what you are buying, all are critical!

 

Could NOT agree more my friend!! Wise words to heed!!

 

Personally happened to me. Bought a 73 off of eBay for $12k plus transpot fee of $900. When it got here , it didnt even look close to the pics on the eBay add. The seller LIED thru his teeth about the car. Many,many items were LIED about. Contacting Ebay only made the nightmare worse. Even tho they promised a $15k "warrany" at the time, this car didnt qualify . Misrepresentation didnt fall into the warrany category.....Sold it for $8000 and felt happy I wasnt screwed any more than that. The new owner will tell you it was represented 100% truthfully when I listed it.
This was my 2nd Corvette to buy from eBay, and the first time wasnt a good one either.
Lessons learned? If you cant physically go look at the car, dont bid. Period.