Am I Being Unreasonable? Original Owner Wants Car Back

[autoxcuda]

I think there's some backstory from anther FABO thread of the OP's...

It took you quite a while to find this car you have now. And after you got it you've put a significant about of additional money to straighten out some things and make it a reliable driver. Seems there where short cuts done before. In the open market you don't typical get to recover those costs. But nonetheless you had to do them. And your car is not on the open market.

There is worry that any other car on the market would need similar repairs. And I don't think you do 100% of your own mechanical repair and diagnostics. First Mopar? So the repairs on any other mystery used car can rack up really fast.

So.... the price you offered at $40k is over open market for this car. But for YOU, this is a reasonable amount. Because that's what it would cost to get YOU back in the same position. That is reasonable, logical, and fair. Period.

 

[rumblefish360]

My car came from the estate of my cousin who died very young. He has 2 boys and the younger one was about 10 when his dad died.

When he his 16 he (and his miserable mother) have been telling me (and everyone else who will listen) that they want to buy it back.

The kid has ZERO mechanical ability. He has even less tools. The car had 4.56 gears when I bought it. It now has 4.88’s.

The engine had a small MP hydraulic cam in it when I bought it. It how has a .620 lift Racer Brown solid. I asked him if he could learn how to lash valves. He said “I don’t even know what that means but I can learn it”. Maybe so, but the margin for error is pretty small.

The engine was barely 9.5:1 when I bought it. Now it’s 11.77:1 and it has a tunnel ram. This is way out of his realm as a beginner.

The clutch will cost 2200 bucks to replace. It’s about 1k for a new disc and a rebuild. I’m not sure he can even drive a stick now.

This isn’t a beginners, learn on the fly car.

Plus, it’s not for sale. But it is a factory 340 car with a moon roof. So it has some value.

If the kid is a good kid, polite, honest and not a foiled mouthed snot, tell him he can learn about stuff with you and perhaps one day the car will be his.

 

[EL5DEMON340]

he should have jumped at it for $40K ! Mine is a ruff, street brawler type with the #'s 340 engine under the work bench, and i would want $40K IF i was selling

 

[Bad Sport]

Am I being unreasonable?

Nope.

 

[Rat Bastid]

If the kid is a good kid, polite, honest and not a foiled mouthed snot, tell him he can learn about stuff with you and perhaps one day the car will be his.

He‘s a really good kid. Both of his boys turned out very good.

He is just so inexperienced. So mechanically he‘d be in way over his head.

Plus, I don’t think he has driven anything with more than 200 hp.

I told him to find something and I’d help him with whatever he needs.

Of course, he said “abut that’s not my dads car”. And I told him I understand 100%.

 

[autoxcuda]

He‘s a really good kid. Both of his boys turned out very good.

He is just so inexperienced. So mechanically he‘d be in way over his head.

Plus, I don’t think he has driven anything with more than 200 hp.

I told him to find something and I’d help him with whatever he needs.

Of course, he said “abut that’s not my dads car”. And I told him I understand 100%.

To me, he just wants something that was his dad's. It just happens to be a car. They are not that interested in the car itself. That is a core flaw.

That's a recipe for a car sitting in a garage or just sold in the future when other life priorities happen. Or worse, the kid wrecks car and/or himself with this street-able race car.

"Eyes bigger than stomach"

 

[1MeanA]

I'd like to buy back a few cars I sold 10 years ago for what I paid too.

ps In 2022 I had two guys that sold me things want to buy them back. One was a car but he got cold feet. It was his fathers car. The other was a bass guitar that suddenly had sentimental value a few weeks after he sold it. I asked for $200 more because I had put new strings on it and modded it which now had to be undone. He didn't think that was fair and bugged me for months about it.

 

[318willrun]

I usually tell everyone the same when they ask about a car that I have and it's not for sale.... "everything is for sale at the right price! What's your offer, we'll see if you like it better than me??"

Usually, no offer because they want something for a 1981 price.

 

[rumblefish360]

He‘s a really good kid. Both of his boys turned out very good.

He is just so inexperienced. So mechanically he‘d be in way over his head.

Plus, I don’t think he has driven anything with more than 200 hp.

I told him to find something and I’d help him with whatever he needs.

Of course, he said “abut that’s not my dads car”. And I told him I understand 100%.

Say to him, “Learn to crawl before you walk before you run.”
You made an excellent offer he probably yet has to grasp.
Thumbs up to ya Bob.

 

[cosgig]

Another story with similar circumstances…..

I’m helping a friend clear out his dads estate full of cars and trucks. There in the barn is the sisters 70 V code GTX, all taken apart, it has been sitting for the last 35 years or so, right in the same spot and condition. I had chance to talk to the sister recently and asked about the destiny of the car. She said it was her husbands car, who died in a hunting accident and she would like it to go to her son. I admire and respect that idea, except that over the past 35 years, no one, including any of her kids or her has had any interest in the car at all. I’m pretty sure it will go to another barn from here and sit for another 35 years, or be sold off to someone who will flip it for more money. I would like to see something good happen to it, but I fear that will never happen. All I can do is offer my help and hope for the best. Same with the rest of the cars and trucks, I keep telling the family to honor their dads legacy by either picking a vehicle they want to remember him by, or let somebody else do the same. I told the sister that about the GTX, I hope they consider that when the time comes, before it’s too late.

 

[rumblefish360]

Bucket list car right there!!!

 

[NoCar340]

I usually tell everyone the same when they ask about a car that I have and it's not for sale.... "everything is for sale at the right price! What's your offer, we'll see if you like it better than me??"

A friend has a '69 Charger R/T that was originally Sunfire Yellow with a black top, tail stripe, and interior. It' a 4-speed Track Pack car that's now black with no vinyl or stripes--just how he bought it in 1986. He's since installed a 492-inch stroker and a 6-speed. When people hassle him that he should restore it he tells them, "Pay my price and you can do whatever you want with it." Nobody has ever asked him for an actual dollar amount.

 

[Tooljunkie]

No reason to give it away because someone else has an emotional attatchment to it. Last owner of my 51 wants it back, even made me a fair offer. But its mine and im keeping it.

 

[Kern Dog]

I usually tell everyone the same when they ask about a car that I have and it's not for sale.... "everything is for sale at the right price!

This is true if everything a person owns is junk.
For many of us, these cars are hard to find and time consuming to restore. The newbies that watch the TV shows about restoration shops have a distorted impression of the time and cost involved in bringing an old car back to life.

 

[318willrun]

This is true is everything a person owns is junk.
For many of us, these cars are hard to find and time consuming to restore. The newbies that watch the TV shows about restoration shops have a distorted impression of the time and cost involved in bringing an old car back to life.

Because my cars are "unrestored" ... with a lot of patina, too many think .."he doesn't know what he's got" !!! I've been on vacation a long ways from home and had 'em try to buy.

 

[Inertia]

https://m.facebook.com/groups/zzcbot/permalink/2538954296242419/az

 

[cosgig]

Now, I am all for the notion that a car can have sentimental attachment to a son or daughter of an original owner, but sometimes sentimental attachments can get in the way of reality. One thing my recent endeavor has taught me is to find the right owner for a car. Sometimes it is a family member, sometimes it is the current owner, who now loves the car just as the original owner did. And, one of my biggest challenges in helping out this family I’m helping is to keep that in mind, mine, and theirs. I hate to keep “hijacking” this thread, but I believe my comments have merit.

The car in this post was their grandfathers car, and the car had been in the barn since the day grandpa died and it was driven into the barn, in 1967. Nobody gave the car a second thought, until the process was well under way. I pulled it out, cleaned it up, worked all summer to find a buyer, who absolutely loves the car, and is keeping it exactly like their grandpa drove it. After over 50 years of dormancy, he had the car running in 2 days, had rims and tires waiting for it, and drove it to a car show that same weekend. It went to the right buyer, but I can’t share that with the family because they are at each other’s throats about the monetary value of everything. It breaks my heart, because I didn’t know the grandpa, but I’m pleased over the moon that someone who knew nothing about the family at all would honor the grandpas legacy and keep the car original. I wish the family would embrace that and do the same.

So, to the OP of the thread, don’t lose any sleep over your position, whatever it may be. You are honoring the car and the original owners love for the car, and that may have to be enough for the son, and there’s no shame in that. If it comes up, tell him that, and stick to your guns and tell him you would only consider a trade for your Dads original car, if that’s what you really want.

 

[SLOPAR72]

It ends when you said he couldn't afford it... now if you have a bunch of disposable income, have personal

As the owner of a car that my dad ordered in 1971, I can not explain what it means to me to have it. He has been gone for about 5 years and every time I do something to it, I'm wondering, how would dad do this? There is absolutely no way I'm selling! At the same time, YOU own the car. If he wants it back bad enough, he will find a way to pay you what you want. Otherwise you don't owe him anything, imho

Exactly how I feel! There is no need to feel sorry for the buyer if he doesn't have the funds. I have been in the buyers shoes for a sentimental purchase and it was too much so I let it go.... and maybe that's what has to happen here...

JW

 

[6PakBee]

I found my old 1988 Honda CR250 dirt bike that I had purchased new back about 10 years ago…the guy that had it knew I really wanted it back so he told me $3000 which was twice what it was really worth at the time… while I was loading it in the truck to leave he kind laughed at me that I would pay that much…I said that the joke was on him because I would have paid $10,000 for it….the look on his face…priceless

I had to chuckle at this. One of my personal sayings is that if you think you paid too much for something you really wanted, in six months it'll seem about right, and in a year it'll be one of the best deals you ever made. Sometimes the money is irrelevant.

 

[MyDadsADemon]

I had to chuckle at this. One of my personal sayings is that if you think you paid too much for something you really wanted, in six months it'll seem about right, and in a year it'll be one of the best deals you ever made. Sometimes the money is irrelevant.

Like Ross Johnson, former CEO of RJR Nabisco said, "a few million dollars are lost in the sands of time." He was a sneaky greedy crook, but he got the concept

 

[crackedback]

Your car, your deal. Don't feel badly because you own something that another person wants for sentimental reasons. I'd love to find my 70 6 pack GTX or Hemi Challenger. Would I pay a ransom for it, no... but I'm not connected to the cars emotionally.

If you have some amazon stock from the IPO, I'd be glad to pay you what you paid for it... roughly 6 cents a share split adjusted... sound good? I'll get you 100K tomorrow if you have enough shares, 1.6 million. Or maybe Tesla? Of course not, same deal.

Where was this buyer in 2012? I know some people that hated the stuff their father had. After he died, suddenly they wanted all the stuff the dad had collected, then sold, obviously prior to his death, that none of them gave two ***** about when he was alive.

 

[missing linc]

There are a few cars that were in my family that I would love to own, I even know the owner of one, a 70 Road Runner convertible that my asshole brother owned for a short time. The current owner is the same person that bought it and has owned it since about 1977 or 78. He has done a complete rotisserie restoration on the car, it's pretty much perfect, he does drive it once in a while, and would sell it for what it's worth, but that's waaaayyyy out of my price range. There's no way I would expect or even ask him to give me any special consideration, why the hell should he?

 

[thesiren74]

He should be thankful the car still exists and it's well takin care of.

 

[diymirage]

I can understand the attachment from both sides. You've put your time, money, and effort into making it yours, and you are not obligated to make anyone else's dreams come true. You can be sure that if you or he were to find another Demon to replace it, you will need to make repairs or changes to that one in order for it to be comparable to the one that you already have.
Several years ago I found a car that I had bought new off the showroom floor when I was 21. I had every intention to keep that car forever, but in reality was forced to sell it after only 6 months due to the loss of my job, and a recession, during which I could not find another job. I was both very excited and surprised that I had found it, and it was for sale, and still in very good condition some 25 years later. I spoke with the seller on the phone at length, he sent me dozens of pictures, confirming the VIN and condition, but we couldn't agree on the price.
Part of the reason why I was not willing to pay his asking price was that I had found a nearly identical one for considerably less money, and it had a freshly rebuilt motor, and new wheels and tires.
Long story short, even though I would have liked to be able to get the one that I had bought new back, in the end I was far better off putting the emotions aside and buying the best value for the $$.
Sorry for the rambling post.

This might be the awnser right here

If the family can find that "nearly identical car" for a price they can afford, and the OP would be willing to consider a trade that may leave all parties happy


But as it sits, the OP can ask whatever he wants for that car

 

[go-fish]

If the previous owner of my Duster came to me today and wanted the car back I would give it to him for free. Of course that would mean Arthur came back from the grave. He had started the restoration and sold it to me when he found out that his cancer was terminal. I have finished the restoration taking into consideration of what his idea of a restoration should be, factory based. I would rather Arthur be alive than have the car. With that being said, I don't really have emotional attachments to cars. My Dad had Mopars come and go often so I have grown up with Mopars being something that is enjoyed for a time and then let go to move on to the next one to enjoy. So, if I ever sell Arthur's Duster there won't be heartache. It's not like he's around to be disappointed.

Myself, I am a fan of customizing stuff and using modern era suspension components, big brakes, and 18"+ wheels. However, due to Arthur telling me that I am the one he thought about when considering what to do with the car I "feel" (emotional decision) that I should at least keep the car somewhat original, for now. It is a numbers matching 340/ 4-speed car. The only thing I have done that isn't original is the power steering, aluminum radiator, 1.08" torsion bars, aftermarket A/C, and a bluetooth equipped AM radio. I may change some stuff in the future that strays from stock but I feel that I should put the car in stock-ish condition initially.