Selling a car. Refuse a buyer?

[z-REX]

You should give the kids mom a ride in the car. Give her a WOT run. or two. Thats what i would do in your position just to show her what the car is capable of.

 

 

Andrew

 

there's the best advice i've heard so far. i had a 78 280 as my first, it was stock pretty much, but god i drove that thing like a maniac. i could handle it... but... i seldom exercised good judgment with the fun pedal. any more power and i likely would have gotten in some real trouble and nearly did a few times.

 

a 17 year old kid is not the right person to buy that car, if he wants something fast let him get used to driving first. yup, whip mommy around real good ... if she's any kind of parent the situation will work itself out.

[Dan Juday]

Jason, living in California I always think of the lawyers first. Granted, you live in Texas but think about it.

 

You have documented your concerns on a public forum before selling the car to this 17 year old kid. You know the cars potential and you have judged the youth's skills as wanting.

 

A not too far fetched scenario: Kid buys your car and dies during a speed contest with one of his peers. Mother's lawyer holds up a printout of this very thread to the jury.

 

Do you really want to roll those dice?

[Guest 2slo4u]

I sold my 83zxturbo (in awesome condition) to my friend's nephew. I thought he would appreciate all of the work I put into it and take care of it. He already had a 68or69 pontiac lemans he had bought a year earlier but it had crappy brakes, drank gas like crazy, and had no a/c. I figured if he had a problem he would let me know or his uncle who I spoke to regularly.

Yeah, right! Two weeks later he backed into someone in the parking lot of his job, later he removed and sold all of the stereo equipment (messed up the dash wiring in the process), burned the clutch up, when letting some moron work on the clutch, he jacked the car up with the rear bumper and bent it and busted a tail light out. He also sold the battery to someone and put a little civic sized battery in it. Then, when there was a bad storm on the coast, he split north in his lemans with his wife and left the zx to get beat all to he!! with flying objects. For crying out loud! If I'd known he didn't know how to take car of the car, I wouldn't have sold it to him. It wouldn't have been as bad if he had moved out of the state or something.

 

I went with my gut feeliing and see what happened!

 

81zxturbo

95slobaruimpreza1.8

[john kosmatka]

I wouldnt sell it to them, tell the mom this car is capable of 160mph + and is as fast as a ferrari, if she doesnt believe it take her for a ride. She will definitely not want to buy it for him, hell my mom knows Im into cars and she still wouldnt want me to have it, but hey If I cant buy one Ill build one.

[Guest HolyLlama]

My first car was a Chrysler Concorde. It was slow, but I still drove it way too fast. It's speed limiter kicked in at 118mph, but the only time I ever got it to top out was in a 5 mile straightaway going downhill. My next vehicle was a Ford Ranger. The speed limiter kicked in at 95 and that was too fast for me at 17. I wrecked it one night when I fell asleep. 2 months later I flipped a Jeep Grand Cherokee going way too fast on a wet curvy road (the curve I wrecked was a carbon copy of the corkscrew at Laguna Seca). After that I slowed down, the only time I really drive fast now is when I'm late getting back to college and except for the road I wrecked the Jeep on (it's only 2 miles long), it's straight with no sharp curves. If I had a powerful sports car when I first got my license, I'd be pushing up daisies now. I know everyone will say that experience matters more than age but this kid has no experience, he's not even 16 yet. If you don't sell him the car, he'll probably thank you in a few years. My ex girlfriend's parents bought her a Toyota Supra when she turned 16 because it was cheap and sporty, a few months later she went over "thrill hill", went airborn and took out a guy's front porch. No one was injured but it could easily been fatal.

 

As far as refusing the sale goes, I had a guy refuse to sale me a Porsche 944 because I wanted to put a LT1 in it rather than rebuild the blown motor. It was a good thing though, he told me to go look at 280zx his buddy had in the car lot behind him, that was my first Z in all it's rusty glory. I fell in love immediately. It's not like he was a bad guy, he was just a Porsche purist. He helped me change the spark plugs and fuel filter on it in sleetrain so I could drive it home and even let me borrow a small heater and power invertor so I wouldn't freeze to death during the hour ride home (yes I know it wasn't safe, but it was COLD). So maybe in refusing to sell the car to this kid you open up a new and better opportunity for him.

[technicalninja]

Dan Judy's comments apply to Texas just fine but it will not be the kid's mother's lawer that will get you. It will be the lawer for the family in the minivan he hits.

I am a 20+ year Z car freak that has 3 boys, the oldest 14 and just two years away from driving. he will not drive any of my Zs on a regular basis (or alone). He will have some un-inspiring air bag equipt beater for the first couple years as cars are killed by begining drivers much more frequently. He will not like it but he will survive and learn to drive in a car that can be thrown away with out a care. He will get to drive the Zs with me and to race them if rules allow (drag/solo)

At the type of money your asking they should be able to afford a car with multiple saftey features and be very reliable also. Not saying your car is not reliable just that a mid 90s Accord/Camary type car is more reliable than a mid 70s Z. Is there a good reason he needs this car?

He may not be able to get insurance if he tells his insurance company whats been done to the car.

 

On a more basic note- After 20 years in the automotive business everytime I get that weird feeling (I call it my Squirrel-ometer) I listen to it. Everytime I haven't in the past I have paid some price. When the squirrel-ometer pegs over I get out NOW.

Your Squirrel-ometer made you post this on this board. Listen to it!

Later

Rick

[Muskrat]

Being 19 myself, I have to say that I would in no way want a modified Z as my first car, even as a car enthusiast. I started out on a rather unimpressing '97 Mitsubishi Eclipse that served me well for my first year of driving. Now I have my '72 240z, which even with the suspension partially redone and 280zxt rims and nice sticky tires, still finds ways of scaring me. I wouldn't want to see a car like mine with another 150hp in the hands of me, 2 years ago. I can say with confidence that I would have almost certainly wrecked it trying to find its limits on some deserted stretch of road.

 

Thank you mom, for not letting me get that Fox body mustang that I wanted.

 

As for sales, someday when I finally get tired of my car, it will be passed on to the capable hands of some nice old dentist or such, who won't kill it.

[jasonfen]

Thanks guys. This is some good insight. I think it is obvious what is the responsible thing to do.

 

It is a miracle that I survived my younger driving days. My Father's perspective was "Don't kill yourself or I will". When I was about 10, my Dad picked up a nice 23 T-bucket. It was quick. I got the bug eventhough I never got to drive it. My parents got us a gokart thinking it was make us respect speed. Yeah right. 3 engines later and a couple trips to the ER disproved that one. Then in highschool Dad got another 23 T-bucket. This one was faster and nicer than the other. No front brakes and no seatbelt. Guess what happens when you are in highschool and drive up in that thing? You get a big target painted on you. Needless to say, most of the cops knew me. Then I got my Mom's 82 280ZX. Even more dangerous for me. It had great handling and higher top speed. (the bucket had a 2speed powerglide).

 

It was fun and helped make me a better driver. Now I drive much more docile with respect for others on the road. However, I still beat on my chest every once in a while when in the Z. It is difficult not to.

 

I think I will use the WOT method. Then I will set the shocks on thier stiffest setting. Dallas roads are horrible. If she still wants it after that I will just tell her it is sold. It's too bad. How many 17 year olds get a chance to stand out from the rest of the crowd? Actually, they live in Highland Park so BMWs, Porsche, and Mercs are the status quo. His friends may look at it and think it is a beater.

[Forrest]

Update?

[Guest goldraven]

i guess it depends on how much you need the money. in my situation i will sell my hybridZ to anyone that wants to buy it. there are some responsibilities such as making sure that the person know exactly what they are getting into. if they still want to buy the car after that...than that is the bottom line. I think you should sell it to the guy, tell him to call you if he has any questions after the sale. But i agree, money is money, and it is something i need...i'm not sure how much you need it.

 

my .02 cents.

 

Nick

[jasonfen]

Well the money would be nice. The bigger issue is to stop spending more money on it.

 

I got another call from the kid's Mother. I told her that there are two other people in front of them. That is true. I am working with someone now that I think will get it. Hopefully my next conversation with her will to say that it is sold.

 

On one hand part of me wants the kid to get it. You never know. It could end up being the thing that gives his life purpose. He could go on to design a car that would revolutionize the industry. Ok. That may be stretching it a bit.

 

In the end I want it to go to someone who will appreciate it. If I was hard up for the cash, I'm sure my standards would lower.

 

By the way. We had a really nice day on Sunday. The weather was great for driving with the windows open. I put about 80 miles on it. It will be hard to part with.

[jasonfen]

Well it is done. The Z is gone. Sold it yesterday morning. It is going to a good home so I feel better about that .

 

Man, it feels like I lost a part of me. I'm sure I will recover in a few days. Now I have to find an outlet for my stress. No more hopping in the Z for a quick tear down a back road.

 

It may be a while before I get another. Next time I"ll probably go the V8 route. Just for a change. I'm sure I will still hang out on the forums reading what everyone else is doing.

 

sniff sniff

[Guest Chris240turbo]

Sorry to hear you sold it Jason, but glad to hear it went to a good home, I sold an 82zxt earlier this year to a teen and his father in the neighborhood, it WAS a nice car, sold for $1500, and I bought it back a few weeks later for $100 after the son had rear ended another neighbor in his brand new Tundra at about 50 mph, Tundra was stopped, Z was a complete wreck, although that L28ET is now under the hood of another Hybridz members 280...

 

 

this kids father went out and bought him a brand new Jeep Rubicon, less than a week after his kid totalled that Z, that burned me more than anything, but, at least he's not MY kid!