Not mine! But nice looking for the money!


http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/3365840443.html

 

Very nice car! Love the color combo.

 

Looks like a nice car that should sell fast...

 

Hello, I went down to NJ to look at this car a couple of weeks back and I stopped inspecting it within 5 minutes. I told the owner no thank you, I pointed out to him that the right inside rear wheel well had some rot towards the trunk area (I observed this also in the right side of the trunk in the well area with my flashlight). The interior and the dash looks great but the interior (especially the headliner) will need a mild cleaning . I also found the driver's side door handle to have a good amount of pitting on it. I can add no further information as I stopped looking and left to head back home.

 

Defects are negotiating tools. Why didn't you at least offer a lower $$? Headliner needed a 'mild' cleaning wouldn't make or break a deal. But it really depends on the overall condition of the car to get a good assessment. If you didn't really inspect it, I'm sorry but that doesn't make this a bad car. The rot you describe is common to these cars and can be repaired with new metal, and it is a 40 year old car. Now, was it rot as in perforation or surface rust? Big difference. Hate to sound like Bill Clinton but how do you define rot?

 

Rot as in I could stick my fingure through the hole. The reason I stopped and walked away is the guy told me that there was not a thing wrong with this car and when I immediately came across the rot I felt it was not worth me to pursue it any further. I agree that this should not stop one from offering lower $$$ but I felt that if I was able to find one spot that there may have been other areas on the car too. Maybe my loss but I just wanted to let other people know what I found.

 

How pristine should a car be for around $8800?

 

Ok, that answers that question. I agree that perforation is an issue to be careful of, but is not unexpected. Even if the seller said nothing wrong - he could have been referring to the mechanical and drive ability.

The amount of perforation is the factor I would be looking closely at. To me that just means looking more carefully at the known areas these cars had rust issues with and I would sure have my body magnet handy checking for body fill. It wouldn't stop me from going over the car more though as the rest of the car looks to be in very nice shape. I do expect some room to move on any price offering. In general if the car looked like it was in overall good shape, it probably really is. Like I said before; the more you find and make the seller aware of the better your chances of bringing it home for a lot less. Helps to have a price guide handy to show the seller too.

It's not uncommon to find that rot in that area. Rear wheel liners aren't that expensive - just the labor to install unless you have those skills yourself. Did you hear the engine run? It's hard to see in the tiny pic. Would be interesting to know if it had the high compression L74 350 or not.

 

Personally, just from the pics that's ballpark to me just based on looks alone. Would really need someone to do a good full inspection for the stuff that can't be seen in the pics. My ^^^^ other comments

 

The car sounded fine and as a whole did look good but again I got turned off because I found a problem (though minor to some but not to me) immediately upon inspection. Again I only wanted to report what I saw and let other members make their own choice.

 

I do know where there is one that could be shipped up there with no worries about any rust at all. Even have 180 picures to prove it.

 

And your car even has original paint! Really close to the same price point too.

 

I appreciate the offer but I'm going to stay on the sidelines for now and maybe venture back out next year.

 

Good luck with your search. Something will turn up sooner or later. Are you looking for another car like in your avatar?

Wow! we really hijacked this thread.

 

since we are hijacking anyway .....Mine was painted about 2 years ago.