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05CAR
05CAR New Reader
10/8/21 7:46 a.m.

About 38 years ago I had a testdrive in ex Jacky Ickx Shelby 350 GTR with 4 dcoe webers and intermediate race tires. Garage asked about 9000$ for it… I didn’t have enough money…

05CAR
05CAR New Reader
10/8/21 7:46 a.m.

About 38 years ago I had a testdrive in ex Jacky Ickx Shelby 350 GTR with 4 dcoe webers and intermediate race tires. Garage asked about 9000$ for it… I didn’t have enough money…

wearymicrobe
wearymicrobe PowerDork
10/8/21 10:32 a.m.

So same dealerships not wanting to let me test drive cars due to age and how I dress. berkeley them. 

 

But my pettiest sale so far has been my 528i, I don't know what the Germans are smoking but that car would "bong" for everything. Out of washer fluid, "bong", then "bong" again ever time you drove the car. It was a cacophony of "bong". Loved the car and actually sold it because of the idiotic noise.  

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
10/8/21 10:42 a.m.
Colin Wood said:

I can't say I've bought many cars so far in my life, but I can imagine how quickly a deal can sour solely based on the seller.

 

Last time Mrs NOHOME bought a car we were actually in the sales office, seated, with cash  and pen in hand to buy a Mazda 3. For some reason the salesperson decided that Mrs NOHOME was not moving this along fast enough and put out a time limit for closing the deal, not realizing that it was already a done deal. She put the pen down without saying a word, I shrugged my shoulders, and she now  drives a Nissan Versa.

Appleseed
Appleseed MegaDork
10/8/21 1:02 p.m.

I will never own a Harley.  Someone I used to know bought one. Seemingly overnight turned into a dickhead. Won't own one because it will always remind me of a friendship turned sour.

ShawnG
ShawnG UltimaDork
10/8/21 1:21 p.m.

My mom buying a new truck for herself.

Salesman in the passenger's seat, pulls down sun visor: "And it has a lighted mirror so you can check your makeup!"

No sale, just some poor bastard needing a case of Dr. Scholls mouthwash.

Tom Suddard
Tom Suddard Director of Marketing & Digital Assets
10/8/21 1:33 p.m.

Color. Specifically black cars. Been there, done that, never again.

I know it's pointless. I'm extremely pragmatic with most aspects of my car purchases. Cars are mostly tools to do a job, and that job is described as "post a winning lap time" or "tow the tool to post a winning lap time" or "carry me to work."

But could you imagine dragging a pallet of mulch home from lowes in a BLACK truck?! The huge manatee!! Nevermind driving a black car to work, or taking a black car on track. I'll drive 10 states away and pay thousands more to have any other color than black. 

gearheadmb
gearheadmb SuperDork
10/8/21 1:40 p.m.

If it was the perfect car but it was but the price was more than you wanted to pay, those have a real "one that got away" feel later on. But if you dont buy it because of color, or a missing feature wanted, you would have never ended up loving that car. No matter how good it is you will always feel like you settled.

einy (Forum Supporter)
einy (Forum Supporter) Dork
10/8/21 3:20 p.m.

In 2014, passed on buying a Mazda 6 over an Accord, since Mazda dealer could / would not offer me a competitive price unless I finance thru them via Mazda Financial.  I was a cash buyer (yea, I know, a "deadbeat).  Didn't want to go thru the process at that time of unfreezing my credit to take a Mazda Financal loan that I would pay off the next day (state law in Ohio, no pre-payment penalty can be applied), so we bought the Accord.  No telling how the 6 would have worked out, but the Accord is still going strong 150k miles later, with nearly no issues at all.

RichardSIA
RichardSIA Dork
10/10/21 2:34 p.m.

Lousy, greedy bank kept me from buying a running driving Ferrari 330 GT for a whopping $10,000. I had already put down $1K deposit and test driven the car.

Their terms were so greedy that the $9K loan would have been $14K in the first year. I was salaried and could have done it, but the idea of usurious fee's killed it for me.
Of course you know what happened to all V12 Ferrari values within two years. 

yupididit
yupididit PowerDork
10/10/21 2:55 p.m.

I didn't buy a car once because while I was looking it over the seller was on the phone and I overheard him say "black women are naturally annoying". I just got in my truck and left and didn't say a word. 

It was a driving grey market 280sl r107 with a manual trans, it was silver with red interior. It was only $3000 lol

 

I really wanted that car but not on my momma! 

92dxman
92dxman SuperDork
10/10/21 8:15 p.m.

I've passed on cars due to the manual shifter shifting like a tractor or having a tan interior. One situation that comes to mind is an 81 Fiat X 1/9 I passed on due to the owner spending more time and funds having the leather interior restored than the rest of the bike. 

calteg
calteg Dork
10/11/21 10:57 a.m.

In reply to 92dxman :

Both of those are completely valid reasons. A below average shifter can ruin an otherwise brilliant car (looking at you, multiple generations of M3)

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter)
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) PowerDork
10/11/21 10:58 a.m.
Tom Suddard said:

Color. Specifically black cars. Been there, done that, never again.

I know it's pointless. I'm extremely pragmatic with most aspects of my car purchases. Cars are mostly tools to do a job, and that job is described as "post a winning lap time" or "tow the tool to post a winning lap time" or "carry me to work."

But could you imagine dragging a pallet of mulch home from lowes in a BLACK truck?! The huge manatee!! Nevermind driving a black car to work, or taking a black car on track. I'll drive 10 states away and pay thousands more to have any other color than black. 

We live in the same county, and I think that's an entirely rational reason cannot buy a vehicle. It's too hot here for black cars and trucks.

buzzboy
buzzboy Dork
10/11/21 2:11 p.m.
calteg said:

In reply to 92dxman :

Both of those are completely valid reasons. A below average shifter can ruin an otherwise brilliant car (looking at you, multiple generations of M3)

I spent 45000 miles in my e36M3Ti then drove a bone stock e46M3(well, two of them). What do they fill the transmission case with? Silicon?

I always know whether or not I want a car long before I move to the buying stage, but a bad shifter (or pedal feel) is a top priority. My dad had a 2007 Tacoma with one of the worst manual shifters of all time.

P3PPY
P3PPY Dork
10/11/21 8:41 p.m.

Depends on what phase we're at. If I'm on CList and there are 50 of the same cars, it's like sifting through one click resume submissions for an entry level position: I hardly need a reason to close your tab.

But you pretty much have to talk me out of it by the time I show up. In fact, that's so much the case that.... I... I don't recall being talked out of one. I mean clunking trans is one thing, but aside from otherwise undisclosed mechanical issues (which I routinely ignore anyway)

 

...surely there's been one...?

dropstep
dropstep UberDork
10/11/21 10:17 p.m.

Took the wife too look at an escape and the guy selling it asked if I ever thought about using my zephyr as a derby car. I pretty much hate the local derby scene for killing so many cool cars and idiots who think my car is a full frame wagon make it even worse. 

ShawnG
ShawnG UltimaDork
10/11/21 10:27 p.m.

In reply to dropstep :

So much this.

Our new guy at work is a derby guy.

What a waste. "Hurr durr, I'm here to bend metal".

Wife owns a 1970 Contintental. Try finding good used glass, trim or bumpers. Those mental midgets just destroy everything to get it off of the car. I've tried telling them they could sell the parts and get money to go racing for real, or at least buy beer with it. Nope, more fun to smash things.

ddavidv
ddavidv UltimaDork
10/12/21 6:15 a.m.

Shopping for my '66 Falcon project I found the seemingly perfect car, but it was 6 hours away. The seller was one of those 'text' people who blows up your phone. The car needed a radiator so couldn't be driven home. I would have to arrange a truck and trailer to get it.

Well, the seller found another car he wanted so tried forcing me to do a deal by phone. Yeah, I'm not buying a rust-prone car from the 1960s without personally sticking my head underneath it. Guy harrassed me repeatedly one morning, not accepting that I couldn't just drop everything and come for it or PayPal him the money to hold it. I went radio silent. I won't be badgered into buying a car.

About a year later (couple weeks ago) the same car shows up on Marketplace for sale again...now an hour from my home. The guy who eventually bought it decided it wasn't for him. I paid him what he paid for it ($1000 less than the badgering texter wanted). smiley  Sometimes being petty works out.

MrChaos
MrChaos UltraDork
10/12/21 6:48 a.m.
Tom Suddard said:

Color. Specifically black cars. Been there, done that, never again.

I know it's pointless. I'm extremely pragmatic with most aspects of my car purchases. Cars are mostly tools to do a job, and that job is described as "post a winning lap time" or "tow the tool to post a winning lap time" or "carry me to work."

But could you imagine dragging a pallet of mulch home from lowes in a BLACK truck?! The huge manatee!! Nevermind driving a black car to work, or taking a black car on track. I'll drive 10 states away and pay thousands more to have any other color than black. 

preach

Ghostrider67
Ghostrider67 New Reader
10/12/21 7:05 a.m.

The old " I know what I got." idiot syndrome.

1964 Chevelle Malibu sitting high and dry in Arizona desert. Been in the same spot for decades. Complete car, baby blue and straight. Offered the owner $5500 for it. 

He came back at me with $12,000. Wouldn't budge. Told me I was trying to steal it.

I just laughed at him and walked. Last I checked he still has the car, sitting in the same spot....32 years later. Yup, 32 YEARS LATER....lol.

Tony Sestito
Tony Sestito PowerDork
10/12/21 10:26 a.m.

Two stick out for me, both from when I was 18 and stupid:

1978 Cutlass Coupe: Grandma fresh with just 87k miles. Red with a white top, on red Rally III's. Didn't buy it because it had a bench seat. I had a thing about bucket seats; if it didn't have buckets, it wasn't "sporty" or "fun". It was only $400, too. It was in a junkyard, and they drove it there. I even drove it around in the yard and it was perfect.

1968 Buick Sportwagon: Fresh Buick 350, no rust, and even had the Vista Roof. Sat on 15" Road Wheels and had all of the woodgrain. Only $800. Didn't buy it because it was olive green with a green interior.

Man, I was DUMB. Ugh... would love to have both of those today. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!!!

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
10/12/21 12:00 p.m.

In reply to Tom Suddard :

I'm normally in the same boat, but something about the blacked-out Kia Telluride I rented for a trip to LA just kind of worked for me–almost like I was driving the bad guy car.

Don't know if I'd commit to it for Florida, but I never really considered myself the kind of person to enjoy a blacked-out vehicle like that.

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