<VV> Easterners Buying Western Cars

Tue May 18 18:58:35 EDT 2010

Ken,

Most of my experiences reflect yours.  However, I had two  experiences 
where the sellers were knowingly dishonest.  One was for a 1967  big-block Vette 
I found in Florida through Hemmings and the other would have  been my first 
venture into Corvairs.  That one was found in California  through eBay.  
Fortunately, I did not pay or even  send a deposit in  advance.  The Vette was 
in very nice shape except it was not numbers  matching, as claimed.  The 
Corvair's owner was excellent at taking the  pictures he placed in the 
auction.  They seemed fairly complete but he was  great at taking the pics from 
angles that did not show the very serious  problems.  I believe I described the 
basics of that incomplete transaction  here on vv previously.

Be careful.  If someone really wants to deceive you, they  can be very 
credible on the phone and with pictures.  Unless you or someone  you trust knows 
the seller, I would not recommend sending money until you check  the 
vehicle out yourself or have someone local check it out.

On the rare occasion when I sell a vehicle, I do not  necessarily have a 
"higher opinion" of it than the potential buyer.  I  place what I believe is a 
fair price on the vehicle and then when the buyer  arrives, I start off 
with all of the high points.  I immediately follow up  with all of the problems 
and flaws I know; even the very minor ones.  Many  of those flaws would 
probably not be discovered by the buyer unless he or she  was extremely 
knowledgeable and extremely thorough in his inspection.  I do  this for a number of 
reasons.  First, it saves everyone time.  Second,  it tends to build trust 
between myself and the buyer.  Third, it minimizes  the possibility of hard 
feelings after the fact once the buyer finds things he  missed in the 
inspection.  Last, it takes the wind out of the buyer's sails  if he has a 
tendency to obsess over flaws as a method of negotiation.  It  tells the buyer that 
I know of the flaws and have taken them into account when I  came up with 
the price.

I bought all of my Corvairs on the West coast and all my other  vehicular 
toys on the East coast.

Doc

1960 Corvette, 1961 Rampside, 1962 Rampside, 1964 Spyder  coupe, 1965 
Greenbrier, 1966 Canadian Corsa turbo coupe, 1967 Nova SS, 1968  Camaro ragtop

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a message dated 5/18/2010 9:00:30 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  4
Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 12:29:08 GMT
From: "kenpepke at juno.com"  <kenpepke at juno.com>
Subject: Re: <VV> Easterners Buying Western  Cars
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Message-ID:  <20100518.082908.9833.0 at webmail04.dca.untd.com>
Content-Type:  text/plain; charset=windows-1252

Over the years I have bought a  number of cars 'out-of-state' ... both 
Corvair and non Corvair.  As a  Michigan resident vehicles in my local supply of 
old cars are usually in  pretty sorry condition so I have a reasonable 
incentive.  I have learned  of cars for sale through CORSA, Hemmings, Ebay, etc. 
 These vehicles have  come from as far west as California, as far east as 
New England, and as far  south as Florida.  I have had a some shipped and 
fetched some back with a  trailer, and gently driven the rest.  I mentally 
discount the condition  before I ever see the vehicle so I have never been 
disappointed BECAUSE I know  the seller ALWAYS has a higher opinion of the 
vehicle than it deserves.   Private sellers are generally honest and I have never 
had a seller claim a car  to be drivable when it was not.  

I have had cars break down and  require repairs to get them home ... even 
though I have been driving them for  years so IF I was to have a problem with 
a new acquisition I would have it  repaired as required.  It really makes 
no difference.  I try to talk  to each seller by phone and have even had them 
start the vehicle while I  listened on the phone.  Ebay generally supplies 
enough pictures and I ask  for pictures in other cases.  I ask about new / 
used replacement parts  and If the vehicle is in daily use.  Then I make my 
decision.  It is  an adventure in life and an always interesting experience 
that provides a  wealth of stories for the future.  
Ken  P