Ok guys,
I was contacted through this site by a gentelman who thinks he may have owned my car in the past. Awesome right? Well if it is his old car he has expressed interest in buying the car back. So what would you do? Obviously the ball is in my court here, but I can't price gouge anyone too bad my conscience won't let me. I just don't know if I should price it where I had it at last year or higher even? I mean is 12k too much when I was contacted out of the blue?
Jon

 

First of all, had you been planning to sell the car? If not, you're not obligated to do so just because someone wants to buy it no matter how much history or sentiment that person has with the car. It's your car, not his.

Second, if you do decide to sell it, don't let sentiment get in the way of your getting a fair price. I know nothing about your car, so I have no idea if $12,000 is a fair price for it, but if it is, it is. If the buyer thinks it's too high, he's under no obligation to buy, and you're under no obligation to make him happy.

In short, you should treat this as you would any business deal. If you start letting sentiment into the picture, you'll only shortchange yourself. If the former owner is upright in his dealings and seriously interested in the car, he should be willing to pay a market price for the car just as anyone else would.

 

I agree with Jaunty.

 

Make sure it's not a scam too.

 

I doubt it's a scam as he contacted me through pm at this site. And he described my car pretty darn close to the way I bought it in 1999. I am going to send him the vin tomorrow and we'll go from there. The car is not for sale, but for the right price it may be.

 

If he was the original owner of the car.....let HIM give YOU the VIN; if he was so sentimentally attached to the car, I'm sure he has the paperwork to prove it! This may be a perfectly legitimate deal......but I would NOT provide him with the VIN of your car!! Be careful, Jon.......JMO!

 

I would be cautious sending him the VIN. Maybe he has some old paperwork & can send you the VIN instead to see if it matches your car. Does he have any old pictures, paperwork, etc. that might prove it was his car? Maybe I'm being to cautious, & you are dealing with him not me, I've just learned to be wary of peoples intentions.

 

That does sound smarter. I'll message him and have him send me the vin he has for the car he had and see if it's mine.

 

My first instinct is to agree with this sentiment, but think of all the cars listed on ebay with the vin in plain sight for all to see. I'm not sure it would matter.

Mike

 

The typical sale is a willing buyer and willing seller. You have an willing buyer but an unwilling seller. The buyer should understand he will have to pay a premium as he has to make an offer you cannot refuse.

 

As Jaunty said, this is just a business transaction. Plain and simple. Don't let him try and get emotional to get the price down.

 

I agree with this.

 

I sold a car to a fellow that ended up parting it out so he never switches ownership from me. He ended up selling the body to someone else. The last guy
ended up restoring it (bet he would have liked buying it directly from me)
and after he restored it and went to register apparently I still
Legally owned the car! He contacted me somehow and I of course transferred the
car over, but I bet he was a little nervous on that one. So my point is I wouldn't
Give out the vin without cash in hand. IMO

 

In the end, does this really matter? Who cares whether it really was once his car or not? Who cares if he knows the VIN or not?

The buyer could be making up the whole story about it once being his car simply because he wants the car. So, as the seller, you don't worry about his motivation. You only concern yourself with, A) do you want to sell the car, and B) if you do, is he willing to pay what you want for it?

If the answers to both questions are yes, and if he's got cash on the barrelhead, end of story.

 

Well I just got a pm. The vin he sent me matches mine, so it was his car at one time. We will see where we go from here.

 

Set your price & go from there.

JMO but I wouldn't be paranoid about giving out a VIN. Like a previous poster said, they are listed with for sale ads all over the internet. I would be hesitant only if you think it might be stolen.

 

If he came to know of your ownership of the car through this site and just sent you a PM through this site, is he also likely aware of this thread and seeing all these wonderful things we're saying about him?

 

The usual pricing strategy is to pick a reasonable number...

and multiply by 3 to 5.

Negotiate from there.

 

Possible he is seeing it, but I have not once mentioned his username so it is somewhat anonymous.

 

Don't think about the price you set as gouging. Think about how you will feel without the car in your possession. How will you feel in five or ten years from now. Will you regret selling it if you can not find a replacement as good if not better? What do you think the car will be worth down the road in say twenty years? How bad do you need the money? Did you get your first piece of tail in the back seat?

 

Just because he has the VIN, doesn't mean he owned it....just that he knows the VIN from someplace in the past, possibly from ads placed when you purchased it?

Beware, jon; I once had a '70 442 W30 that I owned for 28 years, and eventually sold it to someone halfway across the country, only to find out that the NYS DMV had make a typo on the registration years ago that I had never noticed, and I had to go through all kinds of heck to get that straightened out! They wanted all kinds of proof....when it was their mistake!!

My point is, be sure that you have all the correct paperwork from all of you purchase and registrations, as the previous owner may have the same; it will then be a tough case to prove that the car was not stolen, or who knows what!!!

 

I have the title in my name. He claims he has the vin from an old registration. I bought this car out of a guys yard in 1999. At that time it still had a North Carolina title the guys yard it was in was selling it for a friend of his from my recollection. The internet was still pretty new then at least to us farm hicks. You have to realize the town I grew up 6 miles outside of only has a population of 2,000 people.

 

Just one thought. If you decide you're willing to let the car go (back to it's former owner), you both agree on a price, he buys it from you, no strings attached .. then what? Where do you go from there?

 

X2...well said

 

Well it might be slightly more valuable down the road, but I doubt much, I think old car prices have pretty much flat lined. Yes I will regret selling it. I don't need the money real bad, but some extra cash to buy a house would be nice. No I did not get my first piece of tail in the back seat. It means more to me because of the near twin I discovered with my now best friend, heck we made Big Jerr's All Oldsmobile Calendar October 2013 feature cars, you can't put a price on something like that.

 

I'm really not sure. I want a 1969 442 4 speed and a 1987 442. I need to get a house and get out of my Father-in-laws house. But being the car junky I am it would probably be a car first.

 

Jon this sounds like you either tried to sell the car last year? or was this where you valued it for insurance replacement...

If you did try and sell it it sounds like your asking is it ok to charge a premium to a guy because it used to be his? In my opinion that is wrong if you would sell it to a stranger for 12 but because this guy owned it you could get an extra couple of grand? This is just my opinion, if it were me I would sell it for what it is worth and someone is willing to pay, taking into account all the variables ( can I find a better replacement, a better house, etc etc) I personally wouldn't charge a guy a premiun because it was his, that is bad karma ( in my opinion) what goes around comes around... If you dont really want to sell, then yes add that into the variables, work you did etc etc add it in..as said Now there was lots of good advice, and some great advice, if you weren't selling it, then find a price that makes you feel comfortable is it a rare w-30 with docs or w-31 etc etc or is it a run of the mill 442 or cutlass or whatever? with all the New Musclecars coming out with 500+ HP AND 20+ mpg's musclecars have flat lined a little IMHO,

I wish you both luck in both being happy with the deal or the courage to accept there is no deal...

 

About how I expected you to see it. IMHO, you've had fun with this car, but you're not overly attached to this one specifically. I know people who'd sell their first born, a kidney and their left ******** before letting their car go. If you let the car go .. the previous owner will likely take far more pleasure from it than you ... and you get to indulge your car junky by going and hunting the next on your list. I know that feeling, having ticked more than a few boxes myself. I've had the Getaway Colt, the 4x4, the pick up, the turbo, the van, the limo, and now the family truckster. About the only things left on my list is the ragtop and the Jag.

 

Well you have the car he would like it I think you have to ask yourself do you want to keep it or sell it. Think about it for a little while like do you enjoy the car what would it be like without it will you regret selling. If not settle on a fair price and sell it otherwise just offer the man first crack at it if you decide down the road to sell it. I wouldn't sell just because someone was tugging at my heart strings just my opinion.

 

It's all about priorities. Owning a house is a pretty big step, but an important one IMO. I would set a price that you are happy with. Cash in hand from the buyer with an as is agreement. Working on a car at someone else's house can be a hassle. First things first. But you already know that. Good luck in what ever decision you make.

 

in your for sale thread you posted on August 28th that you would take $10,500 before changing your mind on selling and pulling it off the market, so I guess it comes down to whether you want to sell or not, just because the previous owner wants in, doesn't mean you have to sell it, or give him a discount...

I'm sure he is reading through this thread anyway so he will either make you an offer you will accept or won't and you;ll decide what kind of cash it takes to part with it

 

If I had the chance to get out
of the Father in laws house and
put a down pymt on a place, 15 K
would sound like a good place to start.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
Sounds like you sitting in the cat bird's chair.
With fixed rates down around 4% or less with
enough down....

 

This ^^


I don't get the fear of others knowing your VIN, or your license plate for that matter (folks blank them out in pics sometimes??). It's out in the open. Anyone walking past your car will know it if they want. Unless you have a reason that you don't want others to know it, like droptop said.


I still have the keys, registration and police report from my stolen '70 Cutlass S (stolen October '92, Levittown, NY). I check every one I see. I encourage posting VIN's.


To the OP, I agree with ScottMHoffman....the potential buyer here should know he's trying to lure a car away from someone who is in no hurry to let it go. He may have to dig a little deeper to "convince" the seller.
Good luck!

 

Dont give him or anyone the VIN. not good.

 

I would sell my cars,my jewery, baseball cards, sell blood or whatever it would take to get out of my father in laws house......

 

I disagree.

One of the most common things to give someone interested in buying a car is the VIN. People very legitimately want to run a check through Carmax or something like that, and it is their right to do so. If I was looking to buy a car and the seller would not tell me the VIN, I would turn tail and leave immediately. They could be hiding damage, the car could be stolen, who knows what. I understand that Carmax would not help him in this case because the car is too old, but that's just a specific to this case, not a general reason to not reveal the VIN.

There is nothing wrong with giving anyone your car's VIN. As has been pointed out on this site numerous times, the VIN is visible to the general public whenever your car is parked outside and has been ever since the VIN location was standardized in the early '70s at the base of the windshield on the driver's side. Go on any car dealer's website and search the new or used cars. A VIN will be listed for each one of them.

If you don't want people to possibly know your car's VIN, keep your car locked in a garage and never drive it.

 

Jaunty:

I agree with you. The vin is on top of the dash and can been seen through the windshield. Just for the record, Carmax is the large nationwide car dealer. The car info report is Carfax.

 

Thanks for all the good advice. And yes while I did consider selling it last year, I decided that the car was worth more to me than what someone would pay, that being said I gave him a ball park price that MAY convice me to sell. If he comes back with a counter offer I'll probably have to sit down and think about for 2 weeks before decideing. And yes I want to get out of the house, but don't want to be without a car, the Nationals are coming close enough that we are concidering going so I definitely want a car to go with.